Greece
Trip Report: What can you say about a trip to Greece?
Zaros, Crete
Day 7
It was road trip day. Yes, that’s right: ROAD TRIP DAY! I admit it. I am a road trip junkie. I love being on the move exploring new places – especially if I am behind the wheel.
After the usual ritual of breakfast and packing we were ready when the guy from Anna Cars arrived on time at 10 am. We negotiated the alleys with our bags to the large parking lot behind the fortress. There our steed awaited. A white 2014 Audi A3 Cabriolet 6spd manual. Yum! And since you asked, no, it wasn’t cheap but Heraklion-based Anna Cars was competitive and a good recommendation from the forums. €400 cash all inclusive. With the luggage stored and the top down we headed off into the beautiful sunny morning.
The roads were good, the traffic was fairly light and the car was magnificent. I fed it €50 of gasoline which was 1/2 of a tank and this lasted for our entire rental period. We crossed the island to Rethymnon and then cut south to a pass through the mountains that form Crete’s backbone. Just bypassing Agia Galini, we dropped to the plain at Timbaki (and it’s a pretty plain town too). We detoured slightly to Phaistos for a visit. Then a drive through the very provincial town of Mires and a hard left took us back north into the foothills to Zaros. Non-stop would have been about 2 hours.
The whole drive was great and the mountains – in particular - were jaw-droppingly beautiful. Much greener than we expected but the summer months would change that I am sure. My TomTom performed well easily keeping us on track but my chosen voice – a German Rastaman is the best description – did receive some weird looks from passerby who heard it with the open top.
I should mention a wee bit about driving in Crete. The roads are narrow so you will spend a lot of time going around things. You are expected to ride in the paved shoulder or to pull over to drive in it to allow people behind you to pass. Which they will do in most places – over double lines etc. And of course, the cars you meet are doing the same thing . . . so ride the shoulder. It all works and it seemed safe enough. You should also get a car with a real engine if you plan to drive into the mountains where you always seem to need more peddle. The cities are more challenging with the herds of motorcycles and the inventive parking but if you take your time and keep your cool, all will be fine.
It was road trip day. Yes, that’s right: ROAD TRIP DAY! I admit it. I am a road trip junkie. I love being on the move exploring new places – especially if I am behind the wheel.
After the usual ritual of breakfast and packing we were ready when the guy from Anna Cars arrived on time at 10 am. We negotiated the alleys with our bags to the large parking lot behind the fortress. There our steed awaited. A white 2014 Audi A3 Cabriolet 6spd manual. Yum! And since you asked, no, it wasn’t cheap but Heraklion-based Anna Cars was competitive and a good recommendation from the forums. €400 cash all inclusive. With the luggage stored and the top down we headed off into the beautiful sunny morning.
The roads were good, the traffic was fairly light and the car was magnificent. I fed it €50 of gasoline which was 1/2 of a tank and this lasted for our entire rental period. We crossed the island to Rethymnon and then cut south to a pass through the mountains that form Crete’s backbone. Just bypassing Agia Galini, we dropped to the plain at Timbaki (and it’s a pretty plain town too). We detoured slightly to Phaistos for a visit. Then a drive through the very provincial town of Mires and a hard left took us back north into the foothills to Zaros. Non-stop would have been about 2 hours.
The whole drive was great and the mountains – in particular - were jaw-droppingly beautiful. Much greener than we expected but the summer months would change that I am sure. My TomTom performed well easily keeping us on track but my chosen voice – a German Rastaman is the best description – did receive some weird looks from passerby who heard it with the open top.
I should mention a wee bit about driving in Crete. The roads are narrow so you will spend a lot of time going around things. You are expected to ride in the paved shoulder or to pull over to drive in it to allow people behind you to pass. Which they will do in most places – over double lines etc. And of course, the cars you meet are doing the same thing . . . so ride the shoulder. It all works and it seemed safe enough. You should also get a car with a real engine if you plan to drive into the mountains where you always seem to need more peddle. The cities are more challenging with the herds of motorcycles and the inventive parking but if you take your time and keep your cool, all will be fine.
