Depression always strikes after a good trip (probably true for LSD too). Sure it’s good to see my cat, my friends, my girlfriend or my boyfriend (I’m not telling which, because I don’t want them to fight about it). But on the other hand it’s boring to sleep on my comfortable bed when I used to rest openly on the hardest, noisiest and dirtiest surfaces of the most international airports or secretly on wooden sticky student dorm floors. Sure it’s good to have good meals on time, instead of feeding in other peoples leftovers, but the later was more adventurous and, after all, fulfilling (not always for the stomach). That is why this weekend I went car driving to the southern part of Rhodes, Greece.
Beaches from the South-west coast of Rhodes island, Greece
The interesting thing about the island of Rhodes is that civilization gradually dissolves as you travel south. The town of Rhodes, Aegeans largest, one of the most lively towns in Greece and a favorite destination for tourists around the world is built at the Northern peninsula of the island. The are other, smaller towns on the island too, the most populated of which are located just a few kilometers souther than Rhodes town. As I drive souther, there are fewer towns and not so many huge hotels as before. Instead I could see some lively villages with small hotels and bungalows. As I was driving even souther ...
... (somewhere in the middle of the road from Rhodes town to the most Southern peninsula of the island, namely Prasonisi), I noticed that natural scenery was starting to dominate. Instead of hotels, I was happy to see wine trees and olive trees, as well as wild pine forests. The souther I went, the most agricultural the villages I found in my way. There was a point that I couldn’t see any sign of human intervention, except, of course, the road. That’s exactly the type of place I was looking for.
View Larger Map
The good thing with island pine forests is that the sea is usually close enough for a quick swim. I can’t say I’m amazed by Rhodes beaches in general, and the Southern part was no exception (although a huge improvement compared to the Northern part of the island). I was able to find a few isolated beaches, but swimming there wasn’t very pleasant, because they are too swallow. At last, I reached the Kritinia castle, where I could find a quite nice rocky beach with clear blue water that was swimable too.
Kritinia castle is standing on top of a hill, so that if you climb there, you have a great view of the northern valley. As I was standing there, an Italian tourist approached Kritinia castle with his rent car, climbed the short path to the castle and then he noticed the northern view, which seemed to please him.He took some pictures of the landscape. He also lit a cigarette, always looking to the north. He rested there for a while, enjoying the calm sounds of a Mediterranean summer noon. He then turned towards the gate and left without ever looking towards the south.
The Southern view is the good one. If he had turn his back a little bit more, he wouldn’t be able to miss the breathtaking image of all the islands located at the west of Rhodes. A thought could have passed through his head: the sunset will be magical here. He missed it now, and I missed it too. The difference is I missed it in purpose, since I left both my girlfriend and my boyfriend back home, and I also had other plans for the evening.
I’m not a huge sports fun, although I play a little bridge now and then. I also enjoy football (the game that is played with feet and a ball, not the one Americans often mistake for football) or basketball, but always with beer and pizza. Here I’m going to introduce you to another favorite sport of mine, the Zen Driving.
Zen Driving came out of the blue a month ago, (although other people thought of the term before me) when I realized I didn’t have enough money for gas, so I had this crazy idea: I should use gravity to my benefit! An example to clarify: I’m driving through a level road which later climbs a hill. I drive my car up the hill and when I’m at the top, I set the gear to "none" and loose the breaks (the engine is on, though). Gravity will take its course and move my car downwards. If the road angle is too abrupt, I use some break and I always control my cars route with the stirring wheel, but apart from that, the car climbs down the hill by itself.
Soon I became addicted and I was practicing my Zen Driving as often as possible. City drivers might become quite irritated by that, because while driving in the street, I wouldn't step the gas pedal for as long as the speed of the car was over 10 Km/hr. In some cases this was dangerous (e.g. angry taxi drivers). I had to be more careful. I had to choose isolated places for practice, like the one I was now.
Southern Rhode is blessed with a nice landscape of pined hills crossed by good quality roads. I have chosen a very good area. During my 2 hours practice I met only 3 cars! It was great.My record is 17 km without gas or break, and 24 km without gas. The maximum speed I got during practice was just 83 km.
... (somewhere in the middle of the road from Rhodes town to the most Southern peninsula of the island, namely Prasonisi), I noticed that natural scenery was starting to dominate. Instead of hotels, I was happy to see wine trees and olive trees, as well as wild pine forests. The souther I went, the most agricultural the villages I found in my way. There was a point that I couldn’t see any sign of human intervention, except, of course, the road. That’s exactly the type of place I was looking for.
