Bay to Bay
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2006
1
58
100
Trip End
Sep 08, 2008
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Marsaxlokk, Malta
Monday, September 17, 2007
Not wanting to wallow in the mire, I decided to jump on one of Malta's rickety old buses and head back to the coast. My first destination was the small fishing village of Marsaxlokk, on the south east coast. There wasn't really much to do in the town itself, but it made for some great photos, with old, low-rise houses ringing the town's waterfront as brightly coloured 'luzzu' fishing boats bobbed up and down in the harbour. It was turning into a hot day, and after taking a few snaps I sat down with a cold drink and my map and tried to figure out where I would go. I decided to make for Marsaskala, a small resort town some 4km along the coast.
Whilst my map was quite detailed, with hiking trails marked in red, the reality of the Maltese countryside was very different. My mum told me a story about how the roads in Malta were laid out; "They let a donkey wander freely, and laid the roads where it went." It was a pretty apt description, and it took me the best part of 40 minutes to find the coast, just a kilometre from Marsaxlokk harbour. There were no roads here, and as a matter of fact I think I was on someone's private land, but the view over the bay of Hofra Iz-Zghira was stunning. The clear water was backed by white sandy cliffs, and I was amazed I hadn't seen the image on a single postcard.
I sweated my way along unsealed roads and rocky trails, past what looked like a military training ground of sorts, before I came across St Thomas Bay. From a distance it looked beautiful, with Malta's typical clear blue water lapping on the beach, and a handful of locals there to enjoy it. However, as I came closer I noticed some tiny concrete block houses, the likes of which I hadn't seen since I was in Asia. Coming from the affluent area of Sliema and St Julian's, this was the complete opposite, almost as if it was third world. Despite being such a small country, the class gap still remained, and it was most evident to me here at St Thomas Bay.
It was another half an hour through a built up area before I reached my destination, Marsaskala. There was even less for me to do here than in Marsaxlokk, so after having a break and cold drink I made my way back to Sliema. It had been a good day though, as I'd seen parts of Malta very few tourists saw, and learnt a little more about the country at the same time. Perhaps I wouldn't have had the chance to see that had I been working.
