After 2 months on the backpacker circuit, it was a bit of a shock to hit the Greek Islands - and the British package tourist circuit. There are whole towns given over to Irish pubs, full English breakfasts and the obligatory sun loungers…… We did our best to avoid the masses by heading for the smaller islands, and the quieter towns on the big islands.
After Rhodes we headed to Karpathos, where we met fellow travellers Guy and Hannah - they were easy to spot as they were the only other backpackers on our boat. We ended up spending 4 days hooning around on scooters and a jeep, as well as drinking far too many cocktails by the waterfront.
Next was Crete, and the tiny town of Kato Zakros with its single street and lounger-free beach. We even summoned up the energy to hike 15km through Samaria Gorge, which required a 5am start to beat the heat - not something we’re used to these days. Thankfully we’re now back to the normal routine of waking up when it gets too hot to sleep, and heading straight for the beach!
After visiting beautiful but busy Santorini, and spending a few days on Naxos, we decided we needed to get away from the masses again, so we visited the tiny island of Schinousa - population about 190.
This place was seriously small, just a single street with a few cafes and restaurants - it was narrow so people had to move their chairs around when cars came down (luckily not too often). Each morning we would walk to the beach, which we usually had almost all to ourselves, then hang out there til it started to get dark.
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