At 1.30 pm, NCL was travelling in the southern part of the Aegean Sea and NCL had reached the waters of Santorini. As both sides of the strait were aground, it was necessary to change from a large boat to a small one. After getting the tickets at Deck 7, the rest of the day was spent waiting for the respective boats to board at Deck 4 to the Santorini port. From Old Port to Santorini, there are two options, either to take the cable car or to hire a donkey to go up the mountain. The donkeys and the hundreds of donkeys in FariTown take up the aisle leading to FariTown. For 5 euros you can get donkey power instead of foot power to climb the winding stairs. If you don’t look closely, you could mistake the donkey for a pony.
Since ancient times, donkeys seem to have been a substitute for human labour, from mountain to mountain, from mountain to mountain, generations of donkeys have carried many tasks and missions to achieve human comfort, but they still keep their heads under people’s hips, not daring to breathe a word. Occasionally, when they are aggrieved, they will shit and pee when carrying passengers, and after they have changed into a drenching comfort, they still continue to bury their heads in their work, spreading their stinky donkey odour and taking pride in it. Sometimes when they meet another donkey herd crossing the aisle, they top to or compete with it to see who reaches their destination faster, for the fun of it. Apart from the white walls and blue domes, donkeys are the local speciality of Satorini. Souvenirs include souvenir shirts with donkeys on them and bricks with local buildings for display purposes.
In ancient times, Santorinicircular, but in 1500BC, volcanic eruptions led to the formation of Greece and the creation of the Minoan civilisation. Many feel that the eruption also caused Atlantis to disappear and sink to the bottom of the sea. The last eruption was in 1956 and the volcano is still in motion. The volcano is also one of the most remarkable attractions. The active volcanic movement of the underground springs, the Palia Kameni hot springs, the history of Santorini mankind recorded in the Neolithic period, and several major island invaders. From the Phoenecians to the Byzantines and even the Turks Turks have occupied the island, and from 1537 to the Greek Revolution of 1821, Santorini’s population grew.
Santorini is the most beautiful island in Greece and has many beaches, the most famous of which are Perissa, Kamari and The Red Beach. These beaches are located at the eastern end of the island and around the tourist attractions. The island of Satorini is famous for its wonderful villages. The traditional villages are similar in style to the Cyclades, with their blue domes and deep blue waters. The most famous island villages are Oia and Fira.
Fira is the centre of the town of Satorini, the most important town in Greece. It is located at the western end of the island and is surrounded by uneven reefs, the highest of which can reach up to 240 metres high, adding to the colourful accents of the volcano. The bus journey from Fira to Oia takes about 20 minutes and the ticket costs €1.60. On the bus, there are more Chinese tourists than in Corfu, and it is not difficult to hear the Chinese language wandering around the bus. A few turns up the mountain road, with the cliffs on the left and the blue sea on the right, and the blue and white buildings built on the mountain beckoning us to the area.
In OiaTown, there are many Chinese tourists and it is clear that this town is famous for something. With aisles two abreast, I felt like I was in the middle of Chinatown. The terraced square houses are built in the form of terraces so as not to interfere with the sea views of the homes and the local government restricts each house to be no higher than 7 metres. The terrain has a slight resemblance to the Javanese terraces. So hotels, restaurants, etc. are tucked away and sometimes you can see the “subterranean level” through the transparent cabinet windows when you walk up to it, which disturbs the view and attracts the attention of many tourists. The people doing the business would greet us simply in Chinese. “Thank you! You’re welcome! The price is good! It’s not expensive at all! ……..” It was so catchy and easy to say.
Boarding time was 9pm and we arrived at the bus station in Oia at 7pm, so the only way to get to Fira town was to take a taxi. The taxi drivers here are thick, gyroscopic and have a fun life driving around in their Mercedes while sipping a cold drink. It took about 20 minutes to get to the cable car, but as the queue was expected to last an hour, we were afraid we wouldn’t make it to the old port in time, so we decided to go back the way we came, remember the shitty donkey track? Remember the shitty donkey trail? The trail was punctuated by “ahhh yeah oooh uh oh” to indicate nausea, which made the walk down the hill so flavourful that it still sticks in my mind today. Fortunately for us, the donkeys were off duty after the evening rush hour, otherwise it would have been embarrassing to walk between all the donkeys. The stairs down seemed almost 30 storeys high and I was already sweating when I reached the harbour, but the sea breeze made me feel less tired and when I looked at the boat, it was already sunset and the sun was setting in salted egg yolks, just near dusk. I started to look to the east, missing the one who called me home, MachiMi!
