Day 71: Change of Plans

First of all, I wish to apologize for all that crazy talk about spending my time here lying on beaches. I blame it on the lack of sleep. I slept in a bit today but woke up with a much clearer head and a renewed sense of adventure. My first idea was to take the unreliable bus to the northern tip of the island, then walk all the way back to my hotel on the south. Actually, to make all these locations easier to follow, here's a map:


My hotel is near Perivolos, at the bottom right, and my ferry docked where the little anchor is. I think that's all I've mentioned for locations so far. I decided to catch the bus to Fira and then decide what to do from there since it's the largest town and the central hub for getting other places. During the long wait for the bus I met a trio of Calgarian girls who were all engineering students on exchange to Crete. They were also doing courses on the Minoan civilization, so between that and the mathy/computery talk we had quite a bit to chat about while we waited. They recommended going to Oia (at the top) for the sunset, so I started thinking how to work that into my day.

Fira, when I got there, has an amazing view. That chunk cut out of the left of the island is a big caldera, and the west coast (at least from Fira to Oia) is cliffs of black volcanic rock. All the buildings are built on a terraced slope so that restaurant and hotel has a view down into caldera and along the cliffs each way.

I picked up some gyros for a quick lunch and explored the shops for a bit before wandering north away from the shopping area, just checking out random streets. I met two older men, also Canadian (I swear everything traveller I meet seems to be Canadian or Australian) hiking uphill in town, and we started chatting. Among other things they told me of a cliff path that ran between Fira and Oia, and I thought this would be the perfect way to get a hike in and have plenty of time to check out Oia and catch the sunset. I was in no rush, so my walk included detours to climb up rocky outcrops or go check out other things that struck my fancy. The path followed a ridge that runs along the bay, so as it crossed back and forth over you get nice views down both sides of the ridge.



When I got into Oia I still had awhile until sunset so I checked out the town and walked down a path to the water. There were lots of fish restaurants at the base of the cliffs, and there was a bit of a path that followed the water's edge, giving a nice view up at the black cliffs. They offer donkey rides for the long climb back to the city, but I was happy to do it by foot. I got some dinner at a restaurant and then headed to the edge of the city to wait for the sunset, along with what seemed like half the people on the island.


I took quite a few photos of the sunset, because it's hard to tell how they'll turn out. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the results.


I already have a basic plan for what to explore tomorrow, but we'll see what I feel like in the morning.