Little Voice

  World!

21.07.2004

Ever had one of those moments where you snap? Things aren't going as you would like, plans are mutating and rotting into chaos. Life, fate and luck keep unpicking your carefully embroidered life patterns... So this journal was meant to be a few words about my travels around San Francisco... however that will have to wait a while. The San Fran option got SO complicated, clouded and expensive... so I had 'a moment' - shouted 'bollocks, bollocks, bollocks to this!' and decided to just go into the holiday shop and buy one off the shelf!

Thought from holiday:

I hate this place, it's full of morons, it's busy, crowded, noisy, smelly... The people are all so miserable and bored looking, I feel shunted round like a sheep in a pen, the lights are too bright, I'm bored and uncomfortable - this place is horrible...

I HATE airports...

So as I like to do something a little new on my travels, a package holiday is another cherry burst! As I seem to have a physical aversion to going on holiday at a sensible time it was 4 a.m. when the alarm went off and the day began!

Once herded onto the plane (myself grumbling with hunger! - there were a bunch a cretins hogging the queue at the Burger balls stall and it's against staff training the serve customers quickly and efficiently) we settled down, ignored 'Stu', our lovely flight steward (no pun intended) while he did that little dance the stewards and stewardesses do before take off and then - zoom we were defying gravity, breaking natures laws, travelling at over 350 miles per hour !!! thirty five THOUSAND feet above the planet! where no other life forms can exist. Such an amazing feat really deserves a more impressed consideration than me just burying my head in a book... but to be fair 'Hengal' had just been killed by his half son 'Lengar' so what was 'Saban' the second and favoured son to do???

Breakfast came and for the first time in my life I was grateful for airplane food!

The only other point worth of mention was the view as we flew over the Austrian Alps - in the mid morning sunshine, the snow beamed electric white off the intricate mountain ranges while deep in the valleys little hamlets basked in their alpine summer! Eventually the impressive mountain peaks dwindled into steppe and sun baked flat lands and we flew onwards and southwards, eventually breaking out over the Mediterranean sea.

Our descent to Rhodes was remarkable for the stunning views of the many tiny Greek islands - some little more than volcanous molehills in the garden of lush blue-green sea. Then banking in a steep 180 degree arc, we swooped on down and reunited with terra firma 4 hours and 2000 miles from home!

It's bloody hot here!

Luggage reclaim was kind, customs non-existent and we found our coach with no hassle! Got on, sat down and immediately saw Steve - a mate from Newcastle... little voice - small planet! Our coach then meandered from the island's north coast, through the outskirts of Rhodes town down to Faliraki - on to Lindos and an hour or so later we were dumped off at our destination. 'Bienvenue y wilkommen a Pefkos dans le apartmentios Nikitta!', a thirty second walk later and we stepped into the relieving shade of our apartment.

Permission to go to the toilet - granted!

A wash and brush later and we popped down the local store for some essentials... toilet paper and beer. Having been out unattended for approximately seven and a half minutes I managed to break a bottle of beer all over the floor and had to 'fess up to the poor shop assistant who muttered something under her breath and I'm sure it wasn't 'oh dear! never mind!' - well I probably deserved it! - Then we tottered out for a poke around and to orientate ourselves.

I'll leave descriptions of the town for later - as it was the beach we found ourselves drawn to. On reaching the sea we basically turned right and just walked for a while, sometimes in the sea, sometimes out, sometimes over little mini cliffs be just enchanted by this lush coastline and the gentle lapping of the waves. We walked across the neighbouring bays at Lardos then turned back for deeper wade up to chest height back at Pefkos beach. Then soggy, tired and happy we squelched back to Nikita for a sit down and a beer!

As the sun started to set we ventured out to sample some Greek culinary expertise. Not before a drink at the 'Peacock' where the enthusiastically if gaudily made up bar maid asked me to button up my shirt!!! All along the beaches there are birds with their inhibitions out and I get asked to zip up my top!!!

A meal and a few beers later we decamped back to Nikita and realised that even the nights are too hot! - I gave up trying to sleep and sat outside listening to the nocturnal world chirping, squeaking and chasing it's way through towards dawn!

PS: Gil saw a lizard and I didn't... Poo!

22.07.2004

Got up, ventured out, and saw a lizard!!! - hooray! decided a wander down to the beach for a 'first thing' swim was called for! Fair enough it wasn't first thing but... having a lovely time pottering in the gloriously warm water - little fishies swimming around our legs like we're some kind of amusement! - kneeling in the sea so that the water covered all but my head and getting buffeted by the odd wave bigger than I anticipated!

Ah life can be so sweet sometimes - THIS IS THE LIFE!!!

Then I was stung by a bloody jellyfish.

Bastard!

I just stood there and thought 'ow, THAT hurts, why does the back of my thigh feel like it's just been ripped open?... uh - I think I've just been stung... bugger!'.

I hopped out of the sea and washed myself off and sure enough I could feel something swelling at the back of my leg. Apparently the best thing to do with a jellyfish sting is to wee on it. But how the hell am I going to wee on the back of my thigh??? and while I'm not too shy in talking to strangers, there are some things I'm reticent to ask on an initial introduction. 'Excuse me mate would you mind pissing over my thighs?' being one of them.

So a little unsure we limped back up to the town - the sting getting more painful and angry by the second, and went to a chemist to see if they had any magic cream.

