Comatose and Lost in a Forest?

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Today we were supposed to be going to the neighbouring island of Ithaki. That would have involved driving on a windy road, a ferry ride, and then more driving on another windy road, and that would only have been to get there. Issy says that it might be better if we do that another day, when the memories of yesterday's travel sickness aren't quite so raw. She finds some different seasick pills, and adds a valium for good measure. We then read that you should be careful if you take the seasick pills with valium, but it seems it's now a bit too late for that. She tells me that if she goes into a coma, I should continue the holiday without her. We wait half an hour for her cocktail of drugs to take some effect and then set off up the now familiar set of hairpin bends that's our driveway into and out of here.

The cliff face that the road winds along hasn't got any less sheer since yesterday, and the signs that tell you to be careful of falling rocks haven't gone away. We come around a bend, and a large boulder appears on the road in front of us. I don't think it can have been there for very long or surely someone would have moved it out of the way. I wonder if large rocks fall onto the road very often, and if so if any of them fall onto cars.

We stop at a lookout overlooking Myrtos Beach. I thought I was over being stunned by views, but this is something else. The beach is pure white, and the contrast with the blueness of the sea is spectacular. While the view is stunning, we're still thinking about the boulder on the road, so we don't risk hanging around for very long.

We turn off onto a road that takes us over onto the other side of the island. Conversation seems to be drying up. I ask Issy if she's awake. She says she is, but I'm not so sure. I start to think that maybe she wasn't joking when she talked about going into a coma.

Our first stop is Melissani Cave. We buy our tickets and walk down some stairs into a long tunnel which ends at a lake inside the cave. Part of the roof has fallen in, so we can see sky above us. We're herded into a boat, and rowed out into the lake. Rowboat man tells us that the roof collapse happened somewhere around 5,000 years ago. I'm still thinking about the rock on the road around the cliff face. If that's just fallen down I'm not sure how anyone can be absolutely certain that the rest of the cave roof won't fall in on top of us while we're rowing around in here today. I guess at least it would be all over quickly. We're told that the water here is fifteen metres deep and is a mixture of groundwater and seawater. Rowboat man pulls us by rope through a narrow passage that takes us into a different section of the lake where we find ourselves inside a cave with a fully intact roof. The ceiling's well populated with stalactites, and it all looks very impressive.

The boatman suddenly grabs my camera and starts taking photos of us. I think he's done a speed photography course. He takes lots of snaps very quickly, and then tells us, without looking at them, that they're all "very good". This comes shortly before he produces a tin with the word "tips" written on the side of it.

We walk back up the tunnel to the surface. Issy's moving very slowly, and saying very little. I wonder if you can walk while you're in a coma. I also start to wonder if she'll remember any of this.

We drive on into the seaside town of Sami. As is apparently the case with all places here, it can also be spelt a number of other ways, including "Same", which I suspect could potentially get a tad confusing for the English speakers among us. We find a park on the side of a street along the waterfront. As we go to get out of a lady invites us to come into the restaurant in front of where we've parked. We respond with "maybe later", and she then tells us that in that case we can't park here. I suspect she's not officially entitled to make up the parking rules, but we decide it might be better to move rather than risk coming back later to find our chariot smeared with saganaki and hummus.

We walk through the town, or in Issy's case stagger. She says she needs to sit down and have a drink. She falls into a chair in a cafe and puts her head in her hands. She tells me that she's really struggling to stay awake. She fumbles for her drink and only manages to knock it over. The restaurant floor is now drowning in Coke Zero. She asks our waitress if she could bring her another one. I think our server's sensing that Issy's not in a good way, and I can see her getting ready with a bucket and mop for when the next glass goes flying.

Issy insists that she's alright, so we drive up the hill towards the Acropolis of Ancient Sami. The road's very windy, and as was the coast road earlier this morning, its surrounds are well populated with goats. I wonder if they've got some sort of sixth sense that stops them from being crushed by falling rocks. They've all got collars around their necks with bells on them, so they must all belong to someone, but there are no fences to keep them in anywhere. We conclude that the locals must all be very trusting given the apparent lack of concern about anyone pinching anyone else's livestock.

We park and walk up towards the Acropolis. Signs tell us that Sami was once an independent state, and the acropolis dates from the fifth century BC. The Romans then took it over in 188 AD. Some of its walls are still intact, but there's not too much left of any of the buildings. It's built right around the top of the hill, and the views over Sami and over towards Ithaki are spectacular. The forest here's quite thick and I keep losing Issy in the trees. I worry that she'll lie down somewhere and go to sleep and I won't be able to find her.

We drive back down into Sami for lunch, this time at a different waterfront restaurant. This one's floor isn't covered in Coke Zero, at least not yet.

Next stop is the Drogarati Cave, about a ten minute drive inland from Sami. We buy our tickets and walk down some steep steps into the entrance. It's noticeably cooler down here than up at the surface. I've lugged my camera here, so I'm a bit disappointed to see a sign saying that you're not allowed to take photos. Issy brought her camera too, although I'm not sure she's awake enough to operate any of the controls. The cave's massive and the roof's covered in stalactites. We pass a man wearing an official coat, and assume that he's the photography policeman. We wait for him to inspect our cameras to make sure that we haven't snuck any snaps while he wasn't looking, but instead he just asks us if we've got any questions. He tells us that the cave is used for classical music concerts, and that there'll be one here in a couple of weeks. He says that the acoustics are so good that there's no need for microphones. He points out the stage, which is separated from the audience area by a few strategically located stalacmites. He then shows us a group of stalactites which he says look like a woman holding a baby. Issy agrees, although I'm not sure what anything might look like to her through her drug induced haze. The man says that we should take a picture. I'm sensing trouble. Do we fall for his trap and get arrested for taking prohibited photos, or call his bluff, make him angry, and get arrested anyway. I don't want Issy to get drug tested - they could lock her up for years in her current state. She starts snapping away. The man doesn't look like he's going to arrest us, but we leave quickly before he has a chance to change his mind.

Back on the road Issy's starting to converse again. She says that wanting to fall asleep all the time is infinitely better than constantly feeling sick. I decide to wait until later to ask her whether she's got any recollection at all of anything we've done today.

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[Suzanne Conroy]

Concrete- strong men in Greece
He pulls us by rope through a narrow passage........