Today we headed to the south side of the island. Our final destination was Plakias Beach but we were hoping to poke around some other villages and such.
We rounded a corner and BOOM! We had entered into a gorge, Kourtaliotiko Gorge to be precise. Amazing! And windy!
That's Nick in the lower left.
The rock faces were pretty high up there. We hadn't expected this so it was a fabulous surprise.
A couple more photos.
As we continued on traveling in the mountains we were treated to some great vistas.
It didn't take too long before we saw the sea on the south side of Crete, maybe 40 minutes from Rethymno.
Lemon trees, orange trees, and lots and lots of olive trees are ubiquitous. I wonder how many lemons are on this tree?
We stopped at a taverna for a light lunch in Myrthianos and then headed on. Nick had spotted a sign for Kotsifou Canyon waterfall so we pointed our car in that direction. But it was not to be. The road to the waterfall was closed due to a large rock fall. ☹️
We parked the rental car on the side of the road and took off on foot up the closed road. Google maps told us the waterfall was only 1/2 mile away. Google maps did
not tell us about the strong winds barreling down the canyon. We persisted. Lo and behold, we came upon a monastery built right into the mountain.
Continuing on. We met a few
kri-kri or Cretan goats, who looked at us as if we were intruders. I guess we were. The kri-kri are somewhat elusive so we were lucky to see them.
Ooooh, that ahead is the rock fall. See the large crane? There ain't no way I'm going there, so we turn around. With the hurricane-force (I jest) winds now to our backs, we make much better time.
Still beautiful vistas. And somewhere in there, the goats were bleating.
Nick picking his way around the little rocks that had fallen.
There's the sea again, in the far distance.
After driving the switchbacks, we arrived in Plakias Beach. I waded in the warm water, then we read a bit, and caught 40 winks to boot!
We headed back to Rethymno to catch some supper and walk along the beach.
Another fun day on Crete.
Carol
