We crossed the 16,000km threshold on our bicycle trip today as we cruised from our resting spot in Metsovo over the Katara Pass and down to the monastery town of Meteora. Before we even got to the Katara Pass, however, we had to say goodbye to our friends Dimitri and Polikot, who were rushing to Thessaloniki by another road, hopefully in time to renew their visas. We really enjoyed their company for a day and were sad to see them go before we had enough time to learn Russian and ask all the questions we had for them. We are sure it will be a while before we see another 8-year-old so keen on cycling as Polikot clearly was and we will miss the quiet but rythmic and somehow soothing prayers of Dimitri as we pass each church and his lively singing. After we watched our friends disappear around a bend we climbed the final few kilometers to the pass and were soon flying down the other side. 
Fog rolled in at the mountain peak and it was a chilly run down, with all our gloves and hats on to keep us warm. It took us most of the day to get to Meteora and the cumulative effort of all those hills since we arrived in Greece seemed to have taken its toll because we were shattered when we finally rolled into the campground. We couldn’t face cooking supper so instead we went out for a beer and a plate of Greek fast food – pork and lamb cooked on a grill with chips and tatziki, a creamy yogurt-cucumber dip. With supper settled, we rushed back to our tent before dark, excited about tomorrow when we’ll visit one of the monasteries carved into the rocks that tower high above the town