Loutro, Crete

Looking down at the Old Phoenix Hotel in Loutro, Crete.

First off let me say Loutro is damn cool and if you get the chance to go there, you owe it to yourself.

It is one of those places where the water is so beautiful that people will ask you if you altered your photos, even when you haven’t. One of those places that you can’t drive to, you must take a boat or hike it. One of those places where you don’t run into any American tourists. One of those places that really seem authentic.

Treat yourself.

It started when I asked my girlfriend Trish if she could go to any place in the world which three spots would she pick?

1). Galapagos Islands

2) Patagonia

3) Greek Islands

So thinking about the Greek Islands I started looking at Crete. The more I read the better it sounded. Then I started looking at and reading about Loutro. It is on the southern coast of Crete and in an area of other things we wanted to do anyway, like hike the Samaria Gorge.

So I booked a hotel called the “Old Phoenix”. I had read somewhere that there was a 10-15 minute stroll to the hotel, this is inaccurate. The picture of the hotel on the main page though, is in fact how it looks. http://www.old-phoenix.com/

We rented a small Peugeot 208 http://www.peugeot.co.uk/showroom/208/3-door/ this is a tiny car with a tiny engine, but it was a good choice. There were places while Creteing it, which we drove through, which were so amazingly narrow I thought this tiny toy-sized car would scrape on both sides! Next, we drove cross country to Hora Safkion. On the town webpage it is described thusly,

“This is the southernmost part of Europe, still the wildest and most natural part of Crete, once the cradle of European culture, today a place to recover away from masstourism, surrounded by the Libyan sea and home country of people, whose hospitality is legendary”

Sounds good no? 

Here we parked the car for a long term park and caught the ferry to Loutro. When we got off in town we looked around for a path to our hotel or maybe a sign? I saw a road looking thing heading left out around the point, right near the ferry dock, was this the way to the Phoenix? It turned out it was, but we found that out later. There is the short right-over-the-top route and the “beautiful path”. Of course if we would have simply called the hotel they would also have sent a boat to pick us up. (20-20 hindsight). As it turned out we asked an old man in town and he said to go down to the second alley heading uphill and take a left. It looked like a narrow stairway to someone’s apartment, I was immediately suspicious.

“I think that old man was fucking with the touristas” I remember stating. But, the trail curled around back and starting climbing rather steeply. In no time we were 100 feet above the town with a great view. I should say here I was carrying Trish’s suitcase in my hand and it was VERY heavy, very quickly. It was a switch back trail with a couple of goat-gates. After more climbing (and me cursing) (goodhearted cursing), we ran into a German woman. So we had two suitcases, mine, which was small and light Trish’s which was larger and heavy and we both had back packs, and cameras of course, we were tourists on vacation after all. This woman said we were crazy to hike like that, but yes eventually we would get there assuming we didn’t keel over first.

When we got on top there were abandoned old stone ruins which was cool, and various plants and wildflowers and a great view. (see title photo)

We meandered down and finally got to the cool insides of the hotel itself. When we went to the desk to check in they gave us an odd look like “how did you get here”? But we checked in and went to our room. It was Spartan, with three hard little beds in a row and no tv, or air conditioning. There were French style doors opening on a small patio and a million dollar view of crystal clear azure water. It was perfect. The only sound was goats and goat bells on the hill and waves lapping the beach.

The dining room was open air and the menu was quite simple and straightforward. I remember thinking while eating the Greek salad that if you have excellent ingredients, like fresh, ripe, local tomatoes that things can be extremely simple and plain and yet be so delicious it is shocking to the palette.

The next morning we took the path around the point, it is a longer walk but easier. It is very pretty and we really felt like we were getting the experience we came for. This trail literally ends right where the ferry docks. We boated up the coast and hiked the Samaria Gorge from the bottom up to the “Iron Gates” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samari%C3%A1_Gorg

I would call this a “must do”. We will never forget it, there was so much to see from the town of Agia Roumeli to the gorge itself, to the cat with kittens in the hollow of a tree…it goes on and on. And then beck to the beach and a dip in the sea of Libya before hopping on the ferry back to Loutro.

If you want the “Greek Islands Experience”, without a lot of noise, and tourists, no smog, no traffic and just have your senses swept away, try Loutro on the Grecian Island of Crete, you will be awash with the sublime.

Is Luang Prabang "touristy"?

A friend asked me recently is Laos touristy?

My answer is I can only really answer for Luang Prabang and the local area around this small city, and I answer no. And that is a good thing.

The word touristy to me usually means crass and loud, Disneyland long lines and crowds, and not being able to even take a photo without groups of people in your way, Ha Long Bay touristy? Yes, Machu Picchu touristy? Yes, Luang Prabang? No.

