Greece, or should we say Crete?

We crossed into Greece with rain hot on our tails,

Our first town on the water.


Crete is an island of rock, olives, goats, and beautiful coastline.



A trip to Greece wouldn't be complete without Greek ruins. Here is Phaistos.

On a day hike along the E4 we found a remote bay we could call our own for a swim and to soak up a few rays.

Sweetwater beach, a beach with fresh water springs all along the sand a few meters from the water. We went for a quick swim and moved on, those darn Europeans just can't leave their clothes on.

You always have to look out for these guys on the road as you go. What a view,

Chora Skafion in the distance.

We took a little climb into a cave near Kato Zakros, we forgot our flashlight so it was a good thing Norbert and Andrea from Bonn came along with one.

A lovely little boat anchored in front of our room.

A beautiful moonscape.

Just a warning before you start your decent into the Samaria Gorge, no high heels or old people with canes who have been drinking.

Looking down a part of the gorge.




The roughed landscape along the E4 trail near Sougia.

Sure we make tentative plans or a route that we want to travel but nothing is written in stone and that is good thing because as we crossed the Greek border from Bulgaria with rain hot on our heels it didn't take us long to decide to head down into Greece now(instead of flying back in Nov.). Also after a couple of nights heading over the Greek coast the decision was easy...head for Crete now and see what the weather would do up north in a week or so. The rain had to stop sometime...didn't it?

So that night, only 24 hours after making the decision to head south we were in Athens and by 8:30 we had set sail south, headed for the Greek Islands. Here we are in Crete, possibly the cradle of western civilization, definitely the land of volcanic rock, roaming goats and sheep, olive groves that seem to cling to unimaginable hillsides and unfortunately a lot of road side garbage. All in all a beautiful rugged island with fantastic, twisty and paved roads for riding thru enchanting villages of old rock and white washed buildings. Every town has at least one quite little church if now 5 or 6 and there are many more dotting the hillsides and mountain tops.

We headed straight across the island after disembarking from our ship at 7:30 am(the boat arrived at 6 am but opted for a little more sleep in our private cabin). On the south coast we discovered the little town of Chora Sfation with a room we could call home, hiking trails to beaches, and even a pool for a little afternoon dip. Here is where we met our new Aussie friends Jenny and Ioannis, Ioannis was born on Crete and later moved to Austrailia with his family, he was a wealth of information about the past and the people of Crete. We are very thankful he was willing to share his knowledge with us, it gave us a totally different prespective. It was nice.

After a couple days of hiking and discovering we headed out to ride the south coast of the island, so many twisting, tiny roads. At this time we realized how true thankful we were that we had come to Crete now and not at the end of Nov., one night we rode into a beach town and found the only hotel that was still open and even then the owners made a point of telling us that breakfast was at 9am sharp then the doors were closing for good for the season! First thing in the morning we were off... and a good thing too,because we found another gem of a village on the far east coast, Kato Zakro.

Kato Zakros is nothing more that a few hotels and restaurants that were mostly open, a nice beach, and a few good hikes-thru a gorge and and along the coast to a cave (we did both, I love this island!). The room we found had a deck that hung over a small cliff onto the beach, a beautiful place to watch the sun rise. It was going to be had to leave this place, hopefully if was still raining up north! Guess who we ran into here? of course, Jenny and Ioannis. They made us a great Greek dinner in their villa and we watched an amazing moon set over the mountains.

Next day off we go again, off to Chania (pronounced Hania) a city in the north west of the island with the most amazing "old port" full of hotels, restaurants and shopping but that is not why we are here. Thanks to recommendations from friends and travel guides to Crete "The Reinelts" we were here to hike the Samaria Gorge, a grueling gorge hike 15km downhill with mountain sides of 2400m and at the narrowest section it is 3m wide and the walls are 300m straight up. Breathtaking, a sight we will never forget and a good thing as the camera didn't take very good pictures in the limited lighting(it couldn't have been my fault). As luck would have it we had the most beautiful weather that day, Oct 19th (the gorge officially closed on the 15th but was open day by day weather permitting) the next day rain was predicted and the gorge would be closed for the year.

The next day, under cloudy but not rainy sky's, we set out west and across to the south side of the island again. A few more days in Sougia soaking up some rays, swimming and hiking before we head to the ferry and trip north, however that looks.

Crete has a great hiking trail called the E4, it runs across the middle of the island thru the mountains or along the shoreline, either way you like. We have been lucky enough to find different sections of the trail in a few towns we've stayed in along the beach. The weather this time of year here is perfect for hiking, I don't think I would like to do it in the middle of summer.

Well it is our last afternoon here in Sougia, the sun is shining, we hiked this morning now it is time for our last dip in the Mediterranean. Huh, so sad!