Spaniakos - Turkish Fortress - Azogires - Anidri - Gialiskari Beach

A nice walk with a difficult beginning (due to an overgrown path) and an exciting detour at the end (which is not necessary, there's an easier alternative).

I hitch-hiked out of Paleochora and started the track from the main road Paleochora-Kandanos uphill towards the village of Spaniakos.
After several road-windings, a hard to miss path is marked uphill on the right side of the road. Sadly the path is heavily overgrown by weeds and bushes, so the path is hard to follow and you need to bend your body around several branches of trees. Wear some long trousers and a longsleeve in this part. I didn't and could see the marks of nature on my arms and calves ;-)
After approximately 30 meters of altitude, the path winds out of this hell of branches and opens up with views of the castle. Follow the red markings which disappear at times but keep the terrain in good observation, then the path should be more or less obvious. Keep in mind that you should approach the castle from the south.
Leave the castle to its west side and follow the blue markings. The path is super easy to find now and very well marked.
Pay a visit to the cave of the 99 saints, which is another 15 minutes further uphill after you get to the road which could lead you to the village of Azogires. But mind my words, the cave is worth the visit. Definitely an experience you shouldn't miss. Bring a torchlight, otherwise it's even scarier and the steps of the iron ladders could easily be missed without one.
Continue back to the road and on to Azogires.
Please have a cold drink at Alpha Kafenion (http://azogires-alpha.blogspot.de/) and have a chatter with the owner Lucky. He might have interesting stories about Crete for you ;-)
Continue the well marked path to Anidri, another 1,5 hours.
Don't miss the "Sto Scolio" (old schoolhouse) Kafenion there.
Afterwords you could use to path through the Anidri Gorge to Gialiskari Beach and hitch-hike back to Paleochora. That would be the above mentioned easy alternative.

If you're into hiking a little more, take the path to the little white chappel in the south of Anidri. The path is well marked in orange. Once you arrive at the chappel, enjoy the view but do not continue on the orange marks in southern direction. The path leads to a dirt road which you would have to follow in north-west direction round the mountain. You would miss the beach and the path would end up at Paleochora Campsite. It's a trail designed for trail-running activities and a short cut back to Paleochora. But except trail-runners, I can't imagine anyone who would spare the beach for this alternative.

On my GPS track, I followed the path down from the chappel, arrived at the dirt road and hit a path that is marked in the Anavasi Map (http://mountains.gr/product.php?lang=en&id=182) and leads down to the gorge. I occasionaly found a cairn, but mostly I scrambled over thyme plants, disturbed the bees feeding on them and had a rather hard time finding my way down the steep hillside to the gorge. Only recommended for experienced hikers who don't mind finding their own way on a steep cretan hill :-)
Once in the gorge it's less than 15 Minutes to the beach and a well earned swim in the Libyan sea.

Statistics
Length: 15.6 km
Created: 2017-06-27 08:37:20
Max. Speed: 10.7 km/h
Speed Ø: 3.1 km/h
Tracktime: 5h:05m
Min. Height: 18 m
Max. Height: 621 m
Ascent: 842 m
Descent: -960 m
Altitude overall: 1802 m