Patmos & Home

Photo 1 - Just to prove that we have started our journey home. Our ferry at 30 knots weaving its way through the Greek Islands of the Aegean Sea, the Dodecanese Islands. We are now back in Kos.

Our stay on the Island of Patmos marked the end of our epic adventure to the other side of the world. Our journey to this little island on Thursday was uneventful, mostly because it was dark and we couldn’t see how close we were to the rocks like we saw today. The weather was cold and rainy and with a midday checkout at the hotel and a 8.5 hour wait until the ferry we paid 15 Euro for a 7pm checkout which turned out to be a wise move, it poured most of the time. We had dinner at a restaurant in Kos Town which we have found to be great and the owner is very friendly. Most of the business people speak very good English. We have found that restaurant eating in Greece is about half price compared to NZ. In fact lots of things are cheaper. A 1.5 litre bottle of water cost us 45 cents NZ. Clothes are a lot cheaper. This morning we had a chat with a lady from Australia who owns a cafe on Patmos who told us that towns on the main tourist routes do well, and people on Patmos have money in their pockets but are also the biggest complainers. Those not linked to the tourist industry are finding it hard. We took her word for it.

After dinner on Thursday we walked the few hundred metres to the ferry terminal to find a line up of large trucks and cars and maybe 100 pedestrians waiting to board. We all stood under a steel framed shelter covered with tarpaulins. By divine direction we happened to stand under what turned out to be the driest part of the structure as the heavens opened and it poured down with everyone trying to stand out of the rain and drips, watching the fabric bulge under the weight of the water as there wasn’t enough fall on the roof. The ferry arrived, the rain had almost stopped and we boarded dodging the cars and trucks loading and unloading as everyone used the main ramp. The ferry was modern and comfortable and we found a nice place to sit for the 3 hour sail to Patmos with one stop on the way. At Patmos we walked off the main ramp again to be met and whisked away to our hotel. A young boy was waiting to let us in. He showed us up to our room and left.

Being the winter off season the hotel was like staying in your grandmothers big house. Probably two lots of guests, and the elderly owner down stairs who waits on us for breakfast of bread, cheese and a boiled egg with coffee you can stand a teaspoon up in. Otherwise as we come and go we see no one. The hotel is “spartan” but well maintained and suited us. And compared to NZ about a third of the price.

Patmos itself has met our expectations. It is quite, beautiful and has the same spiritual vibes as Lake Galilee. On Friday, after our Greek breakfast, we headed away on out first big walk. All the signs are in Greek so we used dead reckoning to head off with mixed results at times. Anyway we chose a road with a sign “Apocalypto” and followed it as it weaved up the hill towards the very imposing looking monastery of St John the Evangelist. First stop though, the Cave of the Apocalypse, where it is supposed that Apostle John had his vision that resulted in the writing of the Book of Revelation.

Photo 2 - Although all decked out as a Greek Orthodox Chapel we both found it a moving place of quite and solitude, even though a monk was moving around doing the housework. We sat there for an hour just soaking it all in and responding in our own way.

Photo 3 - Then we made our way up the road to the Monastery of St John the Evangelist that was founded in 1088 by the monk Christodoulos. It was built like castle fortress because of the pirate problem of the time. You walk up narrow cobbled streets of the village of Hora that is built around the walls to the main gate and enter another world. This is a functioning monastery that welcomes all comers. As we followed the arrows through the hall ways is was an amazing feeling. We made our way to the museum only to find it closed. It was the last day of the winter off season and it would be open the next day. However there was a young Greek couple from Crete there who were talking to an old monk who wasn’t budging on opening day. Then a young monk came a long and things changed, the museum keeper was summoned and we were in. The museum was full of treasures, especially manuscripts, plus lesser articles like the jewel encrusted crosses and things made of gold and silver. One gold and jewel cross had been a gift from Catherine the Great of Russia. What I loved was seeing a Gospel of Mark manuscript in a humidity controlled case from the 400’sAD, a copy of Revelation from the 500’s. The monastery has a library collection of the oldest NT manuscripts in the world and a working manuscript conservatory. They also have Coptic manuscripts from Egypt. On one sign it mentioned that Oxford University had a manuscript that it stolen from the monastery in the 1880’s. We took no pictures in the monastery because of UNESCO regulations which was a pity.

