Subject: BS: Postcard from Karpathos (Greece) 2012
From:
Roger the Skiffler
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 06:00 AM
Karpathos was another new island for us. It would have been number 38 on the "islands stayed on" list, but because of flight times we had to spend a night in Rhodes on the way there so that upgraded Rhodes from the "islands visited or passed through" to "islands stayed on" which makes Karpathos the 39th! We have passed through Rhodes previously on the way to Halki, Symi & Tilos, with only time for a quick meal before catching a ferry. This time we had the afternoon to explore the old town and have an early meal before getting an early night for a 4am wakeup to catch the redeye flight to Karpathos. The taxi driver who took us from the airport to our very basic overnight stay hotel had to make a detour because of roadworks so treated us to a description of the ancient sites we passed that we would otherwise have missed. He also condemned all the Greek political parties for the mess the country is in. Someone once said that it is a pity that the people who know best how to run countries waste their time driving taxis and cutting hair!
Our Olympic airline flight from Rhodes was in a propeller plane that held 30 and only had 8 on board, mostly businessmen going for morning meetings. It only took about half an hour, just enough time for a glass of orange juice and a chocolate croissant. After Karpathos it was going on to tiny Kassos and then Crete (although Karpathos is in the Dodecanese, we found the locals looked more to Crete). Another taxi was waiting for us at Karpathos for the hour drive to our village. As the UK company we booked with didn't even have a rep. on Rhodes and the local tour company who handled the transfers didn't have a rep. on Karpathos, we were relieved that the taxi drivers were very reliable and had better English than our Greek.
The owner of our apartment was a school teacher and we didn't see her until just before we left after the Greek school term ended, but her "left- and right-hand woman" who cleaned, laundered and gardened was there to meet us. Her English was rudimentary but with our Greek we got along fine. We breakfasted in a taverna whose owner was Greek American and offered any help we needed. We had the only apartment in a block with 5 studios. While we were there only 2 of the studios were occupied and neither for a full week so it was very quiet and we had the almost exclusive service of the live-in cleaner who "did" us every day and changed linen every other day. Much better than we usually get. We were disappointed that it didn't live up to the brochure description:"…a privet WC with hairdresser". We thought the hairdresser must have used her shears to cut down the privet!
The main village, as so often the case, was well inland and this fishing adjunct had been turned into low-rise holiday villas and a couple of small hotels (one closed and decaying). We only met one other English couple .They had been coming for 23 years since there was only one taverna and one block of villas. Most holidaymakers the first week were Italians, with a group of Dutch yoga enthusiasts (on the beach at 8 am doing their first set of exercises!) and Norwegians the second week. Our block was only 2 years old, very well designed appointed. The only black mark- no corkscrew! However, I never travel without one! We were on the road through the village to the defunct hotel so very little passing traffic, opposite a field (with grass, wild flowers and herbs still flowering) which held 3 milking goats. One was tethered in a different place each day after milking and the other two never strayed far from it and the water buckets. Beyond their field was the middle of the three beaches and we could also see the third from our balcony. The best view from our balcony was the spectacular sunsets (too many photos!) spoiled only by the inevitable Greek electrical and telephone wiring which always seems to interfere with views! We could also see Kassos in the distance. The three beaches were all very different . Beach 1 had most of the eateries, included 2 that would serve you coffee & ices at your sunbed! (Decadence!) It also had lovely firm sand and shallow water- perfect for families, sandcastles etc. At one end was a small church and the fishing boat harbour. The middle one, directly opposite us and across the field, had grittier sand and some sunbeds and theer was a flat rock surface and sandy bottom and a little weed but also very pleasant. Also it was only a couple of minutes walk to some other eateries, but just as easy to go back to the apartment for lunch. The third beach, which we could see from our balcony, was separated from beach 2 by an isthmus containing a ruined arch and some caves. The sand was very deep, a bit of a struggle to walk on, and caught the wind so better waves and more dead seaweed. Further round the coast on narrow paths were little coves which naturists could escape to, though a new road was being bulldozed round -but not yet sealed- which had disturbed their peace.
There were also 2 minimarkets which sold everything we needed for breakfast, the occasional lunch and pre-dinner drink & snack. Otherwise we had about a dozen places to eat. We used about eight for either evening meal or lunch, missing out the ouzerie, one taverna that hadn't opened in our first week and another that was at the far end of the harbour. We also avoided the giro-kebab snackbar (salmonella on a stick). All the food was excellent, I achieved by usual aim of not having the same main course twice and had some new dishes as well. The shop prices were more expensing but Greek VAT (sales tax) went up just before we left last September. Beer was about 50c more than we aid in September and our pre-dinner rough wine about one or two euros more per litre and a half. Apart from Rhodes we didn't think meal prices had gone up at all. As the village had its own fishing boats, even fish was reasonably priced. Although the shops no longer waved away small change the tavernas still gave freebees: ouzo or raki and sweets-cakes, fresh apricots & figs, spoon sweets and ices.
