Heraklion to Sfakia

Thursday, April 29th, 2014 Sfakia
Yesterday, we checked out of our hotel around 10 am and walked down to the bus station. We had tickets for the 11:30 bus to Hania, which stops in Vryses where we would make our bus connection to Sfakia. We got to the Heraklion station just as the 10:30 bus to Hania was doing final loading. We showed our tickets and asked if it would stop in Vryses. We were assured that it would and told to put our luggage under the left side of the bus and get on, even though it wasn't really our bus. Away we went, making stops in Rethymno and a couple of other places.
We asked the bus attendant about stopping in Vryses so we wouldn't miss it. When we got there, the bus stopped along the highway out of town. They told us to get out and just stand on the other side for our bus to Sfakia. However, there was nowhere to pull off the highway to open the left side luggage door so we had to go about 1 km up the road to another stop. There we got out, got our luggage and instead of standing by the highway as we were told before, now we were told to walk back into the town of Vryses to the bus station. (This was all in gestures and a bit of English along with a lot of Greek).
We were more or less in the middle of nowhere so we donned our packs and started walking. We found Vryses without too much trouble, asked around and found a little diner/bus station. We bought tickets and a beer to share since we had to sit there for an hour and a half. Vryses is the north end of Sfakia region so it's starting to get a little folksy.

 We put our packs in the corner and settled in for the wait. It was very entertaining. There was one old local guy sitting just outside, knocking back shots of ouzo about every 15 minutes (at 1:00 pm). Other local guys gradually drifted in on their motorbikes. Black shirts and camo pants tucked into lace-up high leather boots is the fashion choice here, along with big moustaches.

 When I took Anita's picture, the guy at the next table thought I should take his picture too, so I did. He was speaking Greek and doing a lot of gesturing but he was smiling so I don't think he was being critical of my lineage. After a little while his table was surrounded by his buddies, all pounding down beer. However, they either ignored us or were friendly so all was well.

 When the bus arrived, who should be on it but the young American couple that we had chatted with on the ferry 2 days before and at a bus stop at Knossos Palace 1 day before. We think they're following us. This happens sometimes on the tourist trail. Soon the bus was climbing over the White Mountains. We were on a fairly new paved 2 lane road but it twists and turns through many switchbacks. Sometimes we were just hanging over cliffs.

At one point we had to slow down to avoid the goats on the road.

 Eventually we started down the last slope, which got less steep near the coast. However, there are probably 10 switchbacks in this picture, some right down the steep slope and others on the gradual drop to the sea. It's not a road for the faint of heart.
Sfakia is really the hillbilly country of Crete. The Ottoman Turks ruled Crete for 400 years but they never ruled Sfakia region. These people are fiercely independent and, even now, personally well armed. They're notorious for their guns. In WWII, many Allied troops were evacuated from the port of Chora Sfakion as the Nazis moved in. However, the Greek resistance fought on. At one point they managed to kill a German general. In retaliation, the Nazis slaughtered whole villages. They have come by their independence the hard way.
We also heard that there is a ghost village here where a minor disagreement between 2 families turned into a vendetta. In the end, 64 people died and the town is now deserted.
Oddly enough, Sfakia is now a favorite vacation spot for lots of German and other European tourists, especially those who like to hike the gorges. There are also tourists who come here to see the sites where a lot of small but significant historic battles were fought, both against the Ottoman Turks and the Nazis. We're doing some hiking in the gorges and along the coast while we're here.