mykonos in september

Mykonos surprised me. From what I had heard it is a party island, and I expected it to be that and not much else. Instead what Jess and I found was less party and my favourite town of all!

I've been subjected to some crazy driving while travelling, particularly in Asia, including about 25 people on one tuk tuk, and I still think our shuttle from the ferry to our accommodation at Paraga Beach Hostel takes the cake. First the driver asked us to squeeze an extra in the back and then he zoomed so fast over the twisting and turning road lined by stone walls I'm not entirely sure how we made it! 

Paraga Beach Hostel has an amazing pool and hang out area and then a mix of dorm rooms and cabins by the beach. Our "cabin" was like a plasticy canvas tent over a metal frame with a concrete floor and it directly overlooked the water. I thought it was awesome. Jess not so much! 

I took a lot of pictures with my feet on this island...

First up for me was a beer by the pool. Bliss! The hostel had a restaurant to eat at which is good but I can imagine gets old after a bit, although Paraga beach had some good looking places we didn't get a chance to try out unfortunately. Jess and I did some classic kiwi pre drinking before we headed out for the night since we had heard about the prices being on the steep side. 

Unfortunately our kiwi attitude of she'll be right meant we had no idea how to get to Paradise Beach, the next one over where all the beach clubs are, which made for an interesting trip there. Instead of taking about 10 minutes to walk I think it must have been around an hour of walking along the road, clambering through random fields and a short but eventful ride with 3 people on one scooter. 

Despite arriving later in the night it wasn't busy at all so we headed to the one place where everyone was, Tropicana Beach Club. Dancing on tables and too many shots followed before it closed much earlier than expected and we took a taxi home, not so keen on getting lost all over again. 

Lets just say I wasn't a happy bunny the next morning, but by some miracle (I honestly don't know how) I managed to take the bus into the town so we could look around on our only full day there. Definitely worth the struggle! We visited Little Venice and the windmills, wandered through narrow lanes with cutely painted houses and even saw one of the islands pelicans. 

Turns out we had apparently missed the busiest party season by just a few weeks and it also being the middle of the week was why it was so quiet on the party front. We never even considered that in our planning but it didn't really matter. Although I would like to go back when it was busier, or maybe check out Ios, except for the price of things being a bit off-putting. Partying so cheaply in South-East Asia has really skewed my view I think! 

We attempted another night out anyway which resulted in some hilarious people watching that made it well worth it.

Note the guy strutting it in his underwear

The next day was the swimming in the ocean and relaxing by the pool I could have done with the day before. There was a bit of drama while I was packing with a gecko running around our cabin and over my bed before disappearing. I wouldn't be surprised if I open my pack at some point and it pops out!

This was followed by more waiting at the port (we seemed to do a lot of that...) before a long ferry ride back to Athens. The next day Jess left for New York and I headed to see the first stadium of the modern Olympics, cram in some last delicious Greek food and chill out in the hostel garden before my flight to Rome.

Mykonos is definitely worth the visit, don't be put off by the partying reputation, but also if you want to go just for that maybe pick a better time! It was what I always imagined of the Greek islands though, cute laneways, blue and white, flagstones and gorgeous beaches!

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