Oh no, it’s raining again! Abandoned the idea of going up to the fortress – wouldn’t have seen much from the top anyway as it’s all a bit murky. Set off for what looked like a short drive down a main road, but actually takes an hour and a half as it’s such a tortuous route that goes through quite a lot of towns.
We’d earmarked a campsite at Leonidio which is near the lovely harbour and beach at Plaka. There is a river that cuts through the valley, so we had to turn inland towards the town and then come back out to the coast. What we didn’t know was that google maps decided to avoid the main bridge due to roadworks, so it took us on a very interesting, nail biting route over a tiny old concrete bridge then down and across a dry riverbed on a very rough gravel track. I’ve never been so relieved to see a campsite entrance. A very warm welcome at Camping Semeli and we were parked up and sorted in no time.
After lunch, we decided to risk getting soaked and walked the couple of miles back into the little market town of Leonidio. There was nothing much of interest at ground level, but the town’s surroundings are huge, sheer, ochre coloured cliffs which give the place a bit of drama. Had to dodge the rain by going into the nearest coffee shop..I don’t think the owners were expecting any custom and it felt like we’d hoofed them out of their seats.
Walked back through lots of orchards, farmland and junk yards, where so many dogs seemed to be just chained up in a pile of rubbish – it’s so sad.
Another downpour tonight. Strange that the riverbed is completely dry here. Need some sunshine tomorrow – we have washing to do and lots of it!
