Well, the full moon was on the day that I left, so... no party for me :(
Coming back from Thessaloniki, my boat docked in Iraklion on Sunday at 2315h, which meant that I couldn't catch a bus to Rethymnon and then Plakias. Not that it made much difference, 'cause I was flat broke - not a cent on me. So, what could I do but hike to the highway (took me about 45 minutes) and hitch a ride. At midnight. Alone. In my army trousers. What was I thinking? Who's going to stop for a guy like that?
Anyway, optimistic as I am, I waited and sure enough a guy pulled over in a pick-up truck, and dropped me off about 40Km further down the road, since he was turning off the highway. Well, my mood got a bit better, and I thought "Hey, this could work..." So I sat by the road for a couple of hours, watching the cars whiz by me...
There was apparently an accident some 10Km back from where I was, because I saw a police cruiser flashing the blue lights followed by an ambulance, and some time later a fire truck, and finally a tow truck... "Too bad" I thought, but at least I can hope that the cops will give me a lift, reasoning that they will not be afraid to pick up a stranded hitchiker in the middle of the night. Guess what. I was wrong and bored, so I got up and started walking. After about 25 minutes, slap bang in the middle of nowhere, a taxi driver stopped and gave me a ride to Rethymnon. HappyHappyJoyJoy!!! I'm almost home...
Off the highway, on to the smaller road, around 0400h, I started walking to keep the cold and boredom away, and tried to hitch a ride with the few vehicles that passed by... Tough luck, I ended up walking for 15Km before a guy stopped and went out of his way to drop me off in Plakias (Thank you!)... By that time it was 0645 - mere 7 hours for a 120Km trip... My ankle was hurting, my muscles sore, but I got into the shop (good thing I had the keys), took a bike and rode it to Selia, and hugged the bed.............
