Driving on the moon @ Kalymnos

Early the next morning, we jump on the spaceship to the moon. On the upper deck, the Meltemi blows in our faces at a good 40 knots. The moon doesn’t seem to have a slipstream. But there are much cheaper means of transport. You can hire a small old car on the moon for a quarter of the price of Kos, starting at €30 per day. Let’s treat ourselves.

Our accommodation is located at the end of a road that winds into the steep slopes of Melitsahas on a small private beach with a view of the barely inhabited neighbouring island of Telendos and the sunset. Perfect – only the high cliffs on both sides stop me from kiting. We set off. Oleander bushes and wild thyme grow next to the steep mountain roads. Otherwise, Kalymnos really is like the moon: abundantly bare and rocky. For climbers, the moon is pure paradise. Dozens of them hang in every halfway shady shell limestone wall.

There is little else to see. A few lonely pebble beaches with small tavernas and spaceships anchored in front of them, complete with strangely dressed aliens. The island drops steeply and rockily into the sea almost everywhere. After a good 100 kilometres of driving, we only find one beach in the very north-west of Kalymnos that could be kiteable. Google Maps simply refers to it as “The Beach”. The approach from the road to Palionissi beach is about 120 metres in altitude and 30 minutes down to the sea. It’s a good 35°, there’s no shade and the winds are extremely strong, so I don’t bother today.

For decades, sponge diving was pretty much the only significant source of income for the locals. Kalymnos was famous for free diving. Whether it was overexploitation or actually – as the well-travelled old Giorgi claims – the radiation from Chernobyl that killed off the sponges is not for me to judge. The fact is that sponge diving on Kalymnos is today only a traditional sport. Nobody really wants to tell you where the sponges that are still on sale come from.

Only in the valley of Metochi does it get a bit green with vines and olive trees. This is followed by large fuel tanks and bare rocks until you reach the capital Pothia. A few 19th century buildings that have been empty for a long time are quietly decaying in the shadows of narrow alleyways. The inhabitants of Kalymnos have increasingly returned to their homeland in recent years. Climbing tourism is giving the island a boost again. Nevertheless, Kalymnos remains the poorest of all the Greek islands visited to date – with petrol prices of just under two euros.

As in neighbouring Turkey, pirate ships also set sail here on booze cruises. Large groups of mainly English people without masks or any kind of distance are piled on board. Pirates only die from sabres and alcoholism. On the ferries, however, there are strict controls. You can’t get off any island without proof of vaccination or an up-to-date test.