Greece...marking the end of English letters and the end of our Eurail ticket, the end of our tour through western Europe, and the end of travel through developed 1st world countries for a while. But Greece also marked the begininng of a new independence of travel for me, quite unexpectedly.
Here I must say that Greece has been my favorite country I've travelled thus far...great food, a friendly people, with a paradise backdrop of crystal blue waters, sandy beaches, and rugged mountains. Pushing back our flight to Israel twice to allow for more time in Europe was well justified after my first bite of moussaka, a traditional Greek dish of fried eggplant baked in cheese.
Upon leaving Italy, Jake and I make plans to split up for a week as his girlfriend, Lynnsay, was flying to Athens to pay him a birthday visit. So all three of us departed from Athens...Lynnsay and Jake to the remote island of Ios, while I made my way to the ancient island of Crete for some solo exploration. Our parting was sort of a blessing in disguise for me as I found solo travel to open completely new opportunities for personal growth and meeting fellow travellers.
Sleeping on the overnight ferry, I headed straight for Plakias, a beautiful beach on the southern coast of Crete. Plakias youth hostel, where I spent most of my 10 days on Crete, was everything I could ask for in a hostel. Upon arrival to the hostel, I was welcomed immediately by fellow travellers, and was informed by the hostel's manager of the timeless nature of the area...a handful of travellers had hunkered down there (at the hostel) for months at a time.
My first priority on Crete were my essential 3 B's: a beer and my book on the beach. I've recently been infatuated with the Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis, because of my introduction to him on Crete with his classic novel, Zorba the Greek, which takes place there (another great read reccomendation is his Last Temptation). And after a full day of r and r, the adventure bug was back at me, taunting me for some exploration. Meeting some nice Frech Canadian girls, I persuaded them to explore the backcountry of Crete with me on a recommended river walk. We hiked ankle to waist deep, scrambling over boulders, and taking rest stops at the small waterfall pools along the way. Because we didn't complete the entire hike that day, I returned by myself later that week to be rewarded with even more stunning waterfalls and pools further upstream. This, combined with a pervading peacefulness of only hearing flowing water around was the perfect hangover cure to a Greek-style all-night marathon of drinking and dancing the previous night. Another friend I met at the hostel, Rob from Austin, took us on an off-roading adventure in his rented SUV to a remote cliff-jumping beach and later we caught an amazing sunset over the coastline atop a nearby peak.
My most notable adventure on Crete was my 3-day "motorcycle" tour of the southern coast of Crete. Inspired by a road bike tour that my friend, Claudius, took the week before...I decided to try it engine-powered with a rental hog. And my T-Rex 110 didn't disappoint. Actually, the largest two-wheeler they could legally rent me was the 100 cc scooter that maxed out around 100 km/h (I still think I could have got it up to 110 with a longer straightaway...hehe). But she purred like a kitten (actually squealed like a pig) and I had "Born to be Wild" playing on repeat in my head as I scootered the Cretan landscape with my backpack as big as my bike. I rode to monasteries, remote beaches, gorges, and up mountains with my trusty T-Rex. As I rode, the sea breeze carried strong aromas of fresh sage and thyme that grew wild all over the Cretan landscape. Only stopping for petrol and food, I was content to ride for 3 hours at a time just cruising through the beautiful rocky landscape of Crete along the crystal blue shoreline of the Libyan Sea.
And both nights I slept under the most vivid starry night sky...no tent, just my sleeping bag and pad as whispers from the Divine Mother lulled me to sleep. Of course the second, those whispers transformed into a gentle sprinkle and eventually, a regular rainstorm....as I was caught scrambling down a gorge in the dark to set up my make-shift rainfly shelter using the closest tree I could find. And the rains continued the next day, and I felt I'd had enough Motorcycle Diary-esque adventure for one week and high-tailed it back to the Youth Hostel to the luxury of a luke-warm shower and semi-soft dorm room bed for the remainder of my stay on Crete. In hindsight though, albeit short, those three days I experienced the most absolute sense of freedom I've ever had in my life...no plans or commitments....stopping where and whenever I pleased...only my scooter, backpack, and full heart to guide my way. I rode this emotional high for the remainder of my stay in Plakias, meeting more interesting, beautiful people and after a couple ferries and a short tour of the Acropolis in Athens...I headed for my next Greek island adventure on Kalymnos.
Feeling reborn and with a new sense of personal freedom stirring within me, I was excited to reunite with Jake and exchange island stories and photos. And I was most excited to be in our climax of European climbing destinations, the island of climbing paradise, Kalymnos. Sample daily schedule: wake up (we had our own cheap 2 bed guesthouse with kitchen and bathroom), breakfast, 15 min. scooter ride to the crag, climb, five min. scoot to the beach, swim, eat, and return home for a glass of wine on our patio under the stars. And the routes here were beautiful with otherwordly looking caves and stalagtites. I climbed my favorite route ever here in the fringes of a beautiful cave with huge stalagtites as handholds that allowed the ultimate creative climbing.
We celebrated Jake's birthday in paradise overa liter of delicious Cretan red wine I picked up in Plakias. And here in the Kalymnian paradise concluded our European adventure like the many sunsets we watched over the Aegean Sea.