As we came out of the museum with the other couple we were invited by the young monk (in his 30’s) to the Church of St John the Evangelist that is the centre of the complex. It’s floor area is quite small but it is high and is all decked out as an Orthodox Church with the icons and incense and all that. We spent an hour listening to him as he showed us around the church explaining things like it was built out of a Greek temple to Diana that was in the site when Christodoulos arrived, which he had demolished and reused. Good recycling I thought. He explained to us the icons and fresco’s all being teaching aids and not objects of worship - they only worshipped Jesus Christ. He expressed his frustration at the secular attitudes of many of the summer time visitors who only come to ridicule Christianity, the pressure the Church continues to be under in Turkey by the aggressive nature of Islam towards destroying the Christian faith since the 1400’s and the ability of the church to hold out for so long with the prayerful hope that the tide will soon turn. His warned us to be watchful of Islam in our own country and not let it bring influence against the Church. He talked about how the church has survived in the region, how Patmos is the only Greek Island in the Aegean not to have a Mosque, and how the monastery has always been financially self sufficient without being a burden on the people - some good ideas for Windsor! He talked about the Trinity, the Lordship of Christ, how politics is still messing up the world wide church, and the frustration of the monastery being a UNESCO World Heritage Site that doesn’t allow them to repair any of the fresco’s or icons that have been looked after regularly for a thousand years.

Photo 4 & 5 - By the time we got out of the church it was raining so we set off down the hill finding one of the old pilgrim roads that cut a lot of time off. When we entered Skala, the harbour town, we took a wrong turn. We did find a small supermarket and brought some things, but in the end we ended up on the wrong side of the island in a down pour. We waited under a veranda a while but there was no let up so we knew we had about 1.5km to the hotel so set off again. We reached Skala proper with its narrow cobbled streets and the heavens opened - a cloud burst of epic proportions! We sheltered for about 20 minutes but it didn’t let up so we thought we would brave it and go for it. So we set off down this street (Photo 4 the day after) and before we knew it we were in a river up over our ankles expecting cars and cats (lots of cats in Skala) to come hurtling down in a wave behind us. We made it to a small plaza that had become a lake, found the harbour edge and our bearings to the hotel. Needless to say we were soaked and my expensive goretex jacket I use for tramping in Fiordland rain failed the test. Helen looked like a drowned rat and the funny thing is there is a sign above the handbasin - “Conserve water, it doesn’t rain again until December.”

A change of cloths and an improvised clothes line in our room, the rest of the afternoon was relaxing while it continued to pour. It cleared up early evening so set off to find some dinner. Went to a restaurant and had it all to ourselves. Helen ordered lentil soup and I ordered fish soup. Helen’s soup looked pretty normal when it arrived. My soup arrived in two big plates. One plate had the liquid full of potato and vegetables and it tasted a little fishy. On the other plate was the fish, a baby barracuda I think. It was a nice meal. We arrived back at the hotel the minute a very spectacular thunder storm arrived and it poured again.

Photo 6 - Yesterday we did the monastery walk again, visiting the Cave, this time using an old pilgrim trail up the hill. We went up to the monastery but decided not to go in. Instead we brought some olive bread and cinnamon bread at a bakery and had lunch overlooking the south end of the island. We hooked up with another pilgrim trail that was the original foot trail to the monastery that wove its way down through the countryside back to Skala. The weather was cold even for us and we were keeping our eye on a squall coming in from the north horizon that arrived just as we got back to the hotel.

Photo 7 - In the evening we headed out for dinner to discover a cruise ship anchored out in the bay with small boat bringing the passengers in by the hundreds. Skala had suddenly come live with all the shops and restaurants open. We did some shopping, had pizza for dinner, and back to the hotel satisfied with a great day. We were supposed to be here for another day but ferry schedules cut us short. A pity as we discovered other interesting trails last night we won’t be able to do.

Photo 8 - Helen saying goodbye to the faithful electric jug we brought in Amman that kept us supplied with boiled water for drinking and lots of cups of tea as we are doing our final pack for home and having to be ruthless. Tomorrow we start our journey at 7am from the hotel, fly Kos to Athens with a 6 hour wait for the 4.5 hour flight to Dubai - another 6 hour lay over - then the 21 hour long haul Dubai-Bangkok-Sydney-Christchurch arriving Wednesday afternoon NZ time.

This will be the last blog until NZ, maybe a wrap up one when we get back to Invercargill.

We have enjoyed sharing out journey and we hope you have enjoyed our adventures. We have learnt a lot, and for me I have a few weeks back home to bring it altogether to fulfil my study leave requirements.