Friday night and eyelids are drooping. Am in Sorrento, last
night here with pretty much no motivation to join the herds of tourists who
waste euro on insanely overpriced beer. Not to worry, today had my first epic
adventure end up in a sapphire sea cave on the island of Capri!
So, I ended up a few days in Pompeii, super relaxed, all I
did was pretty much lie around, ate and went for small wanders around the one
main street of town. Not much doing, so one afternoon after a delish risotto
made by the welcoming Pepe, shared with his wife and of course a bottle of
wine, I climbed Vesuvius! So very hot, I can’t tell you how my dusty feet and
body were so thankful to get back to the air-conditioned haven I had made of my
room in the hostel.
Well looked after by Pepe it was difficult leaving the
hostel, but I found my way onto a train, a little worse for wear considering we
pretty much emptied the hostel of wine the night before. On arrival in Sorrento
I wanted to lie down, so immediately asked for directions to the hostel. I
walked about ten minutes in the wrong direction, woozy and dripping, barely
able to continue on shaky legs with over 20kg in backpack and bags.
On arrival at the hostel, I hated it. I still do, even
though I just had my first hot shower since being here, which was a godsend
after the athletic day today! A lovely Oreganean girl shared dinner with me,
and the next day I set off to find a small spot out of town to enjoy. I was
accompanied by an Irishman, to Bagni Regina Giovanna, small ruins on the coast
with blue waters and an open natural pool accessed by path or small hole in the
rock. Very cool and totally free!!
This morning I arose early thanks to my roommates, AiChoo
from Japan who at 5.50am woke me up in a fright thinking it was 8am. So I
headed off to meet the girls I’d befriended in Pompeii for a daytrip to Capri,
an Island paradise that is sure to eat away 3 days budget. There are two towns
on the Island, and hundreds of top label shops, very fancy and perhaps built
for rich tourists.
We trekked up the wrong mountain, well worth the sweat and
tears as there was not one tourist in sight, not including the many boats
specking the surrounding sea. Slightly overcast, the day promised to be humid,
and around lunchtime, we were struggling. We found our way to the right
mountaintop, where hundreds of tourists walked straight off a gondola. Us
having saved ten euro, but exhibiting signs of wear in the dusty dirt caked
feet and smelly sweatiness, stopped for a beer, wandered out to another point,
then hooray, jumped on the gondola without a ticket, dangling legs down the
slopes, all the way down to Anacapri. Immediate gelato fix and we found
ourselves a bus to the famed Grotta Azzule.
This
cave is famous for its sapphire blue water, and is accessible by tour boat for
15euro, and a few hours waiting, then a few minutes inside. Today the swell was
so massive the entrance was closed by a gush of powerful sea in and then drop
down to rocks. We came down from land, the steps littered with tourists keen to
get in for a look, and with no tours around, we hopped in the marvelous Med,
letting bodies soak in the fresh water, and carefully entered the cave. Breath
taking, spell bounding, remarkably blue water surrounds the entrance of the
cave, total blackness behind us, the cave goes further in, but as light fades
from outside, the blue was slowly receding. We marveled for a long while,
floating and frolicking in the fantastic water. The adrenaline rush from
getting in through the small crack, and out again, aiding in the spell from
having swum in the lovely sparkling deep deep sapphire water. Truly
spectacular.