Being land locked with no beautiful salt water karsts helps keep people away. And until very recently (2 years), even the airport was quite primitive.  http://somanymiles.com/2013/07/the-new-luang-prabang-airport-and-the-quiet-end-of-an-era/

Luang Prabang doesn’t have that big draw, the large Angkor Wat type, WOW site draw that brings people. The small UNESCO World Heritage site has all kinds of restrictions on building and development which keeps it small and unique, at least for now. 

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/479  There are no McDonald’s, or KFC here, there are no buildings taller than two stories, and the night life is non-existent after about 11pm. No large bill boards or flashing neon signs. One morning we got up at 4:30am and were walking from our hotel to the main part of the old town for Tak Bat. 

http://www.pattayadays.com/2012/12/luang-prabang-tak-bak/

And we had to walk with flashlights just to see, crossing the small bamboo bridge into town, it was very, very quiet. Not even one motorbike was on the road. It was a little creepy and at the same time blissful, especially if you have been to a place like Bangkok or Hanoi and seen the hustle there.

In fact the Tak Bat is the main tourist draw. The only place where the tourists rudely crowded the area was where the monks walked during the morning Tak Bat on the “tourist” section of the main road through town. The monks walk in a circular route and just one street over there were only a few people. On the other side of the Nam Khan River there were also a couple different Tak Bats as there are so many Wats in the area. One started at 5:30 and one at 6:15. Currently there are 34 Wats/Temples and over 1000 monks in the area. http://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/laos/northern_laos/luang_prabang/luang_prabang/253

Another way to avoid people is go there during the start of the “hot season”. The high season is from November through January. February is when you have the best chance for smoke and haze from slash and burn farming practices which are still practiced by local Hmong tribes. Then avoid the New Year’s celebration/madhouse of water spraying from April 13-16 and….GO! 

Toward the end of May the wet season starts and the little bamboo bridges in town will be dismantled. http://www.falangprabang.com/2013/02/luang-prabang-low-season-10-reasons.html 
although the wet season wouldn’t be a bad choice either……

Hanoi- the old quarter and some excursions

Walking along the waterfront in Cadiz, Spain in 2008 there was an old man and a dog relaxing in the shade of a large, old banyan tree with huge roots splayed out. We stopped and petted the dog and talked with him a bit. He pointed out in the water and exclaimed:

“Do you know what happened out there? The fantastic battle of Trafalgar! A huge naval battle with Britain”. I looked out and tried to imagine it, but let’s face it, it was 1805 and things were much different back then, not much of anything is left today but the water and some descriptions from old men on a sunny day.

Viet Nam and Hanoi are much different because that war happened during my lifetime and I know many people who fought there in both the US and Vietnamese military. I remember seeing nightly reports on TV. I work with people from all over the world; and have heard many incredible first-hand accounts of people who escaped SE Asia during war years and soon after as “boat people”. One woman told me her story; people with hatchets chased her family across a field killing them as they ran screaming, she jumped in a river to save her life, her young six year old niece jumped on her back, they are all that is left from their family. They were killed not because they had worked with the US during the war but because they were ethnic Chinese living in Viet Nam after the war had concluded in 1975. When people tell you these many stories their eyes become unfocused and drifting as they remember times they thought they would not survive, and they speak in a way of incredulity and gratitude that says yes they somehow came through the other side.

So I have always wanted to go see and experience this area of the world for myself, as a special present.

Something I had read stated Hanoi is comparable to Washington DC as a “historic city” and Saigon is more like Las Vegas as a party town. So I chose history. 

https://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121123205928AAIsYbg

The visa process is a little more complicated than some places but not a big deal. I think it was something like $50 to get in. You can send off your passport in the mail and get pre-approved, you can go to a website and do some legwork there or just go naked. I went the website route and got an “approval letter” which I handed over on arrival in Hanoi Airport, I also brought a couple extra 2”x2” photos.

I normally contact my hotel before arrival and ask them to pick me up at the airport, this has worked out well for me. I stayed at the Hanoi Imperial http://www.hanoiimperialhotel.com/ , it is a medium quality hotel I suppose. I look for a hotel where I can walk to things, I find this really helps. I wanted to be in the “Old Quarter” of Hanoi; http://thingsasian.com/stories-photos/1445

, where vendors are concentrated on different streets according to their occupation, this goes back to royal times. So bamboo is sold on one street and sunglasses on another street etc... This hotel’s location was great for that endeavor.

In a hotel I look for:

Price- Location- free internet- room safe- air conditioning- website- free breakfast

If there is no website and online photos to check out, that is a bit of a red flag for me. I think of a good hotel as a “home base”. I might leave town for an excursion or rent a car and explore. I leave my passport and extra cash in the room safe, I take some good color scans of my passport to carry on me. I also like to work with the hotel for excursions and advice. If I can develop a rapport with a good concierge it really helps.

