\u201cSeason of mists,\u201d wrote John Keats, referring to the English autumn, but November is generally a good month here in Paleochora. It’s cooler, and we can walk all day, the sea is still warm, and the summer crowds have gone. The ‘down-side’ is that ferry and ‘bus schedules are reduced, as are daylight hours, so of course it’s dark far earlier.<\/p>\n
Autumn is also a time for making plans for next year, which in my case include (D.V.) another trip to Nepal, with more trekking in the Himalaya, and walking further sections of the E4 long-distance path, especially in central and eastern Crete. I’ll be helped immensely in this respect by the recently published guidebook (2016, Anavasi) \u201cThe Cretan Way\u201d, written by Luca Gianotti, an Italian walking tour guide who I met at the ‘Third Eye’ in Paleochora last year. The book describes a 28-day walk (480 km) from Kato Zakros to Chrisoskalitisa Monastery, taking in both Psiloritis and the White Mountains, but suggesting alternative lower-level routes to by-pass these.<\/p>