Greece

Yassou from Greece

Day 30 ctd

We have had a wonderful time here in Greece. It is so different from Turkey and it feels like we are back in civilisation. This is notwithstanding that Greece works on greek time, so some things have taken longer than others, but the general feeling of no worries makes it all easier to take.

Our first stop from the Turkish coast was the island of Lesvos (where Nikki's paternal grandfather hails from). The ferry arrived and we immediately felt that everything was easier, the people, the food and the water!

We booked ourselves into a nice little pension and walked around the port of Mytillini, a busselling place filled with cafes and restaurants. At night all of the locals are out and there is barely a tourist to be seen, so you really feel apart of it all. The streets behind the waterfront are quiet and peaceful, but the waterfront is alive.

Day 31 and 32

From Mytillini we jumped onto a bus and headed to Petra (north west of Mytillini), the village where Nikki's grandfather is from. The place is one of the most peaceful and idyllic that we have visited. The main street from one village to the next is right beside the sea. The beach is filled with lounge chairs and umbrellas, with gentle waves crashing into it. And the people and food are fantastic.

Petra from the sea.

The sunsets in Petra were beautiful and a privilege to witness. You could see the entire spectrum of the rainbow coming out of the sea and changing all the way up into the sky (greens included) just beautiful.

This photo is from the second day's sunset (a pale imitation of the first day's sunset which was spectacular).

We generally spent each day having a bit of a swim in the morning and again in the evening. We also had the most amazing Pita Gyro's for lunch each day (a Greek kebab essentially). Each evening also provided an opportunity to go to the Petra's Women's Agricultural Co-operative for dinner: a perfect place to witness the sunset and to eat food prepared by the local townsfolk. The food was astoundingly nice and including a whole Lobster on a bed of seafood linguini for only 15 euro - bargain!

This is me tackling the big surf.

And this is some beatiful clear water from the nearby town of Molyvos.

Day 33

We took the bus back to Mytillini (via some very windy roads up and down the mountains) to catch up with two of the lovely ladies we had the privilege of travelling through the Middle East with.... Katie and Kirsti!

Upon the arrival of the girls we had a few bungles with accommodation, mainly given that the lady we were trying to arrange accommodation with spoke almost no English and Nikki's broken Greek (although she did try) still didn't manage to get through that we were four people wanting two rooms each night.... never mind.

Day 34

The four of us jumped on a bus to Plomari to do a hike in the olive groves, which according to the Lonely Planet guide is supposed to be good. Unfortunately it was a hot day and the greeks mark their signposts about as well as an elephant with a paint brush. We made to the top of a mountain, though I suspect we were just following some goat tracks and not the official path. We stopped there as though you can only go up so far before you run out of mountain, it turned out there was another one behind.

We lunched by the water and caught the bus back for a comfortable evening with a cheap feed of Pita Gyros (not as good as the ones in Petra) and drinks at the bar.

Day 35

We farewelled the girls (who were off to Petra) and jumped on our next bus to Sigri in order to catch our ferry to Rhodes the next day. Sigri is a small village. A couple of restaurants, a small market, a lovely beach, a castle and as it turns out no banks or ATMs anywhere to be seen.

The village itself was lovely though. We had a relaxing swim in clear calm waters and relaxed until our 5.30am ferry was to arrive the next morning.

Day 36

For such a small village there ended up being two huge ferries that came in at 5.30 that morning. We ended up on the slightly bigger ferry where people were lying anywhere there was space after coming from Thessalaniki the night before. We found a comfortable spot and there we sat for the next 15 hours. A fairly uneventful day... we stopped in a couple of pretty ports, but that was about it until we arrived in Rhodes, where after we checked into our hotel took a stroll around the new town which is filled with tourists from all over Europe (and there are very few Greeks among them).

Day 37

We took a wander about the old town... Lovely buildings, but very hot and not many people about (no ambiance, well at least during the day).

Day 38
We took an early ferry to Kastellorizo, the island where Nikki's maternal grandmother's family comes from.

It is an odd place, at least from a historical and geographical perspective. It is the largest island of a number of islets located about 2km from the Turkish coast and about 200km or so from the nearest Greek island (Rhodes). It had a rampaging population of about 10,000 - 15,000 people at the turn of the century, but owing to a number of major political events, the population fell to around 100 people by the 80's. I think they are now at a few 100 more people, but the excess of vacant and delapidated buildings tells the story. That said, it rarely rains here and the island has no natural water supply; I have no idea how they watered that many people in the past especially considering that they now ferry the water in from Rhodes. Another bit of trivia is that the island's name is in fact not of greek origin; it's a bastardisation of the Italian "castello rosso" which referred to the old castle that was once stationed on top of the southern hilltop of the harbour. It's the only island in Greece named so.

We decided to go with a guy who asked us as we got off the ferry "do you need a room?", he looked ok and it turned out to be a good decision, a nice room with air con (heavy emphasis on the last part).

As with everything in Kastellorizo (as you will see from the photos) the place was nice and close to the water. So swimming was the order of the day, jumping off the boardwalk straight into the water.

The southern headland of the harbour.

The centre of the harbour looking south.

One of the islets looking out from the southern headland.

