Crete has this supposedly longest Gorge in Europe, called Samaria Gorge. We went for this 18km trek, along with many other tourists. There is a bus bringing hikers from the bus terminal to the starting point at Omalos Plateau. According to our research, this hike would take us at least 6 hrs, which means we need to bring snacks and must have breakfast. We had a quick breakfast, ham & cheese pie and spinach pie (to share) from the bus terminal snack bar. The pies turned out to be quite nice or maybe I was hungry 
We couldn’t believe how inappropriate some of the so-called “hikers” attired themselves for a hike : bikini tops, denim skirts, jeans, slippers etc. Totally inappropriate right? Then it turned out, some of them were not actually going for the hike. They were there merely to take a few photos with the “Samaria Gorge” sign. After that, they would take the next bus back to Hania. Hey, we are not like them ok, though we thought about it too
The entrance fee is 5euros each, which includes free usage of WC and free flow of spring water at the rest points. To our surprise, a lot of uncles and aunties were doing the hike. Initially, we motivated ourselves by making sure we were ahead of these uncles. But we definitely underestimated them. With their little beer bellies, they were still pretty fast and furious. At some rest points, when most people stopped to take breaks, they didn’t. They just carried on with their constant pace. We could only console ourselves that they must have missed out on all the great scenery, keeping their heads down with their eyes on the rock path all the while.
The only thing I regret was not bringing enough snacks. The cereal bars I brought only made us half full. We wanted to buy some apples and bananas but totally forgotten. At one rest point, I saw Clarence eying a little boy’s apple with envy. Too bad..We also met some interesting characters along the way. The deepest impression would be the group of “bikini” top women rising both their hands in the air, airing their armpits! 
It took us 5.5hrs to complete the trek. Not bad I still couldn’t believe we could make it through. But the best evident was our aching legs, from thigh to calf muscles, which lasted for the next couple of days. The aching pain…not so fun.
( Clarence: The Samaria Gorge is a national park in Crete. The gorge is in the prefecture of Hania. It was created by a small river running between the White Mountains and Mount Volakias. The gorge is about 16 km long and is the second longest in Europe. I dunno which gorge is the longest in Europe though…But to me it’s already very long liao…The most famous part of the gorge is the ‘Iron Gates’, where the width of the gorge closes up to only about 2.5 m. It ends at Agia Roumeli.
I have been to the deepest gorge in the world, and that is the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Lijiang, Yunnan. But this gorge is no joke. Although it is downwards all the way from Samaria to Agia Roumeli, the terrain is not flat. It is super rocky. And the rocks are not like gravel, they are big rocks and if you did not look where you step, sure fall down. It’s just rocks rocks rocks rocks rocks. But the view is beautiful, though it’s tough to lift your head up and admire the scenery when you have to look where you are going. If you concentrate on where you are stepping on, you cannot see the beautiful peaks. If you keep on watching the beautiful scenery, your backside sure pain. Hurhurhur…try it! My favourite part of the trek is when we were on the riverbed itself. Apparently the river is dry during this period. So the moment we hit the bottom of the gorge from the top, we were already walking on the dry riverbed. There is a part when I was flanked by the 2 huge cliffs while walking on the riverbed. The viewpoint from where I was standing, looking ahead on the winding riverbed, is really amazing, not to mention the amazing strata on the cliffs sides. Although the trek is long and tiring, and my legs feel wobbly at the end of it, I still recommend this place to you. But I will not trek there again …Along the way, we met people who started the other way round, from Agia Roumeli…siao one! Good luck to them! Hurhurhur… )
To go back to Hania from Agia Roumeli, we had to take a ferry followed by a bus. Agia Roumeli is a small touristy village with many restaurants. However, the crowd seemed to gather at the one nearest the port. We just follow suit knowing that it is always wise to eat at a restaurant with many customers.
On the ferry to Sfakia, many people removed their trekking shoes and changed into slippers. And it was very smelly. When we saw that the ferry was pretty packed, we started to worry that we might not be able to get onto the 5:30pm bus. Besides, we had not purchased the bus tickets. So we came up with a plan: Eric would sprint to the bus station to buy tickets, while Clarence and I would carry all the barang barang. We tried not to behave too Kiasu, but was totally overwhelmed when those tourists dashed faster than Eric. Hahaha… not only Singaporeans are Kiasu ok. Before the ferry docked, they had already gathered at the exit. Wah Piang. They were faster than us lor.
Later, we realized that majority of those tourists were not after our bus tickets, they were actually rushing to catch their coaches. And as for the bus tickets, there wasn’t any one selling tickets at the bus station, in fact we gotta buy from the bus conductor on the bus. So there was another round of anticipation while waiting for the bus to arrive. Can you imagine how stress it was? Knowing that we still need to “fight” over the seats with these remaining tourists, and yet cannot embarrassed our nationality. (just kidding)
In the end, 2 buses arrived instead. Everyone had a seat
When we got back to Eva, 3 of us couldn’t walk without “ouching”, especially when we climbed the steep staircases to our rooms. But then again, that didn’t stop us from climbing 2 more levels to the rooftop terrace for our beer and sunset view.
( Clarence: What could be a better way to end a tiring day but to stone at a rooftop overlooking the waterfront, and drink beer? Hahaha…When we reached Hania, along the way back, I went straight to buy beer liao. The funniest thing is, when we see the gentle steps leading us to the pension, we were like…wah lao must climb ah! Then when we reach the pension, we were like ‘WAH LAO WHY SO STEEP!’ ‘cos we have to climb to our rooms on the second floor. Every step was ‘ow ow ow ooo ooo ooo ow ow ow ooo ooo ooo’ until we reach our rooms. Then it’s ‘ow ow ow ooo ooo ooo’ our way to the rooftop. Then open the beer cans, then no more ‘ow ow ow’ liao. It’s ‘AAAAAAAH SHIOOOK’. Then we ‘ow ow ow’ again to go down to get changed for dinner. No joke man…I sound exaggerating right? You guys go try lor then you tell me )
Dinner that night was another LP recommendation called Faka Taverna. Here, I tried rabbit meat for the first time in my life. At first the 2 rabbits (the 2 guys were born in the year of rabbit) refused to eat their own kind, but after a while, they finally succumbed to the temptation. Just like what the waiter told me, it tasted like chicken, but tastier and more tender! Very nice! When we finished our main course, the waiter served us a round of chilled Raki, served in shot glasses. The waiter and another guy, who seemed to be the restaurant owner explained that Raki is their locally homemade alcoholic drink. Very potent! They served this drink together with a plate of mini doughnut-like dessert called Loukoumades (small round doughnuts, fried and coated in honey and cinnamon). These were supposed to go with the raki, something like δΈι θ.
We had beer before dinner, wine during dinner and finally raki after that. How not to be tipsy by the end of the night?
