Europe Backpack route

The original blogs in Geocities are all lost, so I have to retype what I have left in my memory regarding the first backpack trip in Europe with Z.

When Z first mentioned Greece and Greek Islands to me, I don’t even know where Greece is. It was from internet that we found out that there is a ferry line linking Greece and Italy, so we can go to Italy as well. We decided to take Thai Airways and have a stopover in Bangkok on return trip. It was then the many days going to STA office at NUS for booking of Thai Airways tix and makes our HI card. Thai Airways permit open jaw, so we were thinking of coming back from Munich. We will book the hostels as we go along to give ourselves more flexibility. The whole trip was planned by Z and I must say he did a very fantastic job, as you will see shortly.

Athens

15-16 May 2001 Athens

Z’s mum sent us to the airport and we had our dinner at BK T2. Upon getting up the shuttle flight from Spore to BKK, there is another meal. We transited at BKK and upon getting up the flight to Athens, there is yet another meal. Super full by now. The flight is very full. So many Greeks are going home from Bangkok. It is hard to sleep when the Greeks left their stinky feet on the chair arm rest. The moment my head turn, it will invariably smell the stinky feet and I would be woken up by stench. Yet another breakfast was served near landing time. I was full to the brim. One good thing about getting transit flight is you get one extra meal.

The moment we landed, we went straight to queue at the immigration counter. The officers brought us to a room for interrogation. He took out a book and started asking me about questions pertaining to Malaysia. What is the name of the national anthem in Malaysia. What is the name of the indigenous people in Malaysia. What is the. What the f*ck. Asked me how much I brought with me and what was my travel plan like. By the time we are done with the questioning, all our flight people were already long out of the airport. Our backpacks are the only two doo-doo birds left on the baggage carousel. Such was the warm welcome by the Greeks Immigration.

We proceeded to the bus counter and paid 2.93 euro for the airport bus from the airport to the city. Another very long wait. Once we got on the bus, it was jam to the city. Many constructions on going in Athens. The city scape is no different from any third world country actually, for a moment I thought I was still in KL. Bright sunshine, jam, dust covered roads, cement trucks driving in and out of construction site. All gearing up for 2004 Olympics I think. Very much the same scene I see when Malaysia preparing for 1998 Commonwealth Games.

We got down at Syntagma and took the metro to Larissa, that’s where our hostel for the first night is. The email of this hostel said few blocks down the road. The mail appended below for ref:

----- Forwarded Message -----

Note: forwarded message attached.
can print this out??
yizhou

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
http://shopping.yahoo.comYiassou Brandon!

Thank you for your reservation in name Brandon Ang Ee Chew. CONFIRMED as
follows:

DATE: 16th May 2002
TYPE OF ROOM: 2 x dorm beds with shared bathroom
PRICE: 17 Euro per person per night
APPROXIMATE TIME OF ARRIVAL: 8am (check in after 11am)

HOW TO GET HERE FROM THE AIRPORT:
Taxi: Tell the driver MICHAIL VODA 65. We are located behind the ATLANTIK
supermarket on the corner with EINARDOU. It should take about 30 minutes and
cost around 20 EURO. Note the tariff is double after midnight and additional
charges for luggage and departing airport apply.

Public Transport: Bus E95 to SYNTAGMA square and then metro to LARISSA
station. Then walk up FILADELFIAS for 2 blocks, turn left onto MICHAIL VODA and
walk down 5 blocks to number 65. In total it should take about 45-60 minutes in
travel time and cost 3 EURO. The same ticket can be used for 24 hours on all
public transport.

If you are coming from the PORT PIRAEUS or the TRAIN STATION please call us and
we will give you directions.

EVERY 2ND DAY WE HAVE A BUS TO THE PINK PALACE IN CORFU!!!
Check www.thepinkpalace.com for the bus schedule and pricing details, go to
ATHENS AND BEYOND in the index.

We look forward to your stay with us.

Miss Doxi Geroyiannis
Hostel Aphrodite
Einardou 12 & Michail Voda 65
Victoria Square (Plateia Victorias)
Athens GR-10440
GREECE
Telephone outside of Greece: +30 10 88 10589 or +30 10 88 39249
Telephone inside of Greece: 010 88 10589 or 010 88 39249
Fax: +30 10 88 16574
hostel-aphrodite@ath.forthnet.gr

PS. TELL SUE IN THE BAR THAT ‘DOXI SENT YOU’ AND YOU SHOULD GET A SPECIAL
WELCOME DRINK!!!


http://messenger.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Messenger
- A great way to communicate long-distance for FREE

=====================================================

Few blocks turn out to be 15 minutes brisk walk through many shops that have yet opened. Many car repair garages. No joke when u r carrying a 10kg backpack. And quite scary too when U r the only yellow skin on the street. It was after some turns and a few junctions that we finally landed up at Aphrodite Hostel. Those days we didn’t have maps, GPS or google map so finding out a location could be hard.

In case you are curious how the hostel look like, how far it is from Larissa and the environment, here is the link of Trip Advisor. I must said those comments that they made in 2011 are not very different from comments I made back in 2001 when I first stayed in that hostel for my frightful first night honestly. How time flies!

http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Hotel_Review-g189400-d283601-Reviews-The_Hostel_Aphrodite-Athens_Attica.html

There is an antique lift in the hostel that you can take. It is like those u see in the movies.



We put down our stuff since it is not check in time yet and started walking back to Larissa Station and head towards our first destination: the Acropolis!!



We bought the metro one day ticket and started heading to the nearest Metro Station, Acropolis. Walked up a few junctions and there we are: The beautiful Acropolis is right on top of the hill. The marble steps and floors were slippery though so I must be careful. It was simply gorgeous. The temple was magnificent. We then moved on to see the statues. The Greeks do know their human statues carving well. They already knew what a perfect male form should be like so many years ago, and the male forms still look impressive in today’s beauty standard.











The sun is totally relentless but the air is cold though. We then made our way to get the ferry ticket for tomorrow Greek Island’s voyage. According to Z, we were heading to Mykonos and Santorini. When we were taking the train back to town, the metro broke down, so all passengers were chased down the cars. As we surfaced, green peace were having demonstrations on the street. We asked a green peace lady where to have lunch and she just brushed us off quickly. Went to the tourism office for some enquiries but the lady in the office is quite cold. I ended up back in hostel pretty early, partly jet lagged and tired, partly cos we need to wake up very early for the ferry tomorrow. Z was still keen to take night photos of Acropolis but I totally drained out and couldn’t go with him. On hindsight, I should have gone. Acropolis is more beautiful at night with all the lightings.

The next morning, I stupidly used the sink in the room for brushing teeth instead of using the sinks in the toilets outside. I got a yelling from one of the girls in the same room. That was my wake up call for the day. So much about wrong footings.



We took the metro to Piraeus to take the morning 735am ferry to Mykonos. The ferry took 5 hours from Athens to Mykonos. We passed by many islands along the way. Most have stone walls to demarcate farmland boundaries. Usually they have a Greek orthodox church. The lady that I met on the deck told me that they are many Singaporeans who came to Greek Islands for weddings. It is romantic I guess? Weather is sunny but chilly, the sea breeze is really cooling.

Our ferry finally reached the next destination port: Mykonos!

Mykonos

17-18 May 2001 Mykonos

The labyrinth of streets with white house and blue roof straight away won my heart.
So picturesque from the deck of the ferry.

We took the transport from the port to Paradise Beach Camping ground. It is a nude beach!! And we will be staying at the hut for 2 nights.





This is the trip advisor link in case you wonder how the place is like and what are the fellow travellers’ review like.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/ShowUserReviews-g189430-d275784-r115136251-Paradise_Beach_Resort_and_Camping-Mykonos_Cyclades.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT1

The Pakistani construction worker was so surprised to see some Asians that he chatted us up and told us his working experience in Greece.

Paradise camping is fairly basic accommodation and very very cold at night when the wind howling into the paper-thin walled into the cabin. I took a cold water shower and nearly frozen to death when the water shower down my face. Strongly recommend to stay in the town next time and come to the beach only during day time =)
People normally rent motorcycle and rent a vespa to travel around all day. Because we don’t have a bike, we can only rely on public bus and that can be sparse.
The next day we went to the windmill and little Venice. Roam around town too. The streets are coloured white as well, so picturesque.









