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  #1  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2019, 4:38 AM
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Greek Islands

My trip to Symi, an as yet not overrun island that's still jawdroppingly beautiful (though avoid July-August when up to 200 ships arrive daily). Very popular with moneyed Turkish yacht families.












Everywhere the views







Our house had a new family




The port is divided between Low and High Town






The departure point for the ferries leaving the island. Nearby is the police station, one whose buildings is now a small refugee camp where the residents are allowed to stand on the balconies and watch the world go by. Made friends with a tiny little girl and boy shouting the only words they knew in English over the parapet. Hello, hello?








At the top of the climb (and only at the top), there's a chain and a sign saying 'private property. No Entry'.









traditional Turkish sailing ships were everywhere, docking from Turkey that surrounds the island on three sides




Greece is famed for the wonders of its light, that makes colour glow clean and that's been attracting artists for centuries. The waters are said to be the world's bluest (though the Caribbean and Mozambique might have something to say about that).





An isolated cove with an empty monastery








The boat is named 'Pizza'.







Food was superlative and cheap, Greek salad in literally every meal














These hillsides are riddled with wild herbs (oregano, sage, thyme, Greek mountain tea), and very expensive rocks should the Chinese market for classical garden rockeries ever discover them. They can fetch thousands for the right shape.









This is how cean, clear and blue even the harbour was on this cove



She's standing where I was watching the fish




Crosses denote unfortunate shipwrecks









Another monastery complex, much larger and the size of a town was utterly empty of people. Quite surreal












Inside every Greek church is a blizzard of Orthodox intricacy and iconostasis






Last edited by muppet; Jul 16, 2019 at 12:08 PM.
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  #2  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2019, 4:40 AM
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The interior of the island is mountainous, thickly forested in parts and utterly devoid of humans - in parts very eerie (eviscerated goat heads tied to clothes lines in miles of moorland, bracketed by stone walls and ruined houses). After some painful driving we came to this dead end on the mountaintop, bee hives after several empty farms.











The ship is docking at the massive monastery complex, the size of a town








This is in the Gispy village - utterly beautiful but with some of the worst poverty I've seen in Europe. Life from centuries previous, such as families picking through net haulage, babies left outside houses, girls with buckets tapping water from air bnb villas. Crumbling but spotless.





Outside it's wild and free








This is one of the most amazing spots on Earth imo, where I discovered if you stand on the top you can echo shouts amazingly well, bouncing off two neighbouring islands from miles away. Quite isolated, crystal clear air and accessed through climbing rock fields.









We named this one Big Fuck Off Bunny Rock




Back to the town - population 30,000 in summer, a few hundred by winter.













Behind the port lies the high town, accessed through hundreds of steps and where local community dominates, who can freely leave their belongings in the street for days.





The lead up was very empty, all very De Chirico




But at the top life was in full swing. We got chatting to the only Chinese guy on the island after some of the local kids were following me about his shop, and asking him in Greek if he thought I was Chinese too (I replied I was), whose family lives on neighbouring Rhodes, which he saw only on weekends. He was fully integrated into the community and a hit with the kids, despite only knowing passing Greek.







My travel buddies have their heart set on restoring many of the ruined villas (the island got very rich off the Ottomans giving them the monopoly of supplying sponges to the empire), most of whom belong to near untraceable relatives in far off countries who have no idea they own it:




Greek island life in a nutshell



And again, very yappy.





Yes, the owners were not Greek (Brits abroad), but it is a surprisingly accurate rendition of what the classical ruins looked like before being weathered into marble elegance.









There are 365 ornate churches on the island, one for every block, and every day




We were waylaid by an older Greek woman 'working for the army' who showed my mate around the wild herbs. Couldn't work out if she was a general, chef or lady of the night.





Speaking of which...















Count the Turkish flags:






Bye Symi, you're a beaut


Last edited by muppet; Jul 16, 2019 at 11:38 AM.
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  #3  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2019, 4:46 AM
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The island of Kalymnos, with its horrible main port (dead cat alley anyone?) and nothing much to see until you hit the other side of the island, with the one good hotel - and rumoured to be the world's best place for rock climbers. Now noted for its dying sponge industry and its legends of record breaking divers.

Kalymnos strikes you as a tawdry place where the crash of the Greek economy is painfully evident the minute you get past the slew of cafes and restaurants (packed with locals) facing the port, but a place with a huge amount of potential, if ever they did up the town.











Sponge divers who couldnt afford a tourist shop just laid out their wares by the town hall, then stood in the shade all day to watch. There are hardly any tourists in Kalymnos.





The best hotel in the town was a faded gem of art deco (the kind where the residents lounge around getting pissed all day with the hotelier family, who leave the place to utter ruin) at disconcertingly cheap rates, however crawling with local wildlife for it - found two huge silverfish under my pillow, and a bedbug. Slept in my clothes.

Had to clean the pool myself of the varied, voluminous amounts of fly soup, but it was one of the best pools ever. The 'gym' was a large underground vault beneath, caked in a good cm of construction dust and featuring a dead running machine, a table tennis table (no bats) and a bench press which I momentarily imprinted my arse into.




