last day in Chania

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Well yesterday was a huge long day. The alarm went off at five; I slept till half past, but Kathleena had to get ready and stuff. So we headed out around quarter two six, in order catch the six fifteen bus to the mouth of the Samaria Gorge near Omalos. We got to the bus station to find that our information was faulty. The first bus didn't leave until eight thirty. So we went back to our pension and rested for another little while, till actually catching the bus. I slept, between marvelling at the amazing scenery. Huge hills with deep deep valleys in between, all this dry orangey colour, and littered with these scrubby green bushes, as well as scrubby white sheep.

We got to the gorge around ten, and set off after eating a little snack of bread and cheese. Let me describe the Samaria Gorge. It is a sixteen kilometer gash down to the south coast of Crete, with mountains seeming to just HANG overhead, these aromatic cedar-like pine trees growing in groves, the sun shining right down the middle, and amazing sights at every turn. The wind blows through and makes the whole gorge whisper. There were some really beautiful points; the abandoned settlement of Samaria has old, old terraces covered in pale-leaved olive trees, the whole places just curves upwards on either side, and everything is drenched in sunlight.

As you get further down, the gorge gets deeper and deeper, until it simultaneously reaches its deepest and narrowest point-a rickety wooden pathway carries you over a rushing creek. Rock walls with trees sprouting out sparsely reach up three hundred meters, and the face shows swirling, curving rock strata preserved within. It's only three meters across!

After we got out, we had to go through this little farm-community called Agiou Roumelli. There were these black goats in a fenced enclosure. I think if I was a Greek back in the old days, goats would be the very last animal I'd think to domesticate. They're so unsettlingly weird-looking! One of them opened his mouth and started gnawing on the fence when we walked by (showing that the inside of his mouth was covered with gross polyps), and the other just STARED at us with those horizontal, wide-set eyes. He didn't stop while we were walking away, etiher. Sheep are okay because they can't think, but goats are just kind of scary.

So we hung out on the beach of Agia Roumelli, swimming in the bracing cold seawater, and drying off on the black sand and sunshine. Then we caught a ferry to Hora Sfakion, another seaside town, where we'd catch a bus back to Chania. But the bus left early and we were forced to get a room there for the night. Which was a stupid unnecessary expense, but I was still under-budget. And we had a room that looked right over the harbour! We could hear the waves on the sand all night.

This morning we caught the bus at seven and made it right to the pension to pack up and check out. Now we're spending the rest of the day here, and leaving at nine tonight for Kissamos-Kastelli, a seaside town unremarkable in itself, but perfect for accessing a number of spectacular beaches on the west coast. For Balos I am particularly excited; it is an enormous earthen knob rising out of the sea, surrounding by swirls of shallow turquoise and pale sand.

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