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Excerpts from my travel journal I'd arive in Naxos, hmm, I don't know
sometime about
NOW! But we've only just left the island of Kos. So when I look
at my map of the Greek Islands, Kos is only an inch away from Rhodes,
where I've just left from. I've done a quick calculation and
measurement, and I need to move another 5 inches across this page
before I get to where I'm going. I've just gone and asked the man at
the 24 hour bar, howlong it'll be before arrival. He said another 7 or 9 hours. Waaah - but that's Greek time. When you ask about ferry crossings, times, departure dates etc the response always seems to be the same "Maybe now, maybe later, who knows?" I'm just thankfull the weather is fantastic, or this trip would be positively miserable. So in saying how frustrating this all seems, at least the ferry crossing is extremely pleasant, peacefull, and the views are magnificant. Turkey to one side (Bodrum) and various Greek Isles to the other. And last night, when I went up on deck to say one last goodbye to Rhodes at the stroke of midnight, the moon was a burnt orange (just how a New Zealand moon can look like when there's an Australian bush fire). My last day in Rhodes was full of nothing, but a whole lot of waiting. I spent this time wandering around and around and around... looking at the same German tourists, buying from the same tacky tourist shops, selling the same plastic Minoen wine jugs. I've got very bored with Rhodes. From my decision to go to Naxos, I had to wait a day and an half for this ferry, and the actual travel time is proving to be another day getting there. I'm not able to draw any money out till I get to an internet cafe. When I get to the next stop, I will look at doing some day trips away, and to look at what the island has to offer. right now, the captian has just announced that we are pulling into Kalymnos. There are lots of whilte cubist houses (though, not the white wash pictue postcared type) all built into the surrounding mars-like type hills. It's quite pretty. Though very barren and arid looking. This ferry has to be the most uncomfortable and ugliest boat I've travelled on so far. There seems to be only one lounge and outside deck for us to go to. The lounge is just made up of hundreds of airline type charis, but less comfortable. So I found a spot in a corner when I first arrived, got my pack set-up next to me to protect it and hopefully give me something soft to lean on, but all night I had a thumping great arm rest which poked into my ribs painfully. But with a few towels to alleviate the 'poke' I manage to drift off for what felt like maybe an hour or 2 with my Korean Air issued eye patches... until the Albanians boardered! There seemed like hundres of them. I don't understand why they have to shout at each other! It just sounds like noise, how on earth can you make out a sentence  or even a word from all that. I'm sure they're
just
doing that on purpose - they sound like they are gobbling like
turkey's. It
made the spare arm I'd attached to my rib feel like a nice dream. They
just went on and on, and I couldn't help myself but tell them to 'Shut
up!' Someone yelled back 'You shut up!' So I thought better of it and
did. But I was up for an argument if he'd had a further go at me.
I'm glad I didn't cause I would've said 'have I missed the boat to
Naxos and got the Assylum boat to Britain?' So lucky I didn't. Anyway,
I must've looked a right wally wrapped up in my bright blue beach towl,
fluff of blonde hair (looking like a burst mattress) with a set of eye
patches. But it wasn't long before they all settled down and were
asleep - but by this time it was beyond me to find some more sleep, and
the third arm was still there. So I spent the next couple of hours
wriggling in and out of sleep - but never really quite getting there. So I wondered out to the aft-deck where there are lots of benches where I laid myself out. It was pleasant for about half an hour till the boat turned and I caught all the wind coming off the port side. By this time the sun had practically risen, I flet like a coffee anyway and I thought it would'nt be long before reaching Naxos. But as you will know, that was a lie, hence why I thought I'd kill some time writing this journal. I would kill for my discman, and some Ryan Adams. It would be the perfect sounds for sailing these goreous isle's first thing in the morning while everything is still fresh and clean. I just read back over what I just wrote and I thought that would've killed a few hours, but it was more like half an hour. Great only 8 hours to go. I 'spose I could treat this as a cruise - except I can't leave my pack for fear of an Albanian, I've no deck chair and cocktail to relax with, no cabin to pop into and have a shower to change into something fresh, no pool to lie beside in my bikini, and most importantly, no buffet on the Lido deck. Oh, there's a cute little dog over the way, wonder if he'll play with me? Hmmm, don't think so, he's attached to a fairly large Greek woman. God I want my discman - how could I be so stupid and leave it behind? I never go anywhere without my music, and I really feel like some Whiskeytown. Just realised it is wednesday not tuesday - so that means I gotta work out a plan. I've got 5 nights left. Plan A:
1.30pm. Not sure how this plan thing is going to work out. I've been on this boat over 12 hours and I realised I haven't had any water for about 18 hours. Nor food for about 13. Thankfully I'm neither hungary nor thirsty. Just as well cause I've got 1 euro left. I better keep that for a bottle of water soon. Oh well this trip is going to be a challenge, but fun. I don't mind bit of a challenge. Just asked
the barman when we get to Naxos. He said 2 or more stops. So thats
probably another 4 hours!! Sheesh, whats the point of staying in Naxos.
