The town of Olymbos in the very north of Karpathos was founded by refugees from the ancient Doric city of Vrykous, wich were on the run from saracen pirates in the 7th or 8th century. This place, hidden between high mountains, could not be seen from the sea and was much safer for its inhabitants. Until the last decade there was no road connection to the south of the island but the sea rout. Even today the paved road is dangerous because of its narrow curves, steep precipices and stones wich can occur in your way, behind every turn. A trip to Olymbos from the airport still takes about one and a half hours. But its worth every km. For me it is one of the absolute highlights of the island.

It is worth walking up the steep steps to the old and nearly dilapidated windmills to get this breathtaking view on Olympos. At that daytime, close to sunset, you will hardly find tourists here. They left much earlier because of the long and curvy road back to their holiday homes further south.