14 October 2017 - The Island of Evia, Greece
Our 4th and final HF Walking Tour for this trip starts today. It takes about 2.5 hours travelling time to get from Athens to the southern holiday village of Karystos on the nearby island of Evia - the second largest of the Greek islands.
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| Where is Evia in case you're wondering |
Around 12:30 pm we are picked up by a taxi out front of our apartment building in Athens and taken to the airport where the flight from England arrives with the other 20 guests. We find out the plane is delayed in England so we wait around for an extra hour until it lands before the mad scramble starts to get everyone on the bus to catch the 4:30 pm ferry across to Evia. A busting passenger puts bladder before bus and disappears in the crowded airport. Our guide, Keith, heads off one way to find him while the wife goes the other, so now we have three missing people. Finally the man comes back with the wife dragging him by the elbow and discussing his future toileting and communication habits. Then the wife heads off the other way to look for Keith and eventually return with the wife describing what her husband's future toileting habits will be over the next week.
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| Walks in Evia |
Finally we are all on the bus and we are off - a mere 25 minutes to drive 35 minutes to the ferry through Greek traffic. If we miss the ferry it is a three hour wait for the next one with all the subsequent issues regarding the next bus and late night hotel arrival and dinner. Now, Greek traffic is derived from Italian traffic - it could be the other way around, not sure. Either way it is unlikely that anyone on the road has a driver's licence or has ever met anyone who has had a driver's licence. The road rules are the same as in Italy - don't get hit, attempt to miss everyone, don't wait your turn, don't stop at Stop signs, don't Give Way and never ever indicate. Oh and blow your horn all the time so you don't stand out from the crowd.
Our bus driver made it to the ferry with 3 minutes to spare. Off the bus we all jumped, Keith takes off to buy 23 tickets while we all unload our terrified luggage off the bus. The tickets arrive, we all walk onto the ferry with our luggage and away we go. Too easy. Our next bus picks us up on the other side and we are driven to the southern Evia village of Karystos. Our room is excellent with a good sized balcony and a truly beautiful view overlooking the sea in front of the hotel.
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| Hotel room views |
It turns out to be the best hotel room (modern, very clean, stylish, very well appointed) and best food (delicious with lovely vegetarian options each night) (Julie is writing the bits in brackets except for this bit) of our trip. We hadn't been looking forward to more Greek food as we find it quite bland however this week's food was very tasty.
Despite it being very modern, the hotel has the same plumbing as everywhere else in Greece - narrow pipes - so narrow urologists are called to fix any blockage. Unaccustomed as we and all Australians are, everywhere you go in Greece you are told not to put the used toilet paper down the toilet but to put it in the rubbish bin. Takes a bit of getting used to I can tell you. Are you enjoying your food as you read this?
Again with two good guides and another very nice group of Brits we enjoyed our week of walking in Evia. This week we did three harder walks and two easier walks because the pace set by one of the harder walkers had everyone scooting after him as we rushed to keep up on the steep and crumbly paths.
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| Start of walk |
Our first walk was a beauty. Although quite hard, as we had to climb steeply up a rugged path, for me, it was the best of the week. The bus dropped us off on a narrow lane and we immediately started to climb steeply through a tiny village towards a prominent knoll topped with a large dilapidated Venetian fort.
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| Through the village |
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| Roman viaduct and Venetian fort |
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| The track up to quarry |
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| Some of the columns |
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| Unfinished marble column |
We stopped for a rest in the shade of a Roman aqueduct that once fed the fort. Next we headed down to a stream that once fed the aqueduct, crossed an ancient stone bridge and headed very steeply up for a very long time through paddocks filled with olive trees and goats to a high ridge well above the fort.
It was here under the peak of Mount Ochi we came across a Roman marble quarry abandoned in the 3rd century. Several completed 12 metre long by two metre in diameter marble columns lay on the edge of the mountain's cliffs. These columns weigh up to 49 tonnes. Further up lies a partly completed column still yet to be removed from the rock face. Also lying in the scree covered steep slope of the over 2000 year old quarry is a smaller completed column. OMG! So what better thing to do than sit amongst the marble columns overlooking the Venetian fort and aqueduct below and and have lunch while we drink in the history around us and the views to the sea in the distance.
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| End of walk at taverna |
Reluctantly we had to leave our stunning perch and head back down the steep scrambly path but were rewarded with a drink at a local taverna at the end. Next we were taken to a vineyard for some wine tasting. The property is built on a Roman road that ran from the Venetian fort to the sea port below. The stairs and path that run through the property are the original road. So we sat down on some random stone blocks that were spare Roman marble columns and thresholds and the lady owner from Sweden gave us the story of the place.
