Slapping the Octopus in Khios and Oinoussos
Trip Start
May 22, 2006
1
66
79
Trip End
Aug 05, 2014
Oinoussos,
Greece
Friday, May 9, 2008
After bidding farewell to the hospitable clientele and host at the "No Problem" Bar and getting a night's kip, we left Cesme and Turkey at 7.30 in the morning. We arrived on the Greek Island of Khios in the Port of Khios (no imagination these Greek Town namers) and proceeded to check back in to Greece. In an arse about face manner we visited the Port Police to find out where the immigration office was (one is supposed to go to customs and immigration first). All of the staff were uniformed women who, unlike their male counterparts, did not tote guns but did carry fully locked and loaded smiles. They were very helpful, and, despite not having been to Customs or Immigration, duly signed us in.
They then trundled us off to Immigration where we had to search the offices to find someone alive
Khios - Stormy Harbour
. We were dealt with quickly and pleasantly by a very friendly official. He, in turn, phoned for the Customs Officer who turned up in his car a couple of minutes later. He had clearly been disturbed at his morning coffee and had a face on him like (in the Scottish vernacular) a skelped airse ( a smacked bottom) he barely understood any English but just sat and stared at our passports and stuff for about 5 minutes, occasionally twitching his walrus moustache. He gradually mellowed and eventually signed a few bits of paper, put our names in a big book and then, smiling, handed us some papers to take back to the port police and told us to "'ave a neece dye". We had moored the boat on the South side of the half mile long main harbour and, despite knowing a strong Northerly blow was coming, left it there. By evening the wind was blowing at force 6, and gusting higher, creating quite a swell which continuously slapped against Tiercels broad stern. This was not a good situation and it went on for nearly 3 days. Yet in all that time our lightweight aluminium anchor held us 5 ft from the quay and didn't budge an inch.
Throughout our first weekend here everyone was celebrating Easter in a big way with processions, hymn singing, and 3 days (and nights) of fireworks which made the artillery barrage on the first day of the battle of the Somme seem like a tranquil Sunday afternoon in the home counties by comparison
Khios Harbour Sunset
.The Island of Khios is one of the larger Greek Islands and not perhaps the luckiest. It suffered more than it's fair share of tragedies. In 1822 the Ottomans massacred 30,000 Khiots and enslaved a further 40,000. This slaughter was one of the key motivating forces behind the successful Greek struggle for independence. Then in 1881 a catastrophic earthquake destroyed much of the island. Thus the buildings mostly date from after that time, although there are still some old Genoese and Ottoman houses still standing.
Khios town with its bazaar, Byzantine and Ottoman fountains, seems more Turkish than Greek. Outside Khios town the island is mountainous but also very green and, in parts, well cultivated. The main crop is mastic which is derived from the resin of trees and goes into chewing gum, sweets, cosmetics and health products. It was also considered, by the women of the Ottoman Sultan's Harem, to be an aphrodisiac and therefore prices were at a premium during the reign of the Ottoman empire.
On Tuesday we hired a motor scooter and trundled off to see the medieval villages where mastic is produced - imaginatively called the "Mastic Villages". The drive through the green hills and mountain scenerybwas delightful and made a fitting appetiser for the lovely villages of Pyrgi and Meste
Khios Mountain
. Both villages were built in medieval times to withstand earthquakes and invaders, both of which are quite the thing here. Rows of houses are separated by narrow alleyways with buttresses arching across, holding one row up against the next. In the village of Pyrgi they have a unique form of decorating the houses by whitewashing them and then cutting through it to the black volcanic cement to form the most intricate and puzzling designs.
The villages, until recent years, have always been comparatively wealthy because of the premium placed on the price of mastic by the sexually aggressive ladies of the Ottoman court and other, probably fallacious, health giving qualities. Thus they have been the subject of many invasions by pirates, bandits and fellow travellers. In order to confuse the buggers they designed their villages with nothing but narrow alleyways with lots of twists and turns. To the gangs of directionally challenged thugs this proved very difficult to attack - (imagine trying to invade a brick built Hampton court maze) but easy for the knowledgeable locals to defend.
