Halki and Rhodes - again!

For those of you who don't know, John's cousin's wife is Greek and she has a family home on the island of Halki. We have visited Halki a number of times, including earlier on in this trip when the cousins were there. This time, when we looked at ferry options from Tilos to Rhodes (our next destination) we saw that the ferry stopped at Halki. Hmmm, should we? We decided we wanted to see what Halki was like out of season as we have always been here in peak season, so we decided to stay for a few days.

The visit started with a bang when Andreas, one of the guys who drives those little three-wheeler trucks, met us at the wharf to take our bags to our apartment. I knew who he was but don't recall talking to him before yet he met us like we were old friends and we felt at home straight away.

The harbourside town was as stunning as ever. The Italianate pastel-coloured houses are so pretty and such a change from the traditional white sugar-cube houses of most other islands in the region. For an island with only one town, we were surprised at how much busier it seemed than Tilos. A handful of shops and restaurants were still open and the place had an upbeat feel to it. 

It was really wonderful bumping into people we already knew. The Georgian people at the Black Sea restaurant remembered us after a bit. It was interesting talking to them now that we have been to their country. We ate here every night. The food was amazing and I had Halki pasta every day! Halki pasta is short spaghetti, friend onions and cheese and it tastes fantastic!

We also saw other old friends - Maria from the Steki Bar, plus Michalis and Kiki. Sadly, we learned that Kiki has cancer, however it looks like she might get through it ok. 

Kiki, in the middle, and the owner of the Black Sea restaurant, where we took Kiki to dinner.

Because we've always been here in the height of summer, we've never done much in the way of exploring the island. It was usually more of a holiday experience shared with family and friends. This time, we were there on our own and the temperatures were now in the low 20's which is perfect for walking and cycling.

John rode his bike out to the Monastery. It's a loooong way up a loooong hill but he did it. (I'm lucky if John takes one photo a week so that's why you see so few photos of his bike rides.)

I really enjoyed walking around here. I saw the usual athletic goats - they were up in the trees.....

..... and they perched on mountaintops just checking out the scenery.

I went up towards the castle but only got as far as the ruined village beneath it. I had forgotten how extensive and interesting it is! Some of it dates to the 4th century BC. The stonework in this wall was amazing!

The water in front of our apartment was still that stunning aqua-fading-to-blue colour but it was noticeably cooler this time. We braved it once and found we had to keep swimming to keep warm. There were few fish but the ropes holding buoys in place hung like huge jellyfish tentacles in the crystal clear water.

There was a kaleidoscope of colour on the paint-peeled underbellies of upturned boats.

At lunch one day saw a fisherman pull a large octopus from the sea right in front of us. It was writhing in his bare hands. He unhooked it then I think (hope!) that he killed it. He certainly did something to it but he was partly obscured by parts of the boat. He then proceeded to do the Greek thing and he bashed it a dozen or so times on something hard in the boat to tenderise it. When we saw it again it certainly wasn't writhing any more. Even though it shouldn't matter what happens to a dead animal, I still struggle with this tenderising technique as it seems like such disrespect to the animal.

Fishing boats headed out at dawn.

The harbour looked stunning at any time of day.

When the time came to leave, we had another early start although this time the sky was starting to lighten as we pulled out of the harbour. We had a local ferry for this trip. I love these smaller boats. They're somehow so much more authentic and personal than the huge ferries. 

These smaller boats don't go into the ports at Rhodes Town - they take the shorter route which brings them into a small port half-way along the Rhodes coast. As we've been to Rhodes a number of times (you have to go via Rhodes to get to Halki) we thought we'd stay in Lindos, a pretty town in the south of Rhodes, instead of Rhodes Town.

We had arranged for a rental car to meet us at the port with the plan being that I would drive the car to Lindos and John would ride his bike. It's 60 very hilly kilometres to Lindos and John was physically and mentally ready. The route was so interesting - there were trees! Large swathes of pine forests covered many of the hills. The trees were sparse and straggly but just seeing so much green was wonderful. There were many stunning views along the way.

I made it to the designated place to meet the owner of our apartment. It was a small, crowded square and, not seeing anywhere to park, I asked a man nearby for suggestions. He directed me to put the car right on top of the words 'No Parking' written on the road! The owner of the apartment soon turned up and led me to another parking area. We loaded the bags up into the back of his little three-wheeled truck and set off through the old town.

Lindos is one of those picture-perfect places that you see photos of in travel brochures. White houses are packed tightly together with flagstoned laneways winding through them. 