As I said above, we visited Phaistos on the way. Or Fastos? Or is it Faistos? Mr TomTom appeared to think it was the latter. Turn south and it is down a lane and up some switchbacks to the parking lot. By this time – midday – the temperature had risen to 1000 degrees. We hadn’t noticed it while the car was in motion but as soon as we stopped, it was relentless. OK, it was actually only 30C but it felt much worse on the barren Phaistos hilltop. The sun was brutal and it was just still just early June! Many of the few people on the site were huddled under the trees on the perimeter where the shade and a slight breeze offered some relief. We baked as we scampered over the stones and eventually crawled back to the car in near-collapse.
Without some pre-study, Phaistos isn’t terribly exciting as the overlapping palaces leave a confusing footprint. But at least it did not suffer an Evans-style reconstruction so it is real. So read up a bit and take a good map. The views are pretty spectacular in all directions.
Without some pre-study, Phaistos isn’t terribly exciting as the overlapping palaces leave a confusing footprint. But at least it did not suffer an Evans-style reconstruction so it is real. So read up a bit and take a good map. The views are pretty spectacular in all directions.
After Phaistos it was an easy fifteen minute drive east through the cruddy town of Mires to the turn north. Then the farms and the hills enveloped the road with the high mountains looming in the distance. After negotiating the last few tight turns through Zaros and then a right turn at the waterworks (Zaros-brand water is sold all over Crete) it was down a bit of a pitifully paved road before we pulled into the Eleonas Traditional Cottages around 2pm. The owner – Manolis – breezed through the check-in formalities and had us sitting in the dining room with a cool drink and some ham sandwiches in no time at all.
- Review Eleonas Traditional Cottages "Folks, The great reviews don’t lie . . ." This is a special place. Not just your average B&B, it is actually a resort at the foot of a mountain pass. Family owned & run it is a wonderful oasis in the near wilderness of Southern Crete. Manolis is the owner (along with his brother). His father tends the wide variety of trees, herbs & plants that are literally everywhere around the cottages & lining the paths etc. And his mother does preserves that they serve in the restaurant. They even have a small farm to grow some produce & chickens for eggs etc. A very nice pool, an exercise area, a tennis court, a kid's play area, numerous hiking options nearby & on & on & on. Breakfasts are bountiful & the optional lunches & dinners are varied & great. Every night they have a meat & a veggie main with a wide selection of appetizers. And they even have potable water flowing from the taps thanks to the Zaros waterworks down the road. There are some basic tavernas in Zaros if you want to break out for some variety.
After the light lunch, a staff member led us to our cabin. It was a stand-alone two level wood building with a kitchenette, bathroom and living area on the main level and a bedroom up the stairs with a walkout veranda. There was also a patio at the entrance. Both outdoor areas offered some privacy and stunning mountain views. There are a total of 21 cabins spread over three acres climbing the hill from the main building and the pool area beside it. Lushly planted it was a wonderful oasis. We spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the view as the sun set early behind the encircling mountains.
We ‘settled’ for the Eleonas after another rural boutique hotel in the south had a policy change and went to a totally non-smoking property. As luck would have it, this was a very fortunate turn of events. I had been leery of a self-contained property that didn’t really offer any dining options to those of us that like to suck in a bottle of wine with dinner. In its half-board option, the Eleonas serves up a big dinner. You chose an app from a sheet of many options and they have pre-set meat and vegetarian mains. Of course, you can also eat a-la-carte but I don’t think anybody did except for lunch.
And why did we want the south, you may ask? After researching the whole of Crete, with its concentration of popular beach resorts marring its north coast, we wanted something a bit less cluttered and the southern half of Heraklia Prefecture was a perfect option for this.
The clientele at the Eleonas was a mix of solo couples and small family units with babies. English, French, German, Dutch, Greek. Everybody was friendly in a quiet reserved fashion. A very efficient and friendly server brought our tasty meal while Manolis worked the crowd, stopping at every table for a chat. Well done!
A good day.
We ‘settled’ for the Eleonas after another rural boutique hotel in the south had a policy change and went to a totally non-smoking property. As luck would have it, this was a very fortunate turn of events. I had been leery of a self-contained property that didn’t really offer any dining options to those of us that like to suck in a bottle of wine with dinner. In its half-board option, the Eleonas serves up a big dinner. You chose an app from a sheet of many options and they have pre-set meat and vegetarian mains. Of course, you can also eat a-la-carte but I don’t think anybody did except for lunch.
