Ayia Napa sea caves near Cape Greko

Though Cyprus is famous for its beaches, there are not many areas in Cyprus where you would find the sea meeting the land at a beach. Most of the Cyprus coastline is rugged and in some places, there are massive cliffs (like the ones near Episkopi and beyond) and in others, there are small cliffs which are easily accessible for adventure seekers. There are two very popular "sea caves" in Cyprus, one at Ayia Napa and the other at Peyia.
The Ayia Napa sea caves is the more visited one because of its proximity to the party-town of Ayia Napa. These are located almost on the south-eastern end of Cyprus next to Cape Greko/Caveo Greko. They are easily accessible from Ayia Napa, Protaras or Paralimni. This is how you go to the sea caves:

• I assume that you know to reach Ayia Napa. Just look for Ayia Napa on the maps and drive over. Simple.
• Once in Ayia Napa, go towards the McD next to the Luna Park. You should be able to see the Mc D sign/Sling Shot towers in this Luna Park from quite a distance away. A reference to this McD would be a dead-end road by its side which is often used for parking and a mini-golf course right next to it (across this road).
  
• Proceed East on this road i.e. moving in the direction of McD from the luna Park.
• You will come to a T-Junction. You have to take a left here if you want to go the main clubbing area of Ayia Napa. But, we shall leave that for later and turn right at the T-Junction.
• This road will go towards the sea and end at a beach. Take a left at the roundabout and within 10/20 metres, the road will again turn left. take this left turn (taking the mini lane to the right would take you to the sea). This is like taking a very big U-Turn.
  
• Keep going on this road until the road curves right and comes to a round-about.
  
• On this round-about, go straight (third/last exit towards Cavo Greko).
• After some distance, you will come to a t-junction again. Follow the direction of Cavo Greko which in this case is towards the right , towards the sea.
• Keep going on this road, you should see a small sign saying "sea caves" pointing to the right. This is proper road which branches off to the right, but stays parallel to the main road for a distance. On this road, after some time, a small earthern road turns to the right. The road (not really a road) looks real bad, but is ok to drive on. Drive on straight towards the sea and you should see the sea caves on the right.

These caves are the result of millions of years of the sea pounding on the cliffs and making inroads into the walls of the cliff. You can climb down to sea level at the east end of the cliff and walk close to the walls and explore many of the caves which have formed. Some are them go in quite deep and you have to be sure-footed to explore them.

For those who are afraid of clambering over the rocks to climb down, there is an easier way, just jump off the cliffs into the water. This is a very popular activity here and is supposed to be pretty safe. The water is quite deep and crystal clear. So, as long as you have your orientations right, you can jump quite comfortably into the clear water avoiding the rocks.

This place is a great one for photography enthusiasts. You have numerous crevices with which you can explore your creative photography skills. Also, the sunset at this place is amazing. If you have the patience and the "foothold" to climb down and get into the caves, you can get some really nice pictures at sunset.

For the adventurous, once you climb down, you don't have to climb up the same way again. You can walk along with cliffs and climb up at the other end, though it is bit of a struggle at some places.

A few minute drive away from the sea caves is official south-easternmost point of Cyprus. You cannot go to that exact spot, as there are some military antenna installations there. But, you can go to the top of the hill right next to it for amazing views of the Ayia Napa coast. There is even a short nature walk from the top of the hill which takes you to further cliffs by the sea.

If you have time left after visiting the Ayia Napa sea caves, you can drive over to Konnoi bay, only a short distance away and maybe even walk to the cyclops cave. Other places of interest nearby: Protaras Aquarium (Ocean Aquarium), the Dancing Waters musical fountain in the Protaras tourist area.

Enjoy!

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Cyclops Cave in Konnos Bay near Ayia Napa

Cyclops cave is a small cave which can be reached after a comfortable 1.5 km walk from Konnos bay. The cave has 3 to 4 "rooms" and you can find many stalactite formations in this cave. The walk to this cave is a steady walk without much ascent and even kids can be taken along for this walk.

There are numerous spots on this walk overlooking the sea which are ideal for a small picnic. You can also climb down to the sea at many sections of the walk. Also, the route to the cave follows the cliff walls closely and you will be able to see the effect of the wind on the cliff walls. There are interesting rock formations on the cliff walls which provide for a good photo opportunity.

Konnos bay is sometimes referred to as Konnoi bay on the maps. It is located to the east of Ayia Napa between Cape Greko (Cavo Greco) and Protaras. Konni Bay is a beautiful wind-swept bay which is almost like a secluded beach. You have to go down the slope from the main road through some hairpin bends to reach the beach. The setting of this beach is amazing.

