8/31/2002
Paros
Richard took us to the top of the island today. After showing us around a little, he pointed out several roads and landmarks from which to navigate and then we were off. We chose the steepest path down, but it appeared to intersect one of the main roads quicker than a more circuitous route. The first 500m were pretty rough, practically climbing down the rocks, avoiding prickly cactus-like plants and loose rocks. We had thought we would primarily walk down roads so hadn’t prepared properly with normal shoes and long pants. This made the going mucho more fun.
Several wrong turns, heated discussions and observances of cars making wrong turns and having to backtrack later, we came within sight of a paved road (2.5 hrs). It still took quite a bit of navigating to make it to the road. We found these old paths running down in between the car roads, which cut some of the distances down. No telling when some of the paths were built, but the paths themselves were primarily made of marble worn smooth by years of foot traffic.
All in all, the trip was nearly four hours of hiking, and covered 15km or more. We got to the edge of town just as the sun was nearing the horizon for a pretty spectacular sunset and great happiness at being back in civilization (or at least what passes in Greece for civilization).
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