Samos

Can't beat that bougainvillea!

You can’t go wrong by choosing Samos as your next Greek destination. It’s a very mountainous, wooded and verdant island nudged up against the Turkish mainland in the east Aegean, a hop over from Kusadasi, well known tourist town on the west Turkish coast, and in turn Ephesus, a magnificent set of ruins from biblical times just a sheep’s tail’s distance from the sea. Continuing  the biblical theme, Samos is also a boat ride from Patmos, island of the cave of St. John of the Revelation as well as tourist fleshpot for decades worth of visitors from backpackers to religious pilgrims. So Samos is well placed for interesting excursions.

Samos also strikes one as pretty unspoilt. The hotel I stayed in on the south coast just ten minutes ride from the popular tourist town of Pythagoria was part of a small cluster of hotels and restaurants somewhat isolated on an undeveloped coastline and only reached by a twisting B road snaking amongst olive trees and small homesteads. It seems that the Gods of tourism have made Samos a little special in accessibility. To land at the one airport, nestled up against the sea a few minutes west of Pythagoria, a special licence is needed due to the shortness of the runway. Our landing with Enter Air (who? Yes quite, Polish I think) was uneventful but the next batch of holiday makers experienced the landing being aborted first time round. Imagine coming in to land on a sun kissed Greek island and then the plane suddenly thrusts upwards at the last second with no communication to the passengers as to what went wrong. A German airline that flew regularly to Samos went bust. They flew 30 flights a week to the island, alas no longer, so even more inaccessibility.

You can of course reach the island by boat, the romantic way of travelling around the Greek islands of course! One family came from Mykonos into the port of Karlovasi, a town on the north coast. The big boats used to come into Vathi or Samos Town, the main town on the island, but no longer due to the migrant crisis which has deposited a large migrant camp of thousands in the middle of this town of 24000.

Our hotel was right on the beach with a full water sports programme, ideal for anyone who wants to learn to sail, windsurf or paddleboard. A full team provides coaching and practice in ideal conditions. Learning to sail in the azure waters of the Greek islands has got to beat wearing a wetsuit in the grey waters of the southern UK especially when those Atlantic winds blow. A beach stretches into the distance both east and west, and although pebbly as many of the beaches around here are, provides ideal swimming as long as you’ve got a decent pair of beach shoes. 

View from my window

Our package also provided full access to a range of bikes, mountain and hybrid, that could be taken out at any time although sensibly early on in the day or after 3 in the afternoon to avoid the highest temperatures. Indeed this is what attracted me to the holiday in the first place as a week with a biking theme. Which leads me into a few trips I made from the hotel during my two weeks out there. One of course was to Pythagoria, a half hour cycle away which I did on two or three occasions. There are hills both ways, but possibly worse coming back as there is a long slow climb up out of the harbour after a hopefully fun time in town . But nothing especially daunting for the reasonably fit. 

Another good local trip is to Psili Ammos, a small beach resort just a few minutes east, but this trip is more for beach bums than cyclists as you’ve barely scorched the backside of your Lycra before descending into the harbour. Now if you want to do something a little more rigorous then head for a more demanding trip along dusty coastal up and down tracks but being rewarded with great views of the Greek coastline and looking across to Turkey. This route bypasses Psili Amos and needs a mountain bike, but there’s a lovely quiet beach at Klima with facilities waiting for you at the other end.

Klima tranquillity

If you want to go further afield there is the hike up to the wind farm high above Pythagoria but be warned that unless you’re a good cyclist you’ll find it challenging. It was my very first trip on a mountain bike and I’m quite fit although not mountain bike fit, so I lagged behind my four fellow riders, two of whom were serious cyclists, you can just tell by the way they dress! You take a right off the main Pythagoria road then follow quite a long uphill track mostly through woodland to the summit. In the heat and given rough stretches of track it’s no picnic but I managed it in the end despite a few breaks and the odd stretch walking my bike.

Wind turbine - a long tough ride up!

