Chania to Iraklion

Chania to Iraklion

Early morning

Our noisy neighbour

Instead of Samaria Gorge we decide to take a leisurely drive to the west, avoiding major roads and travelling, firstly along the coast, and then inland while watching the locals going about their daily lives. Along the coast the Kolumbari Peninsula looms up ahead in all of its  rugged grandeur and so when we see a road leading in that direction we take it. The narrow road is at first sealed as it wends its way through olive groves which are irrigated from amazing “Christmas trees” of pipes, taps, valves and hoses placed at regular intervals along the roadside. The road soon turns to gravel as it climbs up into the rugged peaks and we have great difficulty in relating the roads to the map. We stay with the most obviously travelled options while enjoying some quite spectacular scenery and the company of herds of inquisitive goats.

Kolumbari goats

Crete irrigation system

The road eventually descends steeply to an unexpectedly fertile little flat perched high above the sea where there is a number of vehicles parked and groups of people enjoying picnic lunches. This turns out to be the site of an historic little monastery nestled in the shade of some large green trees. We opt for the quick way back along the new national road and quite easily find our way back through the town and manage to find a car park a little closer to the hotel – no doubt this will be greatly appreciated in the morning.



Monastry site

Dinner with a view

Old Harbour lighthouse

For our evening meal we are tempted into a waterside “French” restaurant by the offer of a fifteen euro special deal being touted by a couple of guys out the front. Once seated they show no further interest and the ‘service’ is left to a lone waiter who is very much more attentive to Greek speakers than to visitors. The location and outlook are magnificent, but the food and service leave a lot to be desired and in spite of repeated requests for our bill it is not forthcoming. We are not allowed to pay by card and eventually just leave our money on the table and walk out in spite of their attempts to delay us. Fortunately all of this does little to spoil our enjoyment of the moment

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The following morning is spent with a leisurely breakfast, repacking, blogging and strolling around the waterfront before re-joining the new national road for the longish drive back to Iraklion. Apart from a moment or two of concern when the service station on which we are relying for fuel is closed (permanently) the journey is uneventful. (There is another service station just 10 – 15 minutes back along the road)
We re-join  our genial host at the Kastro Hotel and are lucky enough to find a park right in front.  A stroll around the old town and harbour, another very pleasant meal in a waterfront                                                           cafe and an early night round out the day.
After yet another leisurely breakfast, we pack ready for travel then head once more for the waterfront for photos and a stroll before an early picnic lunch and a coffee. Then it’s off to the airport bound for Turkey.

Reflections

We decided to go to Crete when we had a week's gap in our travel itinerary...somewhere to go to relax and recharge our batteries before embarking on a very full 3 weeks in Turkey.  Crete filled the bill very nicely!

We didn't trudge around museums or seek out historic sites or pay a guide to take us to the "must see" places with eleventy-hundred other tourists...we simply pleased ourselves, wandered from here to there and, incidentally, happened upon quite a few of the above.  We met and mingled with the local folk in the back streets, met fellow adventurers in restaurants and along the beach, and found, by the end of the week, that we were ready to hit the road again.

Crete is a beautiful island, its people are friendly and generous, and we enjoyed their hospitality.
















Plakias to Chania

Plakias to Chania

The road from Plakias  to the north coast is a major thoroughfare and traverses through the highest mountains on the island, the highest peak being     metres. We are reminded of this and of the winter weather as the road markings change from white to yellow indicating that the higher barren tops but as we descend towards the coast we move into greener regions and many small townships and extensive agricultural plots. We also see more domestic animals than we have previously encountered – predominantly goats and sheep.

Looking back on Plakia

We decide to avoid the new national road which links the eastern end of the island with the west and instead follow minor roads through the many picturesque little villages now bypassed by the freeway. We finally arrive in the large town of Chania and make our way towards the coast, frequently being frustrated by one way streets and not really knowing exactly where we are in relation to our objective of the Old Harbour.

