Freelance medical translator, and book indexer.PhD scientist and qualified information professional...
Freelance medical translator, and book indexer.PhD scientist and qualified information professional. Interested in classical music, especially baroque, literature, theatre, comparative religion and mythology.
Member since:05.10.2000
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If, like me, you like plenty of sunshine and the occasional dip in the sea, but not daily frying on the beach, and you like plenty to do in the day, but not non-stop action and noise through most of the night, Crete could be a good holiday destination, provided you choose your destination carefully.
We spent a week at the end of July in the Elpida Apartments at Kala Chorio. Kala Chorio is a very small resort on the northern coast of Crete, about 15 minutes drive from the bigger resort of Agios Nikolaos (which the holiday reps insist on calling Agnic!), and probably located about as far eastwards as most package tours go (70 km from Heraklion, about 1.5 hours drive). In Kala Chorio, there are several small “supermarkets” which are more like our Spar shops, some guesthouses and hotels, and a few bars and tavernas. We did not bother to go to the main beach, “Golden Beach”, but instead paid a couple of visits to a much smaller one nearer to the hotel, which seemed to be the one used by the locals as well as by some tourists. Both beaches are sandy, and apparently among the best on Crete. Kala Chorio is inside the very large bay in north-eastern Crete, which is very obvious on every map. I was therefore surprised that at times the sea could be a bit choppy by Mediterranean standards. My serious swimming was done in the hotel swimming pool, but the beach did have its own charm.
We avoided the two nearest tavernas which seemed to cater rather too much to British and German tastes and found a gem of a place. Here we feasted on taramasalata like I have never
had before, spicy sausages and meatballs, and masses of freshly caught fish. Although not traditional Cretan fare, the chips were among the best I have ever had. A meal for two, with starters, freshly squeezed orange juice, main course and one or sometimes two litres of retsina, came to about £20. This also included a complimentary serving of warm halva (a very sweet concoction from sesame seeds) with apple puree and a double measure of Metaxa brandy to finish. We ate there for five of the seven nights of our stay and did not exhaust the menu.
One night, we booked for a “typical Cretan evening”, although we knew it would be very much a put on for tourists. First we had to suffer an endless journey westwards with numerous pickups of other Thomson punters. This was when I realised how lucky we had been to end up in Kala Chorio. The two main resorts of Malia and Hersonissos can best be described as Skegness-on-Crete and Blackpool-on-Crete, respectively, which is fine if you like that sort of thing, but I don’t. Finally we arrived at a deserted village which had been remade into an entertainment centre for tourists. Here we were given the chance to try Greek coffee (and, surprisingly, judging by some of the comments, it seemed as if many had not tried it before although it was one of my staples during the stay) and raki, which is spirit made from the leavings of the wine pressings, roughly (rough being the operative word) equivalent to the Italian strega. The meal was acceptable, with unlimited wine. The entertainment was better than expected, consisting of music and dance from Crete and the rest of Greece. Cretan music is quite unique, and does not sound at all like the bubbly bouzouki stuff one usually associates with Greece. It is much wilder, with hints of Arabic or perhaps Sephardic, because it sound almost klezmer in places. One specifically Cretan instrument is the lyra, which looks a bit like a short-necked lute, but has only four strings and is played with a bow vaguely cello-style. The lyra player was extremely talented, and was for me the high point of the evening.
The other organised tour we went on was to the Samaria Gorge, in the south-western part of Crete, because this is something best done with a guide. This involved a 5 am pickup and a return at half past midnight, due to the distance and also the numerous pickups en route. Samaria is the longest gorge in Europe, being about 10 miles long. OK, a 10-mile walk does not sound all that bad. However, the temperature during our stay was about 35 deg C and deep inside the gorge temperatures can be ten degrees hotter than outside (ie 45 degrees at the time of our visit). Moreover, you descend 3000 feet and half of that descent is done in the first 2.5 miles, and it is tough on the knees and thighs. There are way stations along the route where you can fill up with water and throw water all over yourself – believe me, you need it! The walk was spectacular, but also an ordeal. I was weeping continuously for the last two miles or so. Nikos, our guide, told me that I could be satisfied having completed the walk, given I am 47, an asthmatic and not too fit. Apparently, he has had 20-something-year-old athletic male hulks break down in tears in the middle of the gorge and have to be taken out on donkeys. It took me about a week to recover from this walk, during which time I yelped as I hobbled up and down stairs. I also had huge areas of heat rash from my socks rubbing against my legs. Do not attempt this walk without decent boots or walking sandals, and be prepared for it to be an utter testing of your endurance and willpower. I found a silk scarf wrapped around my head was far better than a hat, because it acted as a sweat band as well as a sun shield and did not cause any heat rash.
