A WALKING TRIP OF 500 KM FROM EAST TO WEST OF CRETE, 30 DAYS OF WALKING ALONG THE EUROPEAN PATH E4.
AN ITALIAN AND A CRETAN DISCOVERING THE ISLAND OF GOATS, GORGES AND GODS.
Who will walk the whole path: Luca Gianotti, from Italy, mountain guide, 13 years of leading groups in Crete; and Stelios Georgedakis, from Crete, good walker, and important to enter in the spirit of the place.
The trip will start in November 2010, and will end after one month of walking, 500 km only on foot.
From Kato Zakros, crossing in the middle of Crete, walking on 3 mountain ranges (Oros Dikti, Oros Idi e Lefka Ori) , till the last part, the most famous, near the sea, with overwelming gorges, to the Monastery of Christoskalitissa.
The trip will be more adventurous since we will be walking in winter; with a lot of snow on the top of mountains. We will need to be well equipped.
We’ll post a daily blog in 3 languages (Italian, English and Greek) with the story of the trip. And after we’ll write articles for magazines and a book with the complete guide to the Cretan E4.
We’ll also make GPS trails available for anyone to download from the website.
We want also to help a project of solidarity, with our walk (for now we have an idea, a sancuary of donkeys run by an English couple in the east side of Crete, but we are still looking for other projects..).
Stelios and Luca on the top of Pachnes
ALONG THE WAY
Meeting people will be the more precious goal of the trip. Talking with people, about the way they live in this far happy corner of Europe, where everything is slow, no hurry, ancient gestures, stories of heroes, shepherds, hunters…
Meeting also people that are not from Crete, but decided to come and live here leaving England, France, Belgium, why they’ve done? We want to tell these stories… to meet who opened a little pension, who grows organic, little experiments of ethical living…
SUGGESTED BOOKS:
David MacNeil Doren “Winds of Crete” Efstathiadis
Christopher Thorne “Between the Seas – A Quiet Walk Through Crete” , Sinclair-Stevenson 1992
Christopher Somerville “The Golden Step” 2007
THE CRETAN WAY 
We are very much hoping that we will be able to bring a donkey to accompany you on some of your walk. This is of course dependent on us having our trailer by October. Fingers crossed!
Our sanctuary not only houses some old and injured donkeys but we also have some younger fitter ones who just love to get out in the countryside and have a walk with their human friends.
Hello,nice share.