Other Side

The Other Side, also associated throughout time with the Skaramagas Grove, sectors E 'Pera' or F 'The Other Side', refers to a plethora of locations that all constitute parts of Poikilo Oros, but which are however unseen to any observer looking from within the plain of Athens. Beginning at the roundabout road at Ano Liosia after the Falling Heights and the Petroupoli Antennae of Kamatero, it crosses the entire Thriasio Pedio, through Neoktista, Aspropyrgos and Skaramgas boundaries to end up at Lake Koumoundourou and the beginnings of Afaia close to Kaskantami.

Belongs to Segment F 'The Other Side'.

## Conquer

The Other Side has been hinted at throughout plenty of Vuori excursions, yet reaching of various heights across it was delayed for several reasons during the years. Vistas of its greenery have been frequently glimpsed from the expanses of The Long Road or the Final Antennae and the Falling Heights beyond the Cypress Grove, but the first sustained trip to the woods that mark its boundaries with Poikilo above Thriasio came on May 16, 2017 by Vuorior James Kingston and fellow adventurer George Stroubis.

## Landscapes

Apart from the Skaramagas Groves, dispersed coppices of low pines and olive trees that overlook the seas of the shipyard and are the answer to the Road Whose End Is Not Known according to The Vuori Chronicles, the Other Side includes plenty of colored groves, forests of conifer trees, the diverse and highly endangered ecosystem of Koumoundourou Lake, as well as harsh, dry cliffs.

The Lake itself refers to the Old complex of Reitoi, a couplet of lakes artificially built by the ancient Greeks which were consecrated to goddess Demetra and daughter Persephone. Over the years, the smaller lake was exsiccated so that Refinery constructions could be built on it at the area of Aspropyrgos and the former lake fell victim to toxic waste leaking from the underground rivulets connecting it to Skaramagas shipyards. An antenna has been spied upon the low hills that enclose the lake, referred to as the Lake Antenna and Lofos Ixous, respectively.

The Lake Antenna was conquered October 24, 2020 early afternoon by Vuoriors James Kingston and Sotiris Annis, after a short ascent at the slopes of the Afaia Heights behind the small district. Gorgeous views of Lake Koumoundourou and the Ksirogianni Army Field were enjoyed.

## Afaia

Closer to Chaidari, just barely after the turn of the mountain and at the end borders of the front side, to the north west of Vuori, rises the Afaia Settlement, a conglomeration of mansions and high-level houses in a calm, village-like district that surrounds the hill of a shrine consecrated to goddess Venus. Not much has been known on the area, however the surreptitious nature of its inhabitants and strange reports of incense consecrations and eerie chants before the ancient ruins have shrouded the area in a veil of pagan, ritualistic mystery. Whether a confirmed cult of Dodecatheon believers is active in the area or not, remains unknown.

While technically not behind the mountain, the ridges that frame the Highway close this district, turning it invisible to an observer from inside Athens city and rendering a part of the Other Side.

## The Other Paths

To the right of The Long Road, behind the expanses of Zacharitsa and above the Ntamaria plains, rises a plethora of forgotten by-paths and dirt roads that can be readily seen from earlier excursion trails, but were however not trodden until February 2020. Due to their proximity to the roads and slopes of the Other Side, and the fact they all fall under the obscurity of Poikilo Oros and blocked form an internal Athens View, they informally kept the same name.

The Other Paths begin shortly after the road of Ntamaria and Poikilo Oros refreshment shop, on the steep ascending slope above the soccer fields. Beyond the entrance the explorers meet a bifurcation with two possible routes. The one straight ahead leads further down , parallel to The Long Road and above the treks and paths leading to the Skaramagas Groves. The one on the right follows a dirt road which is euphemistically deemed 'The Noon Paths', due to its preceding exactly the location of the Evening Paths. This road either meets the crossroads above Ntamaria at the Evening Paths themselves or reverts back into the woods of Skaramagas Groves.

Before the bifurcation on the left, the ascending slope leads to Where Partridges Gather.

## Into the Woods

At noon of February 29, 2020, the team of Vuoriors delved deep into the groves of the Other paths and were taken to the expanses and pine nests of the Skaramagas Groves, the infamous forest mass that overlooks the steep cliffs over Thriasio Pedio, Attiki Odos, Leoforos Natou and Lake Koumoundourou with the Refineries of Aspropyrgos and Skaramagas.

A gamut of Broken Treks splits these forests into plenty of forest trails with many natural beauties abounding. Beyond the descending slopes that offer majestic vistas over Salamis island and Skaramagas sea, left turns cut the woods, and pine glades re-appear. A forgotten bicycle ramp was discovered in the expanses, along with indigenous spiky tree barks resembling networks. The pines created idyllic havens beneath the serene canopy, where the wind blew obliviously above hidden paths and dreamy forest beds.

On the Other Road leading back towards Ntamaria and the beginning expanses of the Evening Paths, one of the explorers called the rest of the team onto the side of the road, where a small, natural trough was formed by the rocky bas-relief, filled with swamp water from recent rains. The venue was informally deemed the Secret Trough.

An Onion Grove was discovered further in, and animal tombs and cairns were not missing. After the end of the rocky trails, the Skaramagas Top was reached, which is shared by two consecutive glades, the infamous Lower Nazarean Glades (mirroring the serenity of the one on The Long Road). These are respectively called Elefsina Panorama and Panorama Natou, owing to the expanses that can be viewed below them.

The proximity to Zacharitsa aerials and the hills of Kaskantami behind the Final Antennae led the Vuoriors to speculate these groves were the answer to the Road Whose End Is Not Known.

The Skaramagas Groves were conquered Saturday, February 29, 2020, at around 1:30 pm.

On September 13, 2020, Autumnal Vuori trips returned, when Vuoriors James Kingston and Sotiris Annis entered Segment C of Poikilo Oros through the Ntamaria Woods and The Kammena, using the broken treks 16 & 20 to bypass the Evening Paths. Rumor had it that on the Other Side of the infamous paths there lies an entire section of greenery called The Stroma which borders Zastani and an entirety of naturally formed caves and springs of the Mountain towards Thriasio Pedio. Given the various dead-ends The Long Road and the Other paths lead too, a Telma ( Greek for stalemate)in Stroma was euphemistically called Stelma.

Under woody expanses and canopies of dense pine trees a small cave was located near the ground, and up above the Other paths towards the North and above Chomateri Ano Liosion to the right, a formation of Twin Caverns was discovered by Vuorior Sotiris Annis. The biggest one, nicknamed the Great Chamber, was tall enough to fit double the height of a person, and hosted a small rocky entrance and some abandoned gas tanks. Whether these tanks were stored there as a way to warm up potential homeless inhabitors of the caves or were the tools of a potential arsonist hideout, remains unknown.

The second cavern only contained a small trough, and took after its name.

While not significantly up on the list of geological importance, the caverns explored made the beginning of a long-planned journey to visit the Zastani caves towards the Piso Kaskadami areas, where rumors have it the only active water spring left in Poikilo above Old destroyed village Zaverdella still exists.
On October 10, 2020, the expanses of the Stroma treks and its woody expansions behind the Other Paths and the Noon Paths, with a plethora of panoramic views and lost forest treks discovered. On one of the small plateaus, an abandoned letterpost column was discovered, that resembled a human structure from afar, nicknamed The Andrian ( Greek for The Statue).

Recently, the Other Side was explored from the north western side, leading to the panoramas of the cliffs above Ano Liosia which look straight over to Parnitha mount and appear behind Albaedinan woods and the Krymnaia Ypsi. Following the broken treks  in the area of the Evening Paths, the explorers reached the final expanses of the rocky roads to find End's Valley, the last land mass on the other side of Vuori, above the cemetery of Ano Liosia and the old Chomateri of XYTA. Apart from sprawled cypress trees, nothing but vacuous emptiness reigns in the area.