Greece - Korina Miller [402]
From Paleohora a daily boat serves Elafonisi (€7, one hour) from mid-June to September, leaving in the morning and returning in late afternoon. Two daily buses also go from Hania (€9.60, 2½ hours) and Kissamos (€5.90, 1¼ hours), returning in the afternoon. Neither option leaves much time to relax on both beaches, so driving is ideal.
There’s no accommodation on either beach, though snack bars operate at Elafonisi.
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AZOGIRES ΑΖΟΓΙΡΕΣ
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It’s not known whether the hippies who once frolicked in this mountainside hamlet were sworn to secrecy, but it is surprising that more travellers haven’t been turned on to Azogires. In an island full of storied eccentricities, this tranquil village 7km north of Paleohora stands out for its wooded, rock-pool waterfalls haunted by nereids, cave churches where hermits once meditated, and overall positive vibrations. No surprise then that Azogires, set above a stunning eponymous gorge, attracts the occasional foreign yoga and meditation group. If it’s solitude you’re after, this is the place.
The village also offers plenty of hill walks, tasty local products like olive oil and honey, memorable characters and limited but excellent sleeping and eating options. From Azogires, B-roads also continue to several destinations including Sougia, Omalos and Hania.
Information
Entering Azogires from the south, look left for Alfa Restaurant ( 28230 41620; Azogires Sq), the centre of local life. Here, American-born local Lakkis ‘Lucky’ Koukoutsakis can inform you about everything from the village’s history to local activities, and also leads village tours. A free village map with all the local sights is available. There are no ATMs in Azogires.
Sights & Activities
Azogires’ sights are all relatively close and connected by footpaths or roads. The side of the village west of the main road contains no less than six shrines, the two most revered being the Holy Fathers’ Cave, accessible along a winding footpath northwest of the village, and St John the Hermit’s Cave, somewhat closer, above Alpha Rooms. These mediaeval shrines have numerous colourful legends associated with them, and are still credited with miraculous occurrences.
Just across the main road from Alpha Rooms, a short path into the woods leads to a 1m-high waterfall, gushing behind deep rock pools. Here dazzling sunlight is reflected from the water’s surface through a leafy canopy where immense green dragonflies flutter; it’s not hard to see why locals have, since ancient times, believed exquisitely beautiful nereids inhabit the falls and can, on certain fatal nights, steal a man’s soul. The rock pools make for great swimming by day and, apparently, by night – the place was used in the early 1970s as a sort of open-air disco by the itinerant hippies.
A footpath from here through the woods leads southeast to a lovely old bridge; cross it to reach the Monastery of the Holy Fathers, with its small museum of local ecclesiastical items and icons. Across a narrow road further east are the Carved Caves of Ancient Azogires, worth a peek.
You can hike the forested Azogires Gorge to Paleohora on shaded but rocky trails (three hours). The hike is moderately difficult, but the trail not well maintained, so enquire locally about current conditions.
The best way to see all the local sights, with some entertaining commentary along the way, is to take a circular village walking tour along shaded trails. The tour lasts three to four hours; groups should be between five and 15 people; the price, whatever you feel like paying. Tours are usually led from Alpha Restaurant (below) by the knowledgeable Lakkis ‘Lucky’ Koukoutsakis, who traces his family roots here to the year 1712; the 26-year-old Lucky’s splendidly curving, pencil-thin Cretan moustache appears to date from the same era. This wry amateur historian enlivens his tours with remarkable vignettes about events during Turkish times and WWII, plus information on local customs