Crete -- A Little Diddy

  Crete, Greece
Wednesday, August 6, 2008

We are in Crete and loving it!!  It has been so wonderful in Greece so far that we thought we should add some creativity to this entry.  We have written about our time in Crete to the tune of "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel.  Upon reading it afterwards - we realize that it will be difficult to capture the tune, unless you are quite familiar with the song - it might be worth it to play the song along with it...let us know what you think! 

           The Travellors

     We are just two travellors
     and our story's often told,
    On a website you can find it
    and then read about our fumbles and our successes.

    We're now in Crete!
    Still we're tired, 14 hours,
    On a hard, cold ferry seat.
       yawwwwwwwwwwn.

    When we left the port and fainlly,
    we were oh so full of joy,
    In Iraklio - we made it,
    But we couldn't find the bus station to Hania.

    Heavy Load!

    Seeking out simple directions
    to the bus we'd hoped to go,
    Looking for someone to help ease all of our woe.

    Ta Te Tired! * With our packs we were so tired,
    Ta Te Tired! * 3 kilometers we walked,
    Ta Te Ta Ta Tired. 

    Then we took the bus to Hania
    and went looking through the town,
    Where we saw a lighthouse,
    Shining brightly in the night; a scenic waterfront.

    We do declare!
    There were times when we were so content,
    We thought of living there.
    La la la la la la la la la la la.

    Ta Te Town! * How we loved that Hania town,
    Ta Te Town! * Such a charming little town,
    Ta Te Ta Ta Town.  

           (musical interlude)

    Now we're laying out our trekking clothes
    and heading for the Gorge.  Samaria Gorge.
    Where the rocky, winding pathways are leading us. 
         Bleeding Toes.  Aching Bones. 

    In the clearing stands out Trevor
    in the Gorge in all its fame,
    And our picture's the reminder 
    of every step we laid that day that
    hurt us till we cried out,
    in our pleasure and our pain,  
    "We have finished!  We have finished!"
    But the aching still remains. 

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.








For those of you who don't know the song, here's the Cole's Notes version:

We arrived in Crete after a 14 hour ferry ride.  that began at 1:00am.  We tried to sleep on the floor between rows of seats but the naps were few and far between.

02. Our Bed on the Ferry.

When we did arrive in Iraklio, we were happy to be off the ferry, however due to a confusing map in our guide book, Trevor, our fearless navigator, took a left and 1500m uphill, rather than a right and 50m across the street.  We finally found a helpful restaurant owner who told us we were no longer on the map and we needed to go back to the port and cross the street. 

Skill-testing question:

What is 1500m uphill + 1500m downhill + 50m across the street? 

Answer:
Too far to walk with your packs on.
And for all you Smart Alec's out there; the 1500m UPHILL does not cancel out the 1500m DOWNHILL.

So we walked 3050m with our heavy packs on our backs and although it wasn't uphill both ways - not a single step was easy. Trevor insists this was a well-though out excursion and that he knew where we were the entire time.  He claims it was much needed exercise after the 14 hour ferry ride.  My knee disagrees.  We did make it back to the port and found the bus station (across the street) and managed to just catch a bus to Hania that was already running and ready to leave. 

Hania was one of our favorite little towns so far.  We stayed in the old Venetian town which had walkable streets, an old tiny port completely surrounded with restaurants and a pretty white lighthouse highlighing everything.

16. Fishing At Lighthouse

After sunset, all of the restuarants sparkled along the walkways creating a glowing semi-circle around the water.  The lighthouse shone with a golden light around the quaint area.

The main reason we went to Hania was to trek down the famous Samaria Gorge.  This is the largest Gorge in all of Europe.  It is a 1 hour bus ride to the top and a 5 - 6 hour trek to the bottom.  The trek was 17 km long and the pathways were very rocky.  The first few steps showed us a spectacular view.  The mountaintop was  vision draped in a gentle dusting of morning sun. 

20. Top of the Gorge

The beginning few kilometers were a steady downhill - winding trek over loose rocks.  There were many slips, near stumbles and stubbed toes along the way.  Within the first half hour, we could feel our quads and glutes burning. 

There were picnic tables along the way to provide a spot for a break as well as fresh water coming out of the springs to refill our waterbottles. 

Once we were closer to the bottom, we walked along a small stream and gawked at the towering cliffsides on either side of us.  The most famous part of the gorge, the Iron Gates, provided an impressive sight with a narrow section 3 meters wide and a sheer vertical rock face stretching up 300m to our left and right.  Trevor stood at this point, 11km into our trek and held his arms out to the side.  His 2m wing span left less than a meter gap on either side.  As we continued on not yet knowing or feeling the lactic acid building in our muscles, we soon came across some ruins, old churches and settlements from centuries ago.  We were nearing the 5 hour mark on our rocky journey and it was now just afternoon.  We were whiping sweat from our brows and feeling the heat but we were glad that our trek continued to be a slight decent and we did not envy those who we were passing who were only just beginning their venture from the bottom of the gorge UP. 

Reicpe for Heat Stroke:

1)  Enter the gorge at the bottom.
2)  Be sure to begin at the hottest part of the day.
3)  Mix 1000's of rocks, with a few 100 stones and set aside for later.
4)  Add a pinch of *spring water, a spoonful of *head protection, a dollop of *sunscreen.
5)  Take the rocks and stones and toss them up a steep incline up to 500m.
6)  Crush stones coursely with your feet as you walk for 17000m. 
7)  Now simply bake in the sun at 40-45 degrees celsius for 5 or 6 hours.
8)  Remove from the gorge with oven mitts and a stetcher.

For faster results, leave out the items marked with a *. 


Poor saps, they don't know what's coming.