And why did we want the south, you may ask? After researching the whole of Crete, with its concentration of popular beach resorts marring its north coast, we wanted something a bit less cluttered and the southern half of Heraklia Prefecture was a perfect option for this.
The clientele at the Eleonas was a mix of solo couples and small family units with babies. English, French, German, Dutch, Greek. Everybody was friendly in a quiet reserved fashion. A very efficient and friendly server brought our tasty meal while Manolis worked the crowd, stopping at every table for a chat. Well done!
A good day.
Day 8
I woke up before sunrise to the sound of a distant rooster. That is always a good thing imho. I went out on our patio with a mug of hot & enjoyed the mountains waking up. Now THIS is what I wanted. In Athens, early mornings on the patio meant a cacophony of traffic and horns. In Chania, it was the teens staggering home from partying @ 5am and the garbage pickup and delivery trucks in the pedestrian area. Eleonas in Zaros – on the other hand - was perfect with just the sounds of nature . . . ahhhhh . . .
After a hearty breakfast we started to think about an activity. I had promised my spouse a no driving day. She finds mountain driving – with switchbacks and no guardrails in particular – to be a very harrowing experience. To the point that she often gets very vocal as I am negotiating the same. And yes, I have threatened to stuff her in the trunk . . . anyways . . . this was a no driving day.
What to do? Laze by the pool? Walk to the nearby trout lake? Dive into the Kindle? No. Let’s go for a hike! Maybe a short one . . .
To explain . . . Eleonas is just 1km from the tiny town of Zaros. They sit at the gateway to the Rouvas Forest preserve and its E4 European Walking Path through the Rouvas Gorge. Manolis handed out a map on check-in that includes a whole mess of adventures in Southern Crete to keep his clients occupied. We zoomed in on an easy one. A 3.something km walk to a 14th Century monastery with a medieval fountain. Easy, right? Remember the subtitle I mentioned above? Lost in the Goat Paths of Crete.
We started off well. We were enthusiastic and armed with bottled water, a rough map, sunscreen and sensible shoes. We asked Manolis about the trail and he said it was easy: “Go down the road and when you get to the paved road you jog 90m to pick up the trail. Then, just follow the R2 trail signs” And we did. The trail was a winding track through the trees, olive groves and fields of the foothills of Mount Psiloritis. Note: This should read foot-HILLS.
First of all, we neglected to calculate that that 3.something was EACH way. And then we also neglected to think that this was the foot-HILLS. As in up and down. Remember that scene with Peter O’Toole crossing the desert after the kid gets sucked into the quicksand in Lawrence of Arabia? Well, I swear that we resembled that after 45 minutes of walking. Admittedly, the vistas were incredible. The kind of vistas that you can never capture with a camera. The trail was marked on rocks at each crossroads so it was easy to follow. Goat paths crisscrossed the road and bedding areas lay beside it – you could smell them as you walked by. It was great. Until the physical exertion plus the relentless, merciless anvil of the sun took its toll. Yes, the same brutal sun that we had encountered at Phaistos the day before. Add in the up and down part to complete the torture. Then the trek became a quest. I had to beat it because we had gone too far to turn back. And my wife kept trudging for the same reason and to humor me. Praying that the monastery was around every bend or just over that next hill, we soldiered on. Finally, when we were almost ready to drop to a crawl, we arrived.
And it was a bit anti-climactic to be honest. The plane tree-shaded outer courtyard was the highlight because it had shade. And nice cold spring water spewing from its rather decrepit 15th Century fountain. Some locals arrived in a car to fill some bottles for home while we were recovering on a bench to the side of the courtyard. And yes, there was also the quaint old church of St Anthony in the courtyard with some xxth Century frescoes and paintings but it was the shade that was the most appealing thing.
But then we had to go back. Well, at least it would be downhill and we knew the way. Right? Wrong. Remember that this was the foot-HILLS. And someone apparently stole all of the markings at the intersections after we passed by. I swear! All of the marked rocks were gone.
