The West Coast of Cyprus

 

In the summer of 2001 we flew to Cyprus for the second time. This time we had booked with Sudtours, and we flew with Dutchbird which has been in the air since the autumn of 2000. This year we stayed in Paphos (or Pafos), located on the west coast of Cyprus. The apartment where we stayed is called Alecos and is located in the center. That sounds nicer/more convenient than it is, because the center here means a street full of restaurants, bars, cafes and discos (and a few supermarkets/shops). They also call this street Nightlife Street, and that's right; at night (after 00:00) the disco sound breaks loose, and if you sleep lightly you will be shouted out of bed...

Apartments Alecos

Alecos is a medium sized apartment complex, with a small swimming pool. Other guests told us that they were not really satisfied with the location and condition of the apartment. We can confirm the latter immediately (we also did not know that it was close to Nightlife Street), but we had expected that the status of the apartments would not be very good, given the price level. Anyway, apparently we were lucky with the condition and size of the apartment. We heard from others that their apartment was a lot smaller. As for the pool, we thought it was nice that it was there, but it didn't really cool off. At one point the pool was even cloudy from the algae, but that was remedied the night before our departure... The terrace around it is small and too narrow for sunbeds.

All in all, we had a relaxing and fun holiday. Especially since we were in Cyprus for the 2nd time, and few excursions were offered other than last time. But we wanted to go to Cyprus again because during a cruise to Israel/Egypt we heard from fellow passengers that Pafos and the surrounding area are definitely worth a visit. According to them, there are several interesting archaeological excavations.

History in Pafos

We visited the catacomb of Ayia Solomoni, the mosaics in the houses of Aion, Dionysus and Theseus, the Column of St. Paul and of course the King's tombs. Despite what the hostess said and the books and brochures mention, we had to pay an entrance fee for a visit to the houses and the Royal Tombs. Not that it was (overly) expensive now, but we weren't expecting it. All locations are easily accessible on foot from the port of Pafos, but you can also easily take the bus.

PafosPafos

Tip: if you are in Cyprus in the warm months, go to the excavations early in the morning, because in the afternoon it is really (too) hot in these places. There are no kings buried in the royal tombs. No, these were 'ordinary' tombs for Ptolemaic aristocrats. The excavations are still going on.

We had to look closely for the column of St. Paul, because it no longer really looked like a column, and it is fairly on the side of the site. There is, however, a sign at the foot of the low column, so if you look closely you will see it.

Jeep safari through Akamas

We did an excursion with a jeep safari to and through Akamas, including a visit to the Akamas Gorge. Highly recommended! There were 9 of us in the jeep and our driver was also the guide. He had a lot to tell about Cyprus and all its flora & fauna. We were a total of four jeeps driving from point to point. There were more jeeps, but they were from other organizations, and we didn't see much of them on the way. Along the way we got what the drivers called it a 'safari massage' several times. This route is therefore really not possible to drive with a normal rental family car. During the jeep safari we visited the Akama Gorge, where we walked a bit and Lara-Bay with a beach where sea turtles lay their eggs (you are not allowed on the beach here). After that we made a lunch stop in Droussia after which we visited Aphrodite's bath (we read later that she seems to have more), made a swimming stop at a beautiful pebble beach, and finally paid a (voluntary) visit to a snake garden.

Pebble beachPebble beach

The next excursion we did was called 'Cyprus Select'. During this excursion we took a ride with a minibus that can accommodate up to 20 people and we drove a long way into the Troodos Mountains.

With such a minibus you can get to roads where a large coach cannot, and moreover you are with a not so large group which is also nice. What was a pity is that the guide started talking from the moment we were complete, and actually did not stop until the last stop. Sometimes you had to pay close attention to where a story (temporarily) ended, and where the next (temporarily) began. On the way to the cafion (kind of cafe) where we had a real farmer's breakfast, we were already told all kinds of things about the flora and fauna that we encountered along the way, and she also showed some plants.n to see and smell us. In the village where we had breakfast we had the opportunity to take a look at the village, and there was another blacksmith of 90 years who still makes a few things by hand. It seems to be the only blacksmith in Cyprus who still produces his work according to traditional methods. The nice thing about this blacksmith is that he is happy to pose for a photo if you ask.