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| waiting for the wine tasting |
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| Roman steps |
Next it was into a previously Venetian church, but now the cellar, for some wine tasting. We have done too many of these in the past but I have to say this location beats them all. Plus the wines were very nice, so good in fact that we bought a bottle.
And so ends the first day's walk - hard to beat.
Next day we walked to the megalithic Dragon Houses of Mount Ochi. These mysterious houses are not understood at all. Believed to date back to at least Roman times no one can explain what they were for, why they were built or who built them. In all there are 24 on the island and we visited three of them, all in a small area on the edge of a cliff. They are built of large blocks of stone with a sloping roof of large slabs of overlapping slate. Two are rectangular and one round. How they did the roof is an amazing feat of engineering.
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| Dragon Houses in the trees |
So, as we did with yesterday's columns, we sat amongst the Dragon Houses and had lunch to drink in the mysterious history and spectacular views. They are called Dragon Houses because local legend has it that only dragons could have been strong enough to lift the huge slabs of stone to make the roofs. Julie mentioned she felt quite at home here for some reason. Our walk ended along a local road affording beautiful views to eventually end up at an ever present taverna for a drink.
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| Inside one of the Dragon Houses |
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| Stone roof of a Dragon House |
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| Walk to the taverna |
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| The taverna |
Now on all previous HF tours we had a wide range of guests with an even wider range of backgrounds. On this trip we had two guests who introduced us to something new - that being raging alcoholics. Let's call them Jim and Kevin, because that was their names. Fortunately they were happy drunks, both very intelligent and always had something funny to say about what was going on. But boy, could Kevin in particular put the drinks away. We did notice that as the week progressed that, like us, the other guests tended to sit away from Kevin at meal times. Kevin was usually sinking below the top of the table by dinner time. So it is fair to say that they both always did the shorter walks for three reasons, firstly they were shorter, secondly they always ended in a taverna and finally there was a lot more time to drink while waiting for the harder walkers to arrive.
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| Mount Ochi |
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| Boats in the Karystos harbour |
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| Karystos Harbour |
Next day was the rest day for the week so everyone did their own separate thing. We went for a walk along the picturesque foreshore and then into town and along the pier. The weather was just perfect and the waters of Karystos Bay were crystal clear and teeming with fish.
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| Fish swimming in the bay |
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| Karystos |
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| Start of walk |
17 October - today was supposed to be a big walk to the top of Mount Ochi where at 1400 metres is the largest and best preserved Dragon House. Unfortunately the winds were far too strong to safely climb to the top so we settled for the Alternative Walk which is used regularly by HF due to the variability of the weather.
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| The track |
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| Lunch |
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| Karystos goats |
The walk again took us along dirt roads and tracks, past paddocks of goats and olives and to the coast with beautiful views over headlands and bays. The winds just got stronger and stronger all day so we were fortunate we didn't attempt Mt Ochi. The last part of the walk took us into the village of Marmari and the the strong winds blew straight into our faces making it very difficult to gain headway. One light framed lady would stagger a metre sideways when the really strong gusts hit.
One of the funniest things I've seen was when one of the ladies on the walk, Penny, realised she had left her phone on the bus as it drove off at the start of the walk. Our leader phoned the bus while her husband phoned his wife's phone so that when it rang they could find it. Next thing Penny's ankle starts ringing. Instead of putting her phone in her zip pocket in the bus like she thought she had done, she had unzipped her zip for her zip-off trousers and put the phone in the bottom of her pants leg. The fact that she had her pants bottom tucked in her socks kept the phone there. We all had a lot of fun with that for a couple of days after.
Sure enough another taverna awaited us and sure enough Kevin and Jim were making the most of the offerings. The village was all but closed down as the high season was finished and all the tourists had left for the year.
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| The windy end to the walk. The lady in purple kept blowing sideways. |
Next walk - Dimosari Gorge. It began high in the mountains just below the peak of Mt Ochi and descended along a steep path through Lenosei village to the sea.
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| Start of the walk in the clouds |
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| Autumn leaves along the track |
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| The track down |
Much of this pretty trek follows a cobbled path, passing shady creeks, ponds, giant ferns and forest before ending at the sand-and-pebble beach of Kallianos. The landscape is very changeable along the track with the most picturesque just before Lenosei where beautifully carved river walls and boulders guide the stream waters over waterfalls and into clear pools.
The beach at the end was pretty wild and dangerous - too dangerous to swim however two of the guests had a swim. HF shouted a free drink for everyone at the end of the walk. Julie ordered a beer just like me because the only other choice was soft drink - guess who had two beers.