It was here that the dreadfulness of the English abroad reared it's ugly phisog in the face of my discomfort... A pack of genetic mongrel mancunian human amoeba crossbreeds were cluttering up the chemists counter space being that kind of English which makes me ashamed!:

'Eeeeee - well - eee's got this rash - 'ere - look - there'

Chemist: 'Er - where?'

'There joost thurrr down 'is side an ee sez it itchis'

Chemist: - 'I can't see a rash'

'Joost THUUURR! loook!'

... A pantomime ensues where the chemist doesn't want to upset these moronic shit-for-whit tourists but equally can't see anything wrong with them...

So 5 minutes later they sort out poor little Dean or whatever the whelps name was, then:

Chemist: - 'Ok ? - bye then!'

'Oooh and sheee's (points to awful fat sullen looking pig faced daughter) got pain on 'er arm... what av ye got for it...?'

... I'm fighting the growing urge to shout: 'Keep the bloody moosey faced chimp worrier out of the sun then you gormless cretin - Think just for a moment and stop being so bloody feckless - a few less Macdonald's wouldn't hurt either and while we're on, why not get her out in the fresh air once in a while instead of watching her dribbling and vegetating in front of MTV...'

While I kept that little rant inside I had starting muttering quite audibly  - You know casting spells, mumbling curses - praying for peoples death - that type of thing! Eventually the dreadful troupe pissed off to darken someone else's life and the chemist apologised for keeping me waiting took one look at the sting and tells me I'll have to go to the doctors for injections - it's too bad for just cream !

Still, it's nice to get out and see the bits of Rhodes your average tourist doesn't get to see!... Like a doctors surgery!

So midday it's Thursday and I'm there lying on a bed with my pants round my ankles and my arse smiling at the ceiling... nice...

The young lady doctor (not unattractive) managed to successfully give me two injections right up the surgery! - that is in between taking about three phone calls! - At one point she was stood over me with a syringe in one hand and her mobile in the other chatting quite affably with whichever boyfriend was on the other side, while my arse tried not to eavesdrop!

Then it was back to the chemist where my friend gave me my pills and cream and left me with no doubt as to the dosage! - He had me repeat it all back to him! - bless him - he was a good egg!

Finally free of unplanned excursions we decamped to a resort bar thing where our rep was meeting us to give a talk about the island and offer us some trips. Couldn't sit down though!!! and drank two beers so quickly I felt absolutely off my rocker!

Hobbled, wobbled and teetered home and fell asleep!

Roused myself and we ventured out to Lindos for a night-time adventure! I will give a history lecture later - for now we are interested purely in beer and food! Compared to the laid back peace of Pefkos, Lindos is a hive of activity and vibrancy. All the stalls are open deep into the night and the streets are a churning constant moving flow of people; children, tourists, sellers, buyers all mingling and vying for space!

But it's not a bad place! - It's not a bad kind of busy - The sellers aren't THAT bad! the people aren't THAT in your way - its too hot to be urgent here so even at 9.00p.m. with the sun down and it's last light teasing the sky - it's hot in this human termite mound - and no-one wants to get any hotter under the collar! the main mercantile part of the town is essentially in a deep dell between the hillside main road and the hill top castle. The streets are pretty thin and all the buildings tower somewhat over you so the effect is actually pretty enclosing. Once you have entered the town your can't really see any landmarks so it easy to get lost in the labyrinthine tunnel-streets and alleyways!

An hour or so's aimless wander round the stall and shops necessitated a beer stop so we decamped to a rooftop bar and could suddenly see out again! Up there it was peaceful and serene and we sat back sipped our beer in the light evening breeze - while below us the humming of money eager streets bustled on!

Following a fab meal at a nearby rooftop restaurant, we set off with a vague intention to veer towards the castle. Like I said before, intentional navigation is as much down to luck as skill! however by and by we found ourselves meandering nearer the castle walls - amid a game trail of near Ferrell cats! The cats at Lindos are numerous and pretty wild! - Even causing some tourist's in front of us to jump and shy away from a pair of Toms hissing and spitting at each other!

Once up and out of the towns warm nest once again we could cool off somewhat in the sea breeze and look up the coast - completely alone and away from the activity below us!

Eventually, tired and content we headed by to the apartment and sat outside to sweat for a while!!

23.07.2004

Up bright and early and down to the sea for a swim. Took my snorkel by way of a vague whim and wondered if I'd ever get round to using it.

Oh. My. Goodness!

I've never snorkelled before and it was AMAZING! I'd seen a few little fishes swimming around on previous paddles yesterday but once I could actually see clearly, the sea was TEEMING with them! - Little blacks ones, flat ones, bigger white ones, ones with Blacks collars and stripes...

Hardly even swimming, just lying motionless over some of the seaweed and algae covered rock formations, a whole world, an interlocking industrious inter-speciel community of life zig-zagging and darting here, there and everywhere came into focus. Fish flitting in and out of the rocks, hiding in the shadows venturing out then flitting back into the shade again. I felt like some sub-aqua voyeuristic peeping Tom! - nosing in on something so alien and unrelated to me, yet unable to stop myself! The world slows down when you are underwater, the eternal motion of the sea almost rhythmic, almost breathing, is calming and lucid, meanwhile you are looking everywhere at a vast liquid metropolis of aquatic life - like a huge city - pulsing with energy and life... and yet all slowed down!

