火山和温泉配套 – Thirassia 享用午餐 *Package to Volcano and Hot Spring – Lunch at Thirassia (7 June 09)

上了火焰山，下了冷到会抽痉的海水，可以说是把我的这一副老骨头弄得快要散了！还好接下来的就是吃饭。之前有说过了，如果配套里没有到Thirassia岛的，那船会开回Fira ，然后船客得自己在Fira各自找吃的，省回一餐比较贵的午餐。来到Thirassia，导游会介绍船客到自己家人开的餐厅去。这一餐我们吃了€20.30.

After visiting volcano and hot spring, we were brought to Thirassia for lunch. We paid €20.30 for the lunch.

由于去火山到那一天我们只带了旧相机，所以照片拍得失水准了。这个看来像白饭的食物其实是pasta的一种。这一盘是pasta炒墨鱼，超好吃的。小华点的！
Hubby ordered this, it’s not fried rice, but it’s fried pasta with squid. This one was so tasty!

好几天了都是吃全海鲜或全肉类，吃到小华也感觉腻了，所以小华有多叫了一盘焖长豆。口味有一点像mamak档的长豆焖咖哩，很好吃一下。
Long bean, tasted like curry vegetable sell at mamak stalls.

我呢就会比较贪新鲜，喜欢尝试当地的出名小吃。叫了一个Gemista，这次是茄子里有牛肉然后拿去烤煮的。另外一个是当地相当出名 的炸番茄。炸番茄的味道就麻麻地。
I wanted to try everything special, so I ordered a stuff egg plant (stuff with minced beef) and a fried tomato. Both are authentic Greek food.

炸番茄大特写。
Fried tomato.

在这么漂亮的地方望着大海吃午餐，绝对是个好的享受。
What else can be more relaxing than having lunch at such a nice restaurant, facing the beautiful Aegean Sea?

餐厅里一部份的菜肴。
Part of the food served in the restaurant.

超大的八爪鱼须。
Huge tentacle of octopus.

照理说应该到Thirassia镇口看看走走的，但由于把火山已经把我们累坏了，我们不想再爬250个梯级(大概1km吧) ，只好在港口附近走走。
We didn’t climb the 250 stair cases to top of the hill to visit Thirassia town. We just spent some time walking around the port.

除了用走路上Thirassia小镇，也可以骑驴子上去的。但天气也太热了，真的没mood了，还是逗留在港口算了。
Tourist could also take a donkey ride from the port up to Thirassia town on the hill top.

又睡觉！这次海水在海水旁而已，真是享受！
Again….

上船咯，就快去另一个站Oia了。看小华的脸就知道他刚睡醒。

人齐了！准备开船！

到Oia了！可是我们没下船，因为船只把我们丢在这里然后就直接游回Fira了。在这里下船的游客将乘坐免费小巴到山上，然后游客得自己乘坐公共巴士或得士回去Fira。船到Oia的时候才4点多，离日落的时间还很远，我们还是决定回Fira 小睡一下再驾车到Oia看日落。
Here we are at the 4th destination and also the last destination of the package– Oia. We reached Oia about 4pm plus, it was 4-5 hours before sunset. So hubby and I decided to take ship back to Fira, take a short nap at the hotel, then later on we drove to Oia again for the sunset. That was why we didn’t go down when the ship stopped at Oia port.

这张照片是在靠Oia港口的时候拍下来的。这里的屋子都建在山崖边，面对着美丽的爱琴海。
These are the houses built along Oia cliff and most are facing Aegean Sea.

船慢慢离开Oia港口了。。。。
Leaving Oia…

其他船客也累了。。。。
Everyone was tired, exhausted and fatigue…

从Oia前往Fira 是绕圣岛游的，很惊讶看到了那么漂亮的大自然风景，很炫！
Capture this photo on our way sailing around Santorini….

终于回到Fira港口了。看到那个Z型的山路吗？下了船后你可以选择走山路上去，又或者骑驴自上去，又或者直接达缆车上去。
Saw the zip-zap route from Fira old port up to Fira town? You could either walk or take a donkey ride or a cable car up to the hill.

和Fira 就港口的最后一张合照。
Last photo taken with Fira old port.

走路经过Fira的一间餐馆时看到了这个，笑到我不停！想去逛街买东西的女游客可以避免麻烦把丈夫免费的‘泊’在餐厅里！哈哈哈！很有创意的思构哦！
I was laughing like mad when I saw this sign pasted in front of a restaurant in Fira town. Women who wanted to go for shopping could ‘park’ their husband in the restaurant for free. Haha! What a brilliant idea to pull business!

