Today was a bank holiday in Crete. We drove down to Kokinos Pirgos beach (on the south coast near Timbaki), where we had lunch. The driving time was about 90 minutes including a stop for drinks on the way. The sandy beach was almost empty apart from a few Greek families enjoying their day off. The sea was a wonderful shade of deep turquoise. The tavernas were reasonably busy; they had a good choice on the menu and were inexpensive. After a relaxing meal at a table between the road and the beach we drove on to Timbaki which is a couple of kilometres inland. The town appeared to lack character and was a disappointment. There are plenty of shops and a street market, but overall it was a depressing place. We drove around some of the back streets looking for some redeeming features or interesting old buildings but without success. Whilst I am sure if we had spent more time there we would have found the locals pleasant and inviting, there was an air of poverty and deprivation about the place which made Cathy feel unsafe; the first time she has ever felt unsafe in Crete. We drove on and visited the ruins of the Minoan Festos Palace before returning via Zaros and Anogia to Panormo for a drink and supper.

The journey from Zeros to Anogia was interesting because we choose to leave the metalled roads at Geigen and take a 20 kilometre short-cut up and over the mountain range. I like driving along mountain tracks and take every opportunity to do so. The narrow stone and dirt tracks on this route are hacked into the mountain side with several sheer drops waiting for you if you veer just a few inches off course. I have driven on worse roads but this route was particularly difficult because I was driving directly into the bright late afternoon sun one minute and then in virtual darkness under the rock face the next.The side of the track had been washed away in places barely leaving room for a vehicle. Just to spice things up the track was occasionally partially blocked by rock falls. Meeting vehicles coming the other way was challenging as passing places were few and far between. Luckily we only saw two other vehicles in the 50 minutes it took to drive this track. We are glad we did it for the experience, but we would probably not go on this particular shortcut again! There are no photographs of this drive - I was too busy keeping the car on the road!