Catastroika

The team that produced Debtocracy, about the Greek financial crisis and the overturning of democracy, have got a new doco out on the asset privatisation plans. Good watching with English subtitles at: http://www.catastroika.com/indexen.php

Athens and austerity

After managing to ignore politics for the last five weeks, there is no escaping it in Athens - nor in the villages in Crete if you really look.

The owners of the little hotel I stayed at in Mirthios are showing the strain - the bi-monthly extra tax bill with the electricity account is causing them huge stress, as they never know how much it will be each month.  They are also supporting one daughter who can't get work and another whose wages are too low to pay her rent.

I was in Sfakia for the elections - the owner of the hotel there told me he was disgusted the Nazis ("Golden Dawn") managed to win seats for the first time.  

In Chania a shop owner said nearly all the shops around her had closed over the last year.

Here in Athens there are closed down shops everywhere, even on the tourist streets. Plenty of graffiti too, which I take ages to decipher as my Greek reading skills are still quite slow.  Apparently there is an Occupy demo on tonight, according to BBC World News but I missed it in my hotel comfort zone.  The police here have armoured police wagons and there were a few around Syntagma, but they could be there every day.

On the trolley bus today I was talking to three young African men  - we were talking French and to deflect the questions about whether I was married or not I started asking about the work situation. One told me the racism in Greece means he can't get work so is trying to go to France, "but it's complicated" (if you've seen any of the films about illegal immigrants in Europe you will know why).

It's encouraging to see the high vote for SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) and the anti-austerity message it is sending Europe. (see http://greekleftreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-greek-paradox-and-the-left/#more-2767).  They are likely to get an even higher vote in the next election now the mainstream media has had to stop ignoring them.

I wish I understood more but I'm not staying here, and there is plenty in New Zealand to deal with: irrational welfare reform, privatisation of our collective assets and Prime Minister John Key making private deals with Sky City casino to increase pokie harm, to name a few.

Good luck to the Greeks - I hope they stand strong and develop a better economy that works for more of its people than the current one does.

Samaria and Sfakia

I've had a wonderful week in south west Crete - one outstanding walk and lots of relaxing in tavernas and on beaches.  It's less than I meant to do but it feels like it was just right.

First off I took the bus to Omalos on a very winding round to the high plateau in the White mountains. There's still snow on the peaks, so the temperature is cooler on the plateau.  After a night here, I walked the Samaria Gorge in a thoroughly enjoyable day. The walk is very hyped and seen as a must do for all type of tourists from serious hikers to people in sneakers, and even jandals I saw (not recommended because of the stones).  However it is a stunning walk - breathtaking from the start at 1250m, down to the narrow gorge towards the end.

It took me over six hours as I kept stopping to look around and take photos.   By the end I was very glad I was staying at the village of Agia Roumeli instead of getting the boat and bus back as the day trippers have to do, making it a very long day for them.

The next day I cruised past the coastal walking track on the boat - the English walking tour were little dots on one of the cliffs.  I stayed at Sfakia for four days and, Loraine, I have to confess that the closest I got to the walking track from Loutro to Anapolis is sitting in a taverna at Loutro looking up at it.   The track recommended by Loraine is a zigzag up this hill:

It's hard to pick my favourite from the three bays of Sfakia, Loutro and Finix.  I swam at all three, and tried out the tavernas.  I thought about walking and how another time I will do it with at least one other person.    But I really felt like I had come to the end of my travels  for now and my energy gave out.  Or maybe it was just too easy to stay on the beach.  

The next time I come to Crete I will head straight for here and not bother with the bigger towns. I've found my ideal holiday spot.  

Last day in Mirthios

It's my last day in Mirthios - tomorrow I am catching the 7am bus to Rethymnon. I'm glad I came here, I like the new  memories that are overlaying the old ones.  I feel very rested and ready for the next two weeks of more active travel.

I've enjoyed the walking here, mainly for the simple sights - olive trees, a multitude of spring flowers, eagles and buzzards riding the thermals, cold sea water and even colder rivers.

I walked to Preveli gorge and beach with a small group on Sunday.  We walked down to the Kourtaliotiko Gorge where the limestone rock is like a sponge, soaking up the rain water and then releasing it into the gorge in five side by side springs that fall into the river.

We followed the river down to Preveli and climbed down many steps to Preveli Beach.  This area has been declared a national park so all the sun umbrellas and pedalos etc have gone, making it much more peaceful but maybe losing some revenue for the locals.  Behind the beach, the river slows to deep green pools and there are palm trees along both sides.

In 1941 a submarine came close in to this beach to rescue many of the Australians and New Zealanders who had been stranded after the evacuation at Sfakia - I first heard the story when I came to Mirthios in the 1980s.

My least favourite memories here are the winds that have started up in the last few days, funnelled by the two gorges on either side of Mirthios.  They blow strongly in the night, die down a little around the middle of the day and then pick up again in the evening.  I'm hoping to walk to the other gorge this afternoon but it could be blowing too hard.

I'm also tired of walking up hills. I think I will be missing a few out on the trip from Agia Roumeli to Sfakia where I can use boats.  I'm walking up hills every day but it doesn't seem to get any easier!  I took this picture on the last time I walked up the hill from Plakias today - so glad I don't have to do that again!

I'll be off line for the next week as I'm temporarily offloading some gear to lighten my pack, including the laptop.  I'm going to walk the Samaria Gorge and then head along the coast from Agia Roumeli to Loutro and Sfakia.  I'll walk if there's company but I don't think I want to walk long stretches of the coast alone.

And then it's nearly home time which I am looking forward to more and more.  I have decided not to be a hermit after all, and that friends and family are the best things to have in your life - and dogs of course.