Wooded valleys, low mountains and a plain today, a change of scenery compared with recent days.
As I was planning a longish day I started out at 7:00 am, walking in the cooler morning light up and down wooded valleys on roads and dirt tracks. Of special interest was the abandoned village of Nisi. As I climbed up the hill approaching it I noticed the old terraces, constructed with big white boulders to trap the meagre, dry earth. The terraces, constructed with much effort, now used only for goats, the abandoned olive trees competing with holm oak and other species. Aside from a small building roofed with corrugated steel, there were no houses still complete, only walls and piles of masonry. Some of the old entrances had arches, making it appear that their owners were once wealthy. Now the village was occupied by goats who stared at me, and a flock of sheep, heading along the track to some appointment, unguided by any shepherd or sheepdog, and only slightly hesitant about my presence.
A cobbled path led me up to the village of Mountros where I stopped for my breakfast cup of coffee, served with some sesame coated shortbread. After the village I climbed out of the valleys, through some olive groves and onto hills, which were either covered with the typical low scrub of Crete or by farmed patches of wheat, draped over the landscape. Thistles in purple bloom lined my track.
The Cretan Way, the guide to the E4 in Crete and the source of many of the GPS tracks I was following, takes you to Agios Ioanis and Kanevos, however as I wanted to reach Spili today, I took the shorter E4 route shown on the Harms IC Verlag map of Western Crete which goes via Agouseliana, rejoining the Cretan Way route at Koxare. E4 waymarks had become very rare since Hora Sfakion so one has to rely on maps, GPS's and guides, although the Cretan Way route is at times marked by two red stripes. On my route via Agouseliana I actually spotted two rare E4 waymarks. The road I was following was very quiet, only a couple of pick ups and a flock of sheep being herded by a man on a moped busy talking on his phone.
After the village of Koxare there was a brief period on a busy road so I was glad when my GPS indicated to turn off onto a path. Sadly, calling it a path was too generous a description. I pushed through tall grass to where the "path" crossed a small river. I found a place upstream that I could cross without flooding my boots but it was a struggle to get to the farm track that formed the next part of the route, a Cretan rebar fence not helping. After Agouseliana I had been walking mainly through olive groves. Some of the trees had been left unattended, and without pruning had grown to a considerable height.
After lunch at a cafe at Mixorouma, it was only a few kilometres more to reach Spili, on a route desperately trying to avoid the main road. I am staying at the Heracles rooms just off the main street of the town. There are lots of tourist shops, tavernas and cafes. Although tempted by a cold beer, I was very good and had a No. 4 smoothie at one (I had a beer later!).
29.2 kilometres walked today, with a total ascent of 930 metres.
As I was planning a longish day I started out at 7:00 am, walking in the cooler morning light up and down wooded valleys on roads and dirt tracks. Of special interest was the abandoned village of Nisi. As I climbed up the hill approaching it I noticed the old terraces, constructed with big white boulders to trap the meagre, dry earth. The terraces, constructed with much effort, now used only for goats, the abandoned olive trees competing with holm oak and other species. Aside from a small building roofed with corrugated steel, there were no houses still complete, only walls and piles of masonry. Some of the old entrances had arches, making it appear that their owners were once wealthy. Now the village was occupied by goats who stared at me, and a flock of sheep, heading along the track to some appointment, unguided by any shepherd or sheepdog, and only slightly hesitant about my presence.
A cobbled path led me up to the village of Mountros where I stopped for my breakfast cup of coffee, served with some sesame coated shortbread. After the village I climbed out of the valleys, through some olive groves and onto hills, which were either covered with the typical low scrub of Crete or by farmed patches of wheat, draped over the landscape. Thistles in purple bloom lined my track.
The Cretan Way, the guide to the E4 in Crete and the source of many of the GPS tracks I was following, takes you to Agios Ioanis and Kanevos, however as I wanted to reach Spili today, I took the shorter E4 route shown on the Harms IC Verlag map of Western Crete which goes via Agouseliana, rejoining the Cretan Way route at Koxare. E4 waymarks had become very rare since Hora Sfakion so one has to rely on maps, GPS's and guides, although the Cretan Way route is at times marked by two red stripes. On my route via Agouseliana I actually spotted two rare E4 waymarks. The road I was following was very quiet, only a couple of pick ups and a flock of sheep being herded by a man on a moped busy talking on his phone.
After the village of Koxare there was a brief period on a busy road so I was glad when my GPS indicated to turn off onto a path. Sadly, calling it a path was too generous a description. I pushed through tall grass to where the "path" crossed a small river. I found a place upstream that I could cross without flooding my boots but it was a struggle to get to the farm track that formed the next part of the route, a Cretan rebar fence not helping. After Agouseliana I had been walking mainly through olive groves. Some of the trees had been left unattended, and without pruning had grown to a considerable height.
After lunch at a cafe at Mixorouma, it was only a few kilometres more to reach Spili, on a route desperately trying to avoid the main road. I am staying at the Heracles rooms just off the main street of the town. There are lots of tourist shops, tavernas and cafes. Although tempted by a cold beer, I was very good and had a No. 4 smoothie at one (I had a beer later!).
29.2 kilometres walked today, with a total ascent of 930 metres.
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| A house at the abandonned village of Nisi |
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| Goats at Nisi indicating it was now their village |
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| Old cobbled path up to Mountros |
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| Hay or Wheat fields |
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