Crete - Page 2

Livaniana - Aradena gorge - Marmara beach

Today it became more demanding. I remembered that it was going to be a heat battle and we took plenty of water with us. Still, we wondered if we weren't making a mistake: to run up a long steep mountain without shade in Crete in high summer. We started extra early and it went immediately eternally dry uphill, passing herds of goats. Slowly past the village of Livaniana, serpentines began, we used here every little shade in the rock to drink. Arrived soaked on top of the plateau, the peaks of the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) were visible.

Going around to the right you reach Anopolis, we walked along to the left over the Aradena bridge into the deserted village of Aradaina. Supposedly, bungee jumping takes place here over the summer, but I had noticed nothing both times I have been here. The place itself consists only of ruins, it was abandoned in the 1950-ies. Here begins or ends, depending on where you enter, one of the most spectacular gorges of Crete. A small bar came as called, we sit down first in the shade and cooled down. After that we entered the gorge, first down a steep path to the bottom of the valley.

The rock walls piled up on the left and right at first almost 140 m high and we walked under the bridge. At the beginning very narrow, the gorge opens up then towards the sea. Downhill, the hike through the gorge takes about 2 hours, often you have to climb over huge rocks. Sometimes a ladder leans against one of the boulders. But it remained challenging. Also now and then a carcass lies on the stones, from goats, which had fallen from the mountain. If at the beginning still, a part of the path was shady, it became muddy and hot again further down in the wider gorge.

But behind the last bend, the view opens up to Marmara Beach. What a contrast, blue water, sun, white pebble beach. Quite a lot of sun-seekers waited here under their palm-leaf umbrellas. From time to time boats took people home or brought them from there. After a short swim we climbed the rock that separated us from Lykos Beach. It is part of the E4, it is more climbing than walking at the place. But he led directly to the beer under the olive tree 🙂.