Day 2 of the Intrepid Tour had our group of 10 leaving the city of Naples to start the real adventure. This was the morning when the the tour would earn it's "Walk" stripes for the title of the tour. And gees didn't we earn it. If you visit Vesuvius with just the standard visitor's package you walk up the mountain from the carpark with all the switchbacks then enter the crater proper to walk around about half the rim. It's all pretty impressive. However if you're really wanting to experience the rim and install a level of fear into oneself by walking on the edge of a volcano you need to get yourself on a tour like we had with one of the extreme mountain guides.
This place would be heavily restricted back home I'm sure. Walking around the rim of an active volcano like this is not easy. The ground we walked on had not been nicely compacted. you're walking on rocks with a dubious hold onto the side of the mountain. Mostly it was a rocky volcanic screed which risked giving way under the weight of foot. So it was a long slow trudge following the footsteps of the person in front for me. Rarely having the chance to even peer up until we stopped every so often. Alas I was at my limit when we had the chance to divert down to a secondary area inside the path and do the echo test. So instead I become the videographer to the occasion.If uphill took my breadth away. Downhill scared the crap out of me. Downhill was far more dangerous as you were on moving screed. And well I just didn't seem to have the knack of walking on the stuff. Sure lean back helps with the control but it was the slight bending of the knee I was not doing so well after a bit of time. I was so glad to make it back to terra firma where the standard tour guests were safely viewing from. But at the same time deep down I was thinking to these standard visitors "oh yes did you see us on the other side of the rim, you're not going there. Oh that's a shame".
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