There is a pelican near the ferry terminal and that’s supposed to be their mascot for the island. We also went to the black sand beach.

Upon returning to Paradise Beach, Z finally took it all off and showed them he can do nude too! One thing about Aegean Sea. No wave. Calm as mirror. Children can play in the shallow water and no problem.









We stayed another night and get ready for our next destination – Santorini!

Santorini

19-20 May 2011 Santorini

Mykonos and Santorini are two of the most famous islands in Greece but on that very morning, there is no direct ferry between Mykonos and Santorini. We have to take a speed boat to another nearby island Paros to board the ferry to Santorini.



It is another 3 hours before we see the white little dots on the ridge of Santorini.




Santorini is a volcanic island and the city was built on the ridge of a volcano island. Last eruption was in 1946, and they rebuilt. Now the port has been shifted to another place, the old port has many steps up to the ridge and donkeys / cable car can help if you find the steps daunting. We will leave the steps to tomorrow and disembark at the new port instead. Transferred to bus and the public bus bring the full loads of people to the town. The moment we get down the bus, there was an old man asking us if we would like a place to stay. The price sounded reasonable, so we followed him to his house. It is not far from town. Place looked very decent actually.





We walked out to the street and I immediately understand why people love Santorini.









The ridge is so high that clouds actually roll u by! The volcanic island not far from Santorini is black in colour, in the middle of the sea. We are going there tomorrow. We signed up a package to take the tour to the volcano island opposite to where we are.



Wanted to wake up to see the sunrise but guess the sun rose too early for us to catch it. We brought a day pack and walked to the old harbor, walked down the steps and waited for the ferry that will bring us to the island. 10am and we departed.





The walk to the volcanic crater is an experience – nobody liked the sulphur smell. We walked around the rim of the crater. The sides of the crater is the characteristic sulphur yellow. We then moved over to visit other villages on the island. It is quite a walk under the sun I must say.









The ferry stopped at one spot near the shore and let u swim towards the hotspring. My swimming is not good so Z went to the hot spring alone.



When he came back, he told me the water is very cold, and the so called hot spring water was lukewarm. The ship then brought us back to Oia before heading back to the old harbor. We have a choice of getting down at Oia so we did. Walked up to the ridge again (panting) and finally reach the town of Oia. There is a greek orthodox church at the centre. Managed to walk around quite a bit.







After the walk, we took a bus back to the town. The friendly waiter that we passed by many times again invited us to try the restaurant food. We went in and gave it a try. So so. The price is definitely not so so. Not to a budget conscious just graduated student like me I guess =)

Packed up and ready to go back Athens for our next part =)

Athens

21-22 May 2011 Athens

The ferry journey from Santorini to Athens took a good 10 hours. Tough. Many people actually slept on the floor to sleep the journey away. The moment we landed in Athens, we went straight to get the ferry ticket to Bari, Italy. We were thinking whether to get the 25 euro berth ticket or the 70 euro couch ticket. We ended up getting the 70 euro couch ticket. The boarding point will be at Patras.
We didn’t go back to Aphrodite Hostel but stayed in a hostel near town, think if I am not wrong it is called Argo Hostel, near Omonia Station.

This is the trip advisor link about the hostel:

http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Hotel_Review-g189400-d1799854-Reviews-Argo_Hostel-Athens_Attica.html

I don’t feel safe walking around the neighbourhood. Very scared in fact. The hostel room is not bad though. At least it is nearer to the metro station compared to the first one.

The next day we took a long distance bus from Athens to Patras. I had a plate of butter rice in the bus station and it tasted awful.

We passed by the very famous Gefyra Isthmou, the manmade canal separating Athens and Patra.



We reached Patras in the afternoon. The ferry will only depart at 630pm. There is nothing much in Patras. We had an early dinner of fish and chip before boarding the ferry. I must say this is the best fish and chip with coke that I ever had. Partly because we are hungry, partly because we are excited about the journey to Italy. The ferry set sail punctually. At night, all those people holding 25 euro ticket came to our couch room to sleep anyway, so much for our 70 euro ticket.

