It is more convenient to reach Mega Spileo monastery by car, but the journey by rack railway is more spectacular. The narrow-gauge (75mm) Odondotos takes 1hr 5min to cover the 22km between Diakopto and Kalavrita, crossing the vertiginous Vouraikos Gorge on the way. The train, usually a diesel-electric car, skirts green meadows and climbs gradients of up to 17.5%. It crosses 55 narrow bridges, spans bottomless cliffs and disappears into six Lilliputian tunnels.