Читать книгу The High Mountains of Crete. The White Mountains, Psiloritis and Lassithi Mountains онлайн

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Omalos 1080m (3543ft) attracts and holds typical mountain weather: rain, mist, winds, frost and, in winter, metres of snow. For Cretans who have to work all summer, the hotels, with their home cooking and log fires, make this a popular winter weekend destination, especially when snow transforms a formerly parched summer landscape. At other times of year the cool fresh air is a welcome relief from the heat of coastal resorts and a few days’ stay is popular with walking groups. In May people comb the old meadows collecting stamnagathi, the highly regarded edible plant of the Cretan mountains. Growing flat to the ground, its spines have to be removed before it is boiled for about 20mins.

An asphalted ring road serves the plateau and main roads enter it from the north and west. Earthen tracks criss-cross the central area. Two or three long sinkholes drain off snowmelt and rainwater that emerges far below as springs, inland from Chania. Drivers use the tracks tentatively, aware that a new sinkhole might develop at any moment. Work on a large artificial reservoir on the west side of the plain is currently suspended.