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The high speed ferry was not running because of engine trouble so I had to take this big regular ferry that left at 8:00 at night to arrive at midnight in Santorini (also known as Thira).
Ferries stop at Athinios port at the foot of this steep slope climbed by endless switchbacks.
The midnight arrival was spectacular with the long line of headlights snaking up the cliff.
Wherever I'm going, I usually try to arrive in the early afternoon to have plenty of time to find an adequate place to sleep. This time, I had no choice. I had no reservation as usual but I knew the youth hostel was open 24/7 so I did not worry and took a bus to the centre of Fira, ten minutes on foot from the hostel.
The switchbacks emerge at this crossroad where the road in the lower left corner goes south to Pyrgos from where this photo was taken and the other one leads north to Fira on top of the hill and to white Oia in the far distance on the left.
There was nobody at the reception of the hostel but one of the dorms had been left open for late arrivals. After a good night's sleep I set off to explore the jewel of Santorini, the sparkling town of Fira dramatically perched on the lip of the caldera on the right.
That's me of course
It was now the end of May and tourists were everywhere.
The Fira Youth Hostel was a great place. It was well located, it cost only 8.20 US$ a day in the high season and the friendly atmosphere made it easy to meet other backpackers over a cold beer.
The beaches are on the eastern side of the island, opposite to the caldera with its spectacular cliffs. The small town of Perissa and its beach lie south-west of Pyrgos.
Here is Perissa's volcanic sand beach with the white dome of the village church in the background.
Back on the caldera's edge, the village of Oia in the north claims to be the best place to observe the setting sun. Tourists can ride these donkeys to visit this charming village without effort. That's Fira in the background
Another view of Fira from Oia
Tourists are very obedient. If they are told that Oia is "the place" to watch the sunset they will flock there and compete for the best spot to take that unforgettable picture. I know, I did it myself!
Sunsets over the sea look alike the world over but only in Oia do you get that typically Greek church dome and windmill in the foreground.
After a few days, I moved on to Naxos from where I took a day trip to Delos and Mykonos before returning to Athens.
Here is the village of Naxos crowding around its fortress.
Naxos is a node for tourism in the Cyclades.
The arch of the unfinished temple of Apollo on the right and the small church on the right are famous landmarks of Naxos. On the right below, one of the typical small streets of Naxos.
I took a room in a small family pension with the impressive name of "Parthenon Hotel" in the alley below left. I was impressed by the asking price of 25 € but finally paid only 11€ a night for it.
The practice of fixed prices that are the same for everybody that is normal in developed countries is not universally recognised. In many countries, the commercial guideline of charging "all that the market will bear", applied flexibly to each transaction, produces widely varying prices for different customers at different times. Most of the time, bargaining is done in a friendly good humoured manner and it is a normal part of social intercourse. Sometimes however, like with this family in Naxos, haggling can be aggressive and the visitor gets the feeling of being taken for an enemy instead of a friend. I must say that it spoiled my enjoyment in this otherwise charming place.
The south-west entrance to the fortress
Below, a Catholic Cathedral and one of the homes inside the fortress. Further down, inside and outside views of the north-west entrance
I have found that when the local people are exposed to too many tourists, the latter are no longer seen as human beings but as items to be hastily processed on a rapidly moving assembly line. The islands were beautiful, but that's the feeling I got here. I checked with other visitors and most concurred that tourist pressure made their contacts with the Greeks impersonal and unfortunately often impolite. I found the bus drivers on Crete incredibly rude. This phenomena is not specific to Greece, it happens anywhere when tourist saturation becomes excessive. I would love to calculate the "Tourist Saturation Index" (TSI), of the islands if I could get the four necessary data for each one. The index for Greece places it globally between Hong Kong and Spain but I wager the island's individual indexes would be amongst the highest in the world.
Here is a panorama of Naxos harbour assembled from 3 separate photos
