Now I know how the less popular islands survive in the off-season! With the intention of visiting Santorini, Ios and possibly Mykinos we arrived in Kusadasi to catch a ferry.
Easier said than done. The majority of tourists arrive in paradise via ferry from Athens. Consequently during the off-season those travelling from Turkey are required to first stop-over at Samos. Rain restricted us to drinks at the hostel and card games with "Greek Lovers" (cartoon depictions..) playing cards acquired from a nearby store, these would provide us with many a laugh over drinking games! People's reactions when they notice the pictures is priceless.
Our second stopover on-route to Santorini was Naxos. A Canadian pair had organised accomodation and so Daz, myself and a Ballarat couple, Benn and Ash, jumped on-board another courtesy bus not sent for us. Manchester United v Chelsea insured the local bar would have a decent crowd and we made the most of our enforced lay-over.
Finally Santorini. Canadian's were organised again so the 6 of us got cheap rates with ajoining balconies. Not sure how wrapped the Canadians were to find 4 Aussies drinking on their balcony when arrving back from some shopping but theirs was the largest so deal with it. Transport around the island is essential due to its dispersed lay-out and if the car hadn't worked out so much cheaper the motorbikes would've been great... and dangerous.
Fortunately we came across an opening night for a bar. Free BBQ and Sangria on arrival made our attendance a no-brainer! I think after our little crew's visit they should also look into a more secure method of payment. They loved us but of the countless receipts in the cup some happened to go missing.
Volcanic rocky, red beaches are overrated.. if rated at all. Who wants to tip-toe in and out of the water? The water itself was warm but we were slightly disappointed, definitely appreciating more what we have back home!
IOS!! We expected and it delivered in an entertaining and expensive way! Another new destination and another courtesy bus following those more organised than us. Far-out Hostel is by far the best choice for Ios. Its where everyone congregates on the beach to relax on the white sand when they finally rise between 12 and 2pm, counting the cost of the previous night. 4 pools open to the public, a free billiard table and a bar facing the beach - what more could you want?
"Mick!", I turned around to see Motty who'd spotted me in a sims sports t playing pool. Random to see him and Carli and it was great to catch up for a few beer and laughs with a bernards boy!
Pre-drinks at Far-out before boarding the final bus into town centre which commenced its 3k accent up the steep gradient at 10:15pm - don't miss it! We were warned about the dangerous rocky short-cut home but saving time on the walk back 6-10hrs later was always going to sound like a good idea... to my own detriment. Catching the first bus 6k from Far-out one morning after getting lost was a laugh, as were the pics of Daz and I riding a donkey that we came across on the way home the next morning... how could we resist!
Each night commenced with an enlarged game of jenga with wooden blocks at the appropriately named "Fun Pub". By the last night we'd have created "ultimate jenga" (person stands on top while the bricks are removed) and "hat jenga" (put the Turkish hat on that person and they have to remove a block - anywhere in any shape). The jenga purists were not as impressed as us. Free shots for those entering the pool comp for 2Euro so we jumped on board that as well.
Next stop the appropriately named "Red-bull Bar". 2 vodka redbulls for 5 made it the cheapest deal - why drink anything else? The pinnacle was always going to be climbing the wall and sitting on-board the ancient looking motorbike resting above the toilet block - we'd save that for our last night. No wonder the barman wanted us down so fast... that ancient motorbike is worth $30,000 Euro!
Fortunately the Aussie bouncer, Clarky (guy who gets blind with everyone while he works) took a liking to us on the beach which basically gave us free reign of "Flames".
We were repeatedly warned off visiting the more expensive, gay capital Mykinos and we were easily convinced... although at least one fella thought it a good idea to ask Daz his "sexual orrientation" hilarious! and grab my behind - not so hilarious but we had a laugh about it and grabbed another drink... We found out the next day that so many guys had complained that Clarky had to kick him out. Unlucky for him.
Running out of clean shirts the 7-shot challenge for a free t also got a run and we departed Ios as walking adverts for Red-bull and Flames bars... and with more than a couple of invites to return for work come peak-season.
After an amazing week and a bit of damage to the body and pocket it was time to move onto mainland Greece to begin our tour of eastern europe.
