17:40
Location: Kolimvythres beach, near Noussa, northern Paros.

I got off the bus in Lefkes, a pretty village near the centre of the island, and headed upwards following a sign to Parikia. It led under some trees, which were a brief welcome break from the sun, but soon came out at the main road again, not particularly helpful for a hiker! I followed the road over the next hill, looking for a place to turn off into the countryside. In the next valley, just over a little bridge, I found a dirt lane heading off left, passing a driveway and continuing up. I followed it as it twisted up the hill, until it reached a tiny chapel.

There, I turned and continued up to the right, trying to avoid getting caught on the razor-sharp thistles. Soon I joined what seemed to be an old stone read heading almost straight up the hill at quite a steep angle. As I neared the top of the hill, the road stopped so suddenly that I had to turn and go back to make sure I hadn't missed a turn. But a path continued up, eventually coming to a farmhouse.

Two dogs barked at me as I passed them, but soon I was on top of the rise, with a good view. The farmer's lane went off down the slope to the left, and I felt obliged to take it as there were no trespassing signs on his fields. Checking the map, I realized I needed to be heading right, so when I came to a T junction I turned off. I'd had a brief relief from the flies in the wind on top of the hill, but they were persistant and had started bothering me again almost as soon as I headed downhill.

I passed an old monastery, and stopped for a bit of a rest. As I did, the caretaker came out to feed the local cat. He invited me in, but was clearly on his way out on an errand, so I declined and continued on.

[Pause while I walked back to the road so I could catch my bus. I hitched part of the way, which gave me the time to finish my journal entry:]

The road continued on, and before long I came out on the main road near Marathi, the ancient quarry for marble that was the source of the stone of the Venus de Milo. I had half an hour to wait for the 3:30 but, so I took a brief walk into the quarry grounds. By 20 after I was back at the bus stop -- even an ancient quarry isn't particularly exciting!

The bus got back to Parikia at 3:50. Next stop: a swim. I checked the timetable and found the bus for Noussa was leaving at 4, in 10 minutes! So I sprinted back to Rooms Mike, changed into my swimsuit, grabbed a towel and was back at the bus stop with a couple of minutes to spare.

Noussa is a beautiful old fishing village, with narrow streets and whitewashed houses stacked up the hills. It's also got a few new hotels, a couple of big expensive yachts in the dock, and a lot of tourists. I stayed only long enough to figure out where the beaches were, and that I was a bit too late for the ferry boats to be useful, and I walked back along the road to the first beach, Kolimvythres. It turned out to be farther than I'd expected: about 45 minutes at a pretty brisk pace, but it had lovely sand and was almost completely empty. I had a short swim and feel much better to have lost the sweat from the hike!

posted by Tom at 12:39 PM | link |