16 Naxos 2006

The Naxos icon.
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No matter where you're headed in the Cyclades, there's a good chance the ferry will stop at Naxos along the way.  It's a big island and a car is typically recommended.  Of course, we walk more than the average tourist, so we walked all over Naxos.  To get deeper into the island, we took a bus to a popular hiking trail.  We weren't sure exactly where it was, so we just got off when a number of people with backpacks and trekking poles got off.  We followed them to the trail, but it turned out to be a different trail on the other side of the mountain.  Not to be defeated by a mountain named Zeus, we simply climbed to the top of the mountain and then down the other side to the cave where we were headed to begin with.

Spring-water reward after climbing up and over Mt. Zeus.
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Of course, this took a LONG time.  Eventually we reached the road where we hoped to catch a bus returning to the port town.  There would be only one bus coming through.  Had we already missed it?  After standing there for a while considering our options, we decided to try hitch-hiking.  A European couple stopped for us, but they weren't headed toward the port town.  Finally, we decided to ask them to take us to ANY town.  They did, and it turned out to be a good plan.  The bus came through that town just before dark and rescued us.  Whew!

They say you need a car on Naxos - but we walked anyway.

Goatskin bagpipe of Naxos.
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GPS:  We walked 29 miles and climbed 2500 feet on Naxos