Winging it in Crete’s Wild West

I’ll be honest. It was a bit of a transition. Touching down from one of Europe’s richest countries and cities, Paris France, into Heraklion Crete. Crete is both stunningly beautiful and somewhat broken down. Well-developed and crumbling. A mix of chaos and chill. It’s hard to describe. We left the airport for the port to retrieve our rental car, since we had an early ferry north to Naxos in a week, it seemed best to make our drop off close to the ship. Once in our car, with both full insurance for €100 and a full tank of gas pre-purchased (“just push it into the lot”, the attendant said. “Ok, she will” I replied) we set off care-free for western Crete, destination: Chania.

The Wild West Coast. On our first full day, we struck off for the southwest corner of Crete and Elafonissi Beach. Driving in Crete is a chaotic experience. Newly paved and wide EU-funded roads are intermixed with twisty, windy, and sometimes torn up ones through small villages, tall mountains, past roadside goats and traditional Cretan shops. No-passing-zones and stop signs seem optional. Cars park with hazards flashing in the traffic lane and pedestrians leap in front of you regardless of if there is a crosswalk or not. And I haven’t even mentioned the mopeds. People constantly cruise in the breakdown lane so faster drivers can zip by. But, mostly, everyone works together to make it all click like a fantastic symphony of madness.

We reached Elafonissi and pulled into the first pay lot after being waved in by the attendant. The wind was howling, blowing dust and grit and sand into our faces and hair, mouths and eyes. The wind gods, Boreas (north winds) and Eurus (east winds) were arguing and clashing and I’m pretty sure Poseidon was pissed about it sending strong waves crashing to shore. Hmm… not so good a beach day. But we’d driven for 90 minutes so best to lay eyes on one of Crete’s reputedly most beautiful beaches.

Down past the small village of gift shops and cafes, we caught our first glimpse of deep blues and turquoise against the wild rocks of southwest Crete. Wow.

We rambled down the gravel road to the beach where many hearty souls (heartier than us) were laying on beach towels and wading into the sparkling water while sand was occasionally violently thrust upon them with strong gusts. Our host had told us that some beaches are “organized” (meaning chairs and umbrellas are available to rent and food is served, generally) and others are “unorganized” (meaning harder to get to, more remote and no services). Elafonissi is organized.

We’d planned to survey another beach or two (both of the organized and unorganized varieties) on our way back to Chania but decided it might be best to wait and see if the winds died down over the next day or so.

We stopped for lunch at Stomio Tavern where we sat on the courtyard surrounded by rocky high mountain peaks, chickens and baby chicks, cats and the smallest dogs I’ve ever seen and ate fresh salad with feta, fennel pie and tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice. The complimentary garlic bread and semolina dessert cake with honey and cinnamon were lights out. This was our third attempt for lunch, the first being well reviewed but with an empty parking lot (probably a dinner joint, despite the internet claiming it was open), the second a roadside shack where no one was eating the food. Stomio was clearly the place to be with locals and tourists alike.

On our way back, we pulled off at one of the roadside Cretan shops, that of O Kritikos Vasilis and bought honey and beeswax skin cream encouraged along with every taste and touch by the nearly non-English speaking woman (probably the wife or a family member of the man on the sign). Our authentic Greek experiences complete for the day, we pointed the car northward and headed for home.

A Hike in the Gorge. Samaria Gorge is the hike to do. It’s the largest gorge in Europe. The tricky thing is it’s a long day and logistically challenging. I’d not planned adequately. According to our Airbnb host, it’s hard to park there and not really intended to do as an out-and-back hike (too long). Most people take the bus and go one way: down. At the bottom, you catch a boat to a beach and village and swim, have lunch and then wait for a bus to take you back to the car park or home.

I looked into guided tour options on Get Your Guide, and they all offered a similar itinerary with a 6am meeting time in Chania, with the boat and bus dropping you back off in Chania about 14 hours later. While it sounds like a great (albeit long) day, we wanted something with a bit more flexibility and control. Agia Eirini gorge was just the ticket.

Embedded between the high and rocky mountain peaks of Crete’s white mountains, the twisting and turning roadway wends its way up and past wild herds of local kri-kri goats into terrain where you think no sane thing would try to grow. There, you’ll find the trailhead for the gorge trail. Note: it’s long. About 10 or so miles round trip. I typically like to do my climbing first and descend after, but this hike starts at the top, descends to a small ice cream shop and cafe near Sougia and then you get to climb back up. As we went down, it felt like much of it was flat(tish). It wasn’t. But it is gorgeous and you do get that ice cream at half time.

Around Chania. During our stay, we visited the Manousakis Winery (and their beach side restaurant Miamai) to buy some fresh wine. Tastings and tours available and booking in advance is recommended.

We also spent a day visiting the Akrotiri peninsula visiting the organized beach of Loutrakis and having lunch at the Onar Resort, hiking (part way as we had not planned a long hike in the hot sun and had no water) down to the caves and a view of Katholiko Bay.

We also visited the Agia Triada Monastery and caught a view of Chania as the afternoon waned from the perch above from the Venizelos Graves.

Agia Triada Monastery

Our best meal in town was our last at Oinopiio in old town where we just took their recommendations including some amazing smoked Cretan sausages and delicious Cretan red wine.

Chania. Pronounced haan-ia with a soft gh at the front end, a settlement at Chania dates back to the days of the Minoans (remnants of which have been found buried beneath old town). The ancient Greeks founded Cydonia here around 1100 BC. The Byzantines and Arabs exchanged rule of the city until the Venetians bought it from the Marquess de Montferrat for 1,000 silver marks. The Venetians and Cretans ultimately (after some skirmishes) lived together under Venetian rule where the port of “La Canea” was built and the Greek Orthodox community were allowed to practice their religion freely.

The Ottoman Empire took control in the 1640s during the Cretan War and there were periods of Christian and Muslim rule and purges until, ultimately, a majority of Muslims were either converted and/or moved off the island in the 1920s, leaving behind their mark with a few remaining minarets.

Chania is a mix of touristy, with modern hotels and hostels, cute boutiques and boarded up shops, second world structures and a winding mazey old town. A distinctive light house guards the port and is a great place to watch the sun go down. There are a ton of restaurants and bars, especially in old town and near the lighthouse where sounds and smells spill out and invite you to sit.

The Golden Hour in Chania old town

Crete’s second largest city (a little more than half the population of Heraklion) is a mix of crumbling infrastructure with stunning beauty that seemed to reflect western Crete. The transformer box outside our apartment buzzed with a somewhat frightening surge of electricity pulsing up the street. A neighbor (maybe) “welcomed” us with some incoherent ramble of probably not so nice (but it was all Greek to me). With every day, however, we grew more and more attached to Chania: its chaos, its chill, its energy, its freneticism, and its people. And after every dinner, (or lunch) when the complimentary raki (Cretan liquor) would appear, we would toast to our health and the health of our Cretan hosts, often sharing a glass with the waitstaff. Yia mas!

Sources:

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chania
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete