The reasons for my ride to Pafos on the far western side of the island were two-fold…
As usual, eveything is clearly sign-posted here in Cyprus... I didn't like the sound of the last place and decided to give it a miss...!!
Since arriving in Cyprus, I had been in occasional contact with Lucien and Sandra, who had been camping at Pegeia, just north of Pafos.
In one of the emails we had exchanged, we had arranged to meet in Pafos “at some stage”, to catch up on our news and “plan our escape from Alcatraz”, as Sandra put it…!!
Let's just stick to Adonis Baths, shall we... And thanks for the heads up on road conditions...!! By the way, are there places called "Water Runs", "Water Drips", "Water Flows" and "Water Sprays" on the Island...?
I had not been able to visit some of the attractions in the area when last I rode through Pafos, and was keen to see “the best examples of ancient mosaics”, among other things, and planned to visit my friends and see those sites, all in one trip…
Another overly ambitious plan of mine that did not materialise…!!
I left Larnaca at 7.30 am, and an hour later, turned off the motorway and started a slow ride down the coastal road leading to my destination…
Riding conditions were perfect… Temperatures in the mid-twenties and a light easterly breeze blowing from behind us…. There was hardly a vehicle on the road, which wound through low hills before hugging the coastal cliffs and remote little bays that we passed…
From up on the cliffs above, I was able to see down to the blue sea and deserted little beaches...
The bay where Aphrodite was born... A pretty place for a pretty girl...!!
Pointing the way to a rocky path that leads down onto the beach...
Signs that loving couples had passed this way...!!
I stopped at Petra Tou Romiou, the reputed birthplace of Aphrodite, and after parking the bike at the small restaurant, walked through the tunnel that runs under the road, and out onto the pebbly beach…
This area is a major attraction for the romantically inclined, confirmed by the hundreds of “hearts” that were laid out on the beach and on the slopes behind it, with the initials of the couples who made them, inserted in their centre…
Large boulders stand in the water just off the pebble covered beach...
The curved beach is littered with smooth stones that made walking on them a noisy affair… Which was a good thing, because the young couple entwined in a passionate embrace, heard me coming from a long way off, and separated to take a breather until I had walked past them…
Their blushing cheeks confirmed that they had not been discussing the latest news of the debt crisis affecting the Euro Zone…!!
Lots of ammo to play "Skipping Stones" on the flat water of the bay with...!!
At the far end of the beach, a series of enormous rocks march down and into the lapping waters of the Mediterranean…
All along this part of the coast, the sea is crystal clear and the gently sloping beaches make for shallow waters…
Bathers tend to do more wading than swimming, some of them a few hundred metres off shore, and barely hip deep in the water… Some of the large boulders, that are barely a stone’s throw from the beach, lean against each other, making natural archways through which you could easily wade, even when the tide is in…
Ah, sweet...!! Lovers aplenty has left their mark on the slopes above the beach...!!
I passed many of these remote beaches, and parked high above them on the cliffs above, I could look down and imagine a day spent down on them, in complete isolation from the world up above… For those of you wanting an undisturbed and romantic getaway, the remote coves and beaches southeast of Pafos is the place for you…!!
When I look at this picture, I feel like jumping on the Big Fella and heading down there again...!! The large rock in the centre is that of Aphrodite's...
"Get your butts to Cyprus folks...!! You're gonna LOVE it...!!"
Up in the mountains above Petra Nou Romiou, I discovered this narrow ribbon of tar and followed it to where I hoped I'd get even more spectacular views...
Up in the hills above the road, I noticed a lookout point that must give spectacular views of the coastline, and looked for the road that led to it…
It began from behind a restaurant perched halfway up on a slope, and I followed the narrow tarred strip as it wound around the hills, and eventually came to an abrupt halt up against a chain link fence…
The road became a dirt track, even narrower than the one I was on, and seemed to get a whole lot rougher the higher it went… I had lost my bearings by now, and could no longer see the lookout point I had been aiming for…
Unsure whether or not I was on the right road anymore, and mindful that I had arranged to meet Lucien and Sandra at 10.00am, I turned around and made my way back to the main road…
Pafos was a lot bigger than I had surmised, and it took me a while to work my way down to the harbour area, where a wildly waving Lucien attracted my attention as I rode down the paved road that lines the beachfront and takes you out towards the yacht basin and the Fort perched on the peninsula…
It was great seeing them again, and we spent the next four hours drinking coffee, enjoying a tasty lunch and exchanging our views on the Island of Cyprus… Our experiences differed in that they had seen most of the western highlands, riding out each day to find a different route through the mountains, and visiting the more remote areas and villages… I on the other hand had spent more time riding along the coast, and visiting the centre and far eastern side, which they had not yet seen…
“You have to take a ride out to Agia Napa…!” I pleaded with them, “It’s just as pretty as out here, but has many sea caves and grotto’s that you could explore…!!”