We stop off at an internet coffee shop for a much needed coffee and to check the address and details of our hotel. The proprietor advises us to simply follow the coast back to our right for about 1.5 kilometres and we will be there. However, after only a short distance, the road becomes one-way – in the opposite direction to that in which we need to go! After wending through the maze of one way streets the foreshore is regained but we are confronted by a dead end! Following a series of instructions and occasional signs to the Old Harbour we are no closer to our objective, having been constantly frustrated by one way streets, dead ends and no turn signs. At this point a young lady informs us that you can’t actually drive to the hotel – you must park and walk. So it’s back to the dead-end we were at nearly two hours ago where we manage, after much manoeuvring, to squeeze the car into a parking space and carry our bags some 200 metres to the hotel, arriving somewhat hot and bothered. We suggest that this important little snippet of information could perhaps be mentioned on the web site.

The Old Harbour is truly magnificent and a hive of activity, while our hotel is a quaint older style building with a steeply winding seventy-two steps to our room. After dragging our luggage to the top, we are more than ready for a cuppa from the small kitchen provided for guests and we join an English couple on the balcony overlooking the harbour as we enjoy our drink in the shade of a spreading grape vine.

The temperature is around 35 degrees and forecast to be even higher for the next few days so, after some debate, we decide against walking Samaria Gorge as planned and opt for a more relaxed time around the harbour. After blogging and washing our way through what is left of the afternoon, we head out in the evening to join the crowds thronging the narrow streets which are full of happy voices and colourful shops and restaurants. A most enjoyable evening finishes with a delightful meal of fresh fish, while being entertained by a local musical group and our hostess, an Australian lady who arrived in Greece 35 years ago as a backpacker, met a charming Greek gentleman, and never left!

Old Harbour by night

Our hotel - the dark building

Street scene, Old Harbour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crete (continued)

After a leisurely breakfast and a relaxing morning around the pool we finally set out just before noon – this life of leisure could easily become addictive! Against some local advice we choose to take a minor road from Matala along the southern coastline but find it to be in much better condition than described, being sealed all the way apart from a short section under construction. This proves to be a good choice as it winds its way up through the arid, rocky and sparsely vegetated hills with the occasional farmhouse and even more occasional little townships, and glimpses of southern coastal beaches. We descend to the little coastal resort town of Agio, where we enjoy lunch under a palm tree near the water’s edge while watching the passing parade of both holiday makers and local fishermen going about their business.

We take the high road out of Agio and shortly see a trackscavator perched most precariously above the road as it digs an access track to a building site. We hold our breath as we cautiously approach the hairpin bend immediately below and just as well, for right in the middle of the road is a huge boulder that has just been displaced. Fortunately we are both watching the road and we manage to squeeze by without incident. We soon find ourselves descending through the Kourtalioyilio Canyon and out onto a rare flat stretch of land leading into the town of Plakias which is our next overnight stop.


Lunch at Agio

The gorge

Our hotel, the Castello, is a fine looking, almost Spanish style building set among beautiful gardens where we are met by our genial host. No formalities such as forms to fill in and passports here, just a genuinely warm welcome. The swimming pool, which we can look down upon from our toilet window, is shared with the hotel next door so we have a short walk to access it but are soon enjoying a swim and a relaxing read on the sun beds under a canopy of leafy green. Then it’s back to the balcony to dry the laundry and catch up with the diary.

Hotel Castello

In the cool of the evening we head for the beach – an easy 3-4 minute stroll away – for a little bit of shopping as we wander along the main street then down to the foreshore. We find a lovely little beachfront restaurant and enjoy the local speciality of freshly caught sardines along with salad and garlic bread, all washed down with a cool beer and a 7UP as we watch the light gradually fade over the water.

View from the toilet window

Sardines for tea

Crete

Crete:

August 18, 19, 20. Travel Time

As we have no further use for our sleeping bags and mats I eventually manage to stuff them into a mailing carton and seal them securely before heading to the Post office to mail them. The lady insists on opening the package for inspection and, in spite of my warning, is taken completely by surprise when the contents leap out to meet her. After ten minutes of effort by Elaine, the aforementioned lady and myself on the floor of the PO we eventually have the contents back in captivity, sealed and ready to post. The rest of the day is spent drying laundry, reorganising packing, cups of coffee and dining before heading to the airport for a midnight flight to Seoul. Having checked in and passed through customs we are enjoying a coffee when I was summonsed to the luggage 'dungeon' to unpack our large pack. I had to remove our little kettle, which had never been questioned before, and open it to show them the Pocket Rocket stove stored inside. They had never seen anything like it before, but we all had a bit of a laugh as I tried to explain how it all worked using mime as none of them spoke English.

