2/6/18

Highlights Walking the gorge and then the evacuation point.

We left as planned at 8.30am, with plenty of water, as we were heading for Imbros to walk down the famous gorge, following the path of the Allied soldiers who evacuated down through here after the Battle of Crete. We were all looking forward to the day as it is also one of Sue and Jules favourite walks that they have done about 15 times now. In 2015, they walked down with Ro and Libby and placed caches so we also had a few of these to find.

We stopped by a taverna at the top for coffee and a loo stop before following the path to the start of the gorge. Later we found that there is an official area as well where we could have started but ours worked well. Our first cache was set by Ro and was both a quick find and gave the NZ history of the evacuation. I am copying her listings as it is an excellent summary.

While much of the walk was over new stones/gravel, there were parts where we were walking on the old donkey trail. That part was often easier to walk on, although we had to watch out for stones made slippery by the feet of ages.  There was one section in the middle where it was both narrow and the swirl of water had made the surfaces very slippery and I was excessively cautious, perhaps because a woman before us had slipped a few minutes earlier in a much less slippery spot.

Early into the walk we were being overtaken regularly by what we assumed (correctly) were people on a coach trip. We were taking our time and stopping often for photos, to admire and to reflect. The height of the gorge side was awe inspiring and the trees growing out of what seemed like sheer walls had us puzzled as to where they were getting any nutrients. There were caves in the walls and lots of flowers. We were always happy to stop to let people pass as it gave us more opportunities to look. We were so pleased we were under no time pressure.

At the middle of the gorge was a very random hut. John’s reference to Imbros Hilton even had the other people who had stopped here smiling. We had been warned not to use the nearby toilets which we were told would be smelly and full of wasps. We didn’t bother to check this out, given the number of wasps hanging around the rubbish bins. The gorge had bins at regular intervals, mainly filled with empty water bottles, and there were a number of ‘no smoking’ signs.

Sue and Jules had placed a number of caches in the gorge and we were also happy to stop and sign logs. It was also a form of cache check for them. We passed a small memorial and soon after found the cache linked to it further down the gorge. It was a ‘Sorry Tale’, which is what they called the cache. During the Turkish occupation of Crete, a Greek family hid in a nearby cave. The cave was found, blocked and set alight.

We had brief chats with others walking down and passed others walking up. Although down was the better option, the route up would have been achievable as the gradient was gentle overall. One couple from Germany had a toy hedgehog in their pack. Others were from Belgium, and we also heard a few native English speakers as we descended.

The cache near the bottom was called ‘Almost there’. Sue and Jules explained that the lower hut used to be closer to this cache but has since been moved. There are huts at each end, where you first buy your ticket to walk and later have it checked. After 2 people died on the Samaria Gorge, there had been an uproar that their absence had not been noticed until someone actually found them, one dead and one badly injured but later dead before medical help could come. We are not sure how closely the tickets are checked as it would be possible to leave the track before the bottom hut.

The final gorge cache also belongs to Sue and Jules and they told us about it as we neared the end of the walk. By then the overhead sun was hot and we were ready for the end, so the name, ‘End or Beginning’, was easy to remember. They had placed it some time ago, and the hut man had spotted a number of people heading in to it and wondered. So he went and found it, and decided it was in the wrong place so moved it to a better place. He then happily showed cachers where it was. When the logs told Jules and Sue it had been moved they went to check. It was not where they had placed it so they approached the office. The man tossed a rock and told them that was where the cache was. The rock did basically land on the cache in its’ changed position. Sue tried to explain that she had placed it and wanted it back where it had been, but decided her Greek was not good enough to explain about GPS coordinates! So she took a new reading and left it in its new spot. We were introduced to the man at the hut and then headed off to find it. The man at the office was very, very keen to help. We went slightly in the wrong direction and were rapidly redirected from a distance. The help was not really needed as the GPS did read 0 when we picked up the cache. In the meantime, he had explained to Sue that he did let people try to find it themselves and only helped when they were going wrong!! True, but his idea of the time when people were going wrong was very short.

We went into one of the Tavernas where Jules was greeted as ‘Lamb Chops’. They always go here after a walk and are now considered ‘their best customers’. In fact, at one stage the owner thought they were tour guides as they came so often with others like us. After three beers and one orange juice (that hardly touched the sides), our meals came, and so did some extra drinks. Yes, Jules had lamb chops. John had fish which was both big and tasty. Our hosts said they would never have thought of having fish here as it is an agricultural village though right by the sea, but maybe next time Jules will shock them.

When we had nearly finished our meal we noticed the coach below which had filled up was still sitting there. A woman who appeared to be a guide then entered the taverna we were in and checked it out. We had started to assume they were looking for someone. Then we saw a man enter looking very wobbly. He headed down and we saw him being taken across the road to the coach. We were very appreciative of starting a little earlier, having lots of water (although not all was used) and a snack bar in the middle and never having to rush. 

We had walked 10km but now went 18km by road back to our car at the top in the pickup the taverna owners use as a taxi service. Later we saw a German couple who had walked up the gorge walking back down the road. We don’t know if it was a fitness campaign or for economy to avoid the 5 euro trip by truck but the woman looked very fed up. We felt it was excellent value but if we had not done this we would have preferred the gorge walk to the hot winding road walk.

We stopped for very welcome ice-creams and watched a few ferries leave the Bay. Some connect the coastal villages and some still go to Alexandra from here. It was far too hot to do the cache in the village but I did find a couple as Jules drove us back up the hill. One was theirs and talked of the old road which had been 1 way and wound around the hillside. The new road is 2 way, includes some tunnels and winds down just like a scalextric car set as Jules described it. The new road had looked very interesting on the GPS map as we had walked the gorge, but the many turns allow a gentle drop down to the villages below.

We headed home as we were all ready for a break from the sun. After dropping John off, the three of us headed out briefly for a cache as it was a caching day that ‘the Cretan Runners’ had blank in their calendar. It was at a church, which is not really surprising.

Then we went back and were ready for a rest when the phone rang. Their best friend Paul had had a motorbike accident, (his wife is in the UK having cancer treatment) and he was clearly in shock. So they headed out immediately to support him. We had a phone call later to say he was in Chania hospital and going to be admitted with an open fracture of his foot. We had discussed treatment in Crete and knew that nursing services were limited so did not expect them back until late. We had cheese and  crackers and were sitting inside when they arrived back and also had cheese and crackers and a glass of wine. Paul’s Greek neighbours had insisted on an ambulance being called and had later turned up at the hospital themselves. That helped, as they were far more familiar with the system. In the mean time Paul’s wife was contacted and was furious because he had been on the bike in flip flops. Sue and Jules are going to go to his house tomorrow to collect clothes etc for him and we said we would have a lie in, let them get sorted and see them when they got back.