Katikies Oia

... had given them.

We set our heading for Ancient Thira. Climbing back up the winding road we parked at top near the entrance. I opened the car door only to have it wrenched from my grasp. The wind at the top felt strong enough to blow us off the side of the mountain. We found the ticket office closed but the gates open so in we went. There was a fellow sitting just inside and when I asked him whether we need to buy a ticket he simply replied 'tickets tomorrow’. Good ...

There are simple ways of getting to Oia (or Ia as it is also know and how you pronounce it), such as bus, taxi or hire car. But who needs simple? I had read as part of my research about the wonderful walk between Fira and Oia and I thought we'd give it a try. Loading up the backpack with some supplies (but forgetting water of all things) we set off through the town of Fira which seamlessly turns into Firostafani. Along the way there are so many photo opportunities to get pretty pictures of ...

... got on the phone and started screaming and swearing at the driver in front of us for no apparent reason. He told us that there was a road up to the town and a road down to the campsite. The last bus left the campsite at 11 pm. After that you could take a taxi ride or take the 20 minute stumble down the cliff to the campsite.

The campsite was fairly large with lots of different sleeping arrangements as previously explained. Our "big tents" slept 2-3, but by 9 am ...

... of watching it and trying to figure out what to do (seriously it was that scary), I ran down the street for help and found what I thought was a really tough looking guy who claimed that he wasn't afraid of spiders. He came back with me to be our hero, but when he saw the size of this thing, he quickly told us he couldn't help us and left. Finally, one of the Canadians (the guy of course) attempted to kill it will one of the huge travel books I'd packed. It took him ...

... there is no escalator to go up again!









This is our simple breakfast for the day. Ice cream in Waffle and coffee. We prefer McDonald's coffee... hehehe.












After breakfast, we went for the mule ride. Mule is actually a cross between donkey and a horse, and it is unlikely that ...

... p





We had our dinner onboard the boat. The dinner wasn't that good. It's buffet style, with no tables, and drinks are extra... But the sunset view are magnificent! The sun slowly disappear into horizon, and the colour of the sky slowly change from blue to yellow, to total darkness, till the only light you see are the lights from the caldera.

... with milk, snacks, diaper changes, wet wipes, water and god knows what else. A and I feel like pack mules, since we're either lugging that or littler a. M and C are in the same condition. We stroll through the wonderful streets of oia, finding an artist's studio where the artist makes 3D art which is quite beautiful. Another studio is manned by the artist and full of gorgeous water colours of Santorini and Oia in particular. Little cobbled ...

... thought we could save a little by renting a scooter. So, to make sure I still know how to ride a bike, I gave it a try. I let Ai Ling wait, while I ride for a short distance. It's kinda uncontrollable for me, scary scary. A couple saw the way I ride, and told Ai Ling they don't think it's safe, doh! Ok ok... I must admit I myself don't feel confident of riding around ...

... broke down and paid for an actual day tour provided by the hostel. It was only 25 euro each. We met three people, a couple from Bellingham and another from NYC living in Poland. They made this trip great fun. We rode a pirate ship looking sail boat out to the volcano and hiked for 1.5 hours, then dove from the ship into the ice cold Mediterranean sea and swam to 'hot spring' ... more like luke warm orange water cove for mineral ...

... a 90 degree angle. Suffice it to say that we both managed to hurt our backs. Combine that with the fact that I had two accidents within the first year that I could drive, and you can begin to sense my trepidation towards driving a scooter around the island. Up until now I didn't have one experience that didn't end with me skipping horizontally across the ground/water. Prologue aside, I drove a scooter around the island one morning and managed not to skip my body across ...