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| Beach at the end |
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| Outside the museum |
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| Inside the museum |
Our final walk was designed to be relatively easy being the last day allowing more time to enjoy a lunch at the taverna at the end and a couple of hours for a swim and a walk along a beach for those guests not from Australia. There being little difference between the easy and harder walks we chose the easy one. Starting in a little hillside village that I cannot find an English name for and, as Greek has four more characters in their alphabet than ours, I can't type the Greek name, I can only describe it. Again very quiet one with narrow winding streets through little white painted stone houses built on the steep sides of a valley. One of those little white painted houses housed a museum donated to the village by a resident who had left and made their fortune in Athens. We were granted access and the son of our bus driver talked about the numerous artefacts in the single room museum and explained the way of life in the village.
After the museum a relatively easy track took us down the valley again through olive groves and farms. In one of the olive groves we sat under the trees filled with ready to pick fruit and had morning tea. The walk took us past a farm with an ancient Poseidon's Temple being used to grow crops and olives. The farmer has closed off access to the temple so a visit was out of the question. Spent shotgun cartridges along the road convinced us he was serious.
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| Morning tea in the olive grove |
After following the stream we passed locals harvesting olives and bagging them up for pressing. Eventually we arrived at the sea to a taverna in the village of Potami with magical views over a secluded bay with golden sands - how fortunate we were with the weather. A Greek lunch was served followed by, for some, a walk on the beach and a swim.
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| Lunch |
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| Olive oil making waste |
Heading for home we stopped in at an olive oil processing plant. In a little stone building the olives we saw being harvested were put through several machines to eventually produce fresh extra virgin olive oil. We were allowed to freely wander around in the plant and watch what happens. Workplace health and safety = zero. So with ringing ears from the processing plant we climbed aboard the bus and headed home to pack and get ready to leave Evia in the morning.
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| Fresh extra virgin olive oil |
Next morning we boarded our bus while we watched our Hotel literally being closed down for the season behind us. The weather remained idyllic making the ferry ride to the mainland beautiful.
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| Leaving Evia |
The bus ride to the airport was less hectic than a week ago. Around 11 am we grabbed our bags said quick goodbyes and once again everyone went their different ways to check in and board their flights to England. We on the other hand had 12 hours to wait for our flight to Singapore that didn't leave until 11:30 pm. What do you do for 12 hours at Athens airport - absolutely nothing, eat, then absolutely nothing, change tables, eat, look at your watch, do nothing, eat, then check in three hours before the flight, move up stairs, eat, look at your watch, finally get a boarding call, sit in your seat and get fed. The time just flies by.
Singapore:
Having transited many times through Singapore, this time we decided to spend three nights on the way through. Arriving at around 10pm we settled into our room and planned to get out and about early the next day. Sleeping in late until 8am, we had breakfast and hit the streets of Singapore, the heat and humidity hit us harder. At 9am the temperature was 31 degrees (apparent temperature was 41 degrees) and very humid, all a complete contrast to the last seven weeks.
Our hotel was near the marina in the Downtown Centre so the walk to the Gardens by the Bay, the big attraction in Singapore, took just 10 minutes. Amazing architectural buildings are everywhere with the most spectacular being the Marina Bay Sands comprised of three buildings with a stranded ark (ship) on top. Deeper into the park are 18x25-50 metre high 'supertrees' with some linked by a walkway and all covered by a total of 170000 plants.
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| Supertrees |
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Q: What is the Thinker thinking?
A: "Where did I leave my clothes" |
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| Supertrees and Flower Dome |
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| Hand railing |
We walked the park and the shores of the marina, passing the Merlion fountain attracting 100 of visitors and back home to have lunch in China Town nearby our hotel.
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| Merlion fountain |
Next day we did get out early and set off back to the Gardens by the Bay, this time to visit the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome each contained in its own enormous glass building. The Cloud Forest is truly spectacular with its own 100 foot waterfall (tallest indoor water in the world), a spiralling walkway from the top of a 'mountain' covered 1000's of rainforest plants. We arrived when the artificial fog and misty rain was happening so we are not sure whether that was good or bad.
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| Outdoor solar fans - so cool |
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| 100 foot artificial waterfall |
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| Fog and rain in Cloud Forest |
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| Amazing sculpture |
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| Carnivorous plants - some are made of Lego |
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| From the top of the waterfall |
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| The mountain of plants and the airial walkway |
Next door is the other glass dome of the Flower Dome. This also is amazing with plants from all over the world including a 49 tonne African boab. The main display is a huge collection of pumpkins.
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| Pumpkin display |
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| Those larger 'stones' are in fact plants |
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| Great sculpture |
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| A vegetarian's paradise |
So that was our trip to Singapore and the end of our Italy and Greece trip this year. With only 1.5 days of rain we were blessed with great weather. The walking tours were wonderful and once again we met some interesting people and will catch up with some of them next year when we are in England.
So bye for now,
JeffnJulie
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