It was shock then to surface after what seemed like a few minutes to realise an hour of the real world had gone by! - Ooops! better nash... gonna be late for the car guy!

Was late for the car guy so he buggered off and didn't come back until I'd been waiting for HIM for half an hour! Bastard!

Got car sorted but not before all the bloody small print revealed that when they said COMPLETE cover they were in fact lying and I'd have to spend yet more money on getting fully complete cover... but even that doesn't include the underside of the car - Are you listening 'Europecar' or whatever you call yourselves??? Crap prices (ALL the local car hire places were cheaper) unimpressive service and an average car! Pah!

So, where was I? - sorry about that, don't know what came over me! Oh yeah, so, right, yeah, driving. I've never driven abroad before and was a little unsure of the right hand side drive car too - So today was.... 'interesting!'

We set off, me singing the age old mantra of first time foreign drivers everywhere ' Right hand side of the road - right hand side of the road...' and realised almost immediately that in general, Rhodes doesn't 'do' road-signs. Ohhhhhhh-kaaaaayyyyyyyyy let lets just see where we go shall we?! After a while I got the hang of things but it was still a bit of a chew! As much as anything it's external factors that complicate things - the really poor road markings, the unpredictability of other drivers, the alien-ness of the car as well as your own low confidence! That and the fact that the roads here vary from poor to indiscernible from rubble! A few times I spat my dummy out completely and had a proper not so little hissy-fit in the car, you know a full on shouty sweary tantrum!

Fortunately the roads were pretty quiet so we made good time zooming among the olive groves and wandering goats! Just over an hour or so later we arrived - still in one piece at the Valley of Butterflies.

So, the Valley of Butterflies is a score down the mountain range starting high in the hills and cutting down towards the sea. It is steeply walled on both sides and is a few degrees cooler (which is welcome respite) than the sun-soaked plains above. Running down the gorge's centre is the small river Pelekanos and these conditions are ideal to house hundreds of thousands of 'Panaxias' butterfly - a species only found in two places on earth.

It's weird, you walk up the valley floor taking in this and that (and even without the attraction of the butterflies, it's a gorgeous place!) then you realise that the trunks of the trees and Rocks aren't covered in moss or lichen - they are heaving with layers of these butterflies. It's not until one of them flits off that you realise that you are staring at a colony of thousands of butterflies! - So many of them, they are almost invisible!

Sadly the butterflies here are in decline partly due to people (isn't it always?) wanting to see them all take flight so they clap or shout or whatever but these butterflies don't feed and their entire natural lifespan is dependent on the energy reserves stored in their bodies as caterpillars - so they don't normally fly around that much as this depletes their energy and life reserves.

The whole effect of the valley though is wonderful, with the air holding floating butterflies and the trees and rocks awash with silky butterfly wings it seems a place almost forgotten by time (and thankfully the tourist effect here is subtle and not too garish!). There is a hushed reverent serenity here (a welcome respite from normal tourist attractions!) and as such it is beautiful!

We stopped about two thirds of the way up the gorge and setting down for lunch in heaven as the occasional butterfly bobbed along, a lizard with a kingfisher tail came out to entertain us while we sat. Scuttling across the ground before us, he then zipped up the crag side directly behind - doubtless waiting for us to leave a titbit or morsel of food!

Despite the relative cool of the shade of valley floor, it was a hot and smelly pair who emerged at the valley top an hour or so later! - Up by the hilltop's church there is a cafe that thankfully serves Rhodes best asset... 'VAP' lemonade (- I had three bottles - I fear this little tipple may well be HUGELY addictive!) and of course Rice Pudding??? - No, really! I don't know why either but here, at this cafe, near the church atop the Valley of Butterflies they think that your common or garden tourist will need a lovely steaming bowl of rice pudding at the end of their walk... But sat in the sun looking out across the valley and on down to the Aegean Sea on the Islands North coast it was nice moment!

Another journey back through the valley later and we set off for the 'Epta Piges' or 'Seven Springs'. Here, in a lush oasis inland from the coast a series of springs and shy rivers feed a tree surrounded lake that has one of the most usual access routes I've ever seen...

From the springs themselves you can walk to the lake via an underground stream tunnel some 100 meters plus long! It must be said, plunging into the pitch gloom of the Earth's bowels is a pretty bizarre experience.

Suddenly all you can hear is the constant chatter of the water surging onwards eagerly ahead of your own hesitant footsteps! There is no sight light at all, turning back all you see is the blinding bright white light of day firmly locked out of the tunnel while in contrast, ahead there is NO sight at all! Note to self - next time you walk in an underground tunnel, don't be 6 ft tall - you'll scuff your head off the ceiling! About half way in, just as you reach a point of no light in front or behind, the black softens to grey as you approach a skylight and regain the brief respite of at least indirect sunlight! But then you are plunged on once again into the sense depriving dark!

Shuffling blindly and hesitantly down the lightless corridor is a strange experience, you are half excited, curious but also a little wary and the inert fear in us all of the unseen and see-able rears it's head a little! As the tunnel is pretty narrow (maybe three foot wide and just shy of 6ft tall) the closeness of confinement is constant and some understanding of claustrophobia can be gained. Then however, like the proverbial but in this very apt 'light at the end of the tunnel' we neared... well... the light at the end of the tunnel!

Emerging blinking and gormless back into the sunlight, we shrugged off the howling darkness and took in the quiet, serene peace of the lake - surrounded by elegant trees and peaceful! Around you are calls of the reserve's Peacocks which are happy enough strutting round the tourists and doubtless hoovering up their food leftovers!

