18/4 - Heraklion (Zhuo bo)
After collecting the car my brother-in-law and I considered our options. Someone was going to arrive the next day, so we didn't want to do anything good since we knew she'd want to do it too and force us to do it again. So we just ended up zhuo bo-ing (doing nothing) the whole day.
Greek dogs are very good-tempered (at least to humans). When we were in the village of Arhanes, one kept following my brother-in-law around, even pawing him (getting on his hind legs and placing the fore ones on his jeans) when he first saw him. When my brother-in-law went to look for pussies, it followed and started chasing them, so that was fun.
Dog which followed my brother-in-law around
After Arhanes, we went to the site of Vathypetro, which was heavily recommended by the guidebook. It was supposed to open at 8 during the winter season and 8:30 during the summer one. When we arrived at 8:50, no one was there. At 9:05, just as we were about to leave, a car came barreling down the extremely narrow pavement, and the man stepped out to unlock the place. Cretan time isn't exactly the same as Eastern European Time.
View from Vathypetros - Vineyard, village (Arhanes?) in background
Actually, if I were in charge of Vathypetro too, I would come late and leave early - there was no structure for the guy to sit in, so he was just sitting on the pavement with his feet in some vineyard (or soil, or some such) talking to his girlfriend. There was nothing there - not even an introductory panel telling one about the place, let alone ones telling visitors what each of the rooms were. No wonder it was free.
For the first time (and definitely not the last) we questioned the judgment of the guidebook author who'd gushed about Vathypetro so - it had 1/3 of a page dedicated to it, making you wonder what places with 2 lines and his recommendation that they were "remarkable" or "worth a visit" had going for them. Meanwhile, he was incredibly disparaging about the good places - he suggested readers quickly finish Heraklion's archaeological museum and Knossos and flee the city forthwith (presumably for places like Vathypetro).
The desolation of Vathypetros
Grape Vines
While driving on from Vathypetro, we turned the bend and suddenly the road was full of sheep being driven by an ah peh in a 4x4 (no need for sheep dogs). We had to let them by first.
Road full of sheep
Sheep running past car
Random village
We then proceeded to semi-abandoned village of Ethia, up 10km of vertiginous mountain roads. After racking up a headache in getting there, we saw why only 20 people were left (as of 2004) - all the smart people had migrated to better places. Needless to say, the guidebook had raved about the charm of this place. Brother-in-law: "Did the guy get laid at every little village or what? How come he can wax lyrical about all these little villages?... Can you not write that down?"
The desolation of Ethia. About half the buildings are as run down as this.
After visiting Ethia, I suggested that we ignore any place with half a page or less. We speculated the guy would probably say that Parthenon was horribly overrated.
Mountain near Tsoutsouros (about 14km away)
To get to the village of Tsoutsouros for lunch, we then went down 15km of unpaved rocky road with Area D-quality roughness in our Daewoo (with bad suspension). Parts were worse, my brother-in-law reported, than Shoalwater bay. It's no wonder no one else was on the road (which wasn't even marked on our road map) - maybe it was for mules.
More mountains
At the village of Tsoutsouros, we had what was definitely, on a per person basis, our most expensive meal - 500g or so of fish, some cuttlefish, fries, a Greek salad and 2 drinks cost us €32 - even the meal with lobster spaghetti didn't cost as much. The guy was so happy at being able to fleece us that he gave us 2 cucumbers, then a while later gave us 4 yellowish pear-shaped (and sour-tasting) fruit slightly bigger than ping pong balls.
Fruit and vegetables we got after being fleeced. The fruit is most likely a kumquat.
(欠$还$ - Owe money return money)
Seen in Heraklion market
The place where my brother-in-law and I had dinner had this dessert: "submarine (glass of water with a knob of vanilla)" (1€,50). I was intrigued by this and tried ordering it, but they were out of it. They also had what was simply labelled "Cock's Egg"; we had to look at the German menu in order to find out what it was (Chicken fillet grilled with 3 kinds of cheese).
I don't know why anyone would willingly eat a kebab/shoarma after having a gyros. Gyros have good quality meat in them, while kebabs get shit meat that would otherwise go into sausages. Gyros are usually moist and flavourful, while kebabs are dry (maybe that's why they soak up alcohol well).
More mysteries of life: why are there so many fat Greek women dressed in black in the countryside? And why're there so many pharmacies in Greece - do the Greeks get sick so easily (OTOH, I've seen almost no doctors/clinics)?
