Animals (and a few plants)

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Day 38- Wednesday

It is almost the end of our Greek sojourn. All too short, of course. But this was really just a preliminary visit for both of us. Hopefuly there will be more.Tomorrow begins the journey which will take us to Turkey. We have been just organising this all stage by stage as were were not really sure how things would be, given that this is high summer. That has not really been a problem at all for us, other than that prices are higher. So on Thursday we take an 11 hour ferry ride back to Piraeus where, after a few hours' wait we will take another ferry to Samos , one of the north-eastern Aegean islands (midnight to 2pm so we have splurged on a windowless cabin- 53 euros). From there our forward ticket says "Destination: Turkey" but nowhere more specific than that. Apparently it only takes one more hour . None of the maps we can find have place names for both countries, even the guide books. But by putting my two Eyewitness guides side by side it appears we arrive in Ephesus! How incredible! So standby for the next installments.

One way of contrasting cultures has always been through attitudes to animals. Not just the roles animals play in peoples lives but also how they are portrayed in literature, both in myths and children's stories, for example. It is a relief to see cats so highly regarded around Greece, after travelling in Asia where they are scarcely tolerated in traditional life, and frequently have their tails mutilated. Dogs also have a good life here, and seem to be well regarded and allowed to roam freely. Quite often in a restaurant the resident dog will come and sit nearby. And most of them seem to be reasonably healthy. However the sooner somone develops a de-worming and de-sexing additive for their food the better off all will be. There seems to be lots of them.

Of course the other great favourite in Greece is the goat. According to Lawrence Durrell, during the post war reconstruction some United NAtions agency was asked what to do about the sparcity of vegetation. The considered opinion was that goats are the scourge of Greece. If they were eradicated then within 80 years the traditional vegetation would regrow. Needless to say the government deemed that advice unacceptable to the populace.

Goats remind me of Cambodia, were there seemed to be a remarkable number of goats, in addition to cows, oxen and chooks all roaming around especially on the roads outside Phnom Penh. Only pigs seemed to be confined in pens. Rosemary's theory was that the chooks were from Oxfam ( you know...give a poor Cambodian a chook for Christmas instead of wasting money on gifts for your family). Presumably the many goats and cows were from the similar program of Heifer International (remember that West Wing episode?). Another well-intentioned but inappropriate form of aid, perhaps. I doubt that anyone in Cambodia has any idea about milking goats or even wanting to drink their milk if someone else did it. I do not think that consumption of dairy products is in SE ASian dietary customs. Nor do many,apart from Muslims, consider eating mutton . Especially when most places apart from the main towns do not have refrigeration or even electricity.

So the sparsness of vegetation is a concern. Interestingly there are lots of eucalypts growing and also Norfolk Island pines! I imagine some nostalgic Greek Australian returning from Brighton beach thought they would be just the thing over here. I hope Australia doesn't get blamed for their future bushfires the way we have been for California's after they imported eucalypts as suiting the similar dry climate.

Today we took a lovely bus trip to Phaestos, another Minoan palace ruin baout 65 kilometers southwest of Heraklion. The bus station was just outside the old city wall. After about 20 minutes down the highway, we were glad when the bus turned off to narrower coutry road through various villages. The scenery was quite spectacular. Much more intensively cultivated with grapes and olives than elsewhere.

We were constantly impressed by the patience and skill of the bus driver. People here simply abandon their cars wherever they feel inclined....in the middle of the road, at a 45 degree angle or whatever, sometimes they leave their hazard lights flashing, presumably to indicate that they will return in due course.. At one stage , in a village our huge German bus encountered another identical bus, head on . Apparently there was a line of vehicles behind the other bus so our driver had to reverse back through the narrow, winding road, with cars parked willy nilly. Finally there was a slight widening of the road in the plaka. Needless to say there were cars "double parked" about 2 meters from the side where they should have been. Next to them was a disorderly jumble of motor scooters and a few tables and chairs from the coffee house opposite. The poor driver had to keep reversing past all of this , honking his horn in the hope that the owners of the ill-parked vehicles would return. In due course, without any apology they came and moved their vehicles, the coffee shop owner moved his tables and our bus could get over to one side and allow the other bus to pass (with inches to spare). This happened not just once or twice , but even on two occasions on the main road out of Heraklion!

Today is Elizabeth's 25th birthday. I set out this afternoon to buy a gift on the day. However is seems to be early closing day. I have already bought a few things along the way, But I thought I should mark my absence with a special purchase from the place where I was at the time of the offence. In addition I was delighted when I reached for my mobile phone to call her , to receive a message from Matt, my friend from Insearch to announce the birth of his and Flavia's firstborn, Arabella on the same day> A great day for a lovely girl to have a birthday. So it is great to be in touch , although I am away and missing all these special events.

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Photos

Contented Cats
Prodromos village, Naxos

Not a postcard!
I took this myself in Prodromos, Naxos!

Naxos
This photo uploaded itself so here is is. Technically challenges continue to plague me.But I am undeterred.

Who would be a bus driver?
out the window on the way to Phaestos.

Donkey
Queuing for the ATM? Old and new technology on Paros