Остров Кос Kos island

about. Kos, Kardamena, Cleopatra Superior Hotel, 3 stars.
Actually, the goal was just to swim in the warm sea and sunbathe - without an excessive excursion and other cultural program. And preferably cheap. Against the backdrop of rising prices in Cyprus, Kos turned out to be the most suitable for this - either they began to actively promote it on the market, or, due to the impending revolution, prices fell.
So Kos. By and large, there is not much to see there. The heritage of the Rhodes crusaders is much inferior to Rhodes itself, and fragments of the foundations remained from antiquity at best. Somewhere at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries there was a strong earthquake, and after it the Italians rebuilt everything (occupation from 1912 to 1943), therefore, for example, the capital of the island - the city of Kos - is sustained more in the Italian tradition than in the Greek. In general, the castle of the knights in Kos deserves attention (those who have seen Rhodes are not interested in it) and Asklepion. Asklepion - the ruins (with some reconstruction) of a large temple complex of the god Asclepius. Hippocrates “worked” here, for whom Kos is the birthplace and main place of activity.

The island itself is very green, which is not typical for Greece. Especially the western and northern parts. A strong wind constantly blows, sometimes reaching a hurricane - the cap is torn off in any way. So it's not like it's too hot. The wind, as in the entire Aegean Sea, is from the west. Therefore, there is always excitement on the west coast. And in the east, where the wind is from the coast, there is a constant calm (even with a hurricane wind! ). The southeast coast is said to have a cold current, so the water is 2-3 degrees colder than in the west. But for us, the northerners, and so very good. Sandy beaches in the east and south. In the west and north - pebbles. At the same time, in the northeast, in Psalidi, where there are pebbles and therefore, according to the assurances of the tour representatives, the water is the most transparent, in fact this water is muddy due to some fine suspension raised by the waves. And in Kardamena, where there is only sand, the water is the purest. Kamari (in the southeast), where the largest (both in width and length) beach, makes an unpleasant impression. Firstly, there are a lot of started and abandoned construction sites, a lot of abandoned buildings - this is observed everywhere on the island, but there is something special here. Secondly, the promenade along the beach and the road running parallel to it are unpaved. A strong wind constantly blows dust and fine sand towards the beach - whole clouds. The general impression is that you are at a construction site. Beach (pebbly) between Tigaki and Marmari (in the west) - only in name. There, the highway goes straight along the coast at a distance of a couple of meters from the water at 0.5-1 m above sea level. On the "beach" remains 1-1.5 meters, ground by the road to the water. Thus, as a result of comparisons, it turns out that Kardamena (east) is best.
Kardamena is a village measuring 2 by 0.5 km. Hotels, houses, bars - mixed. Four parallel streets and an embankment: an embankment - restaurants, then a parallel street - bars, the next street - shops. Youth tourism center - young people, mainly from Britain (60 percent) and Italy - wild and ill-mannered. However, they behave like this everywhere. The rest are Russians and Germans. The beaches stretch along the entire village, separated by breakwaters. A set of an umbrella and two sun loungers - 5 euros per day. However, no one gives receipts, so if you come in the evening, you may have to argue with the owner. The beaches themselves are not cleaned well - a lot of garbage (cigarette butts, plastic and beer bottles, bags, etc. ). But the water is very clean. The best beaches in the southeastern part of the village; in the northeast - there are many sharp stones near the coast.
What to try and what to buy? Kos's own exclusive fenks - cinnamon and bitter almond syrups (with sugar and without alcohol) - canelade and surmada. Canelada is sold everywhere, but surmada (actually, this is a branded product of the neighboring island of Nisyros, but it is also made on Kos) still needs to be looked for. By diluting in a ratio of 1:5 with water, soft drinks are made; added to coffee. Tomato jam is exotic only in name - there is so much sugar that it is impossible to understand whether there are tomatoes or something else. The local wine (the main hyped producer is Hatziemanuel) does not make an impression, although it is served as very cool (in the supermarket from 8 to 13 euros per bottle). It is better to buy really good wines from Rhodes (for example, "Granrosé " - 10 euros) or from Santorin ("Vinsanto" - 15 euros).
The excursion program is offered quite diverse, but since the purpose of the trip was to swim, they took only two excursions - a sightseeing trip around the island and on about. Patmos. Patmos is the place of exile of the Apostle John, where he was honored with Revelation. Well, how to miss this, given that you can’t get there from other places? Two hours one way on a high-speed catamaran. There is a small fortified monastery, the cave of John - in fact, that's all. Beautiful views. In general, it would be necessary to take an excursion to about. Nisyros - in the mouth of a volcano with boiling mud, but the days were few.

The departure was fabulous. Charter from Transaero. They flew there - they were detained for 2 hours + another half an hour. But back! At first they were delayed for 2 hours. After another half an hour without official announcements (all rumors! ) Information appeared that they would be taken to the hotel - like, a very long delay - either the plane had not yet taken off for us, or it was being repaired. Three buses were brought in, loaded, and taken to Psalidi. Brought to the hotel "Sol Kipriotis Village" 4 *. Handed out the keys. The hotel is fabulous! Then information appeared (everything is rumored) that they would feed dinner for free. Came for dinner, got food, sat down. Then representatives of the administration fly up and announce that in 15 minutes. loading onto airport buses. Who eats up, who quits and runs headlong into the room - and this is somewhere in the territory: Village - this means that there are many, many houses. In general, the hotel spent only two hours. But during this time we managed to take a shower, call Russia (at the reception they said that the call was not identified, i. e. no need to pay! ), walk around the territory (in fact, the park), have dinner. And some managed to escape to the sea! In general, the delay was exactly 7 hours.
Our hotel "Cleopatra Superior" on the very north-eastern outskirts - from the window you can see the sea, the mountain, the farm with cows and goats. It is curious that the hotel website says that it is in the very center of the town. Well, maybe when they set it up, it will be so. It is part of a network of three hotels (all nearby) and a branded bar (the bar is really in the center). The hotel positions itself as a three-star plus. What this means is not clear. The hotel itself is new, everything is very decent. The room is quite comfortable, except for the shower. The contingent is the British (70-80%), Germans, Balts, Russians. The safe is paid - euros per day, conder - too (4 euros per day). There is no dryer on the balcony - everyone pulls the ropes. In principle, you can not take the air conditioner - if the sun does not shine through the window, then it is quite possible to live (provided the balcony door is open). The only trouble is that under the balcony there is a bar where music plays (and very loudly! ) Until three in the morning.
Animation there is no (it does not seem to be in any hotel in the village). Its role is played by city and hotel taverns. At the same time, it is impossible to say that it is somehow very noisy.
The beach is 2 minutes walk, but this beach is cramped, dirty and uncomfortable. We went to the beach to the other end of the town - 15 minutes. On the way back, you can buy peaches, grapes and other gifts of nature in a vegetable shop, and pies and cakes in a bakery.
Meals - breakfast. Very scarce. There are no eggs in any form, sausages-bacons - too. Only one kind of cheese, one kind of Greek yogurt, jams, butter, compote peaches, bird food and plain buns. Instant coffee - rash yourself as much as you want, two types of chemical juices, tea bags. This is repeated day after day.
Of course, if you dig, you can pick up a lot of minor flaws, but in general, the hotel is very good for its money.