There were roads and goat tracks everywhere. We passed by some beehives that we hadn't seen on the way. And then a herd of sheep with their clanging bells. We could see roads in the distance up the hill. And we could see them below. We could even see the paved road to Zaros way off in the distance. But the road we were on just went on and on curling off in the wrong direction. And why were there rubber shoe heels randomly strew on this road in the middle of nowhere? Heels from women’s shoes and heels from work boots – all shapes and sizes. I dubbed that section the Lair of the Cretan Shoe Bandit. We walked by it four times as I ‘got my bearings’. I voted for cross-country because I could see an obvious route down below but that was overruled as my wife resolutely refused to leave the road. We said some choice words to each other as our tempers frayed . . . under the relentless, merciless anvil of the sun. We finally gave up and turned back to our last known position. Thankfully, I remembered the route to backtrack and we avoided the need to test the efficiency of the Cretan Search and Rescue Teams. Back past the sheep herd and back past the beehives to the intersection where it had all gone wrong. I even confirmed it with our footprints in the dusty track - as my spouse was seriously losing faith in my guiding abilities by this time. Each hill had become an Everest. Each spot of shade a refuge. We trudged on and on and on. Finally, as the last reserves of energy were ebbing from our overheated bodies, we reached the paved road and its 90m jog and we knew that we were almost home. We had survived. Needless to say, we slummed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
I woke up before sunrise to the sound of a distant rooster. That is always a good thing imho. I went out on our patio with a mug of hot & enjoyed the mountains waking up. Now THIS is what I wanted. In Athens, early mornings on the patio meant a cacophony of traffic and horns. In Chania, it was the teens staggering home from partying @ 5am and the garbage pickup and delivery trucks in the pedestrian area. Eleonas in Zaros – on the other hand - was perfect with just the sounds of nature . . . ahhhhh . . .
After a hearty breakfast we started to think about an activity. I had promised my spouse a no driving day. She finds mountain driving – with switchbacks and no guardrails in particular – to be a very harrowing experience. To the point that she often gets very vocal as I am negotiating the same. And yes, I have threatened to stuff her in the trunk . . . anyways . . . this was a no driving day.
What to do? Laze by the pool? Walk to the nearby trout lake? Dive into the Kindle? No. Let’s go for a hike! Maybe a short one . . .
To explain . . . Eleonas is just 1km from the tiny town of Zaros. They sit at the gateway to the Rouvas Forest preserve and its E4 European Walking Path through the Rouvas Gorge. Manolis handed out a map on check-in that includes a whole mess of adventures in Southern Crete to keep his clients occupied. We zoomed in on an easy one. A 3.something km walk to a 14th Century monastery with a medieval fountain. Easy, right? Remember the subtitle I mentioned above? Lost in the Goat Paths of Crete.
We started off well. We were enthusiastic and armed with bottled water, a rough map, sunscreen and sensible shoes. We asked Manolis about the trail and he said it was easy: “Go down the road and when you get to the paved road you jog 90m to pick up the trail. Then, just follow the R2 trail signs” And we did. The trail was a winding track through the trees, olive groves and fields of the foothills of Mount Psiloritis. Note: This should read foot-HILLS.
First of all, we neglected to calculate that that 3.something was EACH way. And then we also neglected to think that this was the foot-HILLS. As in up and down. Remember that scene with Peter O’Toole crossing the desert after the kid gets sucked into the quicksand in Lawrence of Arabia? Well, I swear that we resembled that after 45 minutes of walking. Admittedly, the vistas were incredible. The kind of vistas that you can never capture with a camera. The trail was marked on rocks at each crossroads so it was easy to follow. Goat paths crisscrossed the road and bedding areas lay beside it – you could smell them as you walked by. It was great. Until the physical exertion plus the relentless, merciless anvil of the sun took its toll. Yes, the same brutal sun that we had encountered at Phaistos the day before. Add in the up and down part to complete the torture. Then the trek became a quest. I had to beat it because we had gone too far to turn back. And my wife kept trudging for the same reason and to humor me. Praying that the monastery was around every bend or just over that next hill, we soldiered on. Finally, when we were almost ready to drop to a crawl, we arrived.