Back to the car and we headed Pefkos-wards, tired but content at a good days adventuring and happy to have got out and seen some of the sights beyond the golden beaches and azure waters!

That said after this morning's epiphany with the snorkel there was no way I wasn't going for a swim when we got back!

PS: Had the joy of having to catch a huge and pretty nippy Cockroach from on top of the fridge when we got back from a few drinks. the little bastard was scampering all over everywhere! - but I managed to clamp a glass over him and escort him outside without too much hassle or me losing my rag and squishing him!... sweet dreams!

24.07.2004

After the now mandatory morning swim I was back at the quacks for them to check my sting and to pay the ransom they demanded for treating me! Then we went to book a couple of excursions before heading off out on the road again!

Our main target was 'Kamiros' an old ruin from the ancient Greek empire which is meant to be pretty impressive and a sight I was very much looking forward to investigating.

How exciting!!!

Kamiros, closed.

Bum.

The drive over from the Mediterranean to the Aegean coast was HORRIBLE. The roads here vary from 'poor' to 'what roads?' it's little wonder your car rental insurance doesn't cover damage to the underside of the car! The roads here are specifically DESIGNED to bugger the underside of the car!! One route we took starting out as a road, morphed into a track, degenerated into narrow straight quarry and ended up as a figment of some cartographers imagination!

So after a one and a half hour ride over desolation and ruin to, well nothing we drove south, down the coastline following a trail of small and some not so small Islands just offshore. Curling up around the 'Akramitis' mountain passes we were afforded some spectacular views. Stopping for a photo-stop we decamped headed down a short road/track to get an uncluttered view of the sea and it's islands when rounding a corner we disturbed some old guy having a poo RIGHT in the middle of the track.

To confirm, we walked up to, and right past some bloke emptying his back right in the middle of the road! Well what do you do? I wasn't about to turn around all flustered and run away. Nor was I about to stride up to him a bellow heartily 'Hello there!!! - Having a nice crap are we?!' In end we just walked past like there wasn't anyone having a dump and then as we passed, wiping their arse in the road. I'm sure the view was really nice but to be honest my attention was somewhat... arrested!!

We stopped at the next village for a drink and a stretch of the legs and guess who we saw straight away? - That's right! Mr Poopants himself... neither party acknowledged the other! The village was a quaint 'proper' Greek village with non of the tourist pandering tat most of the other places we saw boast. A real laid back water village it had quite an intriguing church however... When building work on the church at 'Siana' was finally completed there was no money left for the clock face on the bell towers... so they painted it on! - On each side of the clock towers a clock face is painted depicting four different times so it is at least nearly right all the time!!!

Genius!

Half an hour later however we approached the ancient and remarkably well preserved remains of 'Monilithos' and the disappointment of 'Kamiros' and the horror of defecating old men was eclipsed by the beauty of this old fort looking out over the Aegean forever!

Built by the Grand Master d'Aubusson between 1480 - 1489 ) the castle is like a porthole in time. The chapel of 'Agios Panteleimon' amid the ruins probably dates from the 15th century. From the top the views are fantastic, combining both the coastline panorama and the offshore islands we saw on our flight into Rhodes, including Chalki. 'Monilithos' or 'Single Rock' is a fortress built on a rock outlet offering unrivalled views out the sea. The view-scope is easily about 200+ degrees and therefore would have provided lots of warning of approaching vessels back in the sixteenth century - even sneaking in from the islands off shore!

The approach to the fortress is breathtaking as one has to descend from the cliff-top road, in itself a five minute drive, then approach the fortress from almost sea level - so you then have the joy of a 200 ft walk up! But that all adds to the spectacle as the fort, initially hidden in the trees, is then revealed by a break in the branches glowering and formidable, towering overhead. In the bright sun however, the fortress is impressive rather than oppressive and given the handful of tourists, it is quiet and peaceful.

Indeed this is one of only two places in Rhodes that I encountered any breeze - and up here, that is pretty much the only noises to break the peace! The fact that the fort encompasses old ruins as well as indestructible looking walls coupled with it's gentle peace means that their is an air of reverential antiquity here. The buildings offer complete solace from the sun and one can imagine sheltering from midwinter storms - safe inside the thick fort walls while sea storms batter the rest of the coastline!

Given such an idyllic lookout, the views are of course breath taking. The dozen or so islands littering the views rise idly from the calm carpet of water stretching out to the horizon, and in the warm embrace of the late afternoon's sunrays nothing, it seems, can touch you here!

Eventually, we pulled ourselves away from the 'Single Rock' and returned happy and content to Pefkos.

I went to for a snorkel and saw a very simple, possibly un-interesting thing - but something that I'd never seen before and will therefore narrate.

Floating over the rocks and sand beds, not doing much just taking in the wondrous beauty of this new world all flashing by in slow motion I saw a starfish! Then I realised that despite the fact that starfish aren't considered particularly exotic, I'd never seen one before! Then I realised it was walking! - It was kind of like a nature programme few minutes! I was absolutely fascinated watching this starfish march across the ocean floor in a seemingly inert constant motion, like a film slowed down! While around me, clouds of fish mingled and wandered like people in a shopping mall all going this way and that in a shambolic chaotic hive, below the madness this seemingly single-minded starfish was making his way stoically and determinedly to his goal. What and where that would be I guess I'll never know!

