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Sphakia – Impressions
They left him behind.’ Back on the Omalos, Hadzimichalis erected a
house in triumph. And lo, it fell down overnight. So he realized what
he had forgotten to do, and built the saint’s church. This done, the
re-erected house stood firm.
A poem is inscribed over his grave:
Traveller on the Omalos, turn aside and pass near me,
So you may see and reflect on what I achieved.
Learn and assess the story of my troubled course,
And do not remain deceived and innocent of the world.
The planet which gave us birth has great sweetness.
The mighty are struck down, the humble are revealed.
I therefore transcribed these lines to remind readers of the achieve-
ments of a typical Cretan captain.
5 June. The gorge of Samaria. We tried to take Aleko through the
gorge, but without success. It was difficult to persuade him at first to go
down the xyloskala (wooden steps) which descend from the Omalos into
the gorge. Even after he reached the bottom there were problems;
for where the path was narrow the rucksacks which hung on either side
of his saddle would bang against the encroaching rocks, and we were
afraid that he would twist an ankle from the jolt. After one such incident
he panicked. So we decided to return to the Omalos. But more intrepid
travellers will find that it is quite possible to take a mule or donkey
through the gorge.
We went through ourselves the next day. I don’t want to say too
much about the gorge of Samaria. It seems to attract exaggeration.
For example, ‘All who have been through the gorge describe the experi-
ence in awesome terms - like some descent into the underworld or back
into some past millenium. 1 Well. . . . The gorge is beautiful, it may
inspire awe; but it is no more remote or dangerous (in summer) than
many Scottish glens. A new motive for exaggeration is the tourist
build-up. The gorge is now a National Park and game reserve. A new
metalled road is being built from Lakki on to the Omalos to complete
the communication line with Canea. A tourist hotel is being built at
the very top of the xybskalaj overlooking the gorge itself; God knows
why. The top is already prey to trippers in excursion groups who
stand on the rim and throw stones over the top. But at least when they
have had a look they go away. They might have built the hotel at
the other end of the Omalos. There is something paradoxical about the
publicity the gorge now gets. Just at the time when it is in danger of
being domesticated it must be made to appear savage, majestic and
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