This Hotel the Hanoi Imperial was a good choice, the room was great, nice and large and quiet, although really no view. The hotel restaurant was on the top floor with a 360 degree view but the elevator stopped two floors below, so you take the elevator to the 6^th floor and walk up to the eighth. The food was buffet style and it was quite a varied spread, this fortified me for a good start to the day and saved me some cash!

Many renowned sites like the Hanoi Hilton, the Lake where John McCain crashed, the B52 Lake and Ho Chi Minh’s tomb were within walking distance. In addition to this I booked excursions to the Perfume River, Halong Bay and Sapa, all through the hotel before I left the states.

I bought a few travel books on Viet Nam and then took a razor blade and cut out the parts I wanted and made a new book just on the northern parts of Viet Nam I was going to have time to visit, putting it back together with duct tape.

Perfume River Excursion: This was hot and kinda uncomfortable, the boat seats are low and steel, so bring a small pillow of some kind. The picturesque rowing gets old quick there is not much to look at in the river itself. Be ready for boats with colorful pilgrims for photos. The temples, shops and hike up above are well worth the trip. I tried to talk our group into taking a fast boat back, the other group behind us did with their rowboat sitting crosswise on the larger boat, as the shot past us they laughed and pointed! Rats! The thing I found frustratingly is we asked the bus to stop a couple times for photos on the way down and they refused, the rice harvest was in progress.

Halong Bay: Once again well worth doing. The boat was fun interacting with the people aboard, they had great food, a huge spread, we stopped at a little fishing village, and a great cave system on one of the limestone karst islands, a long day but a fun trip. The photos you see all over will not prepare you for all the tourist boats, a flotilla! But that’s life.

Sapa Trekking: This was really an experience and deserves its’ own write up here-- http://425traveler.blogspot.com/2013/06/mr.html

I wasn’t prepared for the huge line of people at Ho Chi Minh’s tomb. There is no one in American history that would demand even a fraction of this kind of veneration. A huge line around four blocks outside the compound before you even get in. It took me a while and a lot of walking just to find the end of the line! JFK on the day of his funeral had a grand exit but to see this every day, years and years after his passing, the Viet people must truly have a mind-blowing patriotism! I finally gave up and never got in, if you do go make sure you are there first thing in the morning.

The Long Bien Bridge was fun I walked out to the middle of the Red River then down to the island in the middle, worth doing. The traffic watching is hilarious. The market at the foot of the bridge is a little sketchy watch yourself in there. When you walk into a place like that and no one smiles and they stare at you like you are food, it is a sign.

The “water puppet theatre” is something you can miss, I did it and it was just OK. Old women in front of me had to hold up their cells and video THE ENTIRE THING!

I got a good massage close to the hotel, less than a block away and I found it by going to a site like Trip advisor and reading reviews. The most amazing part here is the woman could walk on my soapy back (while I was lying on a raised massage table), without falling off! The narrow little dark hallway and three story walk-up was a little off putting, but I am glad I went.

The B52 Lake; where a plane crashed during the war and some wreckage is still left was very hard to find. I walked and walked and finally gave up, and started talking to some motorbike guys on a corner. They didn’t really speak English so I ended up pantomiming a plane flying over, people shooting at it, and then it crashing into a lake. Voila! Then they all laughed and knew exactly what I wanted. I got a guy to give me a ride over on the back of his motorbike (what I should have done from the start).

Speaking of motorbikes; yes I realize I am rambling but this is important, make sure you stow your gear, and have some glasses to protect your eyes from dust, hang on securely, and take the extra few moments to find a guy/gal that provides you with a helmet. Then relax and enjoy, it was a blast.

If you are going to someplace like Snaketown, which is farther away then take a taxi. Yeah I did that gig where you go and pick out a cobra, they kill it and give you a drink with the heart sill beating floating in the drink, then prepare a meal with the cobra cooked eleven different ways or something like that. They pointed to the price on the menu like they felt I might not be good for it. I think the dinner was 1.2 million dong, which is a little over $50. I showed them I had the cash and asked if they wanted me to pay up front but they motioned no, no one in this area seemed to speak even broken English. We also had a bit of confusion when I explained I don’t drink alcohol. I transferred the cobra heart to a glass of water and then my retinue of waiters were happy and all clapped with enthusiasm. I got the name of this place and the taxi all set up through my concierge. I am sure he got a cut and that’s fine. It makes things easier and safer for everybody.

In closing two things, firstly get up early and hit it and about noon when you are hot and dusty go back to your room (if close enough), and take a cool shower, change clothes and take a nap with the air con. Then go back out all refreshed for an evening run.

Secondly, I need to say one of the coolest places I ran into was by accident (like always). I was trying to find a particular street which was on a walking tour map. It kept taking me into a dead end brick wall, like some kind of Harry potter movie. But the street on the way there, a little back alley kind of street, was just full of life. All kinds of vendors and activity, completely authentic and non-touristy, it was wonderful. (see above)...