Crete - The West

We arrived in Heraklion Crete late on Saturday night and after dropping our bags at the hotel it was off to find dinner. We found a local place that was quite busy and gave it a shot; it was OK but nothing wonderful. The thing we noticed most was that although signs said "no smoking", everyone seemed to be smoking up a storm! The next morning we hopped in the car and headed west to Chania, arriving in the early afternoon. Our lodging was the lovely "Metohi Kindelis" located just off the highway and about 3km from Chania old town. When Christos booked the place he had thought it a bit expensive for a farmhouse outside of town (it was in the same price point as a hotel in downtown Rome!) but we quickly figured out the reason .... We had our own private pool and garden as well as a huge common area! When we first were shown to our room, we thought the common area was for the entire place but it was actually ours alone! After settling in, we headed into Chania for lunch and a little wander. The old town was very quiet but of course it was a Sunday so this was not really a surprise. We enjoyed a Greek salad with the local Cretan Feta (softer and less salty than Feta one gets elsewhere) and window shopped a bit before heading back to Kindelis in the early evening.

After relaxing by the pool for a couple hours, our trip to a highly recommended local Taverna failed as it was closed on Sundays so we made our own Greek salad back at Kindelis and polished off some lovely Fiano we had brought from Rome before settling into bed and watching some of "The Wire".

The next day started early with a 7:30am pick-up for a minibus trip to the Samaria Gorge. We arrived around 9am with our guide and two other hikers and set off for the day. The Gorge is about 15km in length and basically downhill all the way as one follows a river to the sea on the southern coast of Crete. It starts with a very steep hike downhill through a pine forest for about 2km and then levels out somewhat for the next 5km before reaching the abandoned village of Samaria. The views are gorgeous and the hiking is not too difficult as it is downhill. After the abandoned village one basically follows the riverbed through the gorge and it is flat but rocky. The walls of the gorge tower up on either side, at one point it narrows to only 3.5m wide! Eventually one comes to the sea where a plethora of local eateries await. The only exit from here is back up the gorge or by boat to another village.

The boat only leaves once a day at 5:30pm so the local tavernas have a captive audience. We enjoyed good lunch as our guide recommended what she said was the best taverna of the bunch (she having hiked the gorge for some 19 years and not actually being a local but a Frenchwoman transplanted to Greece) and then chilled for an hour waiting for the ferry to depart.

The ferry ride took about an hour to a port with a road back to the north coast of the island and then an hour and a half minibus ride had as back at 8pm ... With just enough time to shower and change before heading out for dinner. We went to the local family taverna (the one closed the previous night) in the new city recommended by the owners of Kindelis and it was amazing! We had fish for two and it was quite simply the best we can both recall in ages!! Finally we made it back to Kindelis around midnight for a little more "The Wire" before drifting off to sleep in the wee hours.