I
know... Plan C:
1.50pm. I knew it! The minute I mentioned the 'h' word, I got hungry. I had to dig into my internet money and dine out. All that was going at the bar was a baguette which the barman toasted. Not my choice for a meal, but it wasn't so bad. All that plastic cheese, melted over the pork flavoured... stuff 2.13pm.
We're just cruising past some real barren landscape at the moment. I'd
be convinced this was another planet. About
2.30pm. Spose it's not to bad this cruising thing. It's very pleasant
dozing off and on, one minute just the sea for a view and then 7.30pm. I'm here! Sitting on my beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean, amongst white cubist buildings in the old Kastro, enjoying a nescafe. I have the most gorgeous double room with private bathroom. I arrived at 5pm exactly (and it was 4 more stops, not 2). The minute I stepped off the boat I was aggressively sold several apartments. One was offered to me for 10euro but was out of town. I said I wanted to stay in town so was offered another for 15euro. But I really wanted the Dionysis Youth Hostel that Lonely Planet recommended, but they all said it was closed due to it being abit decrepit. I was taken by one guy to see his apartment, and he wanted 15euro. I complained that I only wanted the hostel, and to pay hostel prices, so he dropped his price to 12. So I took it, and I was very proud of my negotiating skills. Went for a
quick look round, found money machine instantly, then round a corner
found a very cheap internet, then up the road found a minimart and
wondered back through the labryrinth of alley's and streets that make
up this cute fishing village. This place is gorgeous. This to me
is what Greece is all about. No tacky tourist shops, no touts dragging
you off into their overpriced and below standard tavernas. And best of
all hardly any tourists. It's such a sweet little place, I wish I had
someone special to share this
with. I think I will go for plan E: which will involve staying here for 2 or 3 nights, miss out Ios, and spend 2 day's in Santorini. I am now on another boat sailing towards Santorini. It's going to take about 4 hours which is a good time to enjoy sailing around the islands. I found a nice big table on the upper deck with great views of the ocean and of any islands we might pass. I've spotted a bunch of NZ'ers but none stop to talk to me, and I don't want to leave my pack just to approach them. A Greek guy asks to sit at my table, which is fine as there is not much room once everyone claims a spot. His name is Alex and he is from Athens on his way to Santorini to visit friends for the weekend. Must be pretty cool to just pop away for the weekend if you're from Greece. We chat all the way to our next stop which is a nice change then talking to myself. It's funny I had no-one to talk to when I was on the last boat for the 18 or 19 hours I was onboard, and on this fairly quick trip I have a friend all the way to my next destination. He tells me he works for the equivalent to British Telecom, which he said isn't very exciting except that with the Olympics on the way he's been doing lots more interesting work, but outside of work he sings for a band and is hoping to get to the UK to try his luck. His band mainly covers indie music, of course we talk loads about music. I said I'd tell him of some great places to go to if he ever makes it. When we arrived at the port, again I was overwhelmed by the aggressive selling of apartments, so Alex said he will help me. We had to board a bus that takes you to the local village, which was miles away from the port. Santorini is a volcano, and the boat berths at the basin of it, and the villages sit on the top of the crater. It's an amazing place and it's incredible where people will live (see my greece photo album). When we reached the village I was headed for, Alex helped me with my pack and I found someone that said he'd give me a double room, own bathroom fo 20 Euro's, I said it was to much and offered 15 and he agreed. I was quite happy with that. Alex wasn't staying in my village, but at one 5 miles up the road. He insisted that I give him a call for something to do that evening, as he and his friends were bound to be going out. So I took his number and promised to call, which I thought would be good to have locals show me around.