Back in the real world and a shower later we ventured out to sample Pefkos's wild Saturday night fever life! Well if I'm honest it was just like any other night but a little bit later! After a couple of drinks down the rock bar we went for  curry where any attempts at conversation were in direct competition with the sound of crickets - all obviously out on a boozy Saturday night themselves, chirruping and squeaking and generally making far too much noise for an animal less than an inch long! By the time we finished our meal I felt like I had tinnitus!

Got back to hear the delights of open air karaoke decorating the nights breeze so sitting under the benevolent gaze of 'Colossus' our resident gecko, I bathed in the post midnight warmth, interrupting my reading only to sip some ice cold beer or wonder where that damn starfish was going!

25.07.2004

Allowed for a lie in today (which in this heat is actually laughable - but at least there was no pressing need to get up!)

When we did finally get our arses in gear we journeyed down to Rhodes's most southerly town; 'Katavia' and from there on to Prassonissi beach. This is the absolute southerly most part of Rhodes and is also remarkable for being a place where two seas meet; The 'Aegean' to the North and the 'Mediterranean' to the south... and this makes for an interesting phenomenon.

At the Island's edge where the two sea's clash, there are conflicting currents and the up-shot is that the two sea's seemingly repel each other! - This constant skirmish - ongoing over a causeway out to the island sharing the beaches name 'Prassonissi' (Green Island) sees the two sea parameters constantly swirling away from each other. The tides lap in on both sides but fall away from each other on contact! This makes the submerged causeway paddle-able and allows access to the shy island which keeps a 50 meter distance from the mainland shore!

So, having taken stock of the surfer dude filled beach arcing out towards the island, (the coast in a crescent sliver of sand like a golden new moon), we held our bags over our heads and just like Moses but without the huge dress, marched between the two seas! 

The island of Prassonissi is maybe one and a half miles squared, It isn't huge which means it's circumnavigable. So we walked round it! Around us wild goats clambered between the rocks and brush but otherwise it was VERY calm, with ourselves seemingly the only moving objects. Of course some would argue that wandering round an island in the burning 30+ degree heat is a stupid thing to do but they are not taking into account all the facts.... we're TOURISTS you see?!

An hour or so later see dropped back down to the mainland side of the island and waded back to shore, here we simply sat in the sea and watched all the surfer, windsurfer paraglider dudes doing their admittedly impressive thang along the peninsula's edge - occasionally curling our toes into the wet sand as the water lapped around us!

Once back in the car, the only thing worth a mention was a bloody huge falcon flapping round - despite looking beautiful (the falcon I mean!) as I was driving I couldn't concentrate on the bird and the road so I guess I'll never know what it was!

As this is the last day with the car it seemed only fitting that I have a major tizzy trying to do a tight turn on a steep hill, stalling and having loads of bloody Greek drivers either beeping at me or cutting me up once I got going again. The spectacularly violent and childish tantrum that ensued was, I'm sure, fine entertainment for any spectators and a horrible moment for Gil who given a ringside seat to my dummy-spitting episode probably didn't know where to put herself. Got back, damned the car to hell and stomped off for a snorkel!

As ever once the dry world was muffled by the calm of the ocean my frustrations floated away and some sense of peace returned. Then one of the most unexpected and amazing things happened to me.

As I was lost in my own little world, enjoying the warm shoulder massage of the sun as it sunk towards the horizon, while the sea cooled my days frustrations Gil swam up and said she'd just seen an octopus!

I swam out to roughly where she said it was but (given my run of luck) didn't for a minute expect to see anything. Then, there, directly beneath me, maybe six ft down was an octopus! For some reason this is one of the those things that I just never EVER thought I would get to see! When still it was so well camouflaged against the sea bed, then pulling itself forward it's shape broke the seascape and there it was! A strange alien spectacle, an octopus has an almost sedate gentrified air to it. The face such as it is, across it's popped football head seems solemn and droopy like an saggy balloon or an caricature of a old mans head! Then it starts to move, slowly and diligently at first but then with more purpose and momentum... it's long legs confidently pulling it strongly along the sea floor. Then it stops. Dead. and becomes almost invisible again!

I'm aware that underwater things always look bigger than they are but all the same I would guess that the octopus's body was about the size of mans outstretched hand, maybe a little bigger. It's difficult to tell when the head is constantly inflating and deflating! the tiny blue eyes at the side of the head peer out mawkishly, while the multi-suckered tentacles (maybe 5 - 6 ft tip to tip) feel there way across the floor checking for purchase and I guess, food.

We both took turns to gawp at this amazing otherworld creature - ourselves absolutely mesmerised by this boneless, expressionless, sack of rubbery curiosity, while he seemingly didn't care about us! As the evening light ebbed the experience became even more otherworldly as the fish life around me swapped dayshifts for night. Then finally bored he launched himself headfirst, streamlined arms drawn in behind him and left me juggling awe, wonder, a million questions and a childlike happiness that's difficult to relate but a real blessing to still experience!

Fighting the urge to follow him, I headed back to shore. We'd seen him and had a good ogle, sated our inquisitive urge to see more and now was a good time leave him be and compare our wonder!

The walk back to the studios and indeed the entire evening was a rose tinted glow of happiness. The experience of seeing something so amazing, so alien and so unexpected left me filled with a warm, quiet contentment.

