I will start the second part of my article with the tricky process of making homemade "burnelo" jam. In the days prior, I had picked grape-sized, plum-like fruits from the bushes, which we put in a metal pot on the fire. After adding water and boiling, we placed the pot in the shade and covered it until the evening, when we searched for the kernels of each grape by hand and separated them from the fruits. During this task, I was assisted by two guests, young Sicilian women who were key to organising my trip to Sicily later in September. The next day, we again left the jam to boil in the pot and added a lot of honey.
Since the jam also burned my hand a bit during work, Panos spread butter on the burn and ensured that it would soothe the pain. And it did! At that moment, my new friend from Paris also came to say goodbye, who hugged me so hard that I almost could not breathe. There are no words for such moments (apparently I served him quite well). His young son also waved goodbye to me. It was also a religious holiday in Greece, so in the evening we went with people from the camp to the square in Platanos (the oldest settlement on the island). In the heart of the celebrations, among small pubs full of locals, we danced as only befits the city. After sitting on the pavement, tasting meat on sticks on the street and drinking local wine, we headed back to the campsite for a well-deserved rest in the narrow, illuminated and crowded streets.
The more days passed, the more I realised the added value of this campsite. Locations such as this can be suitable for designing and testing a tourist model, where guests would, in exchange for more affordable accommodation, help the campsite with various tasks: from picking vegetables to various maintenance works on the property. Similar to what I did. In this case, the guest receives "real" authenticity. Over time, I began to look at the camp, as well as Panos, from a different angle, with even greater respect and gratitude that I could be part of such a story for a short time. In the evening, after the enlightening debates, we enjoyed a delicious feast, as it was Panos' name day, which is more important in his homeland than a birthday. We indulged in pasta with the famous Panos "peperonata" (a sauce made from his peppers), fried garfish and homemade wine.
As the last days of my stay at the camp approached, I borrowed Panos' bike and drove to Lakki for souvlaki (a Greek fast food consisting of smaller pieces of meat on a skewer, but it can also be served in pita bread with other ingredients). I also cycled along the outskirts of the bay that has the same name as the town to a remote beach, where I swam in the secluded and clear turquoise sea. I returned just in time to take care of the property, as the owner had to go help his brother due to problems with his boat. During this time, I had two visits, which I had difficulty carrying out. Namely, to begin with, I had to explain to the plumber what was wrong with the water and plumbing in the camp, and unfortunately for me, he could not speak English, and I could not speak Greek. After a successful communication with the plumber, a deaf tourist later appeared who wanted to spend the night in a bungalow. After a hard day's work, Panos and I prepared the liver of a young calf for dinner. We enjoyed them with olive oil, garlic, onions, homemade wine and lemon and a rice side dish.
Another culinary treat awaited me, accompanied by the sounds of traditional African music. Depending on the mood, Panos plays traditional music from different cultures, from African to Tibetan, every day. Now and then, of course, he adds that he also knows the performer from his travels around the world.
It was approaching the last day of my stay in Leros before I continued travelling. I learnt a lot in the kitchen – when I was cooking, I could already sense when a dish was ready by smell, not by taste (as Panos taught me). I was listening to the latest stories of Panos living in the jungles of the Far East and tasting their special dishes with the local people. He also described to me how he once tasted a king cobra for lunch.
On a road trip around the island, I enjoyed the exceptional panoramic views and wilderness. I also visited the church of Agios Isidoros, to which a narrow stone path leads by sea.
I went snorkelling near it and then returned to the campsite, where I was already helping to serve the dinners and, after a job well done, I went for the best ice cream on the island and a special cake, which my new friend Panos loves.
And so the day of my departure had arrived. Until noon, I continued to help at the camp and read Boris Pahor's novel Necropolis. The departure was not easy – as I expected, and Panos made sure that I did not go hungry and gave me jam and salty figs for the trip (fortunately they did not take this away from me at the airport). In the harbour, I said goodbye to the island itself, which I had already seen through the window of a catamaran bound for nearby Kalymnos.
After arriving and a quick afternoon visit to the port town of Pothia, I set off the next morning to the nearby hilltop, where a well-kept monastery stands overlooking the valley and the bay below.
It was not even 9am when I was already in the small "folk museum", which was set up in rooms on the ground floor of the house. I learnt a lot, from the customs and traditions of the islanders, how they celebrated important events (from weddings to births) and how diving and finding sponges was an important economic activity for Kalymnos. I was particularly fascinated by the number of casualties caused by excessive effort and the arrival of the first diving suit, which caused even more casualties due to too rapid ascents to the surface (the equipment was also banned for a while).
In the museum I tasted their homemade wine with honey, which they praise as the best in the world (of course, with a touch of pride I thought, how can they even try telling a Slovenian what good honey is). In the afternoon, I visited the archaeological museum, where I had free entry, and the ruins of a castle on a hill further down the valley.
The next day I went to a remote bay in the morning, where I swam completely alone in the sea, then cleaned up, checked out of the hotel and continued straight to the island of Kos.
I spent the second-to-last day of my Greek adventure wandering around the birthplace of the father of medicine, Hippocrates, which surprised me in negative rather than positive ways. From the smell to the waste next to heritage buildings and the crowds of tourists who do not know what they are actually photographing and why. In other words, mass tourism. I visited the Tree of Hippocrates and revisited the archaeological museum, free of charge for me again.
With the rain approaching, this was the last major exploration. In the evening, there was only one last dinner and a visit to the remains of the ancient theatre.
The last day I woke up very quickly. It was time to go home. I rushed to the bus and got a free seat on a crowded vehicle. However, I have nothing to complain about, because that's how I met the person who was sitting next to me and found out that she was an engineer for the European Space Agency. Through short lectures, she told me about space travel and the technical issues that are necessary for such ventures, and why this industry is not "yet" fully suitable for tourism. Too much money for such an underdeveloped offer, not to mention time-consuming preparations and the privileging of wealthier individuals. As a result, my trip to the airport went by in a blink of an eye. One of the main points of travelling, I thought at the time, is that you get to meet extraordinary people. Many thoughts of enlightenment were running through my head at the time. So I sat in the waiting room at the airport, waiting in deep reflection so that I could get on the plane and come home and share my valuable experiences.
I was rewarded for my work not with money, but with experience, stories, acquaintances and knowledge, which made it an adventure and an investment in myself, not just a "normal" job abroad. I helped a unique local provider with daily tasks and implemented the steps of sustainable tourism as a tourist through my actions. For me, the added value of the camp offer influenced me to share my added value for the tourist, as well as for the provider. Here we can see an idea of how such tourism can help local communities and have a positive impact on the destination. This is a leap from mass tourism to regenerative and responsible tourism, where the value of the offer is enhanced by its "unspoilt" authenticity. Such an exploration of the world involves actions that support the mission of transforming tourism, following a vision of a tourism industry that can in itself develop all peripheral areas of the world in a sustainable and inclusive way, from neglected urban areas to rural areas.
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