on November 9th 1866 when hundreds of refugees and revolutionaries chose death over surrender to the Turks and blew themselves to pieces with the gunpowder that was being stored there by the Cretan Revolutionaries. The monastery was rebuilt again and is we will be stopping here on the second leg of our stay in Crete.To go to Crete without going through the gorge would be a missed opportunity for an incredible experience this activity requires physical stamina and there is no pressure to take this hike if you are not up to it. Eventually we will reach a stream and begin our trek towards the sea, passing on our way the deserted village of Sammaria and a variety of wildflowers and terrains. The gorge ends at the village of Agia Roumeli where there are restaurants, cafes and a boat that will take us to Chora Sfakion where we will be spending the night. It is the general consensus that Chora Sfakion is the best place to stay on the southern coast of Crete. The town is full of touriswts but it has retained it's Greek charactor and most of the foreigners who go there and promote it have helped to keep it that way. There are good restaurants with authentic Greek and Cretan food and a balance of tourist activities to go with the traditional activities. The area around Chora Sfakion is some of the most beautiful in Crete due to the inaccessability of the area in the past. The lush, green island of Lesvos is like no other. It is the third largest in the Aegean Archipelago behind Crete and Evia. Virtually unaffected by the mass tourism that has turned other islands into amusement parks, Lesvos is the perfect place to visit for people who want to experience the real Greece. For the Greek Island traveler who is worried about not having enough to do, Lesvos is the perfect destination. Lesvos is blessed with Award-winning beaches, traditional villages, more varieties of birds and wildflowers then anywhere in Europe, pine forests, medieval castles, ...