My longest excursion which I can recommend took me south to north across the island to Samos Town. After a short ride through the coastal stretch there is a long uphill spell through the green wooded slopes that characterise so much of Samos. Eventually the road flattens out and over the spine of the hills you go until you reach the top of the hill going down into Samos. Then there is a long downward descent into the town on a very good slowly curving road which provides great views of the bay in which the town sits. The town itself is worth a visit, arrayed around a large bay with a long seafront road. The town centre is pleasant enough and although it is easy to spot the presence of migrants, the town still very much has a touristy feel. 

Samos centre

German border boat I think

Being a sucker for punishment I decided to visit Moyrtia beach, a beach on the east coast a further cycle ride from Samos Town. My directions were to take the road back up the hill and then take a left turn to a particular town. Somewhere the left turn got lost as I reached the top of the very long hill after much earnest pedalling to find a sign to my destination pointing back down the hill! No way was I going back down that hill so I decided on a change of plan, to hit somewhere on the coast even if it wasn’t that beach. Taking a different road, I suddenly espied a sign to the original beach and went for it. It was worth it, a secluded cove with minimal infrastructure, moored boats bobbing in the sea and plenty of potential snorkelling territory, a chance to sunbathe for an hour or two. The only snag was a long winding descent to the bay which would have to be conquered on my return. If you like hills, Samos is the island for you!

Moyrtia beach - do't tell anyone!

Pythagoria is a tidy little resort on the south coast as I said just shy of the main airport. The main street cuts straight as an arrow down to the seafront where it hits the harbour at 90 degrees, just as if Pythagoras, the great man himself had laid it out with a giant set square. Here you can head right or left along the promenade, choosing which of the innumerable restaurants and bars to visit. If you go left, the harbour curves round past a flotilla of moored boats and eventually reaches a beach area. If you go right, a shorter distance brings you to another, but smaller beach.

Pythagoria harbour front

  

Pythagoria is of course known as the home of Pythagoras and the harbour boasts a monument to the classic mathematician in the form of a large set square. Pythagoras was by all accounts a bit of a polymath and not just a dab hand at maths. In fact he was evidently somewhat of a mystic and into occultic activities as well. 

Yes it's the Pythagoras monument!

Pythagoria also has a castle right on the clifftop at the south end of the town with some great views of the town and surrounding coastline. It also gives a super vantage point for the airport runway if you’re into plane spotting as the runway virtually falls into the sea, and any plane taking off or landing might brush anyone with a large Afro standing on the battlements. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay long enough to see any action, Samos airport is no Gatwick.

Pythagoria castle on the cliff front

One interesting excursion in the foothills of Pythagoria is the ancient water aqueduct which serviced the needs of the then city of Samos, which confusingly lay on the south side of the island, whereas modern day Samos Town lies on the north coast. There was an underground section of the aqueduct which extended about 1100m and you can now visit by putting on a hard hat and taking a tour. There are different grades of tours and we did the basic 20m one where a guide takes you into the hillside and along straight stretches of tunnel. There are two sections in the tunnel itself, the upper section you walk along looking down through grills to the lower section which carried the piping. The lower section alternates pipe/open section/pipe as you follow its course. 

I was able to see a fair bit of the island by taking an excursion by minibus with a Dutch guide, and also by hiring a car on another day and being upgraded to a jeep (lucky me!). Theodora our guide was a plain speaking lady who wore her heart on her sleeve. I quizzed her about different groups of tourists coming to the island and should never have mentioned the Russians, she proceeded to tell me they were banned from two hotels on the island. She also waxed lyrical about the migrant crisis, on the sadness of it rather than railing against migrants. Theodora had married a German and cut virtually all her ties with the Netherlands. She obviously loved the island and knew plenty of residents, and there was a lot to love about it, the climate, bountiful food untouched by chemicals and pesticides, the Mediterranean lifestyle, what’s not to like. 

