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TRAVEL Tr-tu- Jararl Sun:tay :2 I - e YL--2 1 Crete provides a look at the 'other' Greece LiX1) boring It Continued from I public bus statielW From there we luld travel 27 miles into the mountains to the head of the longest gorge in gur0p1- - Samaria rorge The Greek bus system is cheap reasonably punctual arid goes just about everywhere Cornpared anth dull travel agencies whirh daily bus tours to all the sights the publie stations reverberate with barkpack-iadetourists n and whiskered grandfathers haw kin' cheese pastries and fruit and lottery tirkets The bus to Omalos the town near the head Gf the gorge f1ed quirkly Soon after 14 shoved my park into the cargo hold we were off The road led southwest from Chania through orange grrwes and vineyards then bent east to the town of Fournes where it began its climb through the foothills of the White sional sprig-fepool As inviting as they seemed c:ear and dappled vrith reflections of trees th4! prAls were off limits Sigrs all along the path forbade swimming and cam pmg Samara Gorge has baeen a nawhen the tional since resident of Samaria a deserted hamlet three or for miles from the head of the canyon were evicted Many set up shop in Aga Roumeti The bus like a bumper car on the pretipitous switchharka and the countryside hurtled past the vrindshield Our driver the steering wheel spinning in his hands like a getween the chapel of trt yi4S Nikolaos and the ghost town of Samaria the path operaend onto a meadaw where spring water bubbled from a pipe at the foot of a Ione pi4P We munched apples bought from a stand at the bus station in Chania cooled our heads beneath the spout and filled our canteens with fresh water The streambed widened and deepimed as we trekked on and Samaria — a cluster of mottled structures on a grassy bank — came into view South of the weathered houses and livestock pens stood (Asia Maria a small church built in 137a and dedicated to Holy Maria The story goes that Maria an Egyptian prostitute had a vision of the Rlessed Virgin and reformed thereafter living a pious life in the gorge The Venetians who riled Crete from 1212 to 'MI referred to her as San Maria from which the village and gorge took their name As we pressed on !began to see the advantage of making the excursion as early in the morning as possible Thousands visit each year and as we skipped in ragsed single file through the streambed — whielt doubled now as a path — heads bobbing ahead and behind as far as could see it seemed as if an had chosen this day Rut the crowds could do little to diminish the gorge's beauty 1 scanned the limestone crags for a Kri Kri the rare goat that lives vrild only here Not surprisingly potter's wheel as the road straightened and his cargo of-- tourists gasped would laugh la all -right" he called to us No prob- lem" The road crested and opened onto the ()makes Plateau 3 15- - plain 3500 feet above sea level Peaks some more than f154n feet high ringed the plateau The road ran through the town of Ornalos and ended at the head of the gorge We stepped off the bus into alpine air and I shouldered my pack stneked with fruit nuts and canteens of water for the r hike to Libyan Sea The path through the gorge vas the only way down At Agia Roumeli the town at the mouth of the gorge we would catch a ferry to Chora Stakion and there board a bus bark to Chania We sleppend over the brink and our journey began The drop was immediate "Xy loscalo" wooden steps with sturdy railings built into the mountainside switched had and forth down the steep fare On either side of the gorge sheer peaks stood against a blue sky and fea away Wmw us in forested ranks The scent of pine had replaced the smell of exhaust and a crystal Medbreeze the iterranean haze Its not known when the wooden steps were built but the term XyIosealo was in use when traveler and writer Robert Pashley ex five-hou- 11-mi- --- Cr' YOUZ A sr 7- qtApam ItaytiNtlred Avrxy ( ‘ i t 1 tr'' rt' 11 - 4 -- t 'It ) A' 4412--- : 41:?' t - F-- tT -' z-- 1 '''' C -4 at a :i ' f" t It ‘ : - - --- o log- oo e - ---- C2 II Debbie — r"e"--- ILlii-i- --:- -- m 7Y-4 - -- - fr--r : I : 11 : 0 — 011 4 ifor A040 ' 4 ' o0 I rr betre yc'u test a71 4 ) — fi i 11111 -- 7(761- -) -- ----- -r i L1)1 I -- j iF411 -- 1 0 1'4 IrAllie:wilp::iii I 7 rOi 1 : -- rto - V 1 '1 cpade) - vRi- ----- - th'i 1 53 --- Arir4r4 t-i 4t4'11! 1 ari — i AN 1 Ifii 1 - - I t:t 4- tp) -' tr-t-- rearz4 -cd 1iWo I I i x - ti--- i ? ri - P Crol 11) w '0 ' 4 EJt 1:3!ia i- 1? 4 4)) 1 1f7411174 i I iL717::-!