Christmas walk in Aradena Gorge

Aradena is one of the last villages where you have access by car up from Chora Sfakion, before hitting the Lefka Ori mountains. This was my second visit in Aradena and I wanted to return there, since last time I didn´t walk until to the Libyan sea at Marmara Beach where the gorge is ending. GPS coordinates to the bridge are N 35°13'22" E 24°03'42" .

 "Aradena (Aradaina)  got abandoned due the vendetta in the 40s. The two large families who lived there, exterminated eachother member by member, until it got a village with destroyed ruins......"  Read the whole interesting story from my last update in Amazing Aradena .

This time I was again lucky with the weather when I camped up in Aradena, since it is located in altitude of 600 meters it would be fresh during the day times without a sun. 8 am I had only 7 celcius in my camper, but directly when the sun shows itself the temperature gets pleasant and it is enough to wear just a t-shirt.

Getting there, you need to cross the bridge

View beside the bridge to the gorge

Getting started the walk, total lenght about 15 km with a round trip to arrive to the beach and getting back the same way. You need to go trough the village to get in the end of the gorge which is the starting point, first gate is already just before this tree which you can see from the bridge already.

It took 3 hours to get down to the beach and it is rather heavy walk with some bigger rocks, walking ovet the river bed and then climbing again up out of the river bed and back down and so on..

This time of year I would say that 95% of the walk was in the shade and I kinda missed some sun to warm up! I left 10 am and had my first stop was when I arrived to the beach and I could feel that the way was long. Since it took that long to get down, I stayed at the beach only a small moment, thinking that the climbing back up would take more than 3 hours if the way down took already 3 hours..But I managed to get back at 4 pm, had a cold beer while wating the hot water getting ready to have a shower (which was VERY needed!).

This fellow wasn´t afraid at all when I passed by, just looked at me with its lazy eyes

Second gate, the real entrance to get down to the gorge

Getting down to the river bed

Some flowers at the sun side of the gorge

These cuties were shaking in this little cave from cold and not any goats to see nearby! But when I got back in the beginning, I checked, they were not anymore there, phewww, im sure they found back to their mother!

Funny lost and lonely shoe down in the river bed

Approaching the bridge

Past the bridge and having the last sight of it

Getting again out of the river bed, stairway (to heaven)!

Approaching the river bed again after the stair trip up and down

These ladders were the old way to pass these rocks but now they have this stair path next to it

I think these ladders looked fantastic !!!

I saw again several dead goats, they slip sometimes down :(

Yahooooo!! Some light to see!

Gosh some plants can be so strong!

Getting down again to the river bed over these rocks

There are alternative hikes to do too, one is to go to Livaniana and the other to Agios Ioannis (the last village before Lefka Ori mountains on the east side)

Nice to see green color after the gey and brown rocks!

And obviesly I was not alone in the gorge :)

Again a way down with rocks

Is the beach soon there??? Maybe still half an hour away

 

End of the gorge...

I made it, meeting the Libyan sea, Marmara beach

Starting to get back up

Lizzard seeking the sun (just like me!)

This photo shows well part of the stairway

Seeing the bridge again and I was glad about it!

few more steps and back to the van...

..In time to see the sunset after the shower and a cold beer, wasnt´t that tasty!!!

The map of the roundtrip, total lenght 15 km.