Little wonder

Over the years we have visited 16 Greek islands, but when we first set foot on Halki, the little-known gem just south of Rhodes, we knew we'd found the closest thing to the perfect one. And we vowed to return. Often.

- SYBRAND MOSTERT & LINDA PIETERSEN

Perhaps the incident of the bell tower illustrates the essence of Halki perfectly.

A stone clock tower next to the ornate city hall looms over the village but it is silent. Years ago, the bells in the tower used to chime out the hours, until one day the villagers decided they'd had enough: it was too noisy. Who needs to know the time anyway? It's not that time stands still in Halki; it just slows. On this idyllic island, you live for the moment.

Halki (also spelled Chalki) is not one of the well-known, popular Greek islands, many of which (like Santorini and Mykonos) are now overrun with tourists and, as a result, have become horrifyingly expensive. It's a quiet, serene island with just 300 inhabitants. Nimborio, the only village on the island, spreads up and around the harbour in a jumble of restored pastel-coloured Mediterranean villas and tumbledown stone houses.

The curving harbour with its colourful bobbing fishing boats is lined with restaurants, two watering holes for sundowners, and discreet coffee shops.

There are no crowds, no loud bars, no thumping music and almost no traffic just small electric delivery trucks and a tiny police car with a top speed of 30 km/h. One main road leads off from the ferry stop and climbs up through the village and down to Pondamos Beach on the other side, a five-minute ride.

From there, you can walk or ride up to the abandoned village Horio with its crusader castle perched on a rocky outcrop, 390 m above sea level. The Halkians lived here from about 400AD until the early 1820s to be safe from Egyptian and Turkish pirates.

The white rocks on the mountain that towers over the town contrast powerfully with the pristine sea - light, dark, impossibly blue.