A slow boat to Folegandros

Another early morning start. It seemed so cruel to do it to ourselves, but truth be told, one day and two nights in Athens and then move on, was the only plan we had. Now we had another – a 7:00am ferry to Folegandros. So with that we woke a 4:45am, packed up and made our way down to the metro for a train to Piraeus – the port of Athens. The dark streets were largely empty except for a small smattering of backpackers with similar plans. Oh! … and a guy wearing only undies and sneakers. I’m not sure what his story was, just part of the fabric of Athens, I guess.

We worked our way through the system well and boarded our ferry. It was to take nine hours and stop at Serifos, Sifnos and Milos – all places that had been on our list. Yet, for some reason Folegandros won out.

We had debated whether to take one of the faster ferries. However, the slow boat won out. The reasons:- 

* It was cheaper

* there was more outside space to enjoy

* stopping at other islands would give us the opportunity to see them and decide if we wanted to go there

* the mode of travel seemed less aggressive than the wave pounding jet boats.

It was a good decision.

The trip was smooth and uneventful. We shared our time between outside at the front of the boat and some inside seats. At each island, we made sure we were outside. We also ran out to look if we chugged past any other islands – and there were quite a few of those. I was struck by the colour of the Agean Sea. Never have I seen a blue like it and trying to describe it, would be a waste of time but it was a magnificent blue.

The ferry was not crowded and most people were Greeks. It felt good not to be part of the international tourist crowd – whom we assumed were all on the jet boats. People got on and off at the stops. I had thought the logical thing would be the ferry would empty more as we moved along the islands. Not so, in Milos a crowd of young, international, bikini wearing tourists boarded the boat. We felt overrun. Not only that, where were they all off to? Folegandros. It has a population of just 800 people, surely all of these tourists couldn’t be going there too? Panic set in – we still hadn’t booked any accommodation. We quickly had find something by using a combination of guidebooks and apps and make a booking at Ampelos, in the Chora – or main town.  We chose it as, like a good bottle of Australian wine, it is the second least expensive. 

Then we did the next sensible thing and checked where the ferry was off to – not an easy tasks as the ferry sites are quite specific and you need to know what you want. Talking it through, we worked out it was probably headed for Santorini after Folegandros. We checked the site, yep! Ios and Santorini – but Robert and I are less worried now we have accommodation booked.

As the ferry begins its glide next to Folegandros, we are in awe the huge, rugged cliffs that stretch from the sea straight up to the sky. Apparently it was used as a place of exile for political prisoners from Roman times to as late as the Greek military dictatorship of the late 1960s to early 1970s.

When we arrive at the port, only around 30-40 people disembark. Next to the port is a pretty beach, with people sitting in the shade of the trees. It appears there is no “beach commerce” chairs and umbrellas for hourly hire here. The owner of our accommodation, Theo, is there to greet us at the dock and takes us to the hotel. It is like walking into an oasis. A sparkling pool sits in the centre of colourful villas covered in a riot of grapevines and different different coloured bougainvilleas. Our little bedroom villa has two outdoor areas either side to allow us to chase the shade throughout the day if we decide to stay at home. Through our typical little blue Greek window, we can see down to the sea and other islands. 

We have two guide books. One describes the island as having “verdant countryside” the other describes it as “bleak and arid”. It is probably somewhere between both. Certainly our hotel sits on the verdant side of the argument and the view looks out across arid to the blue sea and other distant islands – but Folegandros is not bleak. It is beautiful. We find out how beautiful later that evening when we walk into town for dinner. 

This is where the photos take over. You’ve heard of places being “instgrammable” – this place is the nirvana of scenic vistas, five plazas are linked with classic narrow winding laneways and small white houses. There are many churches and cats lounging on every drystone fence, sleeping in every spot of shade, eyeing off every person that walks past the step they sit on. The food is pretty amazing too. 

My last word on Folegandros is – get here before the Kardashians and those of their ilk. Get here before the cruise ships. Get here before beach commerce hits. Get here before there are no more slow boats.