Directions to Konnoi Bay/Cyclops cave:

• I assume that you know to reach Ayia Napa. Just look for Ayia Napa on the maps and drive over. Simple.
• Once in Ayia Napa, go towards the McD next to the Luna Park. You should be able to see the Mc D sign/Sling Shot towers in this Luna Park from quite a distance away. A reference to this McD would be a dead-end road by its side which is often used for parking and a mini-golf course right next to it (across this road).
  
• Proceed East on this road i.e. moving in the direction of McD from the luna Park.
• You will come to a T-Junction. You have to take a left here if you want to go the main clubbing area of Ayia Napa. But, we shall leave that for later and turn right at the T-Junction.
• This road will go towards the sea and end at a beach. Take a left at the roundabout and within 10/20 metres, the road will again turn left. take this left turn (taking the mini lane to the right would take you to the sea). This is like taking a very big U-Turn.
  
• Keep going on this road until the road curves right and comes to a round-about.
  
• On this round-about, go straight (third/last exit towards Cavo Greko).
• After some distance, you will come to a t-junction again. Follow the direction of Cavo Greko which in this case is towards the right , towards the sea.
• Keep going on this road, you should cross the Ayia Napa sea-caves sign (pointing to the right). Keep going and you should cross another exit towards cavo greko which is the one leading to the lookout point on top of the "obviously" visible hill on your right.
• The exit to Konnos Bay (on the right) is approximately 2kms from the exit to the Cave greko hill. Another landmark for Konnos Bay is the Grecian Park Hotel.
• Don't drive all the way down to the beach if you plan to go to the cave. Around half-way down, you will come to parking lot with a clear sign saying "Cyclops Cave 1.5 km" or something like that. (it has been more than 2 yrs, so i forgot what is said on the sign).

Hope that this information was useful and you found it to be a nice walk. If you have time left after visiting the cyclops caves, you can drive over to the Ayia Napa sea caves, only a short distance away. Other places of interest nearby: Protaras Aquarium (Ocean Aquarium), the Dancing Waters musical fountain in the Protaras tourist area.
Enjoy!

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Cyprus car rally 2008

The annual Cyprus car rally is just around the corner - happening next weekend (17th and 18th May 2008) . This rally is not part of WRC (world rally championships), but part of the Middle East Rally Championship 2008. Cyprus was removed from the WRC calendar in 2007. It was supposed to be back on WRC from 2008, but according to the organisers, this year's rally is also not part of WRC. I am not a reagular rally follower and do not know any of the big names in rallying. So, for me, as long as there are fast cars, lot of dust and action, it is worth a visit for excellent photo opportunities.
We had been to one of the stages in 2006 and spent a lot of time taking photos of the action. We went pretty early to the place (you have to if you need to find a nice spot). We walked along the road for a small distance until ee got a nice spot next to a sharp curve.

There were many people who had considered the same spot as a good location and it was pretty crowded. But, most of them were high up on the slope behind the bushes. We were surprised as to why these people come to such a good spot, but then climb up the slope to move away from the place of action. We understood why as soon as the first car sped by. The wind was blowing towards us and the few million tons of dirt and rock released by the spinning wheels of the car came straight in our direction. It was too late. We were consumed by the dust and ended up well camouflaged on the dirt road!

But, the spot was too good to let go of. So, we adopted a new procedure. We would click photos right until the moment the cars passed us, then put the camera inside out t-shirts, turn to the opposite direction, bend down and pray to god that nothing big falls on us!
I then moved a little ahead, to the side of the road to get some closer shots. Some people were so close to the cars that a small mistake by the drivers could have proven fatal.

Well, i too decided to join those people as i concluded that the experience was worth the risk. But i doubt that i will do that again, as there were many close calls.

After i was satisfied with the amount of dirt i had consumed, i crossed over and found that, because of the wind direction, not even a speck of dust was falling on that side of the road. Here was an opportunity to try some artistic shots!

I used the burst mode on my nikon D70 to capture a sequence of a car passing by.