- z tri-7- 1 44 gt(64111:4 ::'"ti:1!101it-!: 7117' f ' 1 t : - -7r r--- -t 1 k- ! t:l p pr ' ilittli - 4 1731 t t i :1 - ' ir: Ii ' i fillili az ) re I( 1 It It ) t1Tt(it y4 I SWIM ' ' IL:7:1 7111 il V r:It A 14tALLJ'a""-iZ- ''k5'-T- '1 r 51-1- (1717574- ' ril 07 ev:47:7Y'll-r TO ) - SOldillir: !Irrl z1721m1 tV 4 - f ti LITI--ricti !!4' 4111g1t2 I ir '1t- 40 t) v " -- L -f- f r17-7- 77 : fa 11 t s31178 (111 ilLJ----- i j l'i ! 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Greek Islands (" I t -- 1 P - 710 vL ''I''''''":il ' fLuNT) rf:Lume r0 night luxury cruise on Golden Odyssey Roundtrip airfare Taverna style banquet in Athens Two nights at the Athens Hilton Hotel Breakfast each day in Athens Bottle of wine per cabin Tribune "kick off' party Bon Voyage party Onbcard private cocktail party S:13pp bari'boutique credit SiCkpp early bcoking boutique credit Odyssey Club Members - extra $56-p- credit ' I 1r "'- I --- r—a 0011- 114111 'er alt cyakt Zribunt Save 25 1 IN r fzet 1 ) October ' P-- 7- v - ' At - et -0— AA i ii 0 1 1 1 it-Glil'- ejet"Teli I 1 e' - 1 c)(42 A)"' vfaa - - 4Z"441 L011 --- - 0) li N s:1144 7 & 3- 01 - Cruise to the -- - -1 "'T—TV-1'-rsirTT- 77-----7- a 10) If 1- Proudly presents the Royal Cruise sat barefoot and languid beneath an outdoor-taverncanopy staring out at a turquoise sea that glowed in the afternoon tight as though illuminated from the water's depths After a short wait a table opened We sat dowm lorisened our boot laees and ordered As I settled into my chair our server returned and plunked two bottles of beer c!)14 anti sweating in the heat down on the table Soon we were forking fat squid and french-frie- d potatoes and mopping the olive oil of our salads with erust3r bra4 I wanted the ferry never to tome I was happy - k-- 1 ti:04-0- ‘LT:fellea7 7I V '1?") : U !ci"-111-4s1- or Vi - st -1 1 6t4 11:4- -93 U 1"7:74:"Zil Many who had ftonne before us - it 4- Rd tOWn - 1 7- v V-- 1 1 i ) o i 1--- half-mil- e invaders Our path tiAk us between cliffs towering more than 1504 feet only 10 or 12 feet apart It must be treacherous to enter the Saderraporters during the spring runoff — in fact the park doesnt open until May— hut even dry the path was tricky The rocks wine loose and smooth and the cliffs so high and close together disorienting Because of the cliffs' overhang signs cautioned against making loud noises Only the crunch of a thousand footfalls and an occasional enthusiastic hoot disturbed the quiet We proceeded almost reverently with the knowledge that many had died in battle here over the centuries Beyond the Iron Gates a little L I ! more than half the distance to the sea the gorge opened up and my appette sharpened ()live pine and eTpress trees shaded hikers resting along the trial's edge I greeted them with a nod knowing 'NO? would beat then to a table and cold beer us Atli Rourneli I thought of Greek salad — fresh totriatoes cueurnbers red onion feta theeeee arid pungtrit Greek olives — dripping in olive oil and vinegar Eurrip squid — kalimari — battered and fried roated through my imagination We made the park's southern boundary the site of old Aga Routrieli taut still a from the sea It was three o'eloek The last ferry from Agta RCtiMik!ii would leave at five so we hurried into ould-b- e 12 Mountains square-mil- e no Kri Kri were atcout But an older gentleman bcunded from rock to houlder Nsintlh a goat's nirnbleneSS and a trrinast's enthusiasm When he ventured trio far ahead of bis companions a warnan would bark at him in German Though I couldn't 'understand her her message was clear -Don't ernbarrass yourself " Red return aria trot beside her then gallop off again when sorne featire of the lanifiiape taught his fanity The cliffs began to converge and I saw we were approaching the Siderapories or Iran Gates — a figurative term d‘reciehing the narrowest deepest part of the gorge — where far centuries the natives fought of Turks and other plored the gorge in 13A The path began to flatten aftkr a mile or so and the steps g:ave way to a trail that crisscrossed a dry streambed A mile arid a half from the head (Jr the gorge the trail passed a striail chapel Ayhas Niko Laos standing in a glade overhung ty pine and cypress trees We stopped and nibbled peanut — barely adequate I thought for the journey that lay ahead Nearly It) rleS of hard walking remained but 1 71 as already looking fariard to food and drink and a plate to put my feet up on the shores of the Libyan Sea The trail followed the courae of the streambed passing the neca- F-- I - : : --- i -- i : r 01 ' 4'7° P 4 - ' t r4I t i tozt y4 |