火山和温泉配套 – 跳船游往Palea Kameni自然温泉 *Package to Volcano and Hot Spring – Visiting Palea Kameni Hot Spring (7 June 09)

我一直觉得导游这样安排行程是对的：先上火山，再下温泉。原因很简单：上了火山后全身大流汗，又热又粘。火山后能直接跳入海里游泳绝对可以很舒服，直接摆脱了累与汗水，让身体又从新的活跃了起来。

Palea Kameni是个自然温泉，位于两座山的中间。由于这里的水位比较浅，船无法泊得太靠岸，只能在离温泉大概200米的地方停泊，然后有兴趣下温泉的乘客都得跳船，然后再游过去。这里的水应该深过12尺，根本踏不到底，只能从跳水那一刻开始游到温泉为止。因此，不太识水性的朋友最好在跳船之前先深思熟考才好跳到水里。虽然说200米的距离并不是很远，但上下火山一轮后毕竟身体已消费了很多精力。如果你问我会累吗？我会说完全不会！哈哈！别忘了我是拖着鱼尾的魔蟹，加上小时候在水里被魔鬼式的训练了几年后，下水对我来说只有乐趣！

一跳下海的那一刻海水是冷的，大概只有10-13摄氏之间。但只要一游过温泉的边界线，就会感觉到海水变温。温泉的水是33摄氏，水温刚好，是很舒服。只要一游到温泉旁，就会发现那里的水面上浮着金黄色的小颗粒，在阳光的照耀下这些颗粒会发亮 。这就是所谓的硫磺。听说在这里浸温泉对皮肤很好。怎么好法我不是很清楚，只觉得水的颜色怪怪的，又有一种化学成品的味道。 有几个女游客还和我说她们感觉到很不安，一来水的颜色太深，看不到海底；二来温泉的底部是烂泥，脚踏到的底部时感觉软软的，感觉上好像水底有水怪(我听到这个后和身边其他游客一直大笑不停)；三来水的味道怪怪的，有一个还说她没喝过那么难喝的水！

温泉的最尾部有 一座亭子。我想这个亭子是给游客们休息的地方吧？很可惜站在船上的那个角度是拍不到亭子的。。。

Palea Kameni is a natural formed hot spring. It is formed in between two volcanic islands, in the middle of Santorini Caldera. The boat can't pull up to land since it is too shallow. Therefore visitors will have to jump off from the boat and swim about 200 meters to the hot spring. The sea water was around 10-13 degree Celsius, but when I reached the hot spring, I could feel the water was warmer. According to the tour guide, the water temperature at hot spring normally remains around 33 degree Celsius and it contains sulfur that is good for the skin. I really enjoy swimming in the muddy hot spring, it was so refreshing after a tiring and exhausting climb to the volcano.

The water at hot spring was very milky. Small brownish particles were floating at everywhere; the water smells a bit strange, like containing chemicals. This particles shines under the sunshine, it is believed these golden/brownish particles are sulfur. There was also a small resting platform placed at the end of the hot spring.


跳船咯！虽然海水只有10-13摄氏，但顿时还是感觉到很舒服！Yohuu!! It’s so refreshing to swim in cold water after a tiring and exhausting climb to the volcano.

船和温泉的距离就那么远。。。应该有200米吧？
This is the distant from the ship to the hot spring…

看到山崖边的山羊吗？
Can you spot goats on the cliff?

褐色的海水拥有高量的硫磺。
The area with brown water contains golden/brownish particles, which is believed to be sulfur.

火山和温泉配套 – 前往Nea Kameni 火焰山 *Package to Volcano and Hot Spring – Visiting Nea Kameni (7 June 09)

有兴趣到火山一游的朋友不用提早订配套。圣岛上有好几间火山游的旅游公司，甚至在旧港口那里也有好几家，基本上每一家的旅游配套大同小异，价钱方面也差异不大。我们在check-in Hella 旅馆的那一天和旅馆老板娘定了2人配套，老板娘直接开一张单为船票证据，只要拿着那张票到旧港口问一问就可以了。

据我们所知，参观火山与温泉的配套一共有好几种，以下的只是从Fira旧港口上船的配套：
1． Nea Kameni 火山 → Palea Kameni 温泉→ Thirassia 岛→从返圣岛的Oia
- 这是最长的配套，一天好像只有一趟。
- 早上10:30开始行船，整个行程大概是4.5 – 5个钟。
- €25一人。
2． Nea Kameni 火山 → Palea Kameni 温泉 (€18一人)
- 只到两个地方，一天有两趟船。
- 第一趟是在早上11:00开船，第二趟在中午2:00开船，整个行程大概是3个钟。
- €18 一人。
3． Nea Kameni 火山(€13)
- 只到一个地方，一天有两趟船。
- 第一趟是在中午12:00，第二趟是在中午3:00，整个行程大概是2个钟。
- €13 一人。