And it was a bit anti-climactic to be honest. The plane tree-shaded outer courtyard was the highlight because it had shade. And nice cold spring water spewing from its rather decrepit 15th Century fountain. Some locals arrived in a car to fill some bottles for home while we were recovering on a bench to the side of the courtyard. And yes, there was also the quaint old church of St Anthony in the courtyard with some xxth Century frescoes and paintings but it was the shade that was the most appealing thing.
But then we had to go back. Well, at least it would be downhill and we knew the way. Right? Wrong. Remember that this was the foot-HILLS. And someone apparently stole all of the markings at the intersections after we passed by. I swear! All of the marked rocks were gone.
There were roads and goat tracks everywhere. We passed by some beehives that we hadn't seen on the way. And then a herd of sheep with their clanging bells. We could see roads in the distance up the hill. And we could see them below. We could even see the paved road to Zaros way off in the distance. But the road we were on just went on and on curling off in the wrong direction. And why were there rubber shoe heels randomly strew on this road in the middle of nowhere? Heels from women’s shoes and heels from work boots – all shapes and sizes. I dubbed that section the Lair of the Cretan Shoe Bandit. We walked by it four times as I ‘got my bearings’. I voted for cross-country because I could see an obvious route down below but that was overruled as my wife resolutely refused to leave the road. We said some choice words to each other as our tempers frayed . . . under the relentless, merciless anvil of the sun. We finally gave up and turned back to our last known position. Thankfully, I remembered the route to backtrack and we avoided the need to test the efficiency of the Cretan Search and Rescue Teams. Back past the sheep herd and back past the beehives to the intersection where it had all gone wrong. I even confirmed it with our footprints in the dusty track - as my spouse was seriously losing faith in my guiding abilities by this time. Each hill had become an Everest. Each spot of shade a refuge. We trudged on and on and on. Finally, as the last reserves of energy were ebbing from our overheated bodies, we reached the paved road and its 90m jog and we knew that we were almost home. We had survived. Needless to say, we slummed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
Hiking the goat tracks of Crete
Vrontisi Monastery
We told our tale at dinner to an English couple we befriended the night before. They sympathized and we all got a good laugh. And then they extolled the virtues of their day’s adventure walking the Agiafarago gorge. We didn't want another trek but they claimed that it was a really easy walk. They claimed that there was lots of shade and that it was actually nicely cool in the gorge with the high rock walls. And that the beach was pure heaven. And I was itching for a road trip so I was all ears . . .
Day 9
By the next morning, our Lost in the Goat Paths of Crete adventure had already dimmed to folklore status. So throwing caution to the wind, we set out for another adventure . . .
Sometimes I read reviews of a place or activity and I wonder if the reporter even went to the same place. It would seem that a vacation 'high' or amnesia boosts people's enthusiasm and they tend to overlook the bad. Of course, the polar opposite is true as well, with people bitterly complaining about some negative aspect. Visiting the Sistine Chapel comes to mind . . . the crowds can destroy any appreciation of that fantastic ceiling . . . but I digress. Anyways, the reviews of this activity don't seem to jive with reality - as we discovered.
Aside from the northern beach sprawl and visiting archaeological sites, gorge trekking is a prime activity of a visit to Crete. The Samaria Gorge has almost become a 'must do' for visitors. Well, I read a lot of reviews about this adventure and it quickly became apparent that this strenuous all day walk was not a good fit for us. With trick knees, 60 year old out-of-shape bodies and with one of us exhibiting a terror of slipping and sliding down a mountainside, there was just no point. I know, I know, some of you will pipe in that 80 year old grandmothers in walkers can do it backwards with blindfolds on but we weren't going to.
Anyways . . . the setting of the beach at Agiafarago (aka Agia Farago or Agiafaraggo) is gorgeous, snuggled in a magical high rock wall cove with the blue waters of the Med (actually the Libya Sea at this point, I believe) lapping peacefully on a pebbled shore. It is located near Matala in the SW corner of the Heraklion prefecture.
