Resting a while in Drapanias

Three nights in this lovely campsite, Camping Mithimna, getting bitten to bits by mosquitoes! But it’s so peaceful under these tamarisk trees; all you can hear is the sound of insects, birds and waves. The campsite is right across the road from a quiet beach on the Gulf of Kastelli, which also hosts the popular (rather noisy) town of Kissamos.

Home – Camping Mithimna Chania Crete Greece/Κάμπινγκ Μήθυμνα Χανιά Κρήτη Ελλάδα/Camping Kissamos Crete Coordinates: 35.50266743334355, 23.70260328169255

We paid €25 per night for the four of us, plus van and EHU. Beginning to think of this as a bargain, now that we are adjusting to Greek camping prices! Also, hallelujah, they had a washing machine! And it was the cheapest wash we have yet come across on our travels; €3 for a wash if you supply your own washing liquid. Delighted we were 😊

However, Olwen was not impressed by the inhabitants of the trees nearby: well-camouflaged snails!

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There are great reviews online for the onsite restaurant so we gave that a go on our first evening there, and we were not disappointed. It was a fabulous meal. We were taken inside to where mama was in the kitchen and we were shown the dishes that had been prepared for the day. Morgan chose meatballs with tomato sauce and potatoes; Saul chose roast chicken and spring greens; and I went for boureki, one of my favourite Cretan dishes (a slow-cooked dish made with courgettes, potatoes and Mizithira, a soft white cheese from sheep’s and goat’s milk). Olwen had already eaten so she was delighted to order a Coke Zero and help herself to the fresh bread with olive oil.

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Much fun was had at the playground, always a welcome discovery, and the campsite cats were (mostly!) friendly and entertaining too:

And of course the beach was beautiful.

Although this campsite is at the coast just down from the village of Drapanias, it is named after a Minoan site slightly further inland from Drapanias. We decided to take a spin up in the van to investigate the site … bad move! The roads got narrower and narrower and more and more potholed and, if we had met another vehicle coming towards us, we would have been rightly stuck. We abandoned our plan to see Mithimna when Google Maps told us to turn up and even dodgier lane and we kept fingers crossed that we would reach a bigger road before too long. Thankfully, after some hair-raising twists and turns and some rather too close brushes with olive trees, we made it back onto a road that had road markings, hooray!

But, the history part is this: when the main road to Kissamos was being built in 1983, a large settlement of both prehistoric and historic sites was discovered in this area. Thankfully, the road was diverted in order to allow for excavation and further study; maybe the Irish could take a leaf out of their book?

Evidence of habitation dating back to Minoan times was found, the settlement at Nopeghia having been founded around 2900-2300 BCE (Early Minoan IIA). The foundations of a building with rooms and a surrounding wall have been found, some of which were reused in later periods. An oblong pit was also discovered, dating from the Late Minoan IA period, 1600-1480 BCE, in which was found numerous conical cups. The presence of such cups indicate that this pit was used for ritualistic purposes, offering gifts to one of the gods. It is thought that the Minoan site was abandoned in the 12th century BCE.

Seven centuries later, the site was reoccupied and it remained so until the Roman era. Ruins of Roman baths were found at the Byzantine church of St George. Sadly, we saw none of this! Oh well! On some of these roads, a regular-sized car would be so much handier…