Exploring Kos

Mt. Dikeos

Our plan was to sail from Symi to Nisyros and further up to Kalymnos/Leros where our swedish friends were waiting for us. But the wind didn`t want us to do that and we realized it was better to sail to Kos town, and stay there for a couple of days until the wind calm down. We have been in Kos before but we haven`t seen that much of the island.

We arrived late, after sunset, to Kos town, so we anchored outside town. That is easier rather than go inside a marina in the dark. Last time we anchored here it was pritty bumpy because of the swell, but this night it was okay.

The next morning we call the harbour master and asked if it was space for us in the harbour, and we could sail into the marina (town quay). It was not many boats there.

After lunch we rented a car from Hermes Car rental. That was cheap and the guy was really nice, we will recommend you to call Hermes Car rental if you need a car on Kos.

Our plan this day was to do a hike to the highest mountain, Mt. Dikeos at 846 masl. We went to the town Zia and parked the car there. We were already on about 400 masl. We followed the instruction on alltrails.com, and it was easy to find the place to start.

The first part was stairs but very nice to walk.

Then it was a long distance with gravel roads. You are walking in the shadow most of the trail so in wintertime it can be cold. Wear good shoes and clothes, and bring water and snack.

Right after this church we took a shortcut. A bit steeper than the road, but much shorter, We took the road back so we know it was much longer to go there.

The shortcut. No marks, but it was easy to see the trail.

Further up the hill you will have a nice view.

When we started from Kos town we saw it could be some fog on the top, and as closer we came to the top the more fog it was. In the fog it also get colder.

And when you are swetting like me you will be cold! It`s time to bring some more clothes in my backpack!

But the view is good up there!

When we started to reach the ridge it was more and more foggy, so we decided to turn.

Astor went a little bit further up to see how it was, but it was nothing to see, and very cold. So we went down again to the car.

Here is a video from this hike! I wish I can come back here one day and do this hike on a sunny day!

Asklipieio Kos

The next day we were awake early and started our exploring of Kos. We went first to Asklipieio, which is an ancient medical center 4 km from Kos town. It dates from the first half of the 3rd century BC and it was built to honor the god of health and medicine, Asklepios, after the death of the famous ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates. 

A beautiful place to visit, specially in the low season where you have almost the whole place for yourselves!

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One of the best ancient places we have visited!

There were many cats and many of them was cozy.

Amazing handicrafts!!

From the top you have an amazing view over the place and all the way down to the sea.

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One with head and one without…

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Palaio Pyli Castle

After visiting Asklipieio we went to Palaio Pyli Castle. We could reed that it was hard to find the trail up there so we were curious if it was difficult. The beginning was very easy, just take the right direction….

The first building we saw was a church. It was looked so we couldn`t go inside.

We are on Kos because of the wind, and it was also much wind here up in the hill. And here is the point of the trail you have to be aware. There is a sign on my right side (left side in the photo) with “castle” and an arrow. But when I saw the sign on the way up I thought we should follow the trail, becaues of the direction of the sign. But when we came back here we tried to walk up through the stones, and luckily we found a new trail!

Here you can see were I am standing in front of the Ottomans Baths with the castle on the top of the hill above.

We continue on the trail and came to the ancient settlement of Pyli. Some buildings were still remaining, but most of it was ruin. We thought the trail continue from here up to the castle, but we couldn`t find anything, and then I remembered the sign downhill and we walked back there to check it out.

This is a really nice place for a picnic!

People left money here for luck and happiness (I guess)

When I see building like this, I can`t stop thinking about our house. Will our house stand like it does now in 2000 years, or will it be a ruin? Is it solid enough to be there “forever”?

A lot of goats around.

The church of Panagia ton Kastriana.

Finally we found the trail up to the castle, and a lot of ruins on the way.

The main gate to the castle.

This castle was originally constructed in the Byzantine times and flourished from the 9th to the 11th century.

It was hard to keep the camera still, because it was really windy up there. And no fence so we had to be careful!

Spectacular view from the castle!

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The main part of the castle.

What a view up there!

And the view to the abandoned settlement below us.

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Yep, it was windy!

What is this??

This visit was really nice! And it is so nice to go around and it is only the two of us! Specially since it was so windy and we had to be careful, and my dress was flying…

Kardamena

We went further on to Kardamena. We have been in Kardamena before, in April this year. Also at that time we were hiding from the wind, but then it was northerly wind. Now it is from south and the waves was really huge!

Here is a little bit about our stay in Kardamena last time:

We continue exploring Nisyros and are sailing to Kos!

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It was really bumpy in the marina. Only a couple of guest boats. I wouldn`t been here in this weather.

Much more was closed now than in April, so we decided to drive further south.

We wanted to go to the northwest side of the island, we hoped it should be less wind there, and maybe there was a restaurant. But of course, that was closed. And it was too windy to have a swim anyway. We had a stop in Kefalos for lunch, but it was very windy!

From Kefalos we drow down to the beach and to Agios Stefanos Beach. It was amazing to see the rough see.

On the small island it is a small church. On a nice summer day it would be nice to have a swim out there.

There is some old ruins of a basilica right on the beach.

The beach on the other side of the ruins.

A 1500 years old basilica, St. Stefanos.

We delivered the car and are back in the boat.

Here is a video from todays activities:

So finally our plan is now to sail to Leros to meet Ingela and Lars before they are flying back home to Sweden. Follow us next week!