Hi All,
Off to an early start this morning .Left the hotel at just after 515am and quickly walked through the dark streets to catch the metro to catch our ferry to Mykonos.We were however not alone on the streets as the streets were overflowing with the late night parties who were grabbing their early morning gyros (kebahs) after a late night out at the night clubs.
No Newcastle to Stockton size ferry for us we are on yet another Greek super size ferry that requires two sets of elevators to reach the top level.. We thought that the ferry would basically be empty but we were sadly mistaken as the ferry appears to be full so unfortunately it will not be a deserted island for us. While we waited to get going we had free wifi which is all over the port and managed a walk around with the camera for a curious young fan in Australia.
The island of Mykonos is mainly know for its amazing beaches, its beautiful towns, the nightlife and it gay friendly attitude. The island attracts millions of people every year and it is one of the most expensive areas of Greece and that is why we are intending on camping.
We arrived at the port with the aircraft like scrum of people wanting to be the first to get off the ferry. Once outside there was a multitude of people waving signs hoping to direct you to their house, hostel or resort. We were not surprised to see the paradise beach camping sign and we were on their bus and at the site in no time. It had a rustic feel about it having been started 40 years ago and seemingly had no maintenance done ever since but it was alright. We walked out to the beach which had a bar, restaurant and lots of people lounging around on sun lounges under palm umbrellas and calm crystal, almost unnaturally, blue water. My first thought was hideous with all the clutter but after putting up our tent and getting away from the crowd and walking the headland we could see that this was a beautiful place that hadn’t totally been exploited by tourism. Of course we got to the next beach and it was the same but different. Sigh.
One problem with being so far from town is that the area has a monopoly. We looked at the local supermarket and it was quite expensive as was a bus ticket into town at 1.4 euro each. We decided to go first thing in the morning next day.
We didn’t sleep too well as clumsy people kept tripping over out guys on the tent on their way to the cabins and the people in a nearby tent felt the need to talk loudly for quite a while at about 1am in the morning.
The weather deteriorated overnight and it was very windy and overcast by the morning. A bit of it was a dark and stormy… We got a good tour on the bus as it doubled as the school bus and went to lots of places on the island before getting to the township.
Mykonos is a maze of narrow streets with white houses with blue shutters and takes a bit of navigating. It certainly blocked the wind well as we walked around looking. There are some old windmills up above the town and a small area of cafes that are called little venice due to their close positioning to the water. Otherwise the town is a tourist town with lots and lots of shops. It is always fun to try and figure out where the locals get their fruit and vegetable and grocery shopping and it was even more fun in the maze of streets. We eventually found the fruit and veg down on the waterfront with the stereotypical greek fisherman and their captains hats and moustaches. Even better still was finding a ‘free’ wifi link to check our email before getting blown away by the wind.
We walked back to the camping ground from town. Lots of fields full of flowers and the occasional donkey. Was much more pleasant than being on the bus.
The weather kept deteriorating and the rain started just after we got back to the camp so it was an afternoon of lazing around reading and wishing that we had charged the laptop earlier. The rain and wind were relentless as were the other campers who kept on tripping over out tent guys even with the big rocks that had been placed next to them to discourage people.
The night sleep was broken again. There was a drama going on about a crash between what seemed to be a taxi and some campers on a quad. Quite amusing for us in the tent but not so for the others under the spotlight.
Heading off to Santorini this afternoon.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