View Larger Map
The good thing with island pine forests is that the sea is usually close enough for a quick swim. I can’t say I’m amazed by Rhodes beaches in general, and the Southern part was no exception (although a huge improvement compared to the Northern part of the island). I was able to find a few isolated beaches, but swimming there wasn’t very pleasant, because they are too swallow. At last, I reached the Kritinia castle, where I could find a quite nice rocky beach with clear blue water that was swimable too.
Kritinia castle is standing on top of a hill, so that if you climb there, you have a great view of the northern valley. As I was standing there, an Italian tourist approached Kritinia castle with his rent car, climbed the short path to the castle and then he noticed the northern view, which seemed to please him.He took some pictures of the landscape. He also lit a cigarette, always looking to the north. He rested there for a while, enjoying the calm sounds of a Mediterranean summer noon. He then turned towards the gate and left without ever looking towards the south.
View from Kritinia castla. Look south (left) for some of Dodecanese islands (actually "dodecanese" is greek for "twelve islands")
I’m not a huge sports fun, although I play a little bridge now and then. I also enjoy football (the game that is played with feet and a ball, not the one Americans often mistake for football) or basketball, but always with beer and pizza. Here I’m going to introduce you to another favorite sport of mine, the Zen Driving.
This is shot from the inside of the car, showing what is in front (through the glass) and what is behind (through the mirror). Notice that both roads seem to climb up. This is a good setting to practice my concept of Zen Driving.
Soon I became addicted and I was practicing my Zen Driving as often as possible. City drivers might become quite irritated by that, because while driving in the street, I wouldn't step the gas pedal for as long as the speed of the car was over 10 Km/hr. In some cases this was dangerous (e.g. angry taxi drivers). I had to be more careful. I had to choose isolated places for practice, like the one I was now.
Nature creatures (even plants are creatures, you know) wear their most precious and colorful dresses when they are alone and safe. I haven't photoshop anything here, the colors are natural.
I ought to say that Zen Driving is not as safe as it sounds. Not using the gas pedal means you deliberately loose some control over your car. You have to be careful, because sometimes the brakes and the stirring wheel might not be enough for controlling your cars route. It's not super for your cars health either. Please, take these advices seriously, and the turn off the music, open the windows and let your self (and your car) enjoy some freedom.Some roads are very good for practicing Zen Driving
10 comments:
Several times in your post, you write Souther instead of Southern! Is this deliberate?
Zen Driving rulez! It is great! But cycling a hill is far more Zen! ;-)
Also in Prasonisi is one of the few ideal places for wind-surfing and fly-kiting. If you have the time and money you should probably try one!
@mythomania: Yes, I use the world "Souther" deliberately in the sense that a place might be south, while another place might be souther.
Thumps up for cycling and Prasonisi (a post might follow containing the later).
shallow instead of swallow, even instead of ever, neutral instead of "none" and gear instead of speed. Great post though!
@kantale: did I actually write "speed"? (all the other stuff is spell checkers mistake). As a principle, I don't correct mistakes ( http://the-travelin-blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/manifesto.html ), but maybe I have to correct this one.
@kantale: I checked my post again, and here is what there is written "I set the gear to "none""
The "none" gear is a deliberate mistake. In Zen Driving, the so-called neutral gear is not so neutral anymore...
If the road goes down, you can keep third gear (or second or fourth, depending on the slope) which should provide some additional stability and maximum speed limit (motor break).
@Nick Andrik: I will experiment on gear-mediated zen driving and probably report back. Being safe and stable is one thing, but you also have to make it fun. Another thing we need to consider are the sounds. The no-gear-at-all method guarantees the car sound levels are minimized, so you can enjoy the voice of the surrounding environment.
Quiet Zen driving in nature has obvious benefits to your mental health, but we also have to consider the possibility of a city-zen-driving method.
Gear does not mean you can hear the sound of engine and also, the car with gear without acceleration consumes less than car without gear.
@Nick Andrik: Gear-mediated zen driving has been tested and proved to be interesting. The car behaves better with a gear on, even if it is the most "free" of the available gears. My impressions so far:
a. you get better control over your cars movement, which is not only safer, but also feels good when you have to take a turn.
b. you are right, it is not more noisy that no-gear driving.
c. you get to be more car-concious. I found myself thinking about gears and how to use them more effectively, while I shouldn't. I guess one gets used to that after a while...
Post a Comment