I've never driven through these narrow streets before though and it was such an amazing experience! The little truck was only inches narrower than parts of the laneways. The driver and passenger are perched up the front of the vehicle - there is no motor in front. As we approached tight corners we seemed to almost touch the wall with our faces before we turned. Even with the mirrors permanently pulled in, we still squeezed between the walls and in one place we added a scrape to the many others there. It was so cool! I just wished I'd thought fast enough to dig my camera out.

The view from our room was amazing!

An ancient castle perched picturesquely above the town.

One night we were returning from dinner and saw this amazing blood-red moon. This photo doesn't do it justice - it was really red!

It's off-season here so the nights are very quiet and only one or two places are open to eat. However, the cruise ships are still coming into Rhodes Town and they do bus trips to Lindos. I was only in the shops area once when the tour groups were in. The usually quiet lanes were suddenly packed. It must be an absolute nightmare in summer. Outside of cruise-ship times it was eerie walking the empty streets when we could see signs everywhere for bars, nightclubs, ice-cream shops and clothing stores but they were all closed. The locals knew exactly when the tour groups were coming and a certain number of them would open for those groups. Donkeys would be brought to the 'Donkey Station' to carry tourists up to the castle.

The town would be busy for half a day or a day then it would go back to being sleepyville again. It's a strange existence.

We ate almost every night at the one restaurant in town that was open and it was fantastic! John ate the same meal four nights in a row! It was a bit strange though as a mate of theirs who used to be a musician kept turning up and playing guitar for us whether we wanted it or not.

We met a young couple who were living there - she was German and he was Austrian. It turns out that the Austrian guy had a very interesting history. He was raised in a family of hunters and could shoot from the age of six. Austrians have to do compulsory national service. Due to his shooting ability he chose the military. He ended up as a sniper in the Afghan war. He was faced with a terrible decision one day - a child was suspected of being a suicide bomber. He was told to shoot the child. He didn't do it. The child then killed 60 people with the bombs strapped under his clothes. The next time he was told to do this, he shot the child. They opened the clothes and found bombs. He also shot women in similar circumstances. It's hard to imagine what this must do to somebody who seems to be a really decent guy. He says the best thing that happened to him was that his wife got a job in Greece. He found that the relaxed lifestyle and the welcoming, supportive people have really helped him heal. His friend that he worked with wasn't so lucky. He committed suicide last year. On our last day in Greece John had to give his bike away. As the Austrian was also a bike mechanic, he was the obvious choice. It's amazing the people we meet and the stories they have.

Cats were everywhere. When we first arrived, one half-grown black cat attached itself to me. It was freakily obsessive about being with people. I had been sitting outside and, in an attempt to get away from it, I went in the room and shut the door. The cat thumped on the door, loudly and persistently. It was like something from a horror movie. The door had a window in it - one of those European ones that can lean in from the top. Soon there was a scrambling noise. The cat had climbed up the door and teetered at the top of the window! It was a long jump down but it finally summoned up the courage and jumped into the room. Seriously, I think this cat has a dependency issue.

It's sibling also hung around and it was much nicer. One day we walked up to explore the castle and the cat came with us the whole way! It must have been a 10 minute walk. What is it with the cats here?

Once we were at the castle, one of the staff members fed the cats. She told us that the tourists feed them all the time and when the tourists leave, the poor things go hungry. We saw many cats here and believe me, they were not hungry! People leave food out for them all the time.

One night I was walking through town and I saw four cats. They had cornered a small rat and were playing with it. They would bat it between themselves. If the rat tried to make a run for it, they would block it off and keep it cornered. If they were hungry they would have eaten the bloody thing!

They were still playing with it when a wedding party passed. The ladies that saw the rat were horrified! The wedding guests danced in the square until the bride and groom arrived then the whole group walked to the church for the wedding ceremony.

We explored the castle on top of the hill. Within the castle walls columns from ancient temples towered over the partly-restored ruins and the two stunning bays below. 

Although it was all so beautiful it was also a bit eerie and somehow artificial. It was a great place to visit but it didn't speak to us like other places in Greece did. My favourite part was when I had a walk nearby. As soon as I left the town, I was back in rural Greece - dry, scrubby land, gorgeous bays and ancient sites. 

I came across a group of donkeys, presumably they were the tourist ones having a day off, and some of them were so friendly! They were gorgeous!

Goats were everywhere. Some had cool horns.

This one stayed perched on a lookout for ages.

These gorgeous flowers pushed their way up through the rocks at various places.

There was an old abandoned windmill perched part way out to the craggy headland.

It was missing a door but its old staircase was still there so I could climb up inside it. The old hand-made wooden cogs were still intact, albeit in a serious state of decay.

