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Published: October 8th 2016
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Crete 2016.2 Blog 2
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Crete 2016.2 Blog 2 Thursday 6
th October: the big drive to Sitia. We’d booked a hotel in Sitia in the far east of Crete for three nights in order to allow us to roam around this part of the island without having to drive too far each day. The drive began easily enough following our previous day’s route east to Ayios Nikolas then continuing east into the Thripto Mountains which separate Sitia from the rest of the island. Our first stop was at an archaeological site called Gournia, a Minoan town dating back to 1500BC, very conveniently located 200 yards off the main highway. After spending an interesting hour wandering around the site we continued for just over a mile to Pahia Ammos, a small quiet fishing village where
On the road heading east into the mountains of the far east
The E75 trans-island main highway, also know as the 90, from Sitia in the far east to Chania in the west. we had lunch at Zorba’s on the seafront. After Pahia Ammos the road headed up into the mountains and became extremely windy, twisting and turning and climbing ever higher; more or less parallel with the coast and providing some great views. It took about two hours to get to Sitia, including stops to savour the views, and was quite a tiring drive. Our satnav directed us through Sitia (quite a sizable town) to our hotel on the sea front. First impressions of the hotel and Sitia were very positive and soon got even better. The hotel is quite small but beautifully fitted out. Our room has a small kitchen area and balcony overlooking the beach across the (quiet) beach front road. After settling into our very smart quarters we walked the quarter mile to the harbour area to look for a suitable place for dinner. There was certainly plenty of choice and we settled on Zorba’s (two Zorba’s in one day and 40 miles apart) and had an excellent meal. We’re very favourably impressed with Sitia, it’s well laid out: clean, not too crowded and pedestrian friendly. Also the people here seem nicer, friendly and helpful and more like the
Pahia Ammos sea front
Featuring Zorba's Restaurant Cretans of the far west than the locals in Hersonissos: probably because it’s not totally reliant on tourism here.
Friday 7
th October: time to do some exploring so we headed off further east towards Vai Bay, apparently one of the must-see places in Crete along with Knossos and the Samaria Gorge. The road out of Sitia was over low rolling hills which were very arid and supported virtually no vegetation. On the way we stopped to have a look at the Toplou Monastery which wasn’t particularly interesting, although I was intrigued how the monks can produce a highly regarded wine from land which seems to be mostly rock and shale. On to Vai which is a beautiful bay backed with palm trees There’s a lovely sand beach and it’s all very organised, operated by the local municipality, and geared to accommodate large numbers. When we arrived it was not all crowded but later on as we were leaving a large bus arrived which disgorged lots of Russian package tourists. We headed off along the southern coast to the small town of Palekastro where we had an excellent lunch at the Hellas Hotel (yet another unoriginal
Zorba's in Pahia Ammos
With satisfied customers name). Just outside Palekastro we went to a charming little beach called Hiona (or Chiona) which was almost deserted. A leisurely coffee at one of the two tavernas on the beach followed by ice cream at the other taverna was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon: the sea was just a shade too cool to tempt Jenks the Timid in for a swim so we drove the 12 miles back to Sitia so Jane could enjoy some sunshine on the beach there while I went off exploring, A good day.
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