Olive trees with a view, mountain village and hike with a crazy local resident

Today we first went to the possibly oldest olive trees in the world.

The route suggested by Google Maps from Palau was a bit shorter, but the roads kept getting smaller. Eventually, the water-filled potholes took up half the road and we feared that we wouldn't be able to continue without an off-road vehicle. However, our small Lancia Ypsilon made it over all the bumps and rocks, and after a tiring drive, we arrived at the 'Olivastri Milleniari'.

The oldest of these trees was dated to 4500 years (although dating was difficult and therefore uncertain).

The trees were very gnarled and there were only a few other visitors there, walking around the trees to see them from all angles.

There was a terrace with a view of Lake Liscia from the ticket office and the small associated café.

To avoid having to drive back on the bumpy road that brought us here, we continued on the road that ran along the lake.

Another German tourist had already told us that there was a dead-end sign at the entrance of Tempio Pausania and Google Maps initially wanted to send us in the other direction to bypass the lake.

But we wanted to get closer to the shore - and also see why we couldn't simply continue on the road to our next destination. So we continued on it until we reached a large gate. The road continued over a dam, but it was closed for security reasons.

So we turned back and this time took the well-built and paved road to continue around the lake to our next destination. (It would have been wise to combine the visit to the olive trees with our drive to Tempio Pausania - but hindsight is always 20/20...)

We drove to the small mountain village of San Pantaleo. From there, we first set off on a hike into the surrounding mountains.

First, we walked through the streets of the village. When we left, we came to a road that was only open to local residents, as numerous signs indicated. In the description on komoot, we had already read that there should be a 'crazy local' here who reacts aggressively to hikers who wander onto his property.

We didn't accidentally do that anymore: In the meantime, he has put up numerous signs around his property, directing everyone who wants to go to the hiking trail in the mountains around it.

So we started the ascent, which led steeply uphill on a well-marked hiking trail.

At times, the hiking trail was a bit overgrown, but overall, we were able to find it easily.

On the descent, we went through a forest before the path turned into a road (which we didn't want to drive our car on).

For the last stretch, we had to walk on a proper road with quite a bit of traffic back to the village.

Arriving in San Pantaleo, we took a walk around the village.

The beautiful mountain backdrop has attracted artists from all over Europe who offer their art in small shops here.

We treated ourselves to an ice cream in the warm weather after the hike, and then made our way back to Palau.