More lazy days in Crete: beach camping on the south coast of Crete

The previous episode of lazy beach time ended the minute we left the town of Plakias. Immediately we faced the steepest bit of road thus far on Crete. It was only 3.2km, but we pushed most of it. But after that, the scenery was fantastic with sweeping views of the bay below us, and mountains with goats and olive trees on the other side.


Coffee stop in a village after the climb


Great views and some agriculture west of Plakias
The view looking back towards Plakias 

A beautiful section of the route along a rough track
(not shown on any map but our Maps.Me navigation found it!)

Frangokastello, a Venetian castle from the 1300s


We hotelled it for a couple of nights along the coast, and eventually were able to get  a ferry along a section of the coast with no roads, between Sfakion and Sougia.

The town of Sfakion where we spent a night and got the ferry to Sougia

Sunset from our hotel room 



So many flowers everywhere

Grilled squid

Dinner time

Another little church tucked into the cliff.
No other country has more churches per acre!
The pretty little village of Loutro, where the ferry stopped off.
No road access here.




We had heard a rumour that there was free beach camping in Sougia, so we held off booking a room till we checked it out. And sure enough, as we approached on the ferry, just on the edge of the little village, we could see tents and camper vans! That made us very happy!


Our local taverns. I love love love the freshly squeezed oj


The beach at Sougia, home for four days
Camp dinner underway


Geraldine, this one's for you - you wanted to see what we cooked while camping!
Sauted fresh zucchini (courgettes), peppers, onions, tomatoes in a tomatoey sauce
 on a bed of couscous, pretty nummy when eaten outdoors! And with wine!

 We loved it so much there that we spent four nights enjoying the simple pleasures of beach camping. It was a pebbly beach, but with soft sand further back and quite a few trees. Our shower was just a cold one in the middle of the beach, which served us perfectly well. Most people did that nude, including me once I got used to it! The "clientele" there were mostly Germans, so nudity is second nature to them. There were no toilet facilities as such, just the sea plus a lovely little taverna where you could go and strategically time your coffee purchases when you needed to!

 We spend those blissful days swimming, hiking, reading, wandering the beach and drinking coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice (my absolute favourite) in the taverna.
Hike to Lissos archaeological site.
Well preserved mosaic on the floor.

This couple was from Athens. They were street entertainers
 and practiced their acrobatics on the beach



Someone had built this functional stone oven
The sundial told the correct time.
Two ladies took two days to collect the pebbles and create it



Lilies on the beach

Hiking through a gorge to the ancient city of Lissos



The village offered lots of restaurant choices and we found one that we visited twice as the food was so food and a little bit different from the traditional Greek fare that we're getting just a bit tired of.  I had an excellent fish soup there.


Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 23, 2018 at 11:39 AM

    A meal fit for a king and queen, thanks for sharing!
    I’m amazed by the sun dial, I’d like to try doing that myself one day. A productive way to spend a day on the beach.
    Now, as for nude showering, that takes the biscuit! Glad you embraced it though!
    I’ll miss your blogs once they end. Enjoy what time you have left. Tick, tock!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DaphneOctober 23, 2018 at 2:52 PM

    I'll have to find something else to drivel about after this trip is over. As for the shower, I figured if the Germans can do it, why can't I! And besides noone took a blind bit of notice.

    ReplyDelete

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