A climb up an old mule track to the Lasithi plateau.
Climbing out of Kastelli I had two alternative tracks stored in my GPS, which sometimes followed the same route and sometimes diverged. One point of divergence was after the village of Lyttos. I took the route that followed dirt tracks instead of the road. This took me to a place with two old looking churches. A sign said ancient Likos, but I could not see any ancient remains, and there was no further explanation. Looking at Google maps in satellite mode later, maybe there was an archeological site to the north west of the higher church. A little later I passed a huge thick wall with a hole in, apparently part of an ancient aqueduct.
After a further section of dirt track a fork takes you onto an ancient mule track that climbs to the Lasithi plateau. I missed the junction at first as I was being followed by two puppies who wanted to join me for a walk. I could not make them understand that I did not want to go for a walk with them. Fortunately their owner came for them and pointed out the correct path. The mule track rises up the mountainside by going back and fore in a zigzag pattern. It was a gentle way to gain height, at the expense of taking a long time to get anywhere. Almost imperceptibly I moved from olive groves to holm oak to no trees at all, just rocks, thistles, sage and thorny things. At the top there was a monument to some Turkish criminal being killed, and shortly after a view across the Lasithi plateau.
The plateau was being used for pasture, hay, potatoes and apples. A few cherry trees had ripe fruit on them. Lasithi was famous for its windmills with cloth sails, that pumped water to the surface. Now the only complete examples seem to be for the tourists. As I crossed the plateau some of the tourists passed me on ATVs (all terrain vehicles), as well as the more typical coaches and rental cars. The locals passed in pick ups, some loaded with bales of hay, one with its rear wings so badly rusted they were held on with rope (it had no number plate). In the villages I passed I was seeing an increasing number of older women dressed all in black, usually bent over with a stick, one such lady was tending the grill at a small taverna at Kato Metochi where I stopped for lunch.
Tonight I am staying at the Lasinthos eco park. This is a group of buildings with a cafe, shop, pottery demonstrations, church, raki still, woodworker etc. to illustrate different aspects of Crete. They also have spacious apartments on the hill behind, mine was at the top so a bit of a climb, although I had refreshed myself first with a cold beer. I am now at the nearby village of Agios Georgis having dinner at Maria's. There is a new E4 sign opposite Maria's, by the school where the kids are playing football. According to my GPS routes there should not be, so presumably there has been a rerouting onto quieter roads on the plateau. There is also an E4 sign close by my apartment which means a shortcut I was planning to use to join the E4 is actually the real route!
23.1 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 950 metres.
Climbing out of Kastelli I had two alternative tracks stored in my GPS, which sometimes followed the same route and sometimes diverged. One point of divergence was after the village of Lyttos. I took the route that followed dirt tracks instead of the road. This took me to a place with two old looking churches. A sign said ancient Likos, but I could not see any ancient remains, and there was no further explanation. Looking at Google maps in satellite mode later, maybe there was an archeological site to the north west of the higher church. A little later I passed a huge thick wall with a hole in, apparently part of an ancient aqueduct.
After a further section of dirt track a fork takes you onto an ancient mule track that climbs to the Lasithi plateau. I missed the junction at first as I was being followed by two puppies who wanted to join me for a walk. I could not make them understand that I did not want to go for a walk with them. Fortunately their owner came for them and pointed out the correct path. The mule track rises up the mountainside by going back and fore in a zigzag pattern. It was a gentle way to gain height, at the expense of taking a long time to get anywhere. Almost imperceptibly I moved from olive groves to holm oak to no trees at all, just rocks, thistles, sage and thorny things. At the top there was a monument to some Turkish criminal being killed, and shortly after a view across the Lasithi plateau.
The plateau was being used for pasture, hay, potatoes and apples. A few cherry trees had ripe fruit on them. Lasithi was famous for its windmills with cloth sails, that pumped water to the surface. Now the only complete examples seem to be for the tourists. As I crossed the plateau some of the tourists passed me on ATVs (all terrain vehicles), as well as the more typical coaches and rental cars. The locals passed in pick ups, some loaded with bales of hay, one with its rear wings so badly rusted they were held on with rope (it had no number plate). In the villages I passed I was seeing an increasing number of older women dressed all in black, usually bent over with a stick, one such lady was tending the grill at a small taverna at Kato Metochi where I stopped for lunch.
Tonight I am staying at the Lasinthos eco park. This is a group of buildings with a cafe, shop, pottery demonstrations, church, raki still, woodworker etc. to illustrate different aspects of Crete. They also have spacious apartments on the hill behind, mine was at the top so a bit of a climb, although I had refreshed myself first with a cold beer. I am now at the nearby village of Agios Georgis having dinner at Maria's. There is a new E4 sign opposite Maria's, by the school where the kids are playing football. According to my GPS routes there should not be, so presumably there has been a rerouting onto quieter roads on the plateau. There is also an E4 sign close by my apartment which means a shortcut I was planning to use to join the E4 is actually the real route!
23.1 kilometres walked today with a total ascent of 950 metres.
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| Hole in an ancient aqueduct |
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| Ancient Mule path up to Lassithi plateau |
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| First sight of Lassithi plateau |
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