On the way to the restaurant where we were served a Cypriot meal with kleftiko and a chicken souvla, we stopped at a 10 m high Venetian bridge. After lunch we drove to the monastery of Johannes Lampadistis with a number of stops. Here we visited the church and a museum. The small church originally consisted of 3 churches where they had broken out the dividing walls. Unfortunately, this resulted in several frescoes being damaged. Unfortunately, these frescoes cannot be restored due to the unique composition of the paint. It is not possible to put together the colors that have been used on exactly the right color and with the right proportion of fabrics. After this stop we slowly drive back to Pafos. The excursions were, just like in 1998, all with a Dutch-speaking guide, which is wonderful. You can then ask your questions more easily and you can understand everything that is said. It's easier to follow...

Public transport Pafos

Public transport in and around Pafos is well organised. There are regular connections (several times per hour) to Coral Bay and Ktima. If you want to go to the Konigsgraven then you have to take the bus to Coral Bay. It is possible that public transport on the east coast has improved since 1998, but when we were there there were very few buses on a day. We think it is not feasible to go by bus from Pafos to Limassol or Nicosia. We have been to Coral Bay twice by public transport. Coral Bay has a white sandy beach and is located in a bay northwest of Pafos. There is a real Baywatch lookout and sunbeds and umbrellas are available for hire. Corals may have lived here way back in the day, but now you won't find any corals. After 3pm a lot of local youth flock to Coral Bay; during the day you will mainly find tourists there.

The first time we were in Coral Bay there was a calm calm sea, and then we floated around (without aids) in the salt water. The second time we went to Coral Bay, the sea was a lot rougher, which we already saw from the bus in Pafos and on the way to Coral Bay, because you drive partly along the coast. bodysurfing. Since we thought that was very cool to see, we also rented such a mini surfboard. REALLY GOOD!! Sorry, a little too excited, but it's really fun. We had never done this before. You had to be careful not to stand at the point where the waves broke, because that hit pretty hard. The waves were often between 1.50 and 2.00 m from top to bottom, we estimate. By the way, that is still quite difficult, bodysurfing. You had to catch the wave in the right way, and lie well on your surfboard, but if it was good, you would be dragged along by the waves for tens of meters.

Coast PafosCoast Pafos

The old part of Pafos

We also visited the old part of Pafos (Ktima) for half a day (maybe not even), but either we didn't go to the real center or we had too much of an idea; we didn't think that was really special. If you like to go to the market then it might be fun to go to the Market Place. Speaking of shops, along the promenade/coast of Kato Paphos are many shops and restaurants. The harbor of Paphos also has some busy restaurants. The price level of the food is more expensive at the harbor, and we heard that it is not entirely in proportion to what is served. We were not able to test that because the restaurants at the harbor were always full when we wanted to eat there...

The restaurants on and around Nightlifestreet are a bit quieter (there was usually room there), and are, in our opinion and taste, good and the food there tastes good. But unfortunately also here in Paphos you see that there are special employees near the entrance to invite people to eat with them. We ourselves find that very intrusive; you can't even take a look at the menu to see what they have and whether it's not too expensive (Dutch...).

After dinner we often had a cocktail during the Happy Hour that various bars gave. You had to look carefully at some of the cocktails for the 'special price' of C£1, but there were also those that simply had all the cocktails for the 'special price', so we could often be found there.

Near Alecos were all kinds of supermarkets that also sold fresh fruit, but also a Woolworth with a goodcheap supermarket. There were of course also many souvenir shops where we also browsed a lot, but as real Dutchmen we bought little. Despite the location of the apartment complex, we had a wonderful, quiet, lazy holiday here, and were fully recharged for a year of hard work...