Welcome To Crete (and travel hiccups)

After nearly 24 hours of travel, I finally made it to Heraklion, Crete, Greece! Yes, I’ve traveled a lot but that doesn’t mean that I’m immune to making mistakes. Because somehow, I made a silly one. My friend Jen and I decided that instead of wasting anytime in Athens before getting to the islands that we would fly directly to Crete soon after landing in Athens. We each bought out tickets and were set to fly. We walked to the counter and my agent said, I’m sorry but this ticket is for September 29th, not today (September 8th). How could that be?! I was sure that I booked it for the right dates! I’ve never booked a ticket for the wrong day before! The ticket was purchased on August 29th and I must have changed the month and never changed the date. It makes sense since we were booking hotels, hostels, ferries and rental cars all at the same time. So off I went to buy a new ticket that got me stuck on a flight that left 4 hours after Jen. Jen has traveled a fair amount but never by herself. So off she went to Crete and picked up a rental car before coming back to scoop me up a few hours later. I’d have to say, when she was stuck without an option, she did pretty well!

Our first 2 nights were spent in Kissamos, approximately 2.5 hours west of where we landed in Heraklion. After a restless night sleep we were up and out and heading down to Elafonsi Beach in the southwest area of Crete. The drive was completely not what we expected. The landscape is arid and rocky with wild goats (kri kri) roaming the mountainsides. Yes, there are mountains here! I had no idea that Crete would be so mountainous! These aren’t just hills, this island is massive and these mountains are no joke. It’s like a mix of the Big Island of Hawaii (without palm trees) and Sicily (for the rocky landscape). Up and over the pass we went on tiny little roads winding through even tinier little villages. Our little Toyota Yaris felt like an SUV as we cruised through villages hoping to not hit the houses and cars that sit right in the road. Each kilometer became more and more beautiful the closer we got to Elafonsi. What an absolutely stunning beach! Driving into the area. the turquoise waters were incredibly vibrant against the deep blue of the Lybian Sea. The near white sands were perfect to show off the crystal clear waters where depths of feet felt like inches. We quickly rented an umbrella and a few chairs and hit the water. Sitting in the water surrounded by such beauty was almost overwhelming. It was surreal that we were basking in the waters of Crete.

We decided to check out another beach on our way back to Kissamos – taking the scenic route. The panoramic went on and on with jagged cliffs plummeting into the Mediterranean Sea while ancient olive groves for as far as the eye could see. We made it to Falasarna beach which was even more beautiful! Smaller and less crowded, the views were almost unbelievable. It almost felt like you were looking out at a painting! Carrying on we headed back to Kissamos – had our first Greek beer and dinner at a seaside restaurant. Traveling and jet-lag kicked in early and we planned our day today and called it a night.

Today we headed out to explore and hike Impros Gorge. We opted out of hiking Samaria gorge due to the amount of people who frequent the trail (up to 3,000 in busy summer months and 1,000 in the low season!). We did a breakfast stop at this cute little taverna (restaurant) where we feasted on homemade Greek yogurt with gobs of sweet homemade honey. What a treat! It melts in your mouth like no yogurt I’ve ever tasted. With full bellies we started our trek from the end point and made our way up to avoid the buses that dropped people off 7.5 km north. It worked perfectly. Not having a single person pass us until we reached almost the half way point allowed us to view a lot more goats in action and take a bunch of photos. The gorge reminded me of hiking through Zion National Park. Tall walls soared above us as the trail continued to narrow as we climbed. At the half way point there was an area that was only 1.6 meters wide and we took the obligatory photos and headed back soon after for a cold beer and swim. Not far down the road we found a perfect beach for a swim in Frangokastello with its ancient Venetian fortress built in 1204. Looking at the towering mountains in the background from turquoise waters while looking at a Venetian fortress doesn’t seem true but it was!

We finished our day driving east and into Iraklio wine country for the next 2 nights. Skimming our way though narrow village roads and staring out to gorgeous beaches below I didn’t want the drive to end! But… since Jen has been taking the lead on driving our stick shift up and down mountain passes with such skill and ease, I gave in and let her have a little break 😉  Tomorrow we will head out and check out the local Cretian wines of the area and see what we can find. It’s supposed to be almost 100F, let’s hope we don’t melt!

Want to see some photos I’ve taken up till now? Check out the Gallery on the home page for some beautiful beach photos! (Internet is a little limited at the moment, more photos will be added soon!)

Homemade yogurt and gobs of delicious honey

I liked it. A lot.