由于我们有4-5天的时间在圣岛上，所以我们决定拿配套1。拿了配套1，去了回来，我个人认为配套已很不值。基本上去了火山和温泉后整个人都累垮了，真的没有那个毅力能在Thirassia的港口爬250梯级上山到Thirassia镇了。别以为250梯级和家里的梯级式一样的哦！换一句话说，从Thirassia的港口爬上山到Thirassia 镇大概有1km吧！加上最后一个地点，也就是Oia，除非你没下船，要不然船会把你丢在那儿就走了。当地会有巴士在Oia港口接你上Oia镇，但过后你得自己想办法回去Fira。我们因为想自己驾车到Oia，所以没下船。基本上拿了这个配套，但我们只去了火山、温泉和Thirassia吃一餐而已。除非你真的很想见识一下Thirassia小镇(听说圣岛未开放给游客之前就像Thirassia这个样子)，要不然就拿配套2。

那一天我们8:30早上就起身，到处找早餐吃，然后就到Fira缆车站打缆车到Fira旧港口。Fira有两个港口，大港口是我们从雅典到圣岛的时候停泊的；至于旧港口的船只多数都是前往火山的。

有几点值得一提的：
1． 不要戴任何的银饰物到火山和温泉。Hellas旅馆的老板娘向我们提过这两个地方的硫磺会把银饰品变黑。
2． 还有最好不要带贵重的东西上船，因为到了温泉后必须把东西留在船上才能下温泉。
3． 最好穿跑步鞋爬火山。当天我们穿跑步鞋上火山，然后下山后再换拖鞋(这样下了温泉后才不会把鞋子弄湿)。
4． 一定要待足够的水。那一天虽然带了一大支水，但没两下两个人就把它喝完了，害得我们严重缺水。还好船上有卖矿泉水，要不然早就中署了！
5． 一定得涂上高号的防晒油/膏，还得备带以便在需要的时候补上。

It is not necessary to book trip to volcano in advance, unless it is during peak season in summer. There are plenty of travel agents offering different type of packages, you could just pick the package, pay for the ticket and hoop on the ship straight away. We bought our tickets from Irene, the owner of Hotel Hella. She issued us a bill and that’s all that we need to bring to catch the ship next morning.

Based on what we know these are the basic packages for visiting the volcano (all depart from Fira old port):
1. From Nea Kameni volcano → Palea Kameni hot spring → Thirassia → Oia
- This is the longest trip, only one trip available per day.
- Starts from 10:30am, the whole journey takes about 4.5-5 hours.
- €25 per person.
2. Nea Kameni volcano → Palea Kameni hot spring
- Will be visiting 2 places, 2 separate trips per day.
- The first trip departs at 11:00am, the second one at 2:00pm. The whole journey takes about 3 hours.
- €18 per person.
3. Nea Kameni volcano
- Will be visiting one destination only, 2 trips per day.
- The first trip departs at 12:00 noon, the second trip departs at 3:00pm. The whole journey takes roughly 2 hours.
- €13 per person.

Due to we have planned 4-5 days trip on Santorini, we have plenty of time to spend on the island, we decided to take package 1. I would like to share with you guys some of my personal opinions: I don’t think package 1 (the longest package) is worth buying, unless you really have the strength and courage to climb up to 250 stairways (about 1km) from Thirassia port to Thirassia town (situated up on the hill). Bare in mind, Thirassia is the third destinations after a tiring trip climbing and exploring on the hot volcano and swim about 200 meters (flow and back will be approximately 400 meters) from the ship to the hot spring. If you think you are as fit as an ironman, go ahead and take package one; or else be wise, just buy package 2 will do. Furthermore having lunch in Thirassia is quite expensive. If you are taking package 2 or 3, you don’t have to stop by Thirassia for lunch, that could help to save some money, especially to those who are on budget vacation. Besides, I was also quite disappointed after knowing the ship will just dropped us in Oia and we have to find our way back to Fira (by public transportation). We prefer to drive from Fira to Oia for its sunset.

We woke up early in the morning on the day to volcano. We took cable car to Fira old port. Fira has 2 ports, make sure you find the right one.

Some of the things that worth mentioning:
1. Keep all your jewelries away from the volcano and hot spring. Jewelries might turn black once they contact with air and water that contain sulfur.
2. Don’t bring valuable stuffs on to the ship. When you are at the hot spring, you will have to leave all your belongings without anyone keeping an eye for you.
3. Make sure you put on sport shoe when hiking on the volcano. You can bring an extra pair of flip flop for change later on.
4. Bring at least a big bottle of drinking water each. Exploring on the hot volcano can be very tiring and dehydrated. Bring some money with you too just in case you need to purchase more drinking water from the captain.
5. Put on sun block with high SPF.


