IOLKOS

Iolkos

We finally arrived back in Iolkos after a very round about way home, but upon arrival Pelias refused to hand over the kingdom. As I was plotting my next move Medea took matters into her own hands (again) and tricked Pelias' daughters into killing their father. Well needless to say we were not very welcome in Iolkos, my home, anymore. We fled to Corinth in exile, I am afraid to say not happily ever after but I don't feel my travel blog is the place to air my personal matters.

However this is a travel site and not a means for me to vent about how my wife had our children murdered and wouldn't return the bodies to me because I had to marry another woman to ensure all of our survival, and she had been the reason that we had to flee, TWICE. Anyways, Iolkos is a beautiful place which is why I would of preferred to remain there with my children (RIP), there still remains parts of the very buildings that I once visited and I highly recommend visiting as many as you can.

This concludes the main places that I visited during my time with the Argonauts, as I previously mentioned I did visit many other places (although not as many as is claimed by locals). Such places include the Danube River, northern Italy, the western Mediterranean and the north of Africa.

- Jason

Journey of the Argonauts

COLCHIS

Finally we arrive at Colchis. But as with many situations in life in some ways the journey was better than the destination. Before I give my professional opinion of Colchis for

Medea and I.

your travel needs I think it only seems fit to revisit my quest. Upon finally ariving in Colchis Aites was less than willing to hand me over his golden fleece despite my personal charm. Aites declared he would give me the fleece if i completed an ordeal of strength. I was to:

- Yoke two fire-breathing bulls
- Plow a field with said bulls
- Sow the field with dragons teeth
- Defeat a field of warriors that would grow from the dragon teeth

The Golden Fleece

Alas as I was getting myself prepared for yet another triumphant battle I met Aites' daughter Medea who was infatuated with me. She soon took it into her own hands to retrieve the golden fleece for me by casting a spell on the guarding dragon. Well you know what it's like when your woman gets an idea in her head. So I had no choice but to flee Colchis with the fleece and my new wife Medea. So unfortunately I did not see a lot of Colchis, I'm sure its a perfectly pleasant place even if its occupants are quite rash in their actions. I would not mention you know me if you want to have a good time, I hear they are still a bit touchy about the whole fleece situation.

- Jason

FAN ART

Well it seems my travel advice has been a big hit so far, I received this fan art from an anonymous source showing (accurately I might add) one of the many times I solely defeated a monster. Unfortunately I am not able to disclose to you my loyal followers the locations of these monsters as myself and the Argonauts took an oath never to disclose the locations of these places (it is not that we have forgotten how we got there). Keep sending your artwork in.

- Jason

THE BLACK SEA

I am writing this post about our battle through the Black Sea as a warning not a recommendation. The opening to the black sea is blocked by hundreds of crashing rocks. If it wasn't for the smarts of the Boreades to chase the Harpies away from the prophet Phineus we never would of know how to cross this treacherous area. DO NOT SAIL THROUGH THE BLACK SEA.

- Jason

KIOS

As we rowed towards the Black Sea from Lemnos the almighty Heracles broke his oar in two and we

were forced to make an unscheduled stop in Kios so that Heracles could make a new one. Whilst ashore Heracles sent his page boy and 'close friend' Hylas to fetch water for the other crew members of the Argo. Well unfortunately for Hylas (and Heracles) there were water nymphs (seen in the image to the right) waiting for him at the stream and he wasn't seen by us again. Well, at hearing this Heracles bounded into the trees looking for his 'friend' whilst at the same time the wind conditions picked up and we were forced to leave Kios without Heracles. You may think we should have turned around and gone back for Heracles, we too thought this, alas we experienced a divine intervention that Heracles was best left at Kios. I later found out that Heracles had gone on to finish the 12 labours. My travel points on Kios thus are: (1) be careful around all sources of water, it may be best to send your women folk to do this and (2) lookout for Hylas as my friend Heracles will be most pleased to one day see him again. Stay tuned for our battle across the Black Sea.

- Jason

LEMNOS

The first significant stop on our voyage to Colchis was the island of Lemnos (pictured on the images to the left). During the time we arrived Lemnos was definitely the place to be if you were a man looking for a good time. It is lucky we did not arrive a year earlier when the women of Lemnos murdered not only their unfaithful husbands but all the men on the island. Thankfully they came to their senses upon our arrival and realised they had no possible hope of survival without the likes of strong men like us. I don't recommend visiting Lemnos if you are on a tight time schedule as we may have spent a little longer than planned with the locals. Luckily, we had the greatest hero ever Hercules, who wasn't as interested in the locals as some, to remind us of our mission. All in all I would recommend a visit to the island of Lemnos when you are next in the area, some of the structures from my last visit are still standing.

- Jason

Welcome To My Travel Guide

Γεια σας! (Hello) And welcome to my travel guide.
It would appear that you can no longer purchase stone tablets to document your travels on. However, let it not be said that Jason cannot adapt, so thank you to the kind store person who told me about this Blogger phenomenon.

I feel it's only right for me to begin with the story of how I came to be so knowledgeable on travel.
I was born in Iolkos in Thessaly, Greece (stay tuned for my post on Iolkos) under the reign of King Kretheus. When Kretheus died a terrible injustice occurred, instead of Kretheus' son (and my father) Aison ruling the kingdom Kretheus' stepson Pelias seized the kingdom. Out of fear for my survival my mother and father smuggled me (a legitimate heir) out to the country.

After twenty years of being nursed by the Centaur's holy daughters I returned home to Iolkos to claim the ancient honour of my father. Pelias agreed to return the kingdom to me if I could bring the golden fleece to him (see 'The Beginning of My Story' to the right of the page). Looking back on this I probably shouldn't of believed he would honour his word, but more on this later.

I immediately commissioned the great boat maker Argos to build me a strong ship (the Argo) and I put out the call for the best men in the realm to join me on my quest to Colchis. Amongst these men were Heracles, Orpheus, Caster and Polydeuces, these and the other men were to be called the Argonauts. And it is from this journey that I shall be sharing my travel adventures, tips and knowledge.

- Jason.