Mili Gorge Hike and Tavern Supper at Site
Trip Start
Jan 05, 2010
1
8
9
Trip End
Jan 23, 2010
Where I stayed
Elizabeth Camping
Rethymnon, Crete, Greece
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
It was a gorgeous hike along the floor of the gorge following a river. Just before we sat down for lunch we near a bunch of orange trees and Scott ran off to grab a couple to eat with lunch. As we were just finishing lunch it began to spit a bit but stopped and we carried on our way. While hiking we stumbled onto some caves and went to explore them a bit. Just as we stepped into them the clouds opened up and began to downpour like we haven’t seen in a long time. Lucky for us we were safe and dry in the cave and decided to try and wait it out before proceeding as it looked lighter in the distance. After about 10 minutes of waiting it wasn’t really letting up and we pulled out the rain gear we had and put it all on. Not really wanting to head back we decided to just tough it out and push on. After about 15 minutes of walking the rain let up and we were able to continue on staying dry. We only made it about a third of the way down the trail but it was already 3:00 and we wanted to be back by dark so we turned around headed back. Unlucky for us as soon as we got off the trail it began to pour buckets again and drenched us to the bone. By the time we got back to the tent we were so wet we didn’t want to go anywhere near the tent in order to keep it dry and instead headed to the tavern to sit and play some cards. We had made it back in record time and it was only about 4:30 so we had till 6:00 to kill as one of the employee’s does home cooked Greek food there every couple days for pretty cheap that you can come and eat for a decent price. We thought it would be a lot of fun as everyone from the campsite usually comes and it could be a good time.
By the time 6:00 rolled around most of our rain gear had dried off by the heater and everyone showed up for supper. In total there was the two of us, an English couple (Pat and Brian), a chap from Holland (Koen), the couple we meet earlier from Sweden/Australia (Gunner and Anna), a single Austrian and a Austrian couple (never got their names) and finally a German couple. Everyone was 50-60+ at least aside from us. The Austrians and Germans didn’t speak very good English and only talked amongst themselves but we were right beside the English couple and talked all threw supper. It was pretty interesting talking to them about their travels and ours. We had ______ for supper and it was incredible not to mention home cooked. After eating the Austrians and Germans left and it was just the English couple, Holland chap, and Swedish/Aussie couple and us. Everyone was drinking and we sat there the whole night just chatting away. It was really interesting talking with them as we were just starting life and they were all in retirement giving an interesting perspective on all sorts of different topics. It was probably one of the highlights of the trip thus far as some more human contact other than ourselves was much needed at this point. It was even more interesting how we were a group of all different ages but all in the same mind set. We were all out to travel and see the world and our hearts were all on the same page even though they almost tripled our age. Where we took our trip young they were all taking there’s after their families were all now on their own.
We sat drinking the night away till just after midnight when the oldies had finally met there match. The English couple in particular were way beyond what they should have drunk and Brian was stumbling all over as he left with Pat under an arm. Gunner and Anna soon followed as between their heavy accents and now slurring words they became hilarious to understand. Koen then followed although he had only had a couple drinks so wasn’t too bad. Scott and I were left and we laughed that we were a bad influence on them and grabbed a couple beer for the road. We got back to the tent and played a quick game of risk on the computer and finally nodded off somewhere around 2:00am. It probably was not the most advisable move as we planned to pack out tomorrow and head to Santorini but when you are having fun you just let it ride until you get bored. It was a great night and we had a great memory to keep with us. Never let anyone tell you age matters as we learned tonight, you can have just as much fun with some oldies as you can with younger folk ;)
