Thari Monastery

Asklipio to Thari Monastery

When we returned from the castle to our little rental car the steering wheel was too hot to handle. Baking! We turned on the air conditioning and studied the road map. If we carried on driving north we'd reach the monastery at Thari ("Moni Thari") where we could take a break. Then up to Laerma and then south-east from Laerma to Lardos and finally Pefkos. Sounded like a plan.

We didn't see any traffic on the way to Thari, which was a good thing. This is a narrow single lane and passing places are few and far between. Driving was fun though, and the landscape varied from blighted trees (there must have been a forest fire here in the not too distant past) to luscious greenery.

Thari

We were happy to have driven to Thari. We explored the monastery gardens and marveled at the church interior. It's all very quiet, as you might expect from a monastery. It feels like being in the middle of nowhere.



The road from Thari up to Laerma is a much easier drive, and then it's plain sailing from Laerma to Lardos, where we took a wrong turn and headed north through Pilonas and then south again through Lindos to finally reach our destination in Pefkos. With still plenty of time to return the car to Marathon, the car-hire firm, before they closed for the day!

The Road to Prasonisi

Rental Car

We were planning on heading south from Pefkos down the east coast of Rhodes and then north along the west coast. Our first stop would be Prasonisi on the southernmost tip of Rhodes.

I made a fool of myself trying to manoeuvre our little rental car out of the forecourt of the car-hire firm. Well there's a first time for everything. Apparently I only needed to use one foot when driving an automatic.

When we finally got on the road the going was easy. It took me a while to get used to the automatic gear shifts as I negotiated sharp bends and steep inclines, and I was happy to be able to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

Prasonisi

At Katavia we took the road to our left which would bring us down to Prasonisi. We picked up a hitch-hiker on the way, a young Russian who told us he taught windsurfing here for three months (– the visa limit) every year. I mentioned we were planning on going up the west coast and he told us it's the most popular part of Rhodes amongst "rich Russians".

The road turned into a dirt track and then we could park the car on the sand near a couple of tavernas. Plenty of kites in the distance, I thought. Walking nearer to the beach it became apparent that the kites were attached to people on surfboards. I knew that with its predominant westerly wind Prasonisi was a paradise for windsurfers, but I'd never seen kitesurfing before. Here's a short movie I made that morning (14 June 2012) just to give you an idea. Wow!

Car Hire in Pefkos

First-time care hire

During our first few days in Rhodes I'd had an internal dialog that went a bit like this:

I've never driven a left-hand-drive car before – will I be able to manage the gears with my right hand if I do rent a car? On the other hand I'm used to cycling on the right-hand side of the road, and even rented a quad bike to explore Zakynthos less than two years ago.

Although I'm in my 50s I only learnt to drive about 10 years ago and had serious doubts about renting a left-hand-drive car in Rhodes. Then one day (13 June) it occurred to me that an automatic car might be the solution.

We checked out a few of the car-hire firms in Pefkos and either they didn't have an automatic, they had already rented out their only automatic, or they seemed too expensive and I'd have to think it over. Then on our way back to the Stella Hotel we realised there was another firm we hadn't tried which was right next door. Marathon Rent A Car had a lovely wee Renault 105 (see pic) which we could rent for three days for €110. Perfect! We arranged to pick it up early the next day and bought a road map.

Related Posts

First Morning at Stella Hotel, Pefkos
7th of June in the afternoon, Pefkos, Rhodes
Pefkos Beaches