Ever since I was in grade 5 or 6 and we read about the lost city of Pompeii which had been buried under layers of ash years ago when one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world erupted - Mt. Vesuvius, I had dreamt of walking through this city.. So this just had to be on the list.
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| Thermal Bath |
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| Pompeii |
Pompeii & Vesuvius can be done on a day trip from either Rome or Naples, though it is closer from Naples. We did a lot of research on the best routes to get to Pompeii & then get to Mt. Vesuvius to trek up to the crater.. yes you can trek up to the crater :) A DIY way to get yourself to both sights would involve about 2 trains and then a bus to Vesuvius - it seemed quite a task! Hence we decided to take one of the day tours from Rome. We decided to go with City Wonders Tours and we booked them through Get Your Guide website (you can also book directly on the City Wonders site). There are other tour groups as well but the reviews seemed good.
This guided tour included the bus ride, entry tickets to both sights, and a lunch as well. We started off at 7:30 am from the meeting point and after approx 3hrs we reached Pompeii. The weather has been a bit of a bummer through our trip and it was one of those gloomy, rainy, overcast days. Well, once we arrived at Pompeii, we got our audio sets and set off marching behind our tour guide.
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| Cast of a person |
In 79AD when Vesuvius erupted it covered the entire city of Pompeij, Herculean and two other small towns with ash and buried them deep. For long Pompeii was known as a name and no one knew the location. Years later Pompeii was uncovered by an archaeologist and the excavations continue till today. Pompeii is a massive, completely planned city extending to acres. The city is divided into many complexes with what was to be shops where people used to buy things including a bakery - you can still see the baking oven there. Pompeii was almost like a self sustained society with a very elaborate city planning including a sewage system with pipes, a currency system, thermal baths for socializing, different societal classes and a red light area! Our tour of the city lasted about 2hrs ish and it was awesome .. walking through the ages.
Post that we had a lunch stopover at a place which served the true Neopolitan pizza. Pizza is said to have originated in Naples and that’s exactly what we got to savor. Given the overcast skies and rains we kept hoping they would let us climb the mountain. Being an active volcano and one of the most dangerous, the authorities are very careful on letting climbers up when weather is terrible. The bus takes you about 3/4th up the mountain and then its a short 15-20 minute, uphill climb to the crater. The fog and the mist just added to the mystery and danger of this volcano. The climb is a bit steep and inclined so some amount of stamina is needed; plus its a bit slippery with the loose gravel. After the climb through the mist, the first and main crater comes into the view. A quick peek into the crater, to see some steam coming out we then quickly walked on the level ground to the next crater. After a few pics and picking volcanic rocks from the trail we descended back to the base where our bus was waiting for us. For me this was a super thrilling experience - climbing up a dangerous, active volcano! Wow! 
Vesuvius erupted last about 75 yrs ago. The area around the mountain houses a number of people, vineyards and produces some great tasting wine. There are about 750,000 people living in the red zone of this volcano today who would need to be evacuated when the volcano erupts - people know it will erupt.. the question is when? Will it take another 75 yrs to erupt or would it be in the near future.. Only Time will tell.
For now.. back to Rome to delve into some Roman history!
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| Vesuvius Crater |
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| The uphill climb |
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