Elafonissos, Greece

As I travel further and longer in Greece the amount of tourists I encounter become less and less.

I imagined that sooner or later I would end up somewhere that is totally void of anyone else like me.

Sure enough I found that place in the island of Elafonissos.

This town had gone into serious hibernation. It's a very small island with a tiny little fishing port. There were hardly any business still operating. At one stage I thought that accomodation was not going to be found and the beach started to look quite inviting. After looking around for some time, walking into quite a few hotels (even though everything is closed all the doors are open) and shouting hello with a hope of reply it was time to seek some help from a local minimart owner. One quick phone call and five minutes later a room was procured.

The main local attraction is Simos Beach. Two beautiful coves separated by a small sandy causeway which leads to a petty little island.

It's one of those special places where it's very hard to draw yourself away from. Just when you think your ready to go the clouds shift and release the light in a different way or you turn a corner and your presented with a different scene that's equally wonderful as the last. It was too good to visit only once.

After a couple of nights the few locals that hadn't yet submitted to complete dormancy became very familiar and general chit chat was quite common. Even to the extent of random introductions by locals as I walked the streets. I think had I stayed maybe a few more nights I would have been adopted.

Despite the fact that the town had shut down and there were very few attractions and the nightlife was non existent, I completely loved it.

The natural beauty and warm friendly people created more than enough interest.