By bus, ferry, car… Remembering Crete. Part 8. On the wide Limpopo
To be continued. Start here:
Part 1. The puzzle is complete >>>
Part 2. In the labyrinth of history >>>
Part 3. “Candia remained for the descendants…” > >>
Part 5. The enchanting serenity of La Canea >>>
Part 6. From Trinity to Ursa >>>
Part 7. Along the gorges and hills >>>
I don't know if it's staring at the skyline near Piso Preveli in an attempt to see the Black Continent. . .
. . . either the heat that had intensified by this moment, or the love of reading I had already mentioned more than once, but this time the all-Union grandfather Chukovsky did not go out of my head with his:
"We live in Zanzibar
In the Kalahari and the Sahara,
On Mount Fernando Po,
Where the Hippo Po walks
On the wide Limpopo".
And the surrounding reality was surprisingly in tune with this refrain. After all, we arrived at Palm Beach - the second largest natural palm forest in Crete (that is, created not by man, but by virtue of an unknown whim of nature). Of course, two things worried me a little - the rather steep and tiring 200-step descent (and, accordingly, the ascent) to the beach from the parking lot described in all the reviews...
. . . and rumors that in 2010 there was a fairly strong fire here, almost completely destroying Preveli Palm Grove. Those. there could be an option that we would climb to the beach in such heat, but there would be no palm trees there! : ))
It’s good for those who are brought to Palm Beach on small pleasure boats - if they don’t even see palm trees, then at least it won’t be so insulting.
But I hasten to reassure you: despite the forecasts of scientists, palm trees quickly recovered after the past fires and delight all visitors with lush green panicles of crowns.
And looking at these landscapes, it is simply impossible not to remember Limpopo! ; )))
So there is even a piece of Africa in Crete! : )
Another feature of the Palm Beach is that Mega Potamos, which brings its waters here, forms a small lake Limni Preveli (“limni” means “lake”), and therefore you can take water procedures like in the sea…
…and in fresh water. : )
According to the guidebooks, this area is included in the European program for the protection of natural beauty and ecology "Natura 2000", so there are no benefits of civilization in the form of sun loungers, umbrellas, water sports and other beach infrastructure, but you can come here such direct guests:
Or you can walk to a small church near the beach as a promenade (if you haven't been yet).
But stop basking - we are waiting for the way home. According to the plan, we also looked into the nearby village of Plakias (this is where the boats of those who want to come to Palm Beach are brought)...
…possessing a beach not much inferior to Palm. Well, except for the palm trees. : )
And the rest and views...
. . . and the infrastructure, and the almost complete absence of people only raise Plakias in my rating of places to visit.
We drink coffee and set off on our way back. But for a change, we are going not through the Kourtaliot Gorge, but through the Kotsifu Gorge. The winds whistle here too, which is why the Greeks didn’t bother for long and called it the “Whistling Gorge”. But this absolutely does not bother the eagle soaring in height.
On the way we meet another church of St. Nicholas, hidden right in the rock. In general, as many temples as I visited in Crete during this trip, I do not visit in Ukraine in a year. ; ))
Take a farewell look at the Libyan Sea. . .
…and we leave for the pass. I will say this: here, too, the views are beautiful, and we specifically planned to make a stop on the way back to admire the panoramas.
And there, our hotel is just a stone's throw away, and we see off the sunset on the Cretan Sea.
This concludes our exploration of Crete. Although there are still plenty of opportunities to see. Usually, before a trip, I make for myself a summary mini-guide like “Useful information about... (substitute the right one)”. So, my “Useful Information about Crete” took 85 (! ) Pages in not very large print, and I didn’t try, as they say, I chose mainly the interesting things of the west coast, which we had a relatively short time to get to. By the way, to prepare for the trip, I just found supersite, where a lot of useful information about Crete was posted with descriptions of attractions, with useful tips , with ready-made routes, etc. But not there, as it turned out, I looked at this site! : (((
First of all, it was necessary to carefully read the folk wisdom posted there: “In an effort to see all of Crete in one trip, there is a risk of not seeing the island properly, and getting tired of such a vacation... ”. Fully support! How I suffered, lying on the beach and thinking about where else I could go and what else interesting and beautiful to see!
But I would not like to end my story about Crete on such a minor note, so I will mention one more of my Cretan impressions. Literally in the very first days of the trip, walking around Rethymno, we noticed that the company sitting in the cafe had on the table an impressive, thick-walled, misted bottle with a capacity of at least a liter with a clear liquid inside. Moreover, a significant part of the liquid has already migrated to no less impressive thick-walled glasses. I don’t know how anyone, but I immediately had a clear association with our folk strong drink (or, at worst, with Greek ouzo). True, the place and time of consumption were slightly embarrassing - it was a white day in a 35-degree heat. However, I thought maybe people have a holiday and they don't bother.
But walking further, we began to notice similar "still lifes" on other tables. I don’t know how long our bewilderment would have lasted about the presence of such a “culture of drunkenness and alcoholism”, quoting Mikhail Veksler, but then it was our turn to go to a restaurant on the embankment. And they brought us the same set, although we ordered beer, nuts, etc. It turned out that the bottle contained delicious cold delicious water. : ) But how happy we were for her! And on each next visit to the cafe, the first thing they waited for, of course, was such a bottle, which it is customary to bring here absolutely free of charge with any order.
And later, having traveled around Crete, imbued with its beauties, its history, its spirit, in the end, I caught myself thinking that even if it turned out that not even water was poured in similar bottles on the tables of the Greeks, Then I would probably think: “What do I want? ! Well, they are Greeks! ”, ; )))))))))))))
And thanks to everyone who read and took an active part in our journey by bus, ferry, car in Crete! : )