Day 39

This morning we had breakfast with a large turtle as it bobbed up and down quite contentedly at the harbours edge where we were sitting . A very relaxed way to start the day. We were led to believe that the only internet connection (that being with a computer and internet) was located at the cafe where we had breakfast, however upon asking, we were advised that "the computer had broken and it was supposed to be back yesterday, but you know how the greeks are... maybe tommorrow"... (we ended up possibly seeing it arrive as we were getting on the boat to leave a couple of days later).

After our very leisurely lunch and the company of the turtle we walked around the town.

Me at the very ancient Lycian tomb and a view of the twin harbour of Mandraki.

I took up the challenge of hiking to the ancient ruins at the top of the mountain (it was a little too hot for Nik). The ruins weren't that much, but the minor heatstroke suffered was. However, getting up there was eased by the constant jingle of bells from the various goats foraging on the nearly non-existant flora. This fella didn't have a bell, but we "shared a moment".

From what we understand, Nikki's family house and land were also located up on the top of the mountain - probably under the tarmac of the runway for airport. Here's a panarama from south to north.

And this is the area again from higher up.

Some views of the harbours and islets.

A view from our dining table that night.

Day 40

After finding a boat by the waterside we went out to the Blue Grotto and the island of Kos. The others on the boat with us were all Australian born Greeks with family from Kastellorizo (it seems that this is the way the island survives in terms of tourism).

The captain, George, told us upon arriving at a cliff face to jump into the tender and he would motor us into the Blue Grotto. So with 10 people in a really small boat we were then told to lower our heads (a clearance of about three and a half feet from the water to the mouth of the cave) and entered into a cave of indescribable blue. It was breath taking. Jumping off the boat we took a leisurly swim about the cave looking down at the colour of the water, the fish and the amazing colours reflecting around the cave. To say that we were in awe would be selling the place short.

Digby feeling unwell on the return leg.

Day 41

Back to Rhodes, walk in the old town at night

Day 42

We retrun to Rhodes and relax and just wander about.

Day 43

We catch a plane to Rome. Next entry: Italy!

Turkey

Day 23 ctd



We bus into Antakya, Turkey. The only real event of consequence is the experience of rain; quite a revelation after travelling through desert for 3 weeks.



Day 24



Another full day of travel and we arrive in Nigde. Again, only one event of consequence: a shave for me and Kailash by barbers with cut throat razors and a small audience of inquisitive women.





Day 25

We're in the Ihlara Valley. The area is famous for its underground cities. The terrain is essentially one large ash deposit formed after various eruptions from the three surrounding volcanos. The ash is fairly unique in that when freshly exposed it is very soft and easily worked. Shortly thereafter the exposed rock becomes very hard as a consequence of oxidation.


First stop was a small chapel/church and underground town complex.




It's wonderfully cool inside.




Next the huge underground city of Derinkuyu. There's not much on top to see except a handful of women touting handmade dolls. The ladies are a mixed set of sweet and abrasive women. We bought a small doll from the sweet old lady. They clearly don't know how to value their labour: the dolls ranged from 3 Lira to 5 Lira (the same amount in AUD).

The city itself is pretty big and deep. About 80 metres deep or so. This chapel can be found at about 40 metres or so.

Then the Ihlara Gorge.

And frescoes from one of the Byzantine chapels carved into the canyon walls.


The kids taking it easy on tour.

Then finally magical Cappadocia, the land of the smurfs.

This particular spot is called love valley (hint: use your imagination).

A particularly nice afternoon walking.

And finally Digby and Myla hanging out with some of the tour group.


Days 28 and 29

We arrive in Istanbul.

Just how amazing it is to arrive in a (pseudo) European city after a month of hard middle eastern travel cannot be conveyed by words alone.

Istanbul has a lot going for it. The couple of days spent there left us wanting to return and complete the sights and to imbibe some more of the atmosphere.

First there is Aya Sophia. Roman Emperor Justinian had this built in 537AD. That means it is over 1500 years old. It is massive, by anyone's standards. It is also beautiful.

Here it is by day.

And here it is by night.

Most unfortunately we did not have time to go inside - one for next time.

Next is the Blue Mosque. This one is a mere 500 years old and sits opposite the Aya Sophia. Again, here it is by day.

And here it is by night.

As impressive as these places seem, for me, they paled in comparison to the Basilica Cistern. "What's that?" you ask. I had no idea either before we got to Istanbul. Neither did the Ottomans for about 100 years or so after they conquered Istanbul. Essentially it's just a giant underground water tank. But have a look...

The Ottomans only discovered the cistern after they witnessed some locals finding fish in buckets of water pulled up from a well. Here's a few of them.

The cistern was also commissioned by Emperor Justinian. It measures 143 metres by 65 metres. The walls are 4 metres thick and made of a special water tight mortar. It is supported by 336 marble columns - mainly ionic and corinthian with the odd doric. The columns were gathered up from various old sites around the place. The most impressive of these are two columns with a medusa head at their base as well as a peacock eyed column.

Day 30

Unfortunately it came time for us to bid farewell to our tour group and jump on an overnight bus for Ayvalik - a small coastal town opposite Lesvos, the start of our next country and our next post.