The Imbros Gorge

 We had 3 major hikes planned for Crete, today was hike 1, the Imbros Gorge.  Located south of Rethymnon in the Sfakia area, it is the little sister to the Samaria Gorge which we have already done. About 8k in length, and descends the entire way.  We were behind a bus on the drive through the mountains and I was afraid 100 old Germans would get off, but there was no passing that bus on the winding roads of Crete.  Sure enough as pulled into the parking lot next to the entrance the bus also stopped, but it didnt seem very many people got off, so that was nice.  It cost 50 cents to use the toilet at the cafe by the entrance, no big deal, and then we were off.

As a theme to every hike we,ve ever been on, the Germans tried there best to ruin everything.  The hike began with a gentle descent into a stream bed, filled with rocks that would alternate between large gravel and big fatt rocks.  The sides of the gorge rose up immediately and we could see the road above us for a ways and really started to settle into the nature and majesty of the place.

That was when the first group of German children yelling and running came up behind us.  I say first group because apparently it was a field trip, as wave after wave of very loud and very obnoxious children came up from behind us and attempted to ruin the hike for us.  Let me tell you they did not, because we simply stepped aside and let them pass and before we knew it they had disappeared ahead of us.  There were the occasional german couple also speeding towards the bottom, never pausing never looking up, and at one point a large german woman fell flat on her face.  We stopped to see if she needed aid but her even larger husband waved us on.

There was a quartet of Americans from Georgia who seemed to be enjoying themselves, and at a few places in the gorge, the walls closed into a small maze through the rocks.  We reached a small shelter where some ambitious Greeks were selling cold drinks.  From this point we had no idea how far we had left, because unlike the other gorges we hiked, this one was not marked at all.  There was literally only one way to go and that way was down.

Eventually we started seeing people who had passed us walking back up the gorge.  We would not being doing this as we are old.  My suck it knee was giving me some worries and then before you knew it we came to a final waysation of sorts, run by some even more ambitious Greeks who also had cold drinks and minivan that for 5 bucks would drive you back to your car.  Not officially the end of the gorge hike as there was another few extra KM tacked on the end to get to the road, and from there even further to get to the beach if you so desired.  But we were content to pay our 5 euro and hop in the minivan and call it a day.

After the gorge, we were kinda hungry so we drove over to the Askifou Plateau and ate a lovely lunch at a wonderful taverna.

JW asked what to do next and I am full of answers, Kornous Lake is close by, we were supposed to go there one time, so lefts do it now.  15 minutes later we are paying 2 eu to park our car at a souvenir shop, and we take a walk down to the lake, where it seems everyone is out on foot panel boats enjoying the shit out of the only lake on the island.  We have just hiked 8k, so are in no mood to foot padal anything, so we just look around and then hike it back to our car and drive back to town.

JW says, what about that brewery place, and I said oh yea, Lafkas Brewery in eastern Chania, and then we drive straight there, and go past it it because it is hard to see, and then as I get ready to pull in, a biker trying to pass me on the left gets mad at me, I thought there was boing to be a fight.  There was a singlet person inside the brewery and he was from France doing a residency, and as it turns out, not that much into beer.  Anyways, I’ve done tons of brewery tours, this place was basic and beer was just OK, but the swag was nice, I got a shirt and had a couple beers, which were fine.

We then headed back to the Porto and laid around a bit until we felt like movin and ran downstairs and said hi to George who recommended a place for dinner, which I later realized wed been to before at Georges suggestion, a wonderful place with local cousins, we got a table and had a wonderful meal.

After dinner we headed back to the Porto and hung out with George who showed us hiking videos and told us about many famous people he met and had some Raki and went to bed.  Probaly no hiking tomorrow, the mountain hike is probably off, but we;l survive.  Love you Heather our only fan.