Having discovered that the Robert Wilson production of Oedipus by Sophocles, which premiered in Pompei last summer and which I watched in Vicenza this month, will also be staged in Epidaurus next June (three World Heritage theaters! ) , I had to reminisce my absolutely unusual and even surreal experience I had when I visited Epidaurus. 

I believe it was the summer of 2004 right before the Athens Olympics. That was when I toured Greece visiting most of the WHSs in Greece I have visited so far. 

In Athens I purchased a ticket for the National Theater of Greece production of Lysistrata, a comedy by Aristophanes, at the Epidaurus Theater. The theater is the summer home of the National Theater of Greece based in Athens, and I just thought, what could be the better way to experience this most complete Greek theater in the world than watching an actual Greek play there?  

How to get to Epidaurus:

But the ticket I purchased was actually for the whole tour from Athens to Epidaurus, which included a bus ride from Athens to Pireas, a ferry ride from Pireas to some port in Peloponnese, and another bus ride from there to Epidaurus and the same on the way back.  I did not know what I got myself into. They just told me to get on the bus in Athens at 4 pm.  

When I boarded the ferry and freely walked around the boat was when I realized that, not only was I the only Asian on this boat, but also I was the only foreigner. This meant that the tour was catered for the Greek people.  Whatever I was doing, everybody was looking at me.  I had Souvlaki for dinner at some corner.  The ferry ride lasted about 3 hours. 

At Epidaurus:

From the bus parking lot in Epidaurus we walked several hundred meters to the theater, and I would assume that was my opportunity to see other components of this site.  But walking straight to the theater, I do not remember seeing anything of significance. 

Seeing from the fact that several dozen other Greek or Roman theaters around the world have been struggling to keep themselves in good shape, the existence of the Epidaurus Theater in such an impeccable condition, with its famous acoustics, must be considered a blessing.  

The play or the Greek comedy started at 9 pm.  Even though I could hear actors' voices clearly from my seat on an upper row, I didn't know what they were saying.  But I knew the story line, and the jokes were pretty straight forward and indeed funny.  

How to come back from Epidaurus:

The most extraordinary part of this tour was actually on the ferry on the way back.  It left the port after midnight. What were we going to do on the boat from mid-night to 3 am?  There were only tables and chairs in the inner deck, so some people, including myself, started to try sleeping on the floor, while most others were still drinking merrily. 

But there was this Greek crooner, whose job was to entertain us, and he kept singing for the entire 3 hours!  And it wasn't Elvis or Moon River.  He sang songs in the language I don't understand!  What was even more problematic for me was perhaps the fact that this crooner looked exactly like the then world-famous Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos, one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. 

I'm sure everybody except me knew what the tour was going to be like. They knew what to expect.  I didn't.  I arrived back at my accommodation in Athens at 5 am!  I had a full schedule that day to check out another WHS!

Still, I would recommend this tour to those who are adamant on experiencing different cultures. 

This was before my time with digital camera, so I don't have any photo to upload.