Karpathos

Because the ferry was so late (something you have to get used to in Greece) we didn't arrive in Karpathos until past 11 PM. We had booked an airbnb and luckily the owners mum owned a restaurant in the village below the house, so was happy to show us where it was if we came to her restaurant. Oddly enough as she had to be at the airport early the next morning, she was in fact spending the night in our lounge. We hadn't expected her to come along for the ride in our car, and it saw us hastily shifting boxes of heavy wine onto our laps to make room for her. It was extremely hot, even at night, and unfortunately the house itself, whilst pretty, had a few major problems. It had been advertised as having wifi, but did not in fact, have this feature. Although annoying, my main problem with the house was the heat - although advertised with air conditioning the unit was only in the corridor and didn't blow enough into the bedrooms to keep them cool. A few nights of sleeplessness was to be had for me, as this island was the hottest we had come across.
I forgot about all these problems however, when we woke in the morning and saw our view from the house for the first time.

Our first order for the day was of course a swim, and we quickly drove down to the little village to throw ourselves into the beautifully clear water. Dad had come to this island many years before with mum, and spoken of a little village they had walked to, which they had loved. Seeing this little place by the light of day had dad seriously wondering if by some strange coincidence this was that very place! Unfortunately there was no way to know for sure. 

 

We headed north to explore, soon discovering Karpathos was a rough and wild island, where having a 4-wheel drive would have come in handy. There were many roads we couldn't traverse down, or had to turn back, or struggled down with much nervousness due to this fact. Our little car was pushed into places it probably never should have been, but it performed admirably. We passed so many gorgeous views and little bays on our way, and it made me wish we had a yacht to navigate the secret coves that can only be reached by boat. 

There was something torturous about driving those roads only to see the many impassible paths which we knew would lead to beautiful secluded beaches. Finally we did decide to just follow one and hope it led to the sea, even though there were no signs. It was slow and narrow going, and I didn't want to think what would happen if we met a car going the other way. However we did eventually make it for our dip in the ocean at a dusty and quiet beach which held only freedom campers and a single little taverna. It made me curious to try Greece one day as a backpacker and freedom camper, as I think the experience would be very different, and thoroughly adventurous.

 By this time we were hungry, so we stopped in the pretty fishing village of Diafani to look for lunch. After pausing to admire the pretty fountain we stopped at a little Italian and Greek fusion restaurant, hoping for something a little different from our usual fare. We were not disappointed as we were soon dining on delicious bruschetta. It was an extremely laid-back restaurant, and it felt like we were waited on by the family and friends of the chef, who came and told us what was actually available and fresh on the menu. We would be served and then our server would wander back to the terrace to continue drinking beer. I loved it! I had delicious spaghetti Carbonara, and enjoyed the change from our usual diet very much. 

Feeling very replete from lunch, we headed for the town of Olympos, which in antiquity was near to the Doric city of Vrycous. Little of it still remains however, aside from a few ruins of walls and houses and graves. The citizens of Vrycous fled during the 7th or 8th century due to pirates, and it is probable that this is when Olympos was founded, although others believe that it was a series of earthquakes that scared the towns inhabitants away from the sea.

 People still dress traditionally here, and it has become a massive tourist attraction due to this. Despite its popularity however, it was still an extremely pretty village to explore. As we arrived in the late afternoon, we missed the tourist hoardes and were able to wander at will, with only the locals around.

It had been a full day, and as we started the journey home the day only got longer as we blew out a tire on the road home. Winding past the cliffs, it was full of rocks fallen from above, and apparently the island was known for road slips and earthquakes. A kind Greek man and his entire family stopped on the side of the road and were able to help us put the spare tire on, so we could continue on our way. Disaster averted! We were tired and it was late, so we decided to find a replacement tire in the morning.

This of course, proved easier said than done on a tiny Greek island, and we ended up asking at a rental car place, at loss at what else to do as we couldn't see any garages anywhere. The nice lady there rang up her mum who then directed us to a petrol station that also doubled as a garage - not something we would ever find on our own! The man inspected the wheel and took it off our hands, asking us to come back in a couple of hours.

With little else to do, we headed for the town of Menetes to kill some time. This mountain village was extremely pretty and quiet to wander, clearly far off the beaten tourist track. I liked how we were told 'kalimera' by a bunch of elderly men all sitting in the sun drinking their coffee as we passed them by. We politely wished them good morning back, and went on our way, smiling at the friendliness of locals.

























It was about time to check on our car by this point, so we returned to find that he had found a second-hand tire for us to use, and it only cost us twenty euro! Happy with our good deal, we decided to return to the pretty town of Meletes for lunch, as Karpathos town was less than inspiring. We had passed a taverna called the Dionysus Fiesta with a terrace full of greenery, and had been rather entranced with both how it looked and its rather unusual name, so decided it would be the perfect place to feast (it also featured in our Lonely Planet guide, which is always a good sign). The owner was extremely happy to greet us, and couldn't believe we were from somewhere as far away as New Zealand! He offered us the large round table causing us to hesitate as it was already occupied by an elderly lady, but he quickly waved our worries aside, explaining she was his aunt, and quickly re-settling her at another table. Feeling mildly guilty, we soon found ourselves seated and enjoying delicious food cooked by his wife. One of the most interesting dishes we tried was a specialty of the region called Macarounes which turned out to entail extremely oniony pasta (although it reminded me of gnocchi) which was rather nice but a tad overpowering for me. We also tried the Bram which was like a vegetable stew and was really quite lovely. We finished off with a complimentary, and apparently rather traditional, almond crescent biscuit.

The experience was not over yet however, as he insisted on showing us his beautiful home. The large front room had been turned almost into a museum, showcasing what a traditional house on Karpathos had once looked like. His entire family had slept in this room together and his grandparents had made all the cloth hangings themselves. The ancient and enormous TV had a pride of place in this room as apparently his father had brought it back all the way from America! His enthusiasm for his history and Karpathos itself was enjoyable to listen to, and I felt lucky to have been shown his home.

Blinking in the bright sunshine after seeing the cool and dimly lit house we headed for the small town of Finiki in hopes of a swim. We were not disappointed by the tiny and rather pretty harbour town, and went for another dip.

We then headed onwards towards Lefkos, keeping an eye out for a Roman cistern that was supposed to be about. We found it along the road and I had to admit I was rather surprised by the form it took. On my own limited excavations I had in fact come across and partially dug up a Roman cistern, however it had been more like a marble-lined floor used as a tank for storing water. This was of the other sort, an underground reservoir made for storing the water. It was a rather mysterious structure as we descended underground to great pillars and blocks of stone held up by scaffolding, and old blocked off tunnels leading to nowhere. On our way back we noticed a separate dwelling built into the rock face with a cave leading back. Necia and I had a quick explore of the little house and it was all quite interesting and old looking, though there was nothing to explain why it was there. We soon left after Necia almost knocked herself out on the low-hanging doorway (and you know it's low when Necia walks into it!)
After our long day we headed to another bay for yet another swim, before heading back to our apartment for a lovely long dinner on the balcony involving bread, feta, olive tapenade, cucumber, roasted tomatoes, garlic and wine. This is the life!