Trouble leaving (bus / ferry)

[Anonymous]

As a warning to people planning to leave on a tight time schedule: Yesterday (2011-10-08) I observed several climbers having serious trouble getting back to Kos on time. (Some of them may have missed their flights, I don’t know what happened to them.)

The Masouri-Pothia bus (07:20 Kasteli) was almost completely full after picking up travellers at the northern Masouri stop. Continuing through Masouri center, the bus driver decided to skip the other stops, leaving behind dozens of people with their luggage. Miraculously, a horde of taxis was already waiting there to pick them up, so most of them supposedly got to Pothia in time (at a substantly higher price, of course).

At Pothia port, a lot of people bought A.N.E.K. tickets for the 08:30 ferry to Kos. After it arrived, the hysteric boat captain vociferated incomprehensible things in Greek, while everyone rushed to get a seat on the ferry. At one point, the boarding was stopped (with some grumpy ANEK worker blocking the way, backed by some kind of policeman), and the captain seemingly started to count the validated tickets. Another round of people were admitted on board, then the tickets were counted again; in the end at least 20-30 people — though having been sold tickets before — were left behind, including a complete party of Olympic travellers with their group leader. As the next ferry was scheduled several hours later, it’s very probable some of these guys missed their flight. (I would have, if I had been so unlucky being among them.)

The advice / TLDR: Expect chaotic bus drivers, ferry ticket salesmen and boat captains, and add an additional buffer even for the ferries — i.e., take the one *before* the last one you’d allow for not missing your flight.

[Anonymous]

Hi Bigfoot. Thanks for reporting this (and sorry you and so many others had to experience it). We will publicize it locally in hopes that it won’t happen again…

[Anonymous]

The Kamikaze boat is always a solution (expensive … but you don’t miss your flight

[Anonymous]

Email που έλαβα για το σχετικό θέμα στην σελιδα μου:

Επειδή ήμουν εκεί το Σάββατο το πρωί διαπίστωσα ότι το γκρούπ είχε φροντίσει από το προηγούμενο βράδυ να βγάλει τα εισιτήρια και έτσι επιβιβάστηκαν όλοι. Οι υπόλοιποι πώς θα επιβιβάζονταν εφ’ όσον το πρωτόκολλο του πλοίου είχε καλυφθεί; Και πώς θα γνώριζαν στην ΑΝΕΚ ότι επρόκειτο να ταξιδέψουν τόσο πολλοί από την προηγούμενη ημέρα ώστε να ζητήσουν από το υπουργείο έγκριση για έκτακτο δρομολόγιο; Ξαφνικά πέσαν όλοι και στο λεωφορείο και στο καράβι την τελευταία στιγμή. Πώς ήταν δυνατόν να εξυπηρετηθούν; Στην πατρίδα τους ποιος τολμά να κόψει εισιτήριο , όταν έχει καλυφθεί ο αριθμός που επιτρέπεται; Γιατί δε φρόντισαν να κόψουν εισιτήριο από την προηγούμενη μέρα ώστε να γνωρίζει η ΑΝΕΚ την ανάγκη έκτακτου δρομολογίου;

An Email I received for this matter on my website ( http://www.kalymniansvoice.gr ):

Because I was there Saturday morning to discover that the group had issued tickets the night before so all of them boarded the boat. How could the rest of the passengers that had issued tickets that day fit on the boat since the max capacity for the certain trip was already covered according to the boat’s protocol? And how could the company ANEK know before hand how many passengers were going to travel that day except for those that had issued tickets from the previous day to ask the ministry approval for an extra boat trip? Suddenly everyone wanted to board the last bus and ship at the last minute. How could they all be satisfied without the company having before hand knowledge? Back home who dares to issue ticket, when the maximum number of allowed passengers have allready been reached? Shouldn’t tickets be issued from the previous day allowing for the company Anek to provide with extra boats?

[Anonymous]

Surely the company need to understand that a lot of people are visiting kalymnos in the months of September and October and simply be prepared to put on more boats – or use the bigger one that was sitting there unused. A boat every two hours would not be unreasonable. As for the kamikazi boat – I agree to not miss your flight is important, but having taken this boat, I was convinced I would miss my flight because I and the boat were at the bottom of the ocean. A truly terrifying experience. And an expensive one!

[Anonymous]

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