Matala is a bust...

This post is a day late. The computer in Matala crapped out on me, so I'm uploading this late...

We arrived here to find our tiny village morphed into a hellish tourist trap. The bar where we met is condemned and boarded up. They built an entire new entry into town, complete with bus parking and shops. A lot of what they're selling is crap from China rather than stuff from Crete.

It's sad to see.

The wind here is really picking up. We told the kids we'd go to the beach, but out there we had our bodies sand blasted, so we hiked a bit of the caves, rested up, then hiked over to red beach. It's a half-hour hike one way over rocks and rocky trails. You're on hands and knees and butts in some places. Anyway, the beach is nudist, so we ran up and down naked for a while. We were the last ones at the beach and got the sunset all to ourselves. It was the best part of the day.

So now the girls are getting ice creams with Terry (who's getting beers for us). I'm having second thoughts about hiking Samaria. I'm fat and out of shape. After an hour of hiking, I have to ask myself: could I handle six? Of course, the six hours includes breaks and all 18km of the gorge is downhill rather than up and down like the hill we just climbed.

We're not going to stay a second night as planned. We rented a car (more on that later), so we're out of here in the morning. Hope to be in Kissamou-Kastelli this time tomorrow.