29th August - Nicholas Crane, at the beginning of his huge walk across the watershed of Europe, writes that Julius Caesar and his Roman Army probably had it right when they walked for three days and rested for one. He ignored the advice (to his regret) and so did I in Part One, but now I had learnt my lesson. So for my rest day, I went for a little 7 km walk around the Askyfou plateau (without a pack) and found my way up to the Turkish fort which dominates the skyline there.

30th August - The day dawned with a cloudless blue sky. I was lucky. The route starts with a gentle two km warm up across the Niato plateau before turning more vicious. The next phase is a very steep 700 meter climb up the north east ridge of Kastro. One of the pluses is that you are doing this in the relative cool of the morning - one of the minuses is that you will probably be carrying something like five litres of water.
Distance: 17.0 km
Time: 10 hrs. 5mins.
Mov av 2.5 km/hr
Height overnight: 1,913m.
Max. height: 2,060m.

At the magical and historical location of Profitis Ilias, in Akrotiri, at the east of Hania lays the tomb of Eleftherios Venizelos, one of the most long-standing prime ministers of Greece and whose political life was focused on doubling the size of Greek territory and on the creation of a contemporary State. Eleftherios Venizelos himself had designated this position to be his resting place before his death.
For the visitor, it affords a panoramic view of the rich green plain of Hania, the imposing White Mountains, the Cretan Sea, the town of Hania and the Chalepa quarter which is the location of the house in which the great politician spent most of his life and today is the headquarters of the National Research Foundation 'Eleftherios K. Venizelos'.

It is located at an altitude of 750 m, 50 km SE from the city of Hania and 20 km from the village of Vryses. Its population is approximately 500 people. The small villages that constitute the community of Askifou are Kares, Ammoudari, Goni and Petres. The most touristic organised of them is Ammoudari with restaurants, gas station, and some rooms for rent.

At a time that living organisms are disappearing at an alarming rate, especially through habitat destruction, the Park for the Preservation of Flora and Fauna of the Technical University of Crete, which extends to 30 hectares, constitutes a small but important area where native plants and co-existing animals are protected and can develop without human intervention.
Up to now 250 different plant species that grow naturally in habitats of the Park have been identified, while their systematic documentation is still in progress.
The development of new ecological units (“habitats”) began in areas of the Park that have been cultivated in the past. These will include plant species of Crete that do not grow naturally in the Park. Two such units, the wetland and the coastal habitats have already been launched.
www.park.tuc.gr/

The Technical University of Crete, one of Greece’s Higher Education Institutions, which places emphasis both on education and research, was established in 1977 in Chania Crete and admitted its first students in October 1984. Today, the Technical University of Crete comprises 5 academic engineering departments, the Department of Production Engineering and Management, the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, the Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, the Department of Environmental Engineering and the Department of Architectural Engineering, assisted in their curriculum by the Sciences Department, all of which have set very high objectives.


The Campus is built on a panoramic location in Kounoupidiana, Akrotiri, 7 km northeast of the city of Chania, with a total area surface of 290 hectares. Off campus, the Department of Architectural Engineering is located at the former French School in Halepa whereas the Rectorate and the rest of the administration offices are located in the heart of the old city of Chania in the Venetian complex of the old barracks and prison.
Website (GR) :http://en.tuc.gr/contact-en.html
Website (EN) :http://en.tuc.gr/contact-en.html
Contact Information at:http://en.tuc.gr/contact-en.html