The rest of the three hour journey to Seoul passed uneventfully, and after a few hour's sleep at the Sky Hotel and coffee and a donut at Dunkin' Donuts, it's back to the airport for our rather tiring  eleven-and-a-half flight to Istanbul for yet onother stopover, but didn't sleep particularly well. Maybe it was because we didn't really feel at home in a hotel with four stars above the door!

Up early for an eight-thirty departure back to the airport for a ten-thirty-five flight to Athens, which thankfully only eighty minutes duration. Athens airport was very busy and just a little disorganised. Elaine, who had both tickets and boarding passes, and I became separated. I thought that she had gone on to the departure lounge so proceeded through two security checks into the departure lounge.
Elaine, however, was still on the 'outside' looking for me only to be informed that I couldn't be in the departure lounge without a boarding pass and advised to return to information to have me paged but was not allowed to pass back to where the information booth was. Stalemate!! Eventually I talked my way back out of security and we were re-united and proceeded, via  the most intense security check we had ever experinced to catch our flight. Thank goodness for long intervals between flights! We no sooner were airborne than we were descending again into Heraklion - about forty minutes flying time.

With Crete being such a popular holiday desination, Heraklion airport is quite busy, but we passed quite quickly and smoothly through customs, collected our luggage and made our way to the Budget office to collect our car. By the time we had driven the four kilometres to the town we were feeling quite comfortable on the right hand sise of the road but were quickly becoming aware that such things as stop signs, double lines, speed limits and, at times, even traffic lights were regarded as suggestions only. We received a number of 'toots' as we tried to comply as we would at home.

Our hotel was in the old town which fronts both the old and new harbours and is surrounded by remnants of the town wall. The very narrow one-way streets are made even more difficult to negotiate by the cars parked bumper to bumper, often on both sides, necessitating external mirrors to be folded in, not only on the parked vehicles, but sometimes on your own as you drive through.

We eventually locate our hotel, the 'Kastro', on the second pass and settle in before heading out to explore the immediate surroundings. We wander along the waterfront where the old harbour is still guarded by the largely intact old fort. We are unable to get a close look at the fort as the waves, in spite of the very hot day, are crashing into the sea wall throwing spumes of spray across the walkway. From there we wander up into the town following one of the main streets which is now permanently a busy pedestrian mall lined mainly with restauants and souvenir shops. After soaking up the atmosphere for an hour or so, we settle down at one of the many street-side restauants surrounding a leafy square for a very pleasant repast before turning in for a good night's sleep in air conditioned comfort.

Old fort and seawall

View across the Old Harbour



Relaxing

Finding our way out of Iraklion proves to be something of a challenge as we are unable to locate any signs, but in our wanderings we do locate a large supermarket where we are able to stock up on water and a few other supplies. We are unable to find a gas cylinder to fit the Pocket Rocket but are able to purchase a new stove complete with gas cylinder for E18, so we can now match any type of cylinder on the market and have our ‘elevenses’ wherever we happen to be.

We eventually just head generally south out of Iraklion and find ourselves on minor roads rather than our intended route but they are taking us in the right general direction so we wander along enjoying the scenery and the lack of traffic. We soon discover that the road map, like the road rules, is suggestive only but we eventually find a few villages with names resembling those on the map (some town signs are in Greek only) and are able to plot our course towards Matala on the south coast.

 Our first impressions of the countryside are that it is very mountainous with barren rocky peaks below which are more fertile valleys with groves of olive trees and vineyards interspersed with figs, prickly pear and various vegetable crops but few domestic animals. We eventually wend our way back onto the main road for the last thirty or so kilometres into the bustling little seaside resort of  Matala.

By early afternoon we are ensconced in the hotel Zaffiria and enjoying a cuppa while looking out from our balcony across the swimming pool which is set against a spectacular backdrop of rugged limestone outcrops. The rest of the afternoon, after the laundry has been attended to, is spent lazing about the pool reading, snoozing and taking the occasional dip. In the cool of the evening we join the throngs down on the beach for a stroll and a visit to some of the Roman tombs carved into the cliff face. We enjoy a pizza in one of the open beachfront restaurants as we are entertained by a local group of musicians and enjoy a rather magnificent sunset to round out a very relaxing and enjoyable day.

Just out of Iraklion

Central Crete

Beachfront Matala

Sunset

View from the balcony