Patmos From Leros and Leros

Thursday, June 27, 2013—Alinda, Leros, Greece

Left Patmos at about two this afternoon (it’s a little after five now), on a local catamaran, (as opposed to the big inter-island ferry). Still annoyed by Patmos. As I've mentioned there was just something a little off-putting about the place, despite its great beauty. Spend my last day there hiking up to the old acropolis (of which there’s almost nothing left except some fragments of square-cut stone block walls). Then I hiked up to Hora, a town over-looking the port of Skala. It’s mainly famous for an old, massive monastery (which looks more like a Knights of St. John castle than a religious building). It was a great walk, fascinating environmentally: it’s such an abrupt rise in altitude that only a few minutes into my hike (which I did partially on trails and footpaths and the main road) I found myself in a forest, which was dominated by pines and featured cedars, scattered junipers, and eucalyptus (dumb imported Australian trees)—it amazes me how quickly the plant communities can change on these islands.

The monastery turned out to be closed by the time I got there. This didn't bother me too much, as religious stuff interests me almost not at all (though I would have liked to examine the architecture of the monastery, which looked really cool from the outside); I mainly went for the hike. I did wander around the old twisting medieval streets of Hora for a while, which was interesting. The place was a touch too touristy for me, though, so I was only there for an hour or so before heading back down to Skala.

Overall I'm pretty torn concerning my Patmos experience. On one hand, it might be physically the most beautiful Greek island I've been to. But culturally it had almost nil to offer. Greek, British, French, Italian, and some American tourists crowding narrow town beaches. Over-priced mediocre restaurants—nothing original about any of them (they might as well have had the same menu). Scooters and cars forever zooming past you (lay your head on a town beach and they move by literally feet from your skull). It’s almost as if the place culturally cancels out its immense environmental pluses …

* 

OK, Leros. Like I said, I just got here a couple of hours ago. All I've done is find a place to stay (a really cool place, big, with a kitchen for only twenty-five euros a night) and wander around town, and get some stuff at a supermarket to make some dinner). Basically this town is one of three that hug a little section of the island’s coast. Alinda, in fact, might be the narrowest Greek town I've been to: it literally clings to the marginal beach that rims Alinda Bay. Though it’s just the next island over, environmentally this place looks much more like Crete than Patmos: the lemon yellow light has returned, as has the drier, more rugged landscape. The town feels a little like a low-rent version of Patmos, though: the same narrow strip of sand, basically interchangeable nightclubs and bars, traffic forever zooming by …

There’s not all that much I came here wanting to see. Apparently this island has one of the cooler medieval castles in the islands (which is saying quite a bit, because there are a lot of good ones around here). I plan on checking that out tomorrow. I’m also going to look over the towns to the south. I may stay another day or so after that if I can find some cool, more far-flung beaches. If not, I’ll be off the following day. To where I’m not yet sure. I will keep moving south, though (I've decided to give the smaller islands up here—Lipsi, Arki, etc.—a miss, mainly because up close they don’t seem all that interesting, and also because I know they’ll be a bit expensive) …

           

Notes from the Northern Dodecanese:

As soon as one gets north of Karpathos prices start getting higher (and higher). The islands also seem to lose that wonderful semi-anarchic quality that Crete has: there just seems to be more rules up here. Beginning to realize that I like Greece, but I love Crete; it really has everything I want from Greece: sun, sea, great (challenging) trails, interesting culture … And again, it’s also a lot cheaper than up here. Glad I’m heading back there, perhaps sooner rather than later …

Noticing that there’s a nationality change among the tourists here compared to Crete: the Germans largely drop out and are replaced mainly by English, French, Italians, and, to a much lesser extent, Americans. Coming to the conclusion I like Germans the best of this lot. They may be taciturn, frowning bastards, but in their own weird way they’re freer. Plus, if nothing else, they’re unobtrusive: they blend in with their environment better than the English do, who tend to English-up every place they go. French and Italian people mostly just seem to want to hang out with their own kind, which makes then almost non-factors, except that they’re taking up space that could go to less ethnocentric travelers. Some of the more interesting travelers I've met in Greece have been English, French, and Italians in Crete: it’s almost as if that island attracts the rebels, the more interesting offspring of these countries …

Now that I've got a nice place to stay I’m going to have a off night, I think, a night to be alone and recharge. I need to read, write, watch bad Greek TV … Writers have to get away from people to get closer to them, pointed out Lawrence Durrell. At least for short periods here and there that is very true …

Beach out in front of where I was staying ion Patmos

Skala, Patmos

Forested Area Above Skala