Layover in Palaiochora

May 3, 2018

So, as you already know, we have a change of plans for the day. It began as expected, with us leaving the hotel early and biking down to the waterfront for breakfast while we waited for the 8:30 ferry departure. Over our breakfast of omelets, orange juice and a French press, we enjoyed sitting outdoors in the fresh morning air, watching the wind-blown waves piling up against the breakwater. A half hour later I queued up with several others at the ticket office, and shared in their disappointment when we learned that the day’s departure had been cancelled due to high winds. Now what?

We enjoyed watching the waves pile up over breakfast, until we learned that they meant our ferry run had been cancelled.

Back at our hotel, we hatched a new plan over coffee and orange juice.

So, here’s the new plan, arrived at back at our hotel after staring at the map, looking for possible accommodations, and considering riding distances. We’ve rewritten the next four days: tonight’s stay at Ag Roumeli is definitely out of the picture, because it isn’t accessible by road and the ferry isn’t running today. We decide to scrap our planned two night stay at Chora Sfakion also, because it is also ferry dependent and we have no guarantees that the ferry will run tomorrow either. Theoretically we could bike to Chora Sfakion, but it doesn’t make sense - it’s too far for one day, and we would essentially need to bike back to Chania because the lands to the east are a large, mountainous roadless expanse.

Instead, we’re staying here in Palaiochora for a second night, which will be great. It’s a lovely little place, and a good base for hikes east and west along the coast. Tomorrow, we’ll bike up to Omalos, a plateau high in the mountains; then the next day we’ll drop to the north coast at Kalyves, a small resort town east of Chania; and the next day we’ll be back on schedule at Rethymno.

Different than our original plan, but this sounds great too. We’re especially excited to be going up to Omalos, which we had wanted to bike to from Chania a few days back until we were stopped by my gear problems. A second chance.

So, we check back into Hotel Glarus for a second night, drop off our baggage, and head west to the end of the pavement at Krios Beach, the base for the walking route west to Elafonissi. It’s an easy six miles to Krios Beach but we decide to spice things up by forgetting to take a lock with us, which doesn’t occur to me until we’re about five miles from the hotel. So, an easy fourteen miles after backtracking to the hotel again.

Outside our hotel, loaded for a day ride. This demonstrates another new acquisition on this trip - a cargo net. It works great for strapping extra cargo securely on the back rack.

At Krios Beach, securely locked to a tree with our flimsy cable lock, hoping for the best.

The trail from Krios Beach to Elafonissi is a part of the E4, one of the European hiking trails. Beginning in Portugal, it meanders across Southern Europe for 10,000 km, eventually ending in Romania. Today, we decide to loop off about four of those 10,000k, and then turn around and retrace our steps.

It’s a pretty small nibble out of the E4, but it’s a glorious hike along the coast, rising over headlands and dropping down to beautiful secluded bays. It’s really a beautiful way to spend the day, and a nice break from the bike. We’ll be back at the hills tomorrow - Omalos Plateau is at elevation 3,700’ - so it doesn’t hurt us at all to exercise some different muscles today.

The E4 is very well marked. There was never any question about which way to go.

This is interesting. This small bay is reputedly the site of the ancient Roman city of Viena, and this is one of a number of columns or fragments of an ancient temple.

True to my word, I’m showing Jen’s bottle opener a good time. Here, it absorbs some sun and history at the ancient city of Viena.

We turned back here, near the eastern edge of the bay of Elifonissi. Note the goat poised high on the far rock.

In the foreground is Krios Beach. Beyond is a large array of greenhouses.

Descending to Krios Beach at the end of our hike

Incredible colors. Looking at this, it’s easy to see why Greek structures are painted as they are.

We return to our bikes in mid afternoon and return to the hotel. We’ve still got a few hours until dinner, so I grab a beer and sit in the hotel lobby, cooling off and catching up on the journal. Then, back to the waterfront for another seaside meal and a last look around the village.

One other note on the day: Amy, our real estate agent, gives us the green light to close up shop at the condo. The closure date is tomorrow, so we contact our insurance company and utilities to shut everything down. Done!!

These are the greenhouses we saw in the distance in the photo above.

I really love all the pastels in Greece.

Today's ride: 20 miles (32 km)
Total: 248 miles (399 km)

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