At the end of the peninsula was a Hellenic period tomb. Strangely it was round on the outside and rectangular inside. It was perched on a rocky outcrop above the sea. What an amazing place to be buried! It seems only natural that a goat wandered around on top of it.

The days were getting cooler but we managed a couple of swims. St Paul's Bay was stunning - an almost enclosed bay that actually had a fair bit of underwater life!

We swum right out of the bay until we could see the castle on top of the hill. On the way we swum through a cluster of tiny jellyfish. Creepy.

We hired a car and took some trips around the island. We had a drink at a small village one day and the people there were incredibly friendly. We only ordered a coffee and a water but out came a piece of chocolate cake. It's the first 'extra' thing we've had for a while. The owner was very chatty and told us a lot about the history of the area.

We explored the ancient ruined city of Kamiros. It was huge!

What a position! The town looked out over the water and a huge temple towered over everything. It must have been amazing in its time.

Another amazing sight was Monolithos Castle. You could look across to Halki from here. 

One day I dropped John off for a bike ride then I explored Asklipeiou Castle. Again, I had it totally to myself. It was really good.

It was only when I left that I noticed the huge cracks in the walls. I don't think this castle will be around for much longer.

Meanwhile, John was slogging up and down those big hills back to Lindos!

The best place we explored though was this amazing canyon. We scrambled up as far as we could. Layers of coloured rock lined the canyon and water had sculpted out some cool shapes.

It was scary in places coming down though!

The sage and thyme here had seen more rain than elsewhere and was lush and green.

We also visited the Seven Springs Reserve. It's a pretty area for picnicking but the attraction for us was that we had read you can walk ankle-deep through water through a 150-metre long tunnel! Sure enough, we found the tunnel. It was about the same size as a person and was pitch black. It definitely wasn't for the claustrophobic!

We had forgotten to bring our head torches so we armed ourselves with the light from one phone and headed in. It was very eerie. John looked like something from a creepy movie silhouetted against the light.

It seemed to take ages to get to the other end. We emerged into bright sunlight at a gorgeous small lake.

We realised we couldn't return the way we came in case someone was coming the other way so we followed a track back to the car park. Peacocks and geese hung around the carpark hoping for food handouts.

We could have stayed in Greece forever but sadly, we can't. It's hard to imagine leaving here. This country has worked its way into our hearts. Our only consolation is that we'll be back again one day!

Bye for now.
Heather and John

Tilos

We were so sad to leave Nisyros but the good news was that we thought that Tilos, our next destination, would be great too, so we booked 10 nights there. Again, we arrived at some ungodly hour of the morning. The downside of this is that we weren't met at the ferry so we slogged up a steep hill at 3am with a bike, a backpack, a wheely pack and 2 daypacks. Oh well!

We stayed in an apartment and it was spacious and had great views from the balcony. The owners were nice and we found ourselves talking each day to the father of the owner as he owned the 'supermarket'. He was such a cheerful guy. 

Tilos is a very quiet yet beautiful island. It's very laid back. Not a lot seems to happen here which suited us fine. The town we stayed in, Livadia, wasn't an old town but is the main place where tourists stay as it has a gorgeous long stretch of pebbly beach and is right near the ferry terminal. 

The reason we came here though is for the walking and cycling. Tilos is well-known as a hiking destination and I was keen to try it out.

My first walk was my favourite. From the town I headed towards the track and was met with this sign. Only in Greece.....

They weren't joking about needing to pay extra attention. The track had been washed away by landslides in a couple of places and getting around them was a bit hairy.

I followed a track that ran along the hill above that stunning turquoise water that you've heard me rave about so much!

You can see the track on the left of this pic. These tracks were really well maintained as a rule.

The views were superb.

My destination was the long, stony beach in this photo. 

The beach was amazing. There was just me and the goats. I wish I'd taken my snorkel and mask with me but I had the most wonderful swim nonetheless. There wasn't a soul anywhere.

As I headed back to town I saw this car park. A car had been parked here on my way out. There's nothing like inventing your own permanent car parks ON the road!

Someone is seriously good at parking.......

My next walk took me in the opposite direction from the town. Walking through the town to get there, I saw this olive tree that had dropped olives on the road. The squashed olives left little puddles of olive oil on the road!

Again the walk took me along hills above the water. I saw a couple of larger lizards.

My destination was Gera, an abandoned village. It was in a beautiful setting overlooking a bay. Old fruit trees and threshing circles were still scattered around the ruined village.

