— London Wanders

Khalki || Aegean Sea

I spent some sunny days island-hopping the Greek Islands and I was fasinated by how the culture varied island to island. The top of my list are Khalki, Symi, and Santorini. Rhodes was our base where we would wake up early in the morning to take the ferry out. Every morning, I couldn’t wait to get out of bed and grab a frappe on the way to the ferry. I would always read up on the island before I go, but the photos never do any justice on how beautiful and photogenic the place really is.

My favorite being Khalki, it’s a tiny island with no more than 150 residents. I’ve learned that the Greeks are friendly but even more so in Khalki. The people here aren’t afraid to be photographed, in fact, they love posing for photographs. I arrived at Khalki early in the morning, when the fish market has just begun and the crowds walked around town with fresh fish in their hands. As I arrived at the dock of Khalki, a lady greeted us and asked where we were from. People in Khalki were happy to have visitors, quite a drastic change and surprise for us coming from Paris. The lady gave me a jar of Khalki Oregano grown from her very own herb farm. I’ll never forget the smile on her face when she insisted us on visiting and staying at her place next time we come to Greece. I kept her card and will definitely return the next time I am wandering about the Aegean Sea.

I started the day with a sweet Greek bun with custard filling, it reminded me of the bread that I used bring to school when I was little. The food here always surprises me with something foreign yet so familiar. The coffee here was much more aromatic than the ones I am used to, and much smoother and milkier. I yelped of excitement as I walked into the ally leading to the beautiful water, a fisherman cleaning his net asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Taiwan, his eyes sparkled and told me how he used to be a captain and docked at Kaohsiung all the time. This wasn’t the first time a Greek has told me their connections with Taiwan and how they loved the country. I guess being island people and all, we do share some similarities in lifestyle and the traditions.

Things are simple in Khalki, there’s not very many things left to do in Khalki. I plan on returning one day, just to be still. It’s very calming here, all the troubles seem lightyears away. I am sure I’ll return one day, maybe just to photograph, document and write.