by mike »
08 Oct 2020, 06:43
Just about everything was up and running. Although, all that matters for me in Hora Sfakion is Despina's (we all have our priorities).
The impact of covid will depend on who you talk to. Generally, there was a reversal of the tourist demographic, with many more Greeks than foreigners (usually the other way around). A couple of people mentioned to me that they actually missed the "regulars". Most of their clients have been strangers, which undermined a sense of community, I suppose. It was nice to hear.
Most visibly absent were hiking groups, especially in Ag Roumeli. But both the Daskalogiannis (for Sfakia) and Samaria (for Sougia) were always at least 50% capacity with independent hikers walking the gorge. The morning KTEL bus from Chania to Omalos was full on the morning I was there. I've seen days in May that were no more busy, but numbers were clearly down, probably from fewer package holiday bookings. In keeping with the trend over the past decade, as many people return to Sougia/Paleohora as they do to Sfakia. I attribute this to the development of the west resorts, which would be more accessible from Sougia.
I spent a couple of days in Chania. It was a dream. You could actually stroll along the harbour front during the day without constantly bumping shoulders with masses of people on day trips from the west resorts. It got busier in the evening but with a lot more of the local population, and without most of the itinerants selling balloons, etc. It all felt very relaxed and civilized, not a circus.
What most surprised me, and which was almost disorienting, was the number of people wearing masks. Crete generally, and certainly the Sfakia region, is much safer than my home country (Netherlands), and yet there seemed to be at least as many if not more precautions taken