Sue and Swanno had given us information on driving around Kos and told us how to avoid the white roads (unpaved) on the map. They might not have gotten the same map. With any excuse for a run, Sue ran in front of their rental car to ensure the pot holes wouldn’t swallow it. Except for one unpaved road near Tigaki, we managed to stay on paved roads. Thanks Swannos.
We started by visiting Asklipieion, More on that tomorrow, it can’t all fit into one blog.
We went from Asklepion to Asfendiou, which are the five mountain village of Kos. Unlike other islands, Kos has clouds in July caught on the summit of Mt Diakios. There are forests of cypresses and the area is very lush.
We drove into Zia and we thought we were in Bali, streets full of stalls of ‘souvenirs’. We only got out of the car to take a photo of the summit overlooking the village. Tour buses of ferry passengers might be the big buyers but you can not see the village for the stalls.
We drove by beautiful churches, many on the highest hills away from other homes. We drove through Pyli to Mastihari and went to the Kosta recommended TamTam for lunch. This coast Mamari and Tigaki have many resorts with kayaks, swimming, sailing and wind surfing all on offer. Kosta hired us the car and gave us a great map and circled all the highlights for us. TamTam was not too expensive, he told Jim. He never mentioned the fact that it was fantastic. You could easily spend the day here. A beach, beach showers, a restaurant and deck chairs for people who just want a drink or coffee between swims.
Still we had more places to see, we drove to Antimachia and visited the windmills, kindly dressed with their sails. These windmills are on many of the islands, used for grinding grain and may be as old the 16 century. They would be able to supply the grains to passing ships. There is also a Venetian fortress nearby, so the windmills are probably a Venetian addition to Kos.
Some of the nicest beaches on the islands are in the vicinity of Kefalos, including the little volcanic plug of Kastri Island. Paradise Beach, Camel Beach, are in Kamari Bay, you can go and swim but it is really suited to families as the beaches go out quite a way before they become even waist deep. Plenty of water sports here too.
We finished off with a visit to the Venetian Fortress, the goats had beat us there. There were plenty of walls and many Heralds on view. There are no buildings within the fortress except for two chapels. The Venetians used the fortress as a prison and it was often under attack by pirates.