The drive in starts south of Sivas from the Odigitria Monastery. The winding dirt road is narrow (1 1/2 lanes) and it is very bumpy with lots of ruts and washboard sections. The switchbacks are easy going in but they can be challenging on the way out (did you know that a new Audi A3 manual restarts itself if you stall it? Just pop in the clutch and it restarts - as I found out on the return trip). Oh, and there are no guard rails and there are some healthy drops. After several kms we reached the 1st parking area which is a 45 minute walk from the last parking area - which is a 30 minute walk from the actual beach. Of course, we didn't know most of this before we started. There are no signs except for a small one on the road in and it is on a blind curve and it seems to tell you to turn right into a yawning precipice. I had to get out of the car to ensure that there was an actual road. Once confirmed, we turned down an even narrower track that swung down to parking lot # 1 after a kilometer. This is just a wider rocky area with numerous cars pulled to both sides of the road.
Be aware that your car rental is NOT insured for off-road so decide what risk factor you are comfortable with.
I was very hesitant about the clearance on our low slung Audi A3 convertible, so we parked & walked from here. We regretted this foolish decision greatly. It was a hot and dusty trudge up and down, following the oleander-lined river in the bottom of the gradually narrowing alley. We passed a house - still occupied - and a small deserted farm on the way. While this last section of the one lane road to the final large parking area is mostly fine, there are a couple of nasty rocks in areas which could easily take out a muffler or a diff. Cars were pulled over at numerous spots with other people obviously thinking enough was enough as well. You exit this last big grassy parking area through a very narrow gate. I heard two German guys ahead of us laughing about Americans not being able to fit through it. It was pretty tight. The final gorge walk was actually quite nice, with multiple paths winding through the oleanders and the dry stony river bed, as kestrels cried as they wheeled overhead. It is easy to get off track here as the paths and the river bed entwine and split. We hit dead ends several times. The abandoned chapel of St Anthony in the last stretch of this walk is a reminder that the area has always been a hangout for the solitary monks who lived in the caves in the gorge walls. I didn't spot anyone in a hair shirt so I think we picked a good day. A herd of goats grazing off in the brush with their clanging bells added to the spell and distracted my wife. I just wanted to get there at this point.
Our reward at the end was the beach. Of course, the cold hard reality is that the actual beach is stone & tidal mud with a bit of sand mixed in. And the sea-rounded black stones are very, very hot in the midday sun & quite painful to walk on and it was exceedingly uncomfortable to get in/out of the water without water boots. The water was very refreshing - not quite bone-chilling - but typical Mediterranean cold. But it was still pretty special.
The walk out was seriously cruel with that relentless, merciless anvil of the sun (again) beating down on our weakening bodies. It seemed like it was 50 miles, On and on, another curve and another small hill . . . When we finally regained the car, we sat in it with the AC on full blast for 15 minutes to recover. And we skipped a visit to the monastery because we had simply run out of the energy to do so.
Warnings: Take water - there are no facilities whatsoever. And don't park under the trees because the goats are known to climb on cars to graze on the leaves above. We saw 2 goats circling a Suzuki Vitera neatly parked under a tree.
By the next morning, our Lost in the Goat Paths of Crete adventure had already dimmed to folklore status. So throwing caution to the wind, we set out for another adventure . . .
Sometimes I read reviews of a place or activity and I wonder if the reporter even went to the same place. It would seem that a vacation 'high' or amnesia boosts people's enthusiasm and they tend to overlook the bad. Of course, the polar opposite is true as well, with people bitterly complaining about some negative aspect. Visiting the Sistine Chapel comes to mind . . . the crowds can destroy any appreciation of that fantastic ceiling . . . but I digress. Anyways, the reviews of this activity don't seem to jive with reality - as we discovered.
Aside from the northern beach sprawl and visiting archaeological sites, gorge trekking is a prime activity of a visit to Crete. The Samaria Gorge has almost become a 'must do' for visitors. Well, I read a lot of reviews about this adventure and it quickly became apparent that this strenuous all day walk was not a good fit for us. With trick knees, 60 year old out-of-shape bodies and with one of us exhibiting a terror of slipping and sliding down a mountainside, there was just no point. I know, I know, some of you will pipe in that 80 year old grandmothers in walkers can do it backwards with blindfolds on but we weren't going to.
Anyways . . . the setting of the beach at Agiafarago (aka Agia Farago or Agiafaraggo) is gorgeous, snuggled in a magical high rock wall cove with the blue waters of the Med (actually the Libya Sea at this point, I believe) lapping peacefully on a pebbled shore. It is located near Matala in the SW corner of the Heraklion prefecture.
