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| The only fishing in Crete was with my feet |
So one day last fall, Dottie said,
“I want to go on that trekking trip to Crete with Karen (Collins).”
Karen is a Sonoma resident who
operates Going Places, a guided travel business, in which she personally leads
small groups of folks on walking/hiking tours of interesting places around the
world.
Knowing that Dottie's idea of
roughing-it usually means a place without room service and no Nordstrom’s
within easy driving distance, I responded, “You do realize the trekking is
outdoors?”
I got the look, for my
impertinence.
And with little more said, we signed
up and became two in a group of 12 (mostly Sonomans) who last month made the trip
and trek across the incredibly picturesque, mountainous and challenging island
landscape.
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| What were we thinking? |
Rich in ancient history, the island
was home to the Minoans, the earliest advanced European civilization that
peaked in about 1950 B.C., centuries before Athens became the Greek powerhouse.
Civilized the Minoans may have been,
but they did not fly fish. In fact, there is no fly-fishing on Crete, in spite
of the fact that there are numerous very trouty looking streams that tumble out
of snow-capped mountains rising to more than 2,450 meters (about 8,000 feet).
The problem is there are no trout in those streams, no bass, nothing that one
can cast a fly to, which is why readers of this fishing column might want to
skip the opening paragraphs and read the real fishing report (for our area) at
the end.
So we trekked instead. I should have
made Dottie look up the definition before we left. The term means – “a long
arduous journey, typically on foot.” Arduous means exactly what you think it
does.
We trained for the trip by walking
three-to-five miles a day around the Valley's country roads. We should have
been bushwhacking and rock-climbing from here to Napa and back every day over
the Mayacamas.
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| A lovely place for goats, just not old goats. |
While there are no cows on Crete,
there are thousands of goats.
This is another important fact,
along with the definition of trekking, that we should have known. Goats (except
old goats from Sonoma) love trekking, especially on steep mountainsides.
What we did love was Greek food –
the fresh vegetables and fruit, feta and yogurt made from goat's milk, coarse
bread and rich, tangy olive oil. Every dish, many prepared with wild native
herbs, was a taste delight, and the wines of Crete were surprisingly good.
Our guide, Manolis Mavrakis, a
native of Crete (cretanwalks.com), with dual U.S. and Greek citizenship,
capably led us across the challenging landscape, but perhaps his greatest
contribution was his knowledge of the best inns and little family-run cafes
where we were treated to the real Greek foods most tourists rarely experience.
Manolis is a passionate advocate for his island and knows it as only a native
son can. As much as one person can do for another, we saw the island through
his eyes, and this too, was a great pleasure.
Part II
Crete, Greece’s largest island, was the home of the Minoans, Europe's oldest advanced civilization, although they were apparently not fly fishermen.
After the Minoan civilization faded, the Greeks created a myth that it had been ruled by King Minos, a son of Zeus, who periodically demanded a tribute of young maidens to be scarified to the Minotaur (half man, half bull), the monster of the Labyrinth.
Today, it is a beautiful green land, rich in agriculture, where tourists mingle with ancient gods, and trekkers wander, like followers of Odysseus, in search of Zeus knows what, succumbing frequently to the siren call of the nearest taverna, and eventually ending up back where they started.
The labyrinths trekkers explore are the numerous gorgeous gorges cut through the high mountains to the sea. The Minotaurs are long gone, but there are lots of goats. Tribute is paid in sweat, blood and blisters, along with swollen joints, and in my case, frequent whining.
“What in Zeus's name was I thinking? This stopped being fun five miles ago.”
Trekking is either for the young, fit, and adventurous, or it is a pastime for those who love the gods of nature (Cybele, Dionysus, Hera, Pan, et al.) so much that they are willing to suffer for that love.
I prefer to follow Trouticious, goddess of fly-fishers.
OK, there is no goddess of fly-fishers, but if there was, I'd gladly follow her.
For days, our group trekked, and trekked, and trekked – down steep, rocky trails, through narrow ravines, over big boulders and along steep, treacherous rocky cliffs. There was pain – more for some than others. Dottie’s knee gave out on the second day, and we skipped a couple of the treks.
Pain was the price the ancient Greek gods demand for invading their domain – including the lovely little seaside villages of Sougia, Agia Roumeli and Loutros, where we rested and enjoyed wonderful meals; the beautifully restored village of Vamos, where we took a class in Cretan cooking from Koula Barydakis; the ancient Venetian port of Chania, and the ruins of Knossos, the center of the Minoan civilization.
Our companions were perhaps the best part of our trip – our hostess, Karen Collins (of Going Places), and Sonomans Tom and Katherine Culligan and Peter and Maggie Haywood, and Jim Lamb, as well as former Sonoman (and my childhood friend) Janet Richman, and Tom and Bonnie Herman of Oakland, and Randy and Celeste Ferguson of Vancouver, Wash.
We were ably led by our guide, Manolis Mavrakis, a native of Crete (cretanwalks.com). More than a guide, Manolis was an evangelist for Crete. He looked like a son of Zeus, and spoke with passion about the island history, its people, its beauty and even its faults.
Part III
THE BEST PART of our
trip to Crete may have been the time we spent in the tavernas with our
companions. Many times they worked harder than I did on the treks, so I served
the refreshments.
The unexpected often becomes the highlight of a trip, and this can be said of our weeklong trekking adventure on Crete, Greece's largest island.
I expected to dislike trekking. My expectation was met.
What I didn't expect was the natural beauty of the island, the snow covered peaks and incredible richness of the agriculture. The fabulous food was also a surprise, and, of course the company was excellent – our guide Manolis Mavarkis, the people of Crete who hosted us at their family inns and tavernas, and especially the members of our little group, organized by our hostess, Sonoma's Karen Collins of Going Places.
Here are a few do's and don'ts, if you are interested in Crete:
• Do use a guide if you want to see the real beauty of the island, enjoy its people, food and culture. I recommend Manolis Mavarkis (cretanwalks.com).
• Unless you are very good condition (or a glutton for pain and punishment), don't sign up for more than one trek through a gorge. One you might survive, two or more is just plain hell.
• Include the little village of Vamos on your itinerary and try to stay there a night or two and take the cooking lesson from Koula Barydakis. Manolis can arrange this and also a very pleasant three-hour walk from Vamos to the beach, which was the easiest and most pleasant trek of the trip.
• Don't pet the cats of Crete. They're everywhere, including Crete's largest Greek Orthodox monastery. They appear very friendly, but one chomped down on Katherine Culligan's arm so badly that she had to be treated an the Chania hospital emergency room. She's OK, but it was not an experience any of us would wish for.
And finally, if you like seeing interesting, out-of-the-way places, traveling with friends, and making new ones, Karen's Going Places tours are for you (goingplaces.com). She organizes everything perfectly, and you see and enjoy things you might never find on your own.
Just one caveat (but consider the source) – however Karen rates the degree of difficulty of the trek – double it.