It's no big deal to anyone else, and I never asked it to be. But it was a lovely time for me!

26.07.2004

Up at six, and down to the crossroads 40 minutes later, a jump on the bus and BANG! - I'm fast asleep again in minutes!

Today, in a continuation of last night's theme we are going on a days scuba-diving course!

The drive to Rhodes dock saw me wake up about 5 minutes before we got there! We clambered off the bus and onto the boat and then just seemed to sit around for ages!!! During the ride out to the diving area (about an hour and a half's journey) we had to fill in questionnaires about our health then listen to a talk about what to do underwater... 'breath' being the central column of advice!

Actually, if today was about anything it was about hanging about! We were hours on the boat getting there, then following a swim and a snorkel we were hours waiting to dive, then ages waiting for second dive then ages on boat back to mainland then an hour or so on the bus!

But that's not to say it was a pants day! Not by any stretch of the imagination! On arrival at the sheltered bay where we were to dive we instantly ditched clothes, donned masked and went for a swim / snorkel! - The waters here are very clear so even though the sea bed was a good 30 / 35 feet down we could see it and it's inhabitants really clearly. As I went for a bit of a swim further a field, I Investigated the rock faces of the coves sides and looked down into some of the caves nearby.

On returning back to the boat I swam through a shoal of fish maybe a hundred or so strong! - They were all pretty big (up to maybe a foot in length) and occasionally I would feel one of them bouncing agilely off me as I clumsily splashed my way back towards the boat!    

Back on the boat we had some lunch, drip dried and watched one of the silliest men I've ever seen!:

This guy, not un-good looking was poncing around sticking his chest out to an obscene degree. Doctor in Human Studies that I am, I deduced that he was doing an advance diving course and felt that he was joining some kind of super cool elite group. He was doling out advice to people who did not pay any attention to him and when he was in the water he acted like a complete moron - showing off, prancing like a pillock and generally getting in everyone way! On the boat he was strutting around quite literally posing as though he knew someone was secretly taking pictures of him! - Bless him! - He only wanted to be liked but... - what a wazzock!

So anyway, eventually it was our turn to get wet-suited up and after a brief piece of elastic break-dancing to get into the bloody thing - we were belted down, flippered up, snorklised and sat on the edge of the diving platform ready to go sub-aqua!

Oooh no! Wait! Forgot something! When they were gearing us up they had to put Vaseline on my 'tash to keep the water out... Have you any idea how horrible it feels to have the sensation of the worlds biggest sneeze oozing beneath your nose and being unable to wipe it away?! Urgh!

So anyway - yeah - a few sage 'don't forget to breath's later and we left the surface and descended into the fluid world of the sea. It's bizarre how tricky it is to travel down here! You have to direct yourself (headfirst and down), flap legs with arms held in and every meter or so hold your nose and blow (to equalise the under water pressure). Needless to say I forgot initially then had to do loads!

The breathing thing takes on relevance down here although the snorkelling has got me used in part to the breathing technique for diving... Basically you have to get into the headspace of only breathing through your mouth, not your nose! - this may sound straightforward enough but when you are underwater and breathing through your nose means choking, the emphasis becomes a lot more relevant!

So, in between remembering to breath (the right way!), remembering to hold and blow your nose and trying to avoid getting kicked in the head by the divers in front of you, it only takes a few seconds to become completely lost in this world of water!

We were taken straight down to the bottom of the cove where in a bizarre echo of yesterday we were gifted a sudden treat... A little octopus maybe a foot from leg to leg was brought over to us and obeying our lead-diver's instruction to hold out our hands we were allowed to touch it (the octopus I mean!) and then he let it walk (quite fearlessly over our hands!). Now last night's encounter was ace because it was unexpected, and came from right out of nowhere - but if I never thought I'd get to see an octopus, I never in a thousand years thought I would be able to have one walk over me - How fantastic is THAT ladies and gentlemen?! After a while the diver let the little fella go but not before teasing him into an ink squirt after which he scooted off into the dark!

The octopus I mean!

The rest of the dive saw us being taken to a reef shelf where we had our photos taken: then on, round the cove - seeing the caves I'd seen previously, loads of fish and coral and stuff and finally returning to the boat breathless with excitement and happiness!

Once back on the boat and after doing another invertibratic dance to get out of the wetsuit, I signed up immediately to do a second dive which would include fish feeding - then we settled in the sun to watch that poor misguided prick strut around the deck posturing and embarrassing himself!

An hour or so later and I was Jacques Cousteaux once again! With far less pre-amble this time we were back in the beautiful briny, skimming over coral formations, playing with fish and basically just trying to take in the ethereal beauty of this amazing world!

Then we were brought to the sea bed and instructed to kneel. Apart from this poor lad who was just too light! - No matter hard he tried he just kept floating up as if some invisible hand kept lifting him up! Obviously if it had been me, it would have been incredibly vexing and frustrating but as it was someone else being forced onto the sandy sea bed by the divers above I found the whole pantomime very amusing!

So - once all present and correct, and in some cases anchored to the sea bed, we were all given a bread bun. No - not to eat!!! With the arrival of the buns came the fish and suddenly we couldn't see the surface any more! A wriggling writhing downpour of voracious fish deluged from out of nowhere and eclipsed the light as they without any fear or trepidation closed in on their kneeling lunch buffet.