Desirable spot

She took us up through the spine of the island, thrusting north west via a monastery built flush against the aforementioned aqueduct and overlooking Pythagoria, then a shop on the forested mountain slopes selling Greek honey straight from the production line and sweet wine. This was followed by a trip up the zig zags high up into the mountain village of Platanos to visit a superb restaurant perched through divine inspiration over a glorious view to the sea both to the north and the south across well watered mountain slopes. Here we had possibly the best lunch I have ever had, a mixture of divine starters shared between us. We then proceeded to the north coast where we headed along the coastal highway past various settlements and resorts, including the sprawl of Karlovasi whose harbour front looked like a relic of the Second World War with its concrete ambience and grey harbour warehouses. Eventually we ended up at Potami beach, alluringly spaced out below our twisting tree lined route along the craggy cliff face. Here we parked up and followed a stream up through wooded glades to a rock pool, where we donned our swimmers and waded up to chest height (or neck height if you’re short!) through a small ravine to an even more secluded pool where a waterfall chucks it down over your shoulders if you’re up for standing under it. Here we take selfies and indulgent shots, one of which  encapsulates the excitement of a Richmond holiday, a semi submerged lady, arms outstretched sideways and an expression of superhuman enjoyment on her face.

I have deep roots

My jeep tour on the last day of the holiday took me first of all down to the south east corner of the island, a spectacular ride down a mountainous spine with almost constant views of the seductive sea below. Always in the back of my mind with a new vehicle, how long would the petrol last as the empty gauge now flashed up. Why hadn’t I got petrol earlier? As it happened there was enough to get me down to the harbour at Posidonio for a coffee and back up to Samos Town for a fill up. Distances aren’t great in Samos with reserve in the tank. It was still a big relief to top up. Off I went again from Samos Town along the coast road west, intending to reach Potami beach later in the afternoon for a swim land sunbathe. Kokkari was the first stop, an attractive resort with cute winding streets some of which climb up a little hill by the harbour front. The usual bevy of restaurants and tourist shops lace the seafront vicinity. If you take a walk along the front to the east and are prepared to take your trainers off to negotiate a bit of surf you reach a very nice beach with a hilly promontory and its own cafe. I had lunch here but minus the beach experience on a disappointingly overcast day. However as I left the sky brightened and more sunseekers appeared.

My trusty jeep

Kokkari - good spot for a second home!

Onward I went along the north coast and took a left turn up to the mountain village of Vourilotes, home of our Dutch guide and lauded as very beautiful, and so it proved to be. Mountains mean mountains even on a small island like Samos, and we are talking serious uphill inclines of the switchback variety. However the road was good despite its tortuous route, and the destination was worth it, a maze of intricate lanes with houses packed in like toothpaste in a tube. I found the village square, dinky sized and taken up substantially with cafe tables. Time for a welcome drink. It was well worth the climb, a super place to live I guess if you can fit in with Greek culture, with views to die for and an enviable quality of life, as long as you’re not bothered about the clock. The views were spectacular, with green wooded hills tumbling way down into the Med.

Fancy a proper view

Cafe hidden in high mountain village

Once back on the coast road I sped on through the little coastal towns and settlements but by the time I reached Karlovasi the sky had become overcast and the beach wasn’t so attractive. I did however sit on Potami beach and had a read of Jordan Peterson’s ‘12 Rules for Life’ before having a coffee and driving as far as the main road would take me, which wasn’t much further before a track took over. Ok for my jeep if I had the time, but not for normal cars. One of my fellow holiday makers took a hired car on one of the minor roads but it proved to be an unpleasant experience! So make sure you get s good briefing before taking a vehicle out on Samos.

Potami Beach

Is that Pyth in the distance

Typically being me I decided to do the ‘Valley of the Nightingales’ on my return ride. This destination had been mentioned to me as a worthy trip by Sheila, our very friendly young Belgian receptionist at the hotel. It meant another diversion from the coastal road up into the mountains for another idyllic village, Manolates, floating high on the slopes. So after climbing through the forest with one hairpin bend after another I finally arrived well into the evening with dusk descending. You really needed an afternoon there to enjoy the winding streets with lots of alluring arty craft shops and restaurants, or the local signposted walks. Never mind, I thoroughly recommend to aspiring Samos visitors. 

Dinky winding streets

The night was drawing in, and I ended up driving back to Pythagoria (I needed a break from hotel food!) for an evening meal on the harbour front, which had to be done! I ordered a classic lamb dish, which came with copious potato but little else when I was expecting vegetables. I think possibly something was lost in translation but in the end I got a late plate of legumes and a dessert on the house. That just about brought me to the end of the holiday!