A detour off the E4 to walk up the Sirikari gorge and a visit to an archaeological site.
Somewhat reluctantly I left the Elena Beach hotel at around 9:00 am having on arrived a little after midnight. Walking through the busy town of Kissamos was a little difficult due to the cars parked on the pavement but I soon reached the quieter road the E4 followed out of town. A person on the roadside pointed it out without being asked, perhaps my huge rucksack was a clue as to where I was going. The road took me uphill through olive groves for some seven kilometres to the village of Polyrinia. There was a turn I could have taken to cut out some of the road walking but I only spotted it later on a tourist map.
Polyrinia was a major fortified city in ancient times and a few walls, stones and the like still exist, although some of the masonry had been recycled in newer buildings. There were also some Venetian arches from later periods. At an information centre come coffee shop I enjoyed some apricot cake (donations for the coffee and very nice cake go in a blue box). The lady providing it told me about the three months of rain and thunder storms that had devastated the area over the winter, washing away bridges and sections of road. I later saw a complete section of roadway that had collapsed, closing the route to cars. It was yet to be repaired but I managed to walk across the landslipped area. There was a walk around the archaeological site which I completed. While I did not see a lot of archaeology the flowers hiding the overgrown path and the views back to the sea were lovely.
The E4 officially continues on (quiet) roads for a few tens of kilometres but it seemed to me there were better alternatives. So from Polyrinia (after a depressing drop in height) I went up the Sirikari gorge, a route described in the Rother walking guide to Crete. It was a good path between the bare, steep sides of the gorge. The river itself, falling over rocks in its bed below the plane trees, looked refreshingly cool.
Instead of climbing up to the village of Sirikari, I veered to the west, joining a road for few kilometres past a couple of churches. Leaving the road it was then a vehicle track, initially through woodland including a plantation of chestnut trees. As I gained height I lost the trees, the track sweeping back and fore through low vegetation, scarring the hillside, as it climbed up to a pass. The pass was marked by a line of wild turbines, turning at a good pace in the wind that was concentrated by the saddle between the hills. On one side I could see the sea to the north and on the other a rapid drop to the sea to the west of Crete. Then it was downhill, back into the trees. A lot of fencing had been erected using rebar posts and the wide steel mesh also normally used to reinforce concrete. Gates were made of a section of mesh tied onto the posts with rope or twisted wire that I had to untangle to get through and then make good again to keep the gate up and closed. It's not an ideal arrangement nor I think is it likely to last. I assumed this effort at fencing is to keep the goats or sheep in a particular area without needing a goatherd or shepherd to follow the flock around, as they do in much of Greece. Probably a less expensive way of looking after your animals.
At length I reached the Lefteris rooms (to a complimentary shot of raki), with my right ankle complaining. My room is clean and freshly painted, the first time it has been used this year. A group of three French hikers are also staying here, they have been walking the E4 in Crete in the opposite direction to myself. A big fish for dinner at the owners recommendation. My request for a glass of white wine was interpreted in a generous way and my eyes are now rather heavy....
26.1 kilometres walked today (excluding my walk around the ruins at Polyrinia) with an ascent of 1000 metres.
A GPX file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com or can be downloaded to your phone using myViewranger, short code johnpon0043.
Somewhat reluctantly I left the Elena Beach hotel at around 9:00 am having on arrived a little after midnight. Walking through the busy town of Kissamos was a little difficult due to the cars parked on the pavement but I soon reached the quieter road the E4 followed out of town. A person on the roadside pointed it out without being asked, perhaps my huge rucksack was a clue as to where I was going. The road took me uphill through olive groves for some seven kilometres to the village of Polyrinia. There was a turn I could have taken to cut out some of the road walking but I only spotted it later on a tourist map.
Polyrinia was a major fortified city in ancient times and a few walls, stones and the like still exist, although some of the masonry had been recycled in newer buildings. There were also some Venetian arches from later periods. At an information centre come coffee shop I enjoyed some apricot cake (donations for the coffee and very nice cake go in a blue box). The lady providing it told me about the three months of rain and thunder storms that had devastated the area over the winter, washing away bridges and sections of road. I later saw a complete section of roadway that had collapsed, closing the route to cars. It was yet to be repaired but I managed to walk across the landslipped area. There was a walk around the archaeological site which I completed. While I did not see a lot of archaeology the flowers hiding the overgrown path and the views back to the sea were lovely.
The E4 officially continues on (quiet) roads for a few tens of kilometres but it seemed to me there were better alternatives. So from Polyrinia (after a depressing drop in height) I went up the Sirikari gorge, a route described in the Rother walking guide to Crete. It was a good path between the bare, steep sides of the gorge. The river itself, falling over rocks in its bed below the plane trees, looked refreshingly cool.
Instead of climbing up to the village of Sirikari, I veered to the west, joining a road for few kilometres past a couple of churches. Leaving the road it was then a vehicle track, initially through woodland including a plantation of chestnut trees. As I gained height I lost the trees, the track sweeping back and fore through low vegetation, scarring the hillside, as it climbed up to a pass. The pass was marked by a line of wild turbines, turning at a good pace in the wind that was concentrated by the saddle between the hills. On one side I could see the sea to the north and on the other a rapid drop to the sea to the west of Crete. Then it was downhill, back into the trees. A lot of fencing had been erected using rebar posts and the wide steel mesh also normally used to reinforce concrete. Gates were made of a section of mesh tied onto the posts with rope or twisted wire that I had to untangle to get through and then make good again to keep the gate up and closed. It's not an ideal arrangement nor I think is it likely to last. I assumed this effort at fencing is to keep the goats or sheep in a particular area without needing a goatherd or shepherd to follow the flock around, as they do in much of Greece. Probably a less expensive way of looking after your animals.
At length I reached the Lefteris rooms (to a complimentary shot of raki), with my right ankle complaining. My room is clean and freshly painted, the first time it has been used this year. A group of three French hikers are also staying here, they have been walking the E4 in Crete in the opposite direction to myself. A big fish for dinner at the owners recommendation. My request for a glass of white wine was interpreted in a generous way and my eyes are now rather heavy....
26.1 kilometres walked today (excluding my walk around the ruins at Polyrinia) with an ascent of 1000 metres.
A GPX file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com or can be downloaded to your phone using myViewranger, short code johnpon0043.
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| The flowers at Polyrinia were more impressive than the ruins |
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| Sirikari gorge |
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| Road completely wiped out by heavy and persisitant winter rain |
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