Bari - Sorrento - Pompeii

22-24 May 2011 Bari-Sorrento



It was 830am in Bari (our watch still showing 730am, there is one hour time difference between Greece and Italy) and our ship docked at Bari. We disembarked and went to the train station in Bari to enquire about the train to Naples. We were told that the train to Naples would only come 150pm. We bought the kilometric ticket, which allow up to 5 people sharing a total of 3000km journey at a very discounted price. SO we hang around Bari, which is a university town basically. Big Mac was having a one-euro offer, so we had our Big-Mac lunch at Bari.







At 150pm, the train from Brindisi calling at the station and we quickly hopped on. Very comfortable seats with head holder to keep your dozing head from invading people’s shoulders. I like the Italian train. Whenever fast speed train zoomed past, our train will be swerved to the side though, due to the pressure.

We reached Napoli in the late afternoon. Z said it is cheaper we get the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. We walked to the station and buy tickets. As the counter Italian man was passing me the ticket and change, he spoke to me in a string of Italians and in very exasperated expression, keep pointing to his watch. I finally understood what he was trying to tell us. We raced to the platform and just in time to catch the 640pm train bounded for Sorrento. It is rush hour and the train is jammed pack. With my backpack, it is gonna be quite a ride as Sorrento is the last station.

We reached Sorrento and walked to the hostel. This hostel (should be ostello le sirene if mymemory never fail me) looked quite clean. About 7-8 people squeezed into a room. There was a couple that actually made love in the room and switched off the light so that I can’t see them, so funny. We went out for some furnace-baked authentic Napolean pizza. Gelato is a must to wrap up the day nicely. There are so many gelato shops around and so many flavours that one is spoilt for choice.





Some postcard scans of Sorrento:







The next day, we have free breakfasts. This is my first time having brekkie in a hostel. So contented with the latte they made for me. They kept asking Z if the couple made love in the room that evening.

We went out for a walk. Sorrento is very drizzly. From here, one can actually catch a boat to the Capri Island. We quite like the drizzly environment.









Once afternoon 2pm, all shops closed and it is siesta time. We sat in a local coffee joint and enjoy our tiramisu.



According to Z, Sorrento is a very charming English tourists favourite town. It is not hard to see why. We followed the Let’s go guidebook and went to have seafood risotto at a recommended restaurant. It was so fabulous that I claimed it to be my best rice dinner in the whole trip. So many seafood wrapped inside the aluminium packet that it is, as the Let’s go author claim, “a steal”!





24 May 2011 Fri Pompeii

From Sorrento, we took the same train to Pompeii. The historic relics are really a treasure. While walking towards Pompeii however, I lost my wallet. Lucky only coins are inside and nothing else.

We spent the whole day at Pompeii as we like it quite a bit.

















Took the train to Napoli and managed to catch the train to Rome. We were frantically calling all hostels in Rome as most are fully booked. No luck. Couldn’t get any beds in Rome. We were pretty worried when we walked out of Termini. A very imposing Italian man came to our direction, introduced himself as working with Ministry of Tourism (crap) and asked if we need room. We said yes. Then we introduced a hostel to us and pointed us the direction. We asked him for map (how gullible we were, really thinking that he is from the Ministry of Tourism).

There are many black guys in Rome and I get a bit scared walking along the road to get to the hostel but no choice. Sky is getting dark. We continue to walk on and finally, after finished walking the Termini till Porta Maggiorre (u have now an idea how f**king far it was), we came to a building and saw the name Pink Flamingo. Press the bell, some one answered in Italian and the door was opened. Then we walked up the stairs and an Italian old woman greeted us and show us our beds. There is an Argentinian guy, an Iranian guy, an American guy, two Canadian ladies and an English man inside the room. The Englishman has a very long hair and beard, you won’t miss him, he looked like he hasn’t been shaved for months.

We put our bags down and started to look for food. Z brought me to another hostel to meet his friends from Chem Engine who happened to be in Rome as well, their hostel seemed so nice. They came from the North (Holland + France etc) while we inched up from South.