In 2006, for the first time, a special stage was introduced in the Cyprus rally. This was called the Downtown special and was to be held in the narrows streets of Limassol downtown area. While the usual visitor tickets for any stage cost around 2 pounds, tickets for this stage cost around 18 CYP and were sold out within a few days of being announced. Special stages were put along the roads where seating options were provided. There were separate tickets for the seating and the non-seating options.
I didn't have any tickets, but i went to the downtown area nevertheless in the hope that i would get to see some action. To my surprise, there was no one to check any tickets. The whole area was open to anyone and one could go to any curve/street to watch the race. This was because, the race was actually changed to an exhibition race as many drivers complained of the high risk involved in racing through the very narrow streets. So, at the last minute, the organisers announced (only to the participants) that this was just an exhibition stage and the points didn;t count towards the overall cyprus rally.

Though it was an exhibition race, the drivers were turning on the heat by taking the curves as fast as they could and in some places, it was really too close for comfort. If you see the sequence below, the car skids a lot to the left, almost touching the barricades.

But, one Citroen driver tried too much and ended up banging his car on the side of the road. He turned out the star attraction of the evening, as soon as he started crying!

If you are looking for details on this year's rally, go check out the official cyprus rally website here.

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The power of manamoo in Cyprus

Manamoo actually means "my mother" in Greek, but the meaning of this word/phrase depends on the actual situation you use it in. It can mean "my dear", "my friend" and practically anything else you would playfully address another person.
No, I am not planning to start Greek classes on my blog. For that, you can check details on online Greek classes here. Why I am discussing about this particular word is because of the "power" of this word in Cyprus. The word manamoo when used appropriately can open doors for you, help you jump the queue and much much more. I had been to the tax office few days back to submit my returns for 2007. I had to wait quite a bit because there was a Britisher in front of me who was "unsuccessfully" discussing with the tax officer to clarify the reasons for the excessive tax he is supposedly paying. Between his rants, the tax officer used to say something to greek to her neighbour and both would giggle. While all this was happening, I suddenly remembered a similar incident which happened to me at the same place 2 years ago. I had written about it on my personal blog that time. Reading that still brings a smile and makes me wonder about the complications of living in this small island. So, I am pasting below the contents of that post. Btw, this "concept" still holds good and will probably do so forever.
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Today morning, I went to the Income Tax office to meet our assigned Tax Officer to file the returns. I went at 9 AM. If i had gone in at 9AM, my conversation should have been like:

Me: Hi, I came two days back. You asked me to come today to collect my documents.

She: What is your name?

Me: Rajaram Sethuraman.

She:Here it is.

Me: Thank you. Bye

She: Bye.

Probably, it would have taken 43 seconds and I would have been in office on time.

But at 9AM, there was another person inside the office and hence, I had to wait outside.

After a few minutes, a Britisher came and joined me in the queue. This was, or rather supposed to be, a straight-forward FIFO (First in-First out) Queue.

It was 9.15 AM now and I was already getting impatient.

Out of nowhere came an elderly Cypriot Gentleman and peeped inside the office. Then we heard a shrieking voice "Manamoooo" (Pronouned like Cho Chweeeeet). And this Cypriot guy went inside the office. The Britisher and I exchanged strange looks.

I consoled myself by saying that he was let in because he was old.

15 minutes passed by.

Then came a sparsely dressed Cypriot Girl, who also peeped into the office. Then we heard the same voice again "Manamoooooo". She also went it. She had a big folder in her hands (looked like an agent).

The britisher was visibly upset. He asked me "Shall i also peep inside and shout Manamooo". I told him that the lady inside would probably discover him to be a fake, with his accent. The girl inside took out a piece of cake and both started eating it and discussing all the worldly affairs. Another 15 mins passed by. Then, she took out a huge bundle of tax forms from her folder. The Britisher almost fainted.

Finally, at 10 Am, it was my turn to go inside.

The Britisher, with a very concerned face, asked me "Are you also going to do this manamooo thing? "
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Easter Vacations in Cyprus: What are your plans?

We have a long weekend coming up, in fact a very long one of 5 days. Many take the 2 days off in the next week to make it a pretty decent break of 10 days. I am going to Dubai for a short vacation, but about you. If you are in Cyprus, are your plans done? If not, let me help you with some suggestions. You can check out the links in each of the plans below for more details.

• You could go to North Cyprus for a 2-3 day visit. Visit the Saint Hilarion castle and enjoy the Kyrenia harbour. Who knows, you could also win a fortune at the North Cyprus casinos.
• It is a great time now in Cyprus to rent a 4WD jeep. It is still not unbearably hot, as there is always a cool breeze around. You could rent a jeep and explore the ruggedness of Akamas by visitung the Avakas gorge or going up to the Baths of Aphrodite.
• If you want to have a break with your family not involving lot of walking around, visit the medieval bridges of Cyprus, the kelefos bridge (which is good for a lunch break) and the Elia Bridge and also visiting Trimiklini double bridge on the way. If you have a jeep, then you can also add Roudia Bridge to the itinerary.
• Another good option with the family would be to go camping in polis or at the governors beach. It would be a nice outdoor break, but without much of the hassle of any other activity.
  
