Tomb Raiding on Delos

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For our second day on Mykonos Jane and I went our separate ways in pursuit of the things that we know and love - Jane heading to Paradise Beach for some more sun roasting and me to the nearby island of Delos hunting more ancient ruins. Of course having said that I now feel compelled to justify just why I would opt for broken marble columns and ruined temples over sun loungers and golden sands. Lonely Planet reckons that Delos is one of the best archeological sites in Greece and having now been there they know what they are talking about. Apart from going to the beach there really isn't a lot else to do on Mykonos, so if you are going there you should definitely spend a morning on Delos checking it all out.

And as you often do when you are overseas I ran into a Kiwi from back home on the ferry - Kristin Ryan for the Cant Uni readers. These days she is based in London teaching and she was staying at the Contiki Resort on Mykonos.

Anyway these days the tiny island of Delos is deserted and the only people allowed to stay overnight are the archeologists (and the ghosts that apparently haunt it). However in about 500 BC Delos had 30,000 crammed onto it and it was the centre of Rome's Mediterranean trading empire. It was also the biggest slave market in the Eastern Med and up to 10,000 slaves a day were sold on Delos. Then one day the place was sacked, the people slaughtered and all of the buildings torched. Since then it became a pirate base but has largely been uninhabited until a couple hundred years ago when the ancient ruins were found.

Anyway I won't go on about it anymore and will throw some of the photos up in lieu of another boring history lecture. I caught up with Jane later that afternoon and by then she had tanned herself to a crisp. As it was our last night on Mykonos we decided to head to a waterfront restaurant at Little Venice. We had a great table right by the water, although that meant that we had to put up with a camera happy Japanese family behind us who were desperate to photograph the sunset. I thought they were from the land of the rising sun?

Tips for young players:

Mykonos is great and should be near the top of any greek island itinerary, however it really is all about the beaches and the bars. But if that's what you want then you will love the place. Besides Delos there really isn't a lot more to do except shop for souvenirs and dodge runaway scooters.

It is quite expensive though, especially if the beers start to mount up. Hiring motorbikes is expensive (25 euro per day) and hard to do while as the island is pretty much devoid of interesting places to check out, doing hot road touring on a bike isn't necessary. Save your petrol and wits for the roads of Santorini!

I reckon that Delos is definitely worth the trip as it is really interesting and well presented with a museum etc. You should definitely bring a whole lot of bottled water though, as Delos is sheltered from the northerly breeze and it gets pretty bloody hot there. You can pay a bit extra and get a guided tour but I flagged that and decided to make my own way around. They give you a good guide book and map as you arrive so thats pretty much all you need!

We stayed at Andreani's Pension and it was superbly located near the fringe of town. Reasonably priced and they are friendly so what more can you ask for?

Next stop: Santorini.

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Photos

The Terrace of Lions
Presented to the people of Delos in 700 BC to guard the island from evil spirits (didn't do too well though did they).

The Gymnasium
Where the ancient people of Delos came to sculpt their guns and pump some marble. 1001, 1002, 1003 - feel that deep burn!

Mt Kythnos
The highest point on Delos and with 360 degree views of the island and much of nearby Mykonos.

Cleopatra's House
Even the legendary Queen of Egypt had a house on Delos (all the cool people did). The headless statues are of her and Marc Antony.