The ensuing bait-ball of which we were the epicentre was a mad, frantic anarchic orgy of silvery faces all nibbling and darting at the bread in our hands. A pandemonium of swirling, flickering bodies all darting every which way (yet without collision!) flitting from one meal to another, darting forward to peck your fingers then veering away to look for more! It was like being constantly tickled as dozens of tiny mouths puckered and pecked at our fingers, little polo kisses of a feeding frenzy driven by the need to eat as much as possible before the next fish!

It only took a couple of manic minutes for the majority of the bread to be consumed and as the food went, so our use to the fish did, and by and by we were left with the last of the party hangers on and on the direction of our guide we returned to the boat, flushed with exhilaration and wired with the thrill of such a close natural encounter in such an alien place!

One last spasmodic dance later and we were free of the wetsuits and drying in the sun sipping an ice cold beer and watching that nutter prance around trying to be noticeable!

Given my recent record and the exertions of the day's swimming it should come as no surprise to learn that I fell asleep approximately 2.7 seconds after getting on the coach and woke up just a we passed Lindos some five minutes before we got back to Pevkos!

Once back and truly bitten by the aqua bug we went straight from the coach to the beach for a sunset swim and snorkel (I really can NOT emphasise how cosmically gorgeous it is gazing down into the sub aqua metropolis as the light around you changes takes on more rich and lush textures as the sunlight wanes while all around you a myriad of different sea animals play out there own stories!), then exhausted, happy and somewhat dazed with sensations of being underwater still, we squelched back to get changed, eat, relax and file a wonderful day into some kind of order!

27.07.2004

Following the now obligatory early morning swim / snorkel (well it's too hot to lie in anyway!), we breakfasted then got on the bus to Rhodes Town.

Just.

It's a funny thing here, it's fine for the beach to be awash with nellies, charlies, patchongas, patchonies, paps, baps, norks, nogs, knockers, thongs, bums, cracks, crevices and even willies, but don't, whatever you do, try getting on a bus with your shirt open or (if you are a bird in just a bikini or swimming cozy) because they will NOT let you on until you are 'decent'... !!

The on bus entertainment for the ride to Rhodes included a little girl being sick into her dads hat! bless!

Then fell asleep.

Woke as we entered the capital's pandemonium traffic chaos and through stops and starts and sudden jolts and parping horns we finally found ourselves disembarking, blinking mole-ishly in the bright sunshine, strangers in a strange land!

With maps ahoy and our finest rubbernecking tourist expressions firmly in place, we blundered into the old town figuring one of the best things was probably to get lost in its interior and then see the place from the inside out!

Right, ok, food? - check!

Water? - check!,

Maps? - check!,

Suitable walking attire?.... ah

That's when my sandals (which to be fair had hung on really very loyally through the last year yet alone the last week) finally gave up the ghost and fell to bits!

Bugger!

So we spent the first half hour or so looking for a shop which sold half decent sandals... that weren't expensive! The old Rhodes town is difficult to describe without being vague but basically it's quaint and antiquainted but still very much a city... um - well you know - it's still but up to date... Oh dear I'm not doing this very well am I!?

Okay... - it's boiling hot, overhead is clear blue skies, walking through the high wall arches you leave the palm trees and bird song of the extensive palace gardens and walk down a cobbled path - a broad pavement with plenty of room for all the other people milling through their own exploits towards civilisation. In the distance walled battlements and turrets belie the fact that you are within the city walls, although the sense of confinement is negligible.  Easing down the path the stalls and shops on either side mix the old and quintessential Rhodes goods (beautiful cotton clothes, rugs, Greek and Cypriot pottery, framed artworks) with standard city centre tat (tasteless t-shirts, lemonade, mouldy spiders mounted on styrophome, rubber stops for pencils etc etc) and in between, restaurants with dodgy looking blokes smiling greasily to try to ensnare passers by - 'Ah Mmmmadam you arrrrre hongry yesssss? Isssss lovely heerrrrrre...' - (You know the patter!).

The architecture is old and solid and many of the shop frontages disguise beautiful old buildings. You allow yourself to flow on downstream past the lookylikey shops, You stop and gaze up a remarkably straight cobbled street leading down from the hill top, as you reach for you camera other tourist around you do the same - framing their shots or waiting for people to get out of their way! Then on once more, through another arched doorway in the mighty walls and on past some ruins: - The remains of the Temple to the Goddess Aphrodite - the Goddess of love. It takes a little processing to realise that these remains are about 2400 years old! The sense of history here is really very powerful!

After a couple of hours wondering round we adjourned for a bite eat where the nice man gave us some Uzo ! YAK! POOEY! - It was giving me repeaters all afternoon!

 An easy 15 minute walk through the town and on the marina took us down the quay and out along the Mandraki harbour wall to the place where the Colossus of Rhodes is purported to have stood

The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. The statue stood at the harbour entrance looking out to the Mediterranean, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point, the knee.  An offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument was declined after an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection.

For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria. It is said that the fragments had to be transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels.

On completion, the colossus stood about 33 m (110 ft) high. And when it fell, Pliny wrote that "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb". The figure was coated in a polished bronze surface which would have reflected the morning sunrise spectacularly... However the Colossus is now just a myth and this harbour boasts only the ghost of its legacy now...

Lost in the daydreams of history and the legend of millennia I was dragged back to the now by a mad bloke came up and asked if he could polish my sandals...