• If you want to spend your time with nature, there is no better way than to go for the short Kalidonia waterfalls trek from platres. Of course, if you want to rough it out, you can choose the longer trek down from the top. You can also visit the beautiful Millomeri waterfalls on the way.

So, there you are, many options to make your easter vacations interesting. I am off to Dubai and i hope that those in Cyprus would make the most of this time and explore this beautiful island.
Happy Easter!

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Cyprus to import water from Greece

According to a news report in the Cyprus Mail, Cyprus is planning to import water from Greece to alleviate the problems due to the current water shortage. The plan is to import 8 million cubic metres of water over the summer based on the agreement signed with Ocean tankers company. The concept of "importing" water seems cool. I am hearing about such a thing for the first time. Is it a common practice for drought-ridden countries?

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Roudia Bridge - the most beautiful medieval bridge in Cyprus

Roudia Bridge is the third of the medieval or the venetian bridges in Cyprus. I refer to Roudhia bridge as the "third" Medieval bridge because any website mentioning about the bridges in Cyprus refer to mostly the Kelefos bridge and in some cases, the Elia bridge too. There is rarely a mention of Roudia bridge. In fact, i found only one blog of a Britisher (The blog is closed now) who had mentioned about his "difficulties" in finding this bridge. The reason might be that the location of this bridge is very remote, deep within the Paphos/troodos range and the roads to this place are unmarked and very narrow and almost impossible to go with a regular car. We struggled to find the place and it took a lot of questions to absolutely-no-english-speaking cypriots to find it. But, I shall make it easier for you!
So, here is the way to go to Roudia Bridge: (It has been more than 4 months since we went for a Jeep trip (Christmas time). I shall try to recollect as much as possible. If you do follow the directions below and have something which can enhance the details, drop in a mail/comment.

• First, go to Kelefos bridge. If you don't know to go to Kelefos bridge, checkout my other post on kelefos bridge. Once you get down the slope, the road seems to go across the river. Those visiting Kelefos bridge, park here. But, to go to Roudia bridge, you have to make this river crossing. Check out the photo below from our Jeep trip many ago. Of course, at that time, i didn't know about the Roudia Bridge and just did this crossing for fun.

• Once you cross the river, the road climbs up. Keep heading towards Pera Vasa picnic site. At the pera vasa picnic site, you should see a treek trunk on display. This was supposed to be the biggest/oldest tree in the region.

• After you cross the Pera Vasa Picnic site, you will come to a T-junction, where you have to turn right. I think the one on the right goes towards Mylikouri and the other towards Arminou. Not sure about this, but I am sure that you have take a right here.
• If you keep going, you will come to a big fork in the road. In the middle of the fork, you will see a brown-board with an arrow to the left saying "Venetian Bridge". This board points to a trail going down the hill. I don't know whether this train goes to Roudia bridge, but the bridge is far away from here. You have to take the road going right (and downwards) towards Pano Panagia. We took the other one and went for a long distance and returned back. The road was too narrow to even attempt a 3-point turn and we had to travel a long distance just to find a spot to turn the jeep.
• The moment you enter this road (after about a 10 metres), you will see two branches, one going straight and the other turning right. You have to turn right on this one. The one going straight stops at a check-post, probably a private road. This road goes downwards all the way to the bottom of the valley. Don't get disheartened by the state of the road, you are almost there!
• I assume that you will be on the lookout for a photo-op all throughout the way. If you don't, better start looking out now. Otherwise, you will miss the bridge like we did. At one point, you will take a right and then go over a small road-bridge which goes over a river. The river should appear on your left with trees on either side. The photo below gives you an example as how the scene should look like.

• The moment you pass this bridge, the road turns left and passes through a big open area which also has signs such as "Lighting fires is prohibited in this area". At the end of the open area, the road turns right and upwards. Don't go there. Look left and there you have the bridge!

Unfortunately, we didn't find the bridge so easily. The moment we entered this open area, we saw a jeep speed of ahead of us climbing onto the road upwards. We also decided that it would be best to ask someone about the location. So, all our eyes