2011 - My Tiki Tour (Part 9 - Chios)

A large number of days on Greece's 5th largest island doing very little. Chios is a non touristy island. Its wealth comes from shipping (most of Greece's shipping owners hail from Chios), the unique mastic gum produced on the island, and citrus fruit. Tourism makes up a tiny part of the economy. There are a large number of students there due to the branch of the University of the Aegean being on the island. There are also quite a few soldiers due to close proximity (7 km) of Turkey.

The ferry over to Chios was a bit bouncy. Going inside the ferry was warm but made the stomach a bit queasy, whereas on deck the stomach settled but it was freezing.

There were a lot of domestic travellers to the island as it was Easter and a lot of people travel back to their historical villages for the celebrations.

Abandoned windmills in Chios town.

Chios Town.

The cathedral in Chios Town.

A floral street in Chios town.

The ferry coming into Chios town.

The waterfront of Chios town.

The weather for the first few days was sunny but with a stiff gale coming from the north, thus cooling things down a fair bit. It rained for a couple more days and then it was nice and sunny for the final couple of days.

The island is quite large and does require a car to travel around over a couple of days. The first day I drove the southern loop, via Pyrgi, Mesta, the west coast, Avanatos and Nea Moni.

Country side in south Chios.

The church in Pyrgi.

The main square in Pyrgi.

Pyrgi's decoration.

An alleyway in Pyrgi.

More of Pyrgi's decoration.

Mesta town.

The main square in Mesta.

Windows in Mesta.

A small bay on the west coast of Chios.

Nea Moni Monastery.

Nea Moni Monastery.

Nea Moni Monastery.

The second day I did the northern loop. The weather was miserable all day with rain and fog all day. The roads up north and very narrow and winding and they pass through tiny little villages clinging precariously to the mountain sides.

A deserted monastery in the north of the island.

The castle at Volissos.

A moody coastal scene.

The deserted town of Avanatos.

The deserted town of Avanatos.

There was an Irish guy in the hostel who did not want to drive on the wrong side of the road so I volunteered to be his driver for the day, for which he paid me coffee, a couple of beers and a few Euro for my troubles. Nice work.

Hotel review: The Chios Rooms is probably the best hostel I have ever stayed in. I managed to get the penthouse suit in the attic. It had its own bathroom and sun deck with a view. The owner, Don, is from Invercargill and has been in Greece off and on for 35 years. He is a top bloke and has huge amounts of information on the island, Greece and seems to know everyone. He also has strong opinions on life in general and is very ready to share them with you over a beer or an ouzo. There was a great variety of people passing through whilst I was there, for example, an American professor of religious studies, several Americans teaching English in Turkey, a French family, French exchange students, an Irishman living in Melbourne, a kiwi brother and sister, a Japanese couple and so on.

The view from my balcony.