I had fun scrambling around the old houses. They were all nearly identical - small, rectangular homes with a fireplace in one corner. The rooves were made by suspending beams of wood across the stone walls and adding sticks and dirt on top. This may sound flimsy but some were still in place.

While I was doing these walks, John was cycling from one end of the island to the other plus riding up the highest hills. Some of his destinations were stunning - a monastery perched on the end of the island for example but others, like the communications towers or the recycling depot, were uninteresting destinations but the rides there were great.

We hired a car for a couple of days and explored further afield. We found a beach where tame goats and peacocks live nearby. We still have no idea why they're here.

John found a tree that the goats liked and picked leaves for them.

It was weird seeing the goats and peacocks on the beach. 

Even a cat or two came down in case we had food!

We had been reading books about the Dodecanese islands by an English lady called Jennifer Barclay. Jennifer hikes all over these islands with her dog Lisa and we loved reading her stories about her experiences. John had chatted to her a few times on Facebook and we knew she was living on Tilos. Sure enough, we were driving through a small village when we saw her. We talked for a while and she was really lovely. It was great to meet her! 

If you're at all interested in her books you can find more details here.

We drove to the highest point on the island. The road up was really narrow but the views were amazing. John later rode his bike up here!

The capital of the island is Megalo Horio (meaning Big Village). It was a lovely town. The church had a terrific example of a terrace decorated with stones.

Nearby is the abandoned village of Micro Horio (meaning Small Village). Despite its name, it's really large and I found it a fascinating place to explore. John and I looked at it together then I came back later on one of my walks for a more in-depth exploration. 

It was obviously a busy thriving town at one stage. These grinding wheels were everywhere. Large, double-storied buildings that looked they were shops lined the main path and many houses were quite large.

I had the old town all to myself, not counting the goats, that is.

There were a couple of old churches that were locked. One had a big enough gap for goats to get in but not humans! Through a small gap above the door of one I could see there were some sort of paintings on the walls so I reached in and took photos without seeing what I was photographing. The photos blew me away! This one is looking up at the ceiling.

The churches have been maintained and are kept whitewashed. The rest of the village is just stone with the exception of one place which has been turned into a nightclub in summer! It opens at 11pm and goes until the wee hours. Apparently people come from far an wide to visit!

I loved the atmosphere of the old ruins though.

Another walk took me up to an old castle perched on a hill. The disappointing thing was that it was still so well protected that I couldn't find a way in!

Goats watched me scramble along the trails.

We snorkelled a few times. At least there was a little more life in the sea here than usual. This was a particularly striking drop-off.

I snorkelled along the main beach at one time and found a sunken fishing boat with three lionfish living underneath it! Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me.

One day, a storm was predicted. The clouds turned dark and brooding and soon we had thunder and lightning and it bucketed down!

The next day it was fine and sunny again - yay!

Tilos has a recycling programme called "Just Go Zero". It's a huge employer on the island. Every second person we see seems to work for them. Three times a week trucks come around and pick up everyone's recyclables. They take these out to a processing plant on the other side of the island where they're compacted, presumably to be shipped off somewhere for recycling.

That's all well and good, however we were gobsmacked the way locals buy everything in plastic bags! Buying a packet of biscuits? Get it in a plastic bag. Or a tub of yoghourt? Or some oranges? Yep, get them in a plastic bag. Surely the first step in reducing plastic waste is to reduce the plastic use in the first place. Unbelievable.

My trickiest walk was out to a headland that looked like it might have good views. This one wasn't clearly marked on my map apps and I soon found out why. The track was almost non-existent. I scrambled across the side of a steep hill on tiny goat tracks that criss-crossed each other making it impossible to pick one track. I found my way eventually but it took me ages! The views again were amazing.

After getting lost numerous times, getting scratched and falling over once, I was pretty pleased to make it to a lookout point!

It became apparent that the predominant plant life on most of these Dodecanese islands consists of just four plants - thyme (my favourite), sage, a horrible spiny plant and this little stunner whose thorns resembled the pictures for chemical compounds. I think it's really cool but you don't want to touch it!

My last walk took me up under a cliff to some more deserted, ruined villages. I love these old places. I wonder how people lived in such isolated and harsh environments. They were tougher than me that's for sure!

We were here right at the end of the busy tourist season so on our first few nights there were only three restaurants open then only two, one of which wasn't very good so we ate a lot at the other one! The one that closed while we were there was set right on the water and had great food.

 

Tilos was wonderful. Unlike Nisyros it has great hiking and plentiful, isolated beaches. We love remote, beautiful places and this one ticked all the boxes.

Until next time,

Heather and John