Apart from the ruined arch on the beach, supposedly the remains of Byzantine church, there were excavations near two of the tavernas but no information. They looked like small rooms, possibly ancient rows of shops. Outside the village and an hour or so's walk to the ridge behind up a mule track, was a Roman ruin, variously described as a water cistern or catacomb. The entrance was made of large blocks supported on pillars and 5 radiating chambers dug out of the bedrock. There were also several old cave houses in the hinterland. We never managed to fathom the bus service (which any way was still operating on termtime mode), even with the help of locals. We only did a couple of walks, otherwise we just enjoyed the village. On our walk to the Roman site we stopped at a very out of the way taverna with a lovely garden, apricot trees etc. We had a cold drink and were given a free plate of stuffed vine leaves and fava dip. We also bought a jar of their home made apricot jam. Another walk we did was along the new coast road.The geology it had cut into clearly showed successive wave of prehistoric volcanic activity, presumably from Kos, Nissiros and maybe even Santorini. The walk to the escarpment showed us a lot of dead terraces and a few isolated vineyards. One had a dead car in it, which had been there some time judging by the vegetation around it. Not a window broken or wheel removed. Even in Ascot that wouldn't happen, and in some areas of London I've lived in it would have been stripped in days.
Because the main purpose of the settlement was tourism, there wasn't a village atmosphere. It was unnervingly quiet at night without the usual motorbikes, cockerels etc. There was one donkey and the three goats. Even in the countryside on the drive from the airport we only saw 2 herds of goats. This meant the vegetation wasn't stripped. The island still has a lot of pine trees, albeit fairly stunted, despite some forest fires, but is very rocky except where the vocanic ash has been washed into valleys to provide some fertile soil. It is a very large island but sparsely populated. So nothing to do, just beach, walk, kindle (A Prairie Child among others, loved it, kat!) and birdwatch- kestrels, martins and larks over the field, Sardinian Warblers in the countryside- lovely.
There was no indication that the second General Election was imminent. Well, there was a sudden flurry of public works. Two lorry loads of accumulated builders' rubbish was removed and a very disruptive programme of electric cable renewal and subsequent road works blocked the only road into the village for over 2 days. Even the bus had to stop 200 yards outside and folk had to shlep all their shopping or luggage to meet it. Fortunately, the taxi taking us to the airport managed to find a window in the works but our owner had contingency plans to give us a lift to as close to the blocked bit as possible just in case. Local businesses made a lot of fuss: "They've had the whole winter to do this, now on the first day of the school holidays, po, po, po!"
Our balcony gave us a good view of this, we spent one lunchtime watching 3 men, lots of arm waving and a JCB (backhoe) move a tree fern so some large concrete tubs could be moved from the carpark to the field. Then it was replaced (well out of line with its fellows). Judging by the one that was painted white and placed on the edge of th car park, these tubs, about four feet high and three across, were only to hold a small display of geraniums!
There was no centre to the village, the fishermen tended to gather at the ouzerie, the old men putting the world to rights over cards or backgammon at one of the tavernas (but not always the same one) and the young bloods with their motorbikes (both of them!) at one of the two car hire places. Would you trust a car hire place whose staff prefer to ride motorcycles?
We should have known better, but we chose the final Friday of our stay to go on the most popular beach. It was fairly quiet, just pale, tall, Scandinavian families with sombre, well-behaved kiddies, wisely covered in sunblock , when 4 coaches came down the hill (why couldn't the road works have started earlier?). It was the last day of term, and, as we've seen elsewhere, the teachers and some parents and grandparents bring all the little darlings down to the sea to let off steam! Mayhem! The noise, shrieking, dashing about in and out of the sea, reinforced by frequent icecream breaks! One of the grannies was in full Olymbos traditional dress, except she took her shoes off to paddle. (The villagers of Olymbos continue to wear traditional costume & pursue traditional crafts. We had hoped to visit but the road is bad, the connections worse. Even if we had managed to get a bus into the capital there wasn't one to Olymbos from the capital. We don't like driving in Greece: a combination of bad roads and bad drivers!). We noticed a couple of teachers had drawn the short straw as lifeguards and handed out swim floats, sunscreen, hats and sunglasses as required, while the rest worked on their tans or repaired to the tavern (as we did!) for a quiet beer and a long lunch. The kids were block booked into a pizza specialist tavern.
Sheila accused me of taking a too obvious interest in the young teachers and "yummy mummies" in their bikinis. In my defence, I have to cite my popular swimwear survey. Apparently I didn't pay as much attention when it was Italian ladies of a certain age and evidence of a lifetime's devotion to pasta.
I was also accused of fostering a relationship with one of the goats who I nicknamed Geraldine. I think she was up for Playgoat of the Month as she always came towards you at the sight of a camera. Even when people were photographing the sunsets she would come right up to the lens. As one of the holidaymakers I saw had long grey hair and could have been mistaken for Peter Stringfellow perhaps she was hoping to get a job at a lapgoatdancing club?
The sunsets were spectacular, bettered only in Greece by Santorini, and in world terms by Raratonga and St Lucia. Too many photos, I'll have to edit them down!
And so finally to the swimsuit survey, early summer interim results: no clear runaway winner this year. A great variety: floral , stripes, abstracts, single colour. Only one animal print, a lot of "Hello Kitty" and pink among the tinies, but I don't count them. A couple of white ones among the Norwegians (too skinny to rival Ursula Andress!) but again black had the slight edge on all other colours. Sheila deserted black for dark red and turquoise this year, so that may be the tip for next year's trend. Certainly, in terms of acreage (helped by the Italians, even those who had forgotten to pack the top half), black was the winner.
Back to "Dendros" in September (looks like the surplus euros are safe to keep) when I'll make a final report.
I'll put a few photos on my Photobox account for my loyal fan.
RtS
|
sj
