On our way to Plakias

---

Lynda and I left Heraklion this afternoon around noon. We began our trek taking the road closest to the shore with the sea on our right looking for the bus station to Rethymno. A local working in a street kiosk directed us to the station letting us to turn left a the hospital and right at teh Porta Chanion and we should find the buses there. She said it was only a 10-15 minute walk. We were excited to be there soon. With our lives strapped to our backs, we continued our stomp over broken sidewalks and absent walkways. The sun was hot but the winds were high tricking our skin. WE walked against the traffic as it was easier to see the vehicles barreling towards us enabling us to dodge away from monsterous buses, zipping scooters, and annoying mini cars. The streets lacked working traffic lights so we were often guessing our turn to cross. Once having gone wrong, a mercedes cab driver honked at us and pointed at the light. oh, well. damage done. With a stadium in view that wasn't on the map, and having walked longer than 10-15 minutes, I felt that we may have passed the hospital to turn left. we stopped and looked around seeing no blue cross. there was a bus parked up ahead. we walked to it asking the bus driver for directions. he said, 'no bus station that way. bus station that way.' pointing in the direction we had just come from. we must have looked confused for him to repeat himself time and again. he then said something that sounded like his bus was going to Plakias. He motioned for us to get on. this seemed a little odd seeing as though we were not at the bus stop. as we drove ahead, thoughts of horror movies ran through my head. i looked around to see anything familiar. we passes the blue cross, then went under the Porta Chanion, then saw a bus station. ah... good. we're not being kidnapped. Our bus ride took us through cillages, over mountains, and presented endless sites of olive tree groves. i was amazed at how landscaped hole hillsides were. how could the farmers get to those orchards being that high up?
our bus driver was a round man with black sunglasses and dark hair. he smelled of an afternoon shot of 'greek water' or two, or three... or five, combined with body odor, which, by this time should not be surprising. his english was very limited but greater than my greek. he lit up a cigarette every hour or so often leaving all windows closed encouraging the smoke to circulate throughout the bus. apparently the 'no smoking' sign above him does not apply to the driver. the radio played tradiotional cretan/greek music tying the ambience together quite nicely.
goats inhabited the mountain sides tucked up in the crevaces blending in with the rock. only motion could reveal them. the orchards were a lush green and the mountain rolled out a welcome mat to the southern coast of crete... plakias.

---

Photos

journey to plakias
orchards on the hillsides

journey to plakias
the bus driver dropped us off here.. in the middle of nowhere. the sign said 18km to plakias. there was no bus stop. he told us to 'go that way' and brushed a vague path for us down the road. so, we went that way and started walking to an unknown location.

journey to plakias
the view of our path. no ocean in sight. soon after we began walking, a bus came peeling around the corner and honked at us. a man got out and asked 'where are you going?' 'plakias' we replied. he opened the cargo and put our bags under the bus. we loaded onto a bus with only two seats left. the smell was horrid.

in plakias
at the plakias port

in plakias
at the plakias port - boats

in plakias
my favorite, prize winning picture. - plakias port.

in plakias
walking to the hostel

in plakias
our room at the youth hostel, shared with possibly 6 others. i'm on the top bunk.

in plakias
our dinner guest

in plakias
lynda eating her baklava

in plakias
after dinner mints... and shots to go with every meal. this is raki.

in plakias
the port at night fall

in plakias
the port at night fall - me n lynda

in plakias
one of our neighbors

in plakias
this is how i keep my blog entries. we haven't always had internet access so back to the good ol days of pen and pad. - map of crete on the side for correct spelling of cities/towns.

in plakias
yes. the water is clear. the beaches have little sand here and are mostly rock.

for grandma
i'm trying to take pictures of as many flowers as possible for grandma. the morning glories grow wild out here. so far only purple and blue.

for grandma
more 'wild' flowers

for ricky
i think i found your greek cousin :)

decided to hire a car on day 2
here we go....

Comments

[Ricky]

How grand!
Cheerio, Corri! I do believe you have found my dear cousin, Dimitri! How grand it is to see him after all of these years. G'day! ~Richard