Back through huge walls and into the city we explored the old town some more tempting ourselves to clothes and tit-tat but ultimately acquiring nothing but a new shirt for me! and then suddenly it was nearly time to go! We sweated our way to a nearby pub and both downed our beers in one! Then we jumped on the bus for a nap and unconsciousness caught me before we left the town parameters!

28.07.2004

Last day!!! - Up for my last morning swim before coming back and eating an OBSCENELY large breakfast consisting of roughly 74 sausages, two pigs, 9 eggs - four loafs and cup or tea! Then we packed our bags and suddenly realised we were no longer in the UK... - We had made arrangements with the apartment owners - who also owned the nearby shop, that we would leave our bags there through the day as our bus wasn't due until 9 in the evening, and they just told us to leave the bags outside by the back door - in full view of everyone. They would be totally safe - and they were! - How fantastic to be able to leave your stuff somewhere not have to worry about some toe-rag nicking it!

So once de-bagged we ventured to the bus stop and went to nearby Lindos for a full days exploring! First things first and all holiday we'd been told to go up the hill to the acropolis on a donkey. So that exactly what we did. Sitting manfully astride the beast ('Helena' -  Gils was called 'Anna'), we learned forward, pointed to the future and cried: "MUSH MUSH!"

Nothing happened then this old guy gently came up whispered in the Donkeys ear and we we're off! I've never been on a donkey before and it was a weird but nice experience gently wobbling about on this pack mules back while she made her stoic unstoppable way through the towns streets. Everybody was INCREDIBLY friendly and smiled and laughed as we regally rode past. Then  remembered I had my hair in plaits! - Which generally accounts for most of the smiles I ever get in public! Breaking out of the mercantile centre of the town we rose out of the navigation-defying streets and after a ten minute trek, docked (If that's what you do when you get off a donkey!) at the fort's entrance.

Lindos was the old capital of Rhodes before Rhodes town was cultivated and it boasts it's own acropolis, contained within the fortress of the Knights of Saint John - (quick history lesson) - back long time ago when knights where bold etc etc the Knights of St John went off to save the world and the infidels from... well from the infidels really. So on finding the beautiful ancient Greek ruin atop the mountain peninsula at Lindos - they built a bloody great castle round it!

So what you get at the fortress at Lindos is an old Crusades era fort, encompassing the remains of an ancient Greek Acropolis. It's kind of like a double treat!

The Fortress is in itself an impressive building, walls so thick as to be able to hold entire rooms within them protect their confines from anything the sea might care top throw at it. The fortress is stocky and seemingly impregnable, the battlements looking down on the town below and inland to the main highway. From the road, the island and fortress are in imposing sight - like so many Christian crusade projects looking as oppressive as it does impressive.

Within these walls however lie the Greek legacy of temples and buildings reaching back thousands and hundreds of years before the uglier Crusade's constructions. Walking up a wide stairway, you emerge from the Castles gloom seemingly up towards the sky where a row of cloud-pointing pillars reach for heaven! The higher levels of the ruins are very much of a Greek flavour, the reconstructed acropolis stands proud and obstinate, even now looking over the top of the Castle walls back to the land.

Looking the other way - possibly through the enormous pillars or maybe through the trunk of the acropolis itself, the impossibly iridescent blue of the sea finally touches the soft pastel of the sky and where the two meet could be a million miles away! It's very peaceful up here - in the 2400 year old remains, sat beneath the baking sun amidst these thought provoking ruins. Memories of old myth and legend movies suggest themselves to your surroundings and a context and understanding of what life might have been like here implies itself to you!

The peace is reflected in the other tourists here too, there is a serenity, an almost palpable sense of reverence to this place and the usually manic tourist ethos slows and stands aside a little! Camera click etc but people just let themselves BE here for a while, soaking in the feel and atmosphere and taking time to feel the moment!

Eventually wonder sated and curiosity fulfilled we walked down the hillside (along one of the worlds slippiest pavements), weaving our way between rug sellers and craft merchants.

Once back in the buzz of the market we opted to go and get some food and sit by a gorgeous secluded bay we had spied from the fortress...

... It's raining heat from a white hot sun, I'm sat quiet in content contemplation on the edge of a jetty pointing out into a bay maybe half a mile squared and with only the narrowest access to the sea beyond. A wall of sea cliffs keeps the bay sheltered. Sandals are off and my feet are splashing idly in the delicious cool of the water tracing invisible figures in the forever erasing waters. Little fish dart around my toes, the briefest scurrying movement by my legs draws my eye to a little crab with half it's feet missing - all on the same side, which scuttles to the edge of it's domain, tickles my legs, snatches a piece of bread I've just dropped and then darts back into his little hidey-hole. A sip of beer then back to considering the liquid metropolis swirling around my toes in search of it's own destiny...

Beautiful.

Eventually we roused ourselves and headed back to Pevkos in the hope of a boat journey back to Lindos - but basically with a view to filling some time constructively before we have to consider getting ready to get the coach back to the airport.

Then Gormless John strikes again! - despite Gil saying she thought the boat left at 4, I assured her that it did in fact leave at half past 4.

Guess what time the boat left?    Duh!

So... following a quick conflab we decided as we enjoyed Lindos so much to go back for a couple more hours - Went straight back to the bay to get the last of the afternoons sun while paddling, then ventured back to the town for a shop, a drink and reminisce before heading for the last time back to Pevkos and then bidding farewell to our holiday - back the to airport, delays, duty free and finally home.

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