Travel: It was downhill all the way, and didn't our knees know it

Malcolm Smith went walking in Crete and conquered Europe's largest river gorge, soaking up some dramatic scenery along the way

THEY counted them in and they counted them out - just to make sure that there were no casualties along the way. A ragged line of sweating French, Greeks, Americans and Brits staggering up the last mile to Aghia Roumeli and its welcoming sea breezes. The Samaria Gorge in the west of Crete is Europe's largest river gorge and probably its favourite walk. It is also a test of stamina - and footwear.

Eschewing the organised coach party trips, we did Samaria the tough way - public transport only. After a two-mile, Olympic-pace walk, pre-dawn, from our Hania hotel to the bus station, we caught the first one to the top of the gorge at 6.15am. The bus climbed up to the Omalos plateau set high in the Levka Ori (White Mountains), their limestone peaks rising to well over 6,000ft. An hour later, after pastry and coffee at the top of the gorge, we were ready to go.

We paid our 1200 drachmas (pounds 2.20) National Park entrance fee and scanned the sunlit peaks before looking down into the awning, pine-forested depths of the chasm below. We weren't carrying more than a small bottle of water, because along the way there are well signposted springs with an abundance of cool water to be had.

We began a 3,000ft descent on an excellent hairpin path, toing and froing in the dappled shade of Cretan cypresses, pines, and the occasional wild fig, almond or Cretan maple. This isn't the easy bit though - the total descent is the equivalent of walking down Snowdon; and downhill-walking soon takes its toll on your knee joints and pelvis.

The analogy with Snowdon doesn't end with height either. Samaria attracts hordes of people (over 300,000 a year), so don't imagine yourself by a tranquil stream in an atmosphere of peace and serenity. We spent our five hours overtaking a steady stream of walkers (and limpers), many of them far from quiet, including one Greek man singing his way along.

The emblem of the park - and a major reason for its designation - is something which few people now see. More people means more disturbance. But, tipped off by a park ranger, we were keeping a watch out for the more-antelope-than-goat-like Kri Kri or Agrimi, found uniquely in these Cretan mountains.

Walking towards the (now abandoned) Samaria village, we spotted four or five females nimbly crossing the dried-up riverbed. On the edge of the village, where mules used for carrying provisions were feeding on some hay, a family group of Kri Kri were vying with them to devour it. Altogether we counted about 12 females with their yellow brown coats and black back stripe plus eight khaki brown kids, a few of them no more than 2ft tall. Another ranger told us that we wouldn't see the much longer horned males. "The boys," as he described them quaintly, "stay high up in the mountains."

Leaving Samaria village, with Chukar (a mountain partridge) uttering their guttural call on the slopes high above, we walked through the most photographed sections of the gorge. Here, with the river disappearing underground, then re-appearing again at intervals, the red brown cliffs rise almost vertically like massive cathedrals reaching to the sky for 1,000ft and more. The occasional wild fig tree, with its biblical connotations, somehow manages to grasp a foothold. The path crosses the river from one side to the other where the gorge narrows to an incredible 10ft - at the so-called Iron Gates - and you are left wondering at the thunderous pounding that these rock walls endure when the river is in flood.

Throughout the gorge, we were struck by the lack of litter, even though 2-3,000 people walk it on peak days. The paths are in pretty good repair, helped, no doubt, by the entrance fee.

In mid-summer, birds like the huge, impressive Lammergeier (or Bearded Vulture) are hard to find but we did watch little Crag Martins, drab brown cliff nesters, riding delicately the updraughts of breeze alongside us as we neared the bottom of the gorge.

For the botanist, the Samaria Gorge is a bit like paradise. With 400-500 different species, they range from a yellow flowered flax, blue- flowering Cretan rock lettuce to cyclamens and bushes of the rare white peony, the last one growing in profusion around the tiny, ruined church of Aghios Nikolaos, a couple of miles into the walk.

Eventually the gorge narrows down into its slimmest part, the valley broadens and you leave the National Park at the ruins of what was the original Aghia Roumeli village, now a set of shaded drink stands and little tavernas impossible to pass without succumbing to a cool, freshly squeezed orange juice or can of fizzy.

You'll need that drink. There follows the hardest part of the walk; another mile or two in the blistering sun (we hit it early afternoon at 90F in the shade) to the new village, built by the sea where you can choose from a number of reasonably priced tavernas and knick-knack shops.

Then, because Aghia Roumeli has no road connections, it's a case of waiting for the next ferry to Hora Sfakion, an hour's sailing time east along the coast (1,400 drachmas/pounds 3). From Hora Sfakion village, the public bus then takes another two hours to Hania. This bus fare is included in the 2,400 drachmas (pounds 5.30) ticket from Hania to the gorge. Most hotel-arranged, or other, conducted tours charge around 6,000 to 7,000 drachmas all in (pounds 13.30-pounds 15.50) so they're not much more expensive.

If the Samaria crowds put you off, there are several other gorges in western Crete that are almost as impressive. Many are inaccessible. Others, like the Aradhena Gorge east of Samaria above the south coast village of Loutro, can be described as "challenging" and involve some scrambling and climbing on rope ladders. Picked-clean goat skeletons don't add to any sense of safety. But a solitary three- to four-hour scramble down a narrow gorge with sheer walls almost as tall as Samaria's is the reward if you are properly equipped (no trainers here) and experienced.

A much easier walk is the five-mile long Imbros Gorge, well signposted from Imbros village about 15 miles east of Samaria in the foothills of the White Mountains. We set off in an invigoratingly cool breeze bearing an aroma of sage and other herbs. During the morning we got overtaken by coachloads of German tourists, but come noon, all these groups had marched on and, seemingly, we had the gorge to ourselves. Down there we could sit and listen to silence, broken only by the breeze rustling some cypress or wild olive trees, and the occasional eagle call from the crest of the cliffs high above. It's hard to imagine a more romantic place.

Halfway down, there is a small, stone-built Venetian reservoir where a few people from Imbros village sell drinks and keep a donkey in case anyone has to be carried out. Further on, the gorge narrows and massive cliffs rise on either side, sometimes for many hundreds of feet. What's different from Samaria, apart from the smaller scale, is that Imbros only has water running down it after the snow melts in spring. The rest of the year it's possible to walk it without fear of flash floods.

At the end, where the steep sides fall away, a few tavernas by the main road from Hora Sfakion to Vrises (and on to Hania or Rethimnon) compete for your custom.

The snag is getting back to Imbros village - either a long, sweltering walk up the hill or a long wait for the infrequent public buses - or a rip-off taxi fare. But it was worth it to walk in such a fabulous place.

crete fact file

Basics

The Samaria Gorge is open to walkers from 10 April to 31 October depending upon weather conditions, from 6am to 4pm. At times of heavy rain, the gorge can become dangerous as there is a risk of flash floods.

Getting there

The holiday shop Global Air Travel (tel: 0171 460 3000) quoted me pounds 149, including tax, for return flights to Iraklion, the capital of Crete, during the May and June period. Late availability flights to Athens can drop below pounds 100, and the overnight ferry to Crete from Piraeus is inexpensive.

Packages

If you are not fussy about your resort, try the Last Stop Holiday Shop on 0541 503400. They can offer deals like a week's B&B, including taxes, for pounds 169.

Where to stay

If you want a villa holiday in Crete, there are several companies that specialise in the island including Pure Crete (tel: 0181 760 0879) and Simply Crete (tel: 0181 995 9323).

For organised group walking holidays, try Ramblers Holidays (tel: 01707 331133).