I didn't really know what to do then, but found a bar that looked quite funky, also it advertised Australian football so I thought I might find some backpackers. There weren't many people there, just some guys sitting at one end of the bar. I could tell by some of their accents they were Australian. The barmaid was really friendly and talked to me which was a relief as I felt a bit wierd being in there on my own. Eventually the place filled up, and a real friendly Australian guy came and joined me. He'd been drinking with the others who had now gone. He was quite drunk, but not enough to be annoying thank goodness. He was a journalist who was backpacking around the world for a year. I ended up staying quite late at the bar with my new mate, which made me feel better about being there on my own. I was enjoying my trip, but it got quite lonely a lot. Before I'd gone into the bar I went and found an agent to find out times for ferries to Crete, and the only one I could catch was the next evening at 7pm which meant I could only stay one night (this night), if I had to be back in time to catch my flight back to the UK the following night. So I thought I'd call Alex and cancel our day out, as I had to do things like check out of my hotel, find storage for my pack, get back to the village, and by that stage, half the day would be gone, so I thought it would be easier if I just spent the day going for a big walk on my own around the caldera taking lots of pictures. I got up early the next morning to walk to a pay phone to ring Alex at the time he suggested, and I had the strangest conversation. The person on the other line, just kept saying "Yes? Yes?" and I would repeat who I was and that I was looking for Alex, and again he would say "Yes? Yes?". I thought perhaps I'd rung the wrong number, so I said sorry, hung up and tried the number again. Again I got the same response, but I was certain I'd dialled correctly. I felt really annoyed, because all I wanted to say was I couldn't spend the day with him anymore. I felt like I was being played with. So again I rung off feeling really confused. I went and did my things I needed to do, but with it still playing in my head I decided at about midday to try just one more time, just incase I'd got it completely wrong. As soon as I'd dialled and Alex answered he apologised terribly for the strange and confusing call I'd had earlier, and it had been him, but I'd caught him in bed with a woman! What a laugh! He preteneded he couldn't speak english, and all he could do was repeat the yes's I was given, hoping I'd get the "picture". Of course, naively I didn't, but I understood now! I explained I couldn't meet up anyway and he sounded disappointed. No one's fault, that's just the way it worked, but I did giggle to myself for a longtime afterwards. How embarressing, I must've really interrupted something... Anyway, the rest of my day was spent walking for about 4 hours along the ridge of the caldera, where I got some fabulous photos (see my greece photo album) met a gorgeous black kitten with a crooked tail, who wanted to sneak into my daypack. I was back in time to enjoy one last frappe at an outdoor cafe before my bus departed for the port. On board, I settled on the rear outside deck with a nice australian girl who was returning to Crete too. So we shared our adventures, shared our snacks and shared a small bottle of wine with a nice Canadian girl who wanted to join our table. The sailing was smooth as glass with a full moon to light the way to Heraklion. Was an excellent way to end my trip. |
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suddenly
a cliff face looms over me straight out of the sea. At least this
oversized parkbench I've been stuck to since 6.45am is pretty comfy.
Next stop Naxos (I think). I bet I'll be spending the next 4 hours
looking for Dionysis Hostel, an internet cafe, a ferry ticket shop...
(knowing my luck, it'll be tonight at 9.45 and not another for 3 days).
So Plan D??
I hopped
into the van to get to my new hotel, and we drove around quite a few
back streets, which got a little confusing for me to get my bearings
and know which way back to the centre was.
When I got out of the van, the man then said to me that he would not
accept 15 euros and the cost was now 20. I was shocked and felt really
cheated. Also I didn't know how to get back to where
I had started, and if I refused to pay the extra, I didn't want to risk
walking back carrying my heavy pack, so I had to accept the new cost.
Also, from experience now, if they don't want to listen
anymore they pretend they don't understand. I was so upset! Santorini
is where EVERYONE wants to come to and now I wish I hadn't. I yearned
for friendly Naxos. My room was
nice enough, but again, I didn't really care for something so luxurious
(tv, private bathroom, double bed etc). I felt like I had been forced
into this. After a while I decided there was no point
so went for a swim in the pool, which wasn't to exciting. I headed into
the village before the sunset, so I could find the best vantage point
to view it. Though I wasn't that thrilled with my first
encounter of Santorini, it was still very cute and sweet. I watched the
sunset and it was beautiful. Before the sun disappeared completely, the
sky burned deep fuschia gradually melting into steely
grey. I found a phone and called Alex, he apologised that he couldn't
make it as his friends had organised something for the evening, but
wanted to come over the next day and show me around, take me to
some beaches, go swimming and so on. So I agreed.