Seafront Pafos, where the sunny days drift by un-noticed...
They agreed to plan a ride out there the next day, and then make their way back to Kerynia on the northern side on Sunday, to take the ferry to Tasucu on Monday with me…
The afternoon passed by in a flash, and I realised that I would not be visiting any of the sites I had intended to, which was not a disappointment, because I had thoroughly enjoyed the hours we had spent together… We discussed the many trips they had made through Europe, driving long distances non-stop to get to their destinations in the shortest amount of time… They had made a trip to Nordkapp in the middle of winter, experiencing temperatures of -45º Celsius…!! Riding on icy roads was a hair-raising experience… Well, for Sandra anyway, because as you can see by the photo, Lucien doesn’t have any hair to raise…!!
Enjoying lunch with Lucien and Sandra in the Pafos Yacht Basin...
On the way back out of town, I came across this massive billboard...!! Thoughts of home and the many great meals I had enjoyed there came to mind...
We exchanged ideas about a trip they were planning to take down through Africa in their specially adapted Landrover, which they had set up to “travel light”, without the need for tents and all the other paraphernalia that many overlanders lug around the world with them…
This allows Lucien and Sandra to be packed and ready to ride in the shortest possible amount of time after opening their eyes each morning…
On our walk back to their Landrover, we discussed their ride through Jordan and Syria, and then, using the bonnet as a table, we pored over their maps, while Sandra traced their route through the deserts, and pointed out the “places I should not miss”…!!
Palmyra in eastern Syria; the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Aqaba in Jordan; and the castles and monasteries that they had visited en route… The names rolled off her tongue, and I felt that familiar excitement of discovering new places, well up inside of me…!!
When she had finished outlining their route, Sandra very kindly presented me with their map of Syria and Lebanon as a memento to remember them by, and we parted ways, planning to reunited in Kerynia on Monday… Despite having met just a few weeks ago, and not having seen each other since, they seemed like old friends, and I wished we could have spent more time together…!!
I had been told by the upholsterer in Limassol that I could collect my bags that same afternoon, but before I left Pafos, I called him to make sure that they would be ready… He informed me in a whining tone of voice that he had not yet started on the job, but promised they would be ready by Saturday morning…
In as calm a voice as I could muster, I explained that I had to take the ferry to Turkey on Monday, and needed my bags URGENTLY…!!
Aphrodite's Rock looked just as amazing with the sun now sinking behind me...
Seeing that I now no longer had to rush back to Limassol, I went back along the coastal road, rather than take the motorway… With the sun now on the opposite side of the island, the road that I had ridden that same morning looked completely different… All the pretty spots I had missed came into play, and the lime and sandstone cliffs shone brightly with the setting sun that shone directly onto them…
Our lengthening shadow pointed the way home... And what a great road to ride to it on...!!
I arrived back at my hotel well after the sun had left the sky, happy and content, thinking happy thoughts about the day I had just enjoyed, and the good friends I had shared some time with…
The only thing that had marred my day, was the fact that I was not carrying the bags that I had hoped to begin packing later that night… An uneasy feeling that I was in for further disappointment with regards to my little tailor friend, began to intrude on my good mood, and later that night, I lay awake forming the beginnings of a “Plan B”…
©GBWT 2010
Wow, Paphos looks like the place to be. My feet would cry out if they saw those pebble beaches….the sea has such amazing hues of blue and turquoise, looks so tranquil and inviting. You and Big Fella enjoy the twisty, winding roads along the coast.
Amazing Place – Wow !
Are you not able to buy new bags rather than have the old one repaired ? That way, you can now just leave and the whining tailor will work and not be rewarded (he deserves a lesson in keeping his word).