The other main village, Mesta, is of a more robust and workmanlike medieval design without the fancy décor
Khios Mountain Roads
. It is very attractive but is in danger of becoming rather twee now that it is beginning to fill with art galleries, souvenir shops and other arty emporia. Nonetheless we enjoyed it here. We sat in a taverna in the tiny, almost claustrophobic, main square and had a very good spicy pork stew, ratatouille and rice, which we had to go into the kitchen to choose, with delicious home made bread and cost all of €14.00 for the two of us.On the next day we took our scooter through the hills to the wee port of Khardamyla on the North of the island. The journey was quite exciting as we ascended hair pin bends up the steep hills into the mountains and then similarly descended down into the enclosed bay where lay the fishing village. It certainly tested Rob's 20 year dormant biking skills as well as Gina's nerves sitting on the back. The village is small, attractive and has many surprisingly expensive Venetian style houses. Apparently some of the richest Greek ship owners come from Khios and keep summer houses. Also many Greek sea captains retire here. So, for a small fishing village Khardamyla looks surprisingly chipper.
Oinoussos (a.k.a. Inousses and Oinousses)
On Friday we departed Khios and sailed 10 miles across to the smaller Island of Oinoussos
Khios Windmills
. This island is about 8 miles long, has a population of around 300 and is drop dead gorgeous! Oh, and for most of our stay here we have been the only visiting boat in the place.On entering the harbour at Mandraki one is welcomed by the statue of a mermaid. On the quayside is the statue of the "Mother of Captains." The harbour has electricity and, intermittently, water. The village sits attractively on a steep hill running down to the harbour. The views across to Khios are wonderful and the harbour is very sheltered from all winds.
Oinoussos is famed for its sea captains and wealthy ship owners who are native to the island. There is a maritime museum and a merchant navy college here. It has a number of very expensive mansions both ancient and modern which are used as holiday homes by the richer natives as well as the usual small Aegean houses, smallholdings etc. Some of the older buildings were once very beautiful but are now in various states of dilapidation.
The inhabitants here are clearly very pious. One can't move a few feet without bumping into a church. They even have a cathedral in the village. There are over 30 churches on the Island or the smaller adjacent islands - 1 church for every 10 people.
For the last few weeks we have been woken (in Turkey) by the calls of the Imams getting the faithful to prayer using terribly distorted speakers; in Khios by the sound of waves smacking on Tiercel's ample stern; or by the sound of chucking out time in the all-night, harbourside bars
Pyrgi Village Square
. However, here in Oinoussos we are woken by the rhythmic beat of old fishermen slapping an Octopus. This is not another euphemism for an onanistic sexual practice, but really is old boys beating hell out of an octopus or two with a flat piece of stick, to tenderise them.Inland from the harbour the island is very hilly. However the climb into the hills is well worth the effort. As one passes up through the winding lanes one sees the modern houses, the restored and derelict Italian and Ottoman style houses and then, climbing up into the hills, there are ancient farmhouses, now derelict. Around them can be seen the terracing on which the long-gone residents grew crops - olives, citrus fruit, grapes etc - and the enclosures in which they kept animals. One can readily imagine that whole generations of an island family lived, loved, fought,brought up families and died here.Then, in the 19th century were killed, enslaved or driven from these remote farms by the ruthless Ottoman rulers. It is reminiscent of the less bloody but equally tragic Highland clearances in Scotland (and Ireland) where greed rather than politics was the cause. Looking at one small farmstead reminds one of the ruined villages and crofts on Argyll where voracious landlords drove the Highlanders to the industrial cities, the New World or illness and starvation. One gets that same mournful feeling of the lost histories of these tragic wee piles of stone
Meste Street
.Like the Scots, these Aegean islanders that survived the slaughter and enslavement moved to the new world and many prospered. In the case of the Khiots and Oinoussansan some went to sea to become sea captains and eventually, in many cases ship owners. At one point the Greek merchant fleet (mainly owned by Khiots and Oinoussans) was larger than the rest of the EU countries fleets added together.
One can see from the surviving houses here that many families did well and were able to restore their properties when Greece became independent of the Ottoman empire. There were also families who never returned and whose ruined houses tell the tale of their ill fortune.
The island has 3 or 4 shops, a bar or two and, in season, some tavernas. The baker makes delicious bread in huge loaves but which, after a day are stale and could be used to beat octopus with. The veg shop is more like a dingy cave but the fruit is surprisingly fresh and well selected. The oranges seem to have just been picked and still have the leaves attached.
Tomorrow (Friday) we aim to leave here to head back to Khios for a couple of days and then mosey on down to explore Samos prior to meeting friends there towards the end of the month.
