Today started with a quick peek through our porthole, seeing that we were still on the move to Kalymnos. The first night on board of a sailing cruiseship was a cold but pleasant one, thanks to our air conditioning (unlike the few extremely hot nights we had in the hostel). After a shower, we got out to the pool deck to see how the ship entered the bay of Kalymnos' capital Pathia. This small town is built around its deep blue bay like an ancient amphitheatre, with houses in all sorts of colours but never built higher than two stories. The surrounding hills were bold and desert-like, with very little vegetation. We were really keen to get off the ship and explore the island, but we had to wait until the ship had docked.

Meeting Iannis

First thing to do after we left the ship was getting some breakfast and buying a stash of drinks for the day. We had the opportunity to have breakfast in the restaurant on board, but considering the prices it seemed like a good idea to do this on land. Pathia has a lot of small shops, mini-markets and bakeries so it wasn't that difficult to get something to eat. We chose to do this at a small bakery on the far east side of the boulevard, joining the couple of other (Greek) customers that sat there, enjoying the coolness of the A/C inside. The waiter that served us was named Iannis, and very interested in where we came from. We asked the nice guy for fun where he would recommend us to go on Kalymnos, and he mentioned the beaches on the west coast. We could take a bus to them right around the bakery's corner. Iannis proved to be a funny guy, certainly not interested in ripping us of as many other waiters and salesmen in tourist-loaded areas throughout Greece would do (as seemed later). Iannis also adviced us a restaurant near these beaches for tonight, if we were still in the area. Off course he made a confession about the last, and told us he also worked there.

Kalymnos west coast beaches

Doing as Iannis had recommended, we took the local bus towards the town of Massouri, about 8 km away from Pathia. We shared the bus with a group of American teenagers who had just graduated high school. The ride across the island took us through some small villages with cute little white houses, goats in the vegetation-less fields and with olive- and eucalypt trees along the road, just as one would expect from a remote Greek island. We really enjoyed the ride, although some parts were a little scary as the bus drove on high speed along ravines and steep cliffs. Nevertheless, it made us like Kalymnos - a shame that we were here for just one day.

The town of Massouri lies on Kalymnos' west coast and has some intensively visited beaches. Less than one kilometre Across the sea lies another small island, with a steep mountain rising from the water. From the final busstop, it's only a short walk to its main beach wich was loaded with people. I found this a bit of a shame since I'd rather went to some remote cove. Marjon and I brought our snorkling stets we bought prior to our trip, and wanted to try these out a.s.a.p. The beaches here have dark sand and the water gets deep pretty soon as you enter the sea. It was great to finally take a swim after 4 hot days in Athens. The temperature on Kalymnos was a little cooler, but 32 degrees in stead of 37 doesn't make a big diffirence for me. After a couple of swims and no snorkling (there was little to see under water, we thought) we picked up our stuff and decided to walk to the nest beach. In the meanwhile, we decided to end our one-day Kalymnos adventure at Kantouni Beach, the southern-most beach along the west coast, and the most famous one (Iannis had also recommended it). This beach houses the famous Domus Beach Club, wich should be an exciting place, and perfect to watch the sun set.

After we left Massouri Beach, we were a little confused about the distances on the island. The bus tickets we bought earlier were only one way tickets, valid for a trip from Pathia to Massouri. the bus came only once every half an hour, so we decided to walk towards Kantouni Beach and see what lied in between. We soon learned that it would be a little further away than we'd expected, but watching the bus' schedule along the road made us go for it anyway. We still don't regret we did this, because Kalymnos is a beautiful island! Walking along the road, we had the time to watch the locals doing their things and enjoying beautiful views out to the sea longer than we would be able to do so on a bus. Even when the bus passed us by, we could still laugh. On the way, we walked through the more inland village of Elias where we saw the restaurant Iannis told us about. It lied on the main crossroad in town, and was only a few more minutes away from Kantouni Beach. If we couldn't find a place to eat along the beach, this was where we would eat.

Kantouni Beach - where did everyone go?

Kantouni Beach looked a bit diffirent than expected - well, maybe not the actual beach itself, but the people on it. There were no people! Except for a small group of local women, there seemed to be one else here. The sun was almost setting, and colored the rocks and the small, white Greek church on the hill next to the beach orange. A little fisherman's boat was going up and down in the sea. Amazing that we were most likely the only ones seeing all this, right here on Kantouni Beach! The Domus Beach Club, as adviced by Iannis earlier (and the Lonely Planet as well) was also deserted, except for a clerk doing the dishes. The club offered perfect seats to watch the Kalymnos sunset, and we decided to stick around and see it happen. Robin filmed a lot here with our father's 3CCD HD camera, considering this was perfect footage.

After sunset and finishing our drinks, we went back up the road we came from first. Strangely enough, we saw lots of people coming to the beach now, right when it was getting dark. Local youngsters parked their scooters, and the bus dropped of another load. Perhaps Kantouni Beach was the place to make out at night - and the Domus Beach Club the place to be from dusk til dawn. Anyway, we were hungry and walked back all the way to the small town of Elias for - you may have guessed it - the restaurant Iannis told us about. There were plenty of ophter restaurants we passed on the way though. It was Iannis indeed who welcomed us there, and he was greatly surprised when we told him we walked it all the way. After a great and certainly not as expensive meal, he gave us some free watermelon to close off a great evening. The restaurant (I forgot its name - I'll maybe add it later) provides a good view on local traffic driving by (not that much on such a smll island) and lies right next to a busstop. Unfortunately, we missed the last bus, but after Iannis had called a cab for us we still made it safely to the port in Pathia. Back on board, we enjoyed one last drink while night was falling over Kalymnos - a great and beutiful island with friendly people.

Tomorrow's adventure: Asia Minor in Turkish Bodrum.

Kalymnos - The Rocky Island

Kalymnos is an island in the Dodekanesos ('Twelve Islands') Archipelago, lying near the coast of Turkey but under Greek jurisdiction. It's not that big, with only a few towns of wich Pathia, the capital, is the largest. It is well known for its sponge-diving tradition and because of its beautiful beaches and coves. I had heard about it because of its great climbing spots. Kalymnos has some excellent rocks along the coastline wich are famous among climbers and hikers.