Samaria Gorge

We knew before we came that we would have two full days on Crete after TCW so we booked two excursions: The Samaria Gorge and Gramvousa and Balos Lagoon. On Monday, we did the Gorge. Here is a good site with all the information you would need about the hike: https://www.west-crete.com/samaria-gorge.htm

Our day started at 5am. We had ordered a wake up call from the front desk just in case. I was surprised that I popped out of bed as soon as it came through. I guess I was excited!

Since breakfast wasn't going to be open before our bus came at 6:10am, our hotel packed us a breakfast package. Really it was a Samaria Gorge package that included a banana, water, and two foot long baguette sandwiches. They definitely came in handy and were really quite good!

Our bus picked us up in front of the hotel and was already full. We were the second to last pick up that morning. The bus was a regular size charter bus:

I was certainly not prepared for the ride up the mountain. This huge bus climbed a mountain and made turns that were unbelievably scary...especially because I was sitting in the front seat!

Once we made it to the top, we purchased walking sticks and started on our way. Here are our before photos (when we were still happy LOL)

It was freezing up there at 7:30am!

We started at 7:45. Our guide gave us timing check ins so that we knew what kind of pace to keep. He basically sends the group off, and leaves 30 minutes later. If he passes you on the trail you are to call his name (Thomas) so that he does not pass you. This is the only safest feature pretty much! He wants to stay behind his tour group so that if he comes to you and you're hurt he can help. Speaking of getting hurt, Thomas explained that there are mules that can transport hurt hikers down the mountain, but that would require a broken leg. In other words, there is only one way out and you are walking.

The first 3 km were the steadiest decline. All rocks. He warned us about our knees and such but my thoughts were that it can't be THAT bad. Ummmm yea, remember that.

There are 3 checkpoints on the way down. The first we should have been gone from at 9:30. However, since we took our time on the major descent, we arrived right at 9:30. Thomas arrived just about at the same time and kind of firmly told us to "pick up the pace." We stayed for 5 minutes and had some water and a few bites of our sandwich. There are springs along the way so you can always fill your water bottle, instead of carrying many--they get heavy!

The second part was from the 1st checkpoint to the second, named Samaria Village. It was the largest checkpoint and included a "doctor." Oh and there were toilets at each stop however they were basically holes in the ground to squat in. I had to take a photo!

Here are photos of Samaria Village: crazy to think that the National Park Rangers basically spend all day there. Oh and I forgot to mention that these tour guides, such as ours, Thomas do this hike 6 days a week!!! NUTS!

I had taken off and was walking ahead of Doreen after the first stop. Right before I reached the Samaria Village, I saw a goat for the first time and made the mistake of taking my eyes off the ground in front of me. You are told to ALWAYS look where you are going because of the rocky terrain. Well, in the split second I looked up and went "Awwww a goat" I tripped and fell. Luckily at that moment there were two men and a woman near me. I was embarrassed and got right up. I skinned my left knee and stubbed my right toe. Otherwise I felt fine. Although I was happy to sit and wait for Doreen at this stop. The time was 10:45. We had been told to leave the village at 11:15.

Exactly at 11:15 Doreen walked up with Thomas and another guide. I shouted, "Yay, you made it! Now we can walk the rest together!" Because admittedly I was not loving the fact that I was walking alone from checkpoint 1 to 2. Thomas came right over to me and said, "She is not making it well and I do not think she can go on. Her legs are not working." WHAT?! Doreen sat down on a stump and he gave her electrolytes for her water. She explained that her legs felt like rubber and just simply would not do what she wanted them to do. I'll let her explain more in another post. It was very scary for her.

When she stood a few minutes later to use the toilet, she fell immediately. It was at this point that I looked at Thomas and said "What are the options here?"

He said that he cannot let her go on because the last half of the Gorge is the rockiest. So, he scheduled her a mule but said it would not take her until 2:30. At this point it was 11:30 so she had to wait for quite a while. I could tell she was not happy, but I needed to get back to the trial myself since I was the last one in the group now. So off I went.

Along the way I tried to walk with people mostly because I did not want to walk alone. No one talks though because everyone is concentrating on walking on/through the rocks. There were two girls that I tried to stay with and we stopped a few times to take photos of one another. That's the only reason I have these!

I tried to take photos of every KM marker but I missed many.

After the 10km marker is when I started getting quite delirious. I was drinking plenty of water but I was so tired. I knew I was close to the end so I trudged on. I didn't take many photos after that.

At 1:50 I made it out! But to my surprise I was not done yet...it was another flat 3km walk to the village where there were shops and restaurants and the ferry. We had to catch a ferry for a 45 minutes ride that would take us to the bus. Not the exact spot we were dropped off obviously.

I remember saying to myself: one foot in front of the other, you can do this! I honestly wanted to cry but I made a deal with myself that I could cry when I got to the restaurant LOL

I made it to the restaurant at 2:30. I couldn't even fathom walking around the village at that time so I went straight to a table and ordered a salad and bread. I asked for ice for my knee and toe and they so nicely gave me a big bag!

I sat for a while and then decided at 3:45 to venture through the village and take some photos. I went down to the beach, then walked a bit. I got an ice cream too! The beach was the Lybian Sea!! This was the southern most part of Crete.

At 4:30 I went back to the meeting place, which was the restaurant I had gone to first. It was called Kri-Kri. Thomas told everyone to meet there at 4:45 so that he could give us our ferry tickets. I went back and asked a server for another bag of ice. He spoke no English at all but understood what I needed. Then, he held up a finger as if to say "hold on" and ran next door. He came back with what I could tell was ICY HOT! Obviously in Greek but I could tell from the tube what it was. I was so thankful and asked to take a photo with him. Don't mind the way I looked, I was hurting!

Doreen showed up just after 4:30. I will let her pot about her mule ride down. Now I laugh hysterically about it every time I think about it, even now as I type. 😂

But at the time it was not funny and I know her ride was very nerve racking and long.

At 5:30 we boarded the ferry and took a beautiful boat ride along the southern coast of Crete.

This photo shows just how small the village was. It was called Agia Roumeli.

Finally, we boarded the bus for the long winding 90 minute ride back to the hotel. I was hoping I'd be so tired that I could sleep and not be nervous about the fact that it looked like we were going to fall off the mountain at every turn, but I could not.

Finally, here is a photo of Thomas with us as we got off the bus at the very end of the day.