The drive in starts south of Sivas from the Odigitria Monastery. The winding dirt road is narrow (1 1/2 lanes) and it is very bumpy with lots of ruts and washboard sections. The switchbacks are easy going in but they can be challenging on the way out (did you know that a new Audi A3 manual restarts itself if you stall it? Just pop in the clutch and it restarts - as I found out on the return trip). Oh, and there are no guard rails and there are some healthy drops. After several kms we reached the 1st parking area which is a 45 minute walk from the last parking area - which is a 30 minute walk from the actual beach. Of course, we didn't know most of this before we started. There are no signs except for a small one on the road in and it is on a blind curve and it seems to tell you to turn right into a yawning precipice. I had to get out of the car to ensure that there was an actual road. Once confirmed, we turned down an even narrower track that swung down to parking lot # 1 after a kilometer. This is just a wider rocky area with numerous cars pulled to both sides of the road.
Be aware that your car rental is NOT insured for off-road so decide what risk factor you are comfortable with.
I was very hesitant about the clearance on our low slung Audi A3 convertible, so we parked & walked from here. We regretted this foolish decision greatly. It was a hot and dusty trudge up and down, following the oleander-lined river in the bottom of the gradually narrowing alley. We passed a house - still occupied - and a small deserted farm on the way. While this last section of the one lane road to the final large parking area is mostly fine, there are a couple of nasty rocks in areas which could easily take out a muffler or a diff. Cars were pulled over at numerous spots with other people obviously thinking enough was enough as well. You exit this last big grassy parking area through a very narrow gate. I heard two German guys ahead of us laughing about Americans not being able to fit through it. It was pretty tight. The final gorge walk was actually quite nice, with multiple paths winding through the oleanders and the dry stony river bed, as kestrels cried as they wheeled overhead. It is easy to get off track here as the paths and the river bed entwine and split. We hit dead ends several times. The abandoned chapel of St Anthony in the last stretch of this walk is a reminder that the area has always been a hangout for the solitary monks who lived in the caves in the gorge walls. I didn't spot anyone in a hair shirt so I think we picked a good day. A herd of goats grazing off in the brush with their clanging bells added to the spell and distracted my wife. I just wanted to get there at this point.
Our reward at the end was the beach. Of course, the cold hard reality is that the actual beach is stone & tidal mud with a bit of sand mixed in. And the sea-rounded black stones are very, very hot in the midday sun & quite painful to walk on and it was exceedingly uncomfortable to get in/out of the water without water boots. The water was very refreshing - not quite bone-chilling - but typical Mediterranean cold. But it was still pretty special.
The walk out was seriously cruel with that relentless, merciless anvil of the sun (again) beating down on our weakening bodies. It seemed like it was 50 miles, On and on, another curve and another small hill . . . When we finally regained the car, we sat in it with the AC on full blast for 15 minutes to recover. And we skipped a visit to the monastery because we had simply run out of the energy to do so.
Warnings: Take water - there are no facilities whatsoever. And don't park under the trees because the goats are known to climb on cars to graze on the leaves above. We saw 2 goats circling a Suzuki Vitera neatly parked under a tree.
Agiofarago Gorge & Beach
For a late lunch, we stopped in Zaros on the drive back for some very good souvlaki with fries and a fresh salad at the Oasis Taverna on the main street. As we sat there refueled and refreshed, we felt a true sense of accomplishment at our activities of the last two days. We had trekked a scenic goat track to a quaint monastery and we had trekked to an idyllic pocket beach. Not too shabby for two older out-of-shape Canadians. And the gorge had been truly gorgeous.
At dinner that night we talked with a nice Dutch couple who were on a terracotta buying mission around Crete. They were smart and did it by car – no trekking for them! And we talked with the UK couple again and found out that it had been cloudy and it had rained during their gorge excursion the day before so that kind of explains the lack of sun and pain on their gorge trek . . . and besides, they lied.
At dinner that night we talked with a nice Dutch couple who were on a terracotta buying mission around Crete. They were smart and did it by car – no trekking for them! And we talked with the UK couple again and found out that it had been cloudy and it had rained during their gorge excursion the day before so that kind of explains the lack of sun and pain on their gorge trek . . . and besides, they lied.