The hotel was originally built by a wealthy emigre British family who shipped over all the furniture from Yorkshire




The local museum, small but holding treasures millennia old that would be national icons in other countries, typical of Greece. This statue is over 3,000 years old.






Dawn walk to catch the first boat










Hero, record breaking diver who sank hundreds of feet down to rescue an ANCHOR, then swam up again with it. Other harbours hold statues of young boys - tragic fates of those lost at sea.





Another outpost of the local museum took the form of two restored traditional fishing boats








Much of the island is the European desert




Other areas not so much




This was the other side of the island, with an entirely different feel






The rock climbing is legendary, huge caves, cliffs and natural arches riddle the hills for every level of expertise. It became a game to spot the tiny climbers hidden in the landscape.


xx



Spotted this semi-abandoned citadel from the bus - no idea what it is, completely off any visitor route.




The only good hotel on the island




This damn shape is still in my dreams, like Strange Encounters








20 people live on this other island across the way

















And finally a day in Rhodes, the airport island and its medieval, walled citadel/ Old Town - absolutely overrun with tourists, moi included. These are the shots after clearing the streets with FIRE







The ruins of the medieval Knights Templar churches dot the Old Town, who protected the island during the Crusades




The classical ruins, millennia old are bare of visitors due to having to walk a good mile in searing heat to reach them





Last edited by muppet; Jul 16, 2019 at 11:54 AM.
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Old Posted Jul 16, 2019, 6:21 AM
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Wow, what a lovely thread! You really just took me on a vacation through these photos. What a gorgeous, tranquil destination, and also refreshing to see a part of the Greek Islands that looks completely different from the Cyclades (i.e. the white and blue architecture commonly associated with Greece).
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  #5  
Old Posted Jul 16, 2019, 6:59 AM
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Yep, thanks! If ever you do a Greek island, it's Symi (but avoid the July-Aug circus). Kalymnos is a bit meh, unless you're a rock climber.

Last edited by muppet; Jul 16, 2019 at 11:56 AM.
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Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 1:44 AM
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very interesting thread.
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  #7  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 2:03 PM
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Great photo set and commentary. I really enjoyed it -- I felt like I was on holiday too.
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Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 5:39 PM
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Interesting tour I've never heard of Symi ,Faliraki it ain't
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  #9  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 6:38 PM
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Thanks guys. Yep Greek islands can be decidedly hit or miss depending on your quality of visitor market so do your research, Faliraki I imagine caters to Brit Sun readers who enjoy public sex and getting into fights. Usually though these 'no-go' islands still have a hidden, more beautiful side.

Such as Zayknthos which we gave a wide berth, that's in between the two islands we visited. It's infamous for these Brit gems (and no, that girl on the bar is not employed by them, but fully demonstrates the target market)


www.zakynthosinsider.com, www.nightlife-cityguide.com


Yet also this:


https://www.adventurous-travels.com/...h-in-the-world


We did get talking to a Greek-American taxi driver, who had seen it all over the years. He did mention something heartening, about how he'd see the same visitors start out as teenage yobs after sun and sex (the kind who don't know which country theyre actually in), then return as more cultured, discerning visitors a decade later infatuated with ruins, hiking and local food.

I have to say though upmarket Greek clubs, packed with the local glitterati are pretty damn upmarket, a la Mykonos but not thronged by tourists. Everything minimalist/ trad, everyone horribly good looking and trendy, and unlike most places of their calibre, genuinely having a good time as opposed to sipping their one cocktail, bitching and trying to look unapproachable. You'll find them on every island, even down at heel Kalymnos.

This (local). These venues (eg built into 700 year old structures, often open air) you can't really find in big Alpha cities (such as London) as they'd be too expensive to set up in central areas to make the profits, but much more doable even in small harbour towns. Very similar story in neighbouring Turkey too (the Old Town in Antalya for example had 6 nightlife districts alone):



aswell as this, the ubiquitous tourist strip - both areas pictured we visited on Rhodes. I do wonder if the dancing rep girls below will revisit in a decade after Ottoman antiques:


Last edited by muppet; Jul 17, 2019 at 7:29 PM.
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Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 7:12 PM
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I've been to Zakynthos lovely island the only place to avoid is laganas where all the neanderthal go
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  #11  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 7:42 PM
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lol yeah, I'd kinda like to go, in a safari park/ Jurassic Park set up.
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Old Posted Jul 17, 2019, 11:03 PM
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Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you for this fantastic tour.
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Old Posted Jul 19, 2019, 2:54 PM
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Ugh, thanks for reminding me I need a vacation.

Loved the tour.
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Old Posted Jul 19, 2019, 8:21 PM
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Thanks guys
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Old Posted Jul 19, 2019, 10:02 PM
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Great thread, thanks!
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Old Posted Jul 22, 2019, 1:05 AM
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fantastic!
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Old Posted Jul 24, 2019, 11:33 PM
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Great tours! It's nice to see some less-touristy parts of Greece.
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Old Posted Jul 25, 2019, 1:33 AM
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Gorgeous scenery!
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Old Posted Jul 25, 2019, 3:02 PM
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wow and well done.

and if that isnt a beautiful and relaxing thread i dk what is -- thanks!
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Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 6:49 AM
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beautiful pictures, I have added this place in my list and will visit it next summer.
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