因为不想骑可怜的驴子，我们都是搭缆车上下旧港口的。
Taking cable car heading down to Fira old port.

我们就是乘坐这样的船出发的哦！
This was the ship that took us to the volcano.

刚离开Fira 旧港口。
Leaving Fira old port and heading to the volcano.

到咯！到咯！后面那个就是火山哦!
Finally we were at the volcano!

当船慢慢靠岸时，Nea Kameni火山上的样子也变得越来越清楚了。岛上的石头跟本和火炭没两样！黑到发亮！
The whole island is full of black rocks, from far they look like charcoal.

在船还未靠岸之前，让我们先来了解了解Nea Kameni这个火山吧！

今天的Nea Kameni火山是受当地的文化部门保护的一个大自然历史地点，除此，这里也被封为World Heritage的地点。别看这座火山没什么反应似的，也别把它当病猫哦！它可是当今还活跃的火山呢！这座火山算是中欧最年轻的一座火山。

希腊的几个岛屿，比如说圣岛、Thirassia和Aspronisi都是3,600年前一场最严重的火山爆发后所剩余的岛屿。这个火山连续爆发了很多次，最新的一次是在1950年。

Today, Nea Kameni is under the protection of Greece Culture and Environment Department, it provides lots of information and materials for natural historical science research. It is also part of World Heritage. The most serious eruption happened 3,600 years ago (in the entire history of Greece), it destroyed most of the lands on islands. The last one happened in 1950. The volcano still remains active today.

只要以上岸，就会感觉到一股热气。

导游告诉我们爬火山的过程只需25分钟。导游的这个25 分钟是一口气从港口爬到火山的最顶端去(127公尺) 。我们没办法跟着导游的步伐那么快速的爬到最高处。这里一路上不但完全没有遮阴的地方，山上的黑石头也因为吸取了太阳的热，再把热气逼出来。这一趟火山之旅真的是有一点吃不消，感觉到好像在火焰山上走，非常的闷热。我们后悔只带了一支水上去，最后搞到不够水喝，但又比不得已得一直前进。

Our tour guide told us the whole journey will take about 25 minutes, but she didn’t tell us 25 minutes is to walk from the port to the peak of volcano dome without stopping. Frankly, it is impossible to walk straight up to the peak without resting. There is no shade on the entire journey, the weather was extremely hot and dry, felt like we were walking on the charcoal. Too bad we didn’t bring enough water, it was really tired and exhausted.



Nea Kameni火山的路程被分成了几个点：A 点到E点。C 点是火山的中心点，经过这里时一定会看到山壁喷出黄色的烟雾，那就是硫磺。D 点是火山的最高点，一共是127公尺高。 站在这里可以看到整个Plea Kameni温泉的景色。

There are a few checking points on Nea Kameni, from point A to E. Point C is the centre of the volcano. We saw sulfur gas was releasing in between rocks. Point D is the peak point of volcano, it is 127 meters high. One can get a good view of Palea Kameni (hot spring) from here.

小华身手很巧，爬到那么辛苦还能笑到那么灿烂！
Hubby was fast, most importantly he didn’t look tired at all!

看到山脚下的港口吗？才走了一会我就不耐那热气腾腾的阳光了。。。中午时候跑到山上大晒太阳，不热才假！
Walking on a volcano at noon and the entire place was without shade…. Gosh! It was so hot!

荒山野岭。。。光秃秃的一片。。。

快累死了。。。
Exhausted……

逆境中求生存的野花。。。还是开得一样灿烂！
Hardcore survivor….. not only surviving greatly on the volcano, it blossoms nicely on this empty land!

到了C点，终于看到一些山丘的顶端了。。。
Finally we reached point C….

其实这个山洞在冒大量的硫磺气体，很可惜相机拍不到黄色的气体，还好看得到石头旁的硫磺粉沫。
The yellow stuff that stuck on the rocks is sulfur. Sulfur gas was releasing from the cave…

天呀！终于到达了D点，也就是火山的最顶端！
Finally we reached the top!

累。。。连那么漂亮的风景也没心情看了。。。
Fatigue and tired…. No matter how nice the scenery was, I really don’t have the mood to enjoy all these….

只要一到达顶端，这里不会像之前那么热了。山上的风很大，加上没有其他的山壁阻挡着风，这里的空气会比较流通，也比较凉。
It is more windy and cooler on the top….

下山咯！
Say bye to the volcano!