Well, that was the most active part of the holiday. We spent three days slobbing around the hotel pool with books, and for three days we hired a car, and revelled in having air conditioning during the worst of the heat. We drove around most of the island, having a look at the interior and also the southern coast, which is quite different to the north, being mainly very high cliffs. Inland, the territory is incredibly varied. The Lassithi plateau south of Heraklion, for example, is green and lush, with cypresses, olives, fruit trees and vines. This is the area famous for the typical Cretan windmills, of which now only a few remain complete, unfortunately, while many others are just rusting skeletons. Driving eastwards along the north coast, we again passed through a very lush area, where the roads were lined with exotic flowers. Sitia, the chief town of the north-east, is the centre of the wine industry and also a holiday resort serving mainly Cretans. We picked up some presents there at very good prices. Going inland to the south-eastern coast we entered into a bleak, almost lunar landscape of bare rock. We tried taking the car along some of the “brown roads” and found ourselves on rutted tracks of red dust, getting hopelessly lost, because the map did not agree with reality. A basic knowledge of the Greek alphabet proved extremely useful in aiding our eventual return to the main routes since the few signs we encountered along these roads were only in Greek. However, the experience was wonderful, because it took us through some totally unspoilt, typically Cretan villages. Obviously, we visited the site of the great Minoan palace at Knossos. This has been very sympathetically restored, with just a little done here and there to give a better impression of what the place must have looked like. A model of the whole palace as it had been really surprised us, because it looked like a modern low-rise complex of luxury flats! We also visited the city of Chania, which has a lovely little Venetian harbour, a mosque, and narrow streets full of small craft shops. Crete abounds in monasteries, churches, and small wayside shrines and chapels. We did not have time to take in a monastery, or the supposedly impressive archaeological museum in Heraklion, and will have to do this another time.
Crete certainly satisfied our inclination for a holiday with sun, a bit of beach stuff and plenty of other things to do, and we look forward to returning, but this time under our own steam and not on a package.
We went on a Thomson Late Deal, and only realised later what a big risk we’d taken in having accommodation allocated on arrival. I don’t think I could have stood a week in Malia or Hersonissos. The Elpida Apartments were advertised as 3T grade. Certainly that does not equate to 3 star. With air conditioning only available at extra cost and only in some apartments, and with bedding changed only every 4 days (not at all adequate in a heatwave), I would class them as somewhere between 1 star and 2 star (heaven help those who end up in 1T accommodation!). There was an open-air swimming pool on site, which unfortunately was not available before 9 am or after 9 pm. Our arrangement was B+B, but the apartments are also let as self-catering and do contain cooking facilities, although in our case these were extremely basic, just two solid electric rings, a kettle and a fridge. Breakfast was continental, buffet-style: cereal, yogurt, bread, cold meat, cheese, olives, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, cakes and biscuits. The hotel has a snack bar near the swimming pool where it is possible to purchase a cooked English breakfast and light meals during the day. Evening meals are available in the restaurant, but one glance at the menu was enough to tell that the cuisine is at best mediocre. We did far better in the taverna. The cost of our late-deal arrangement was £260. The equivalent brochure price was £499, which is far, far more than the Elpida merits. In fact, extremely cheap accommodation can be had at a nearby villa, and this can be combined with half board at the taverna where we ate most nights. Such an arrangement, together with a cheap flight, will certainly be our choice when we return.
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![Crete Greece [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/87607063.jpg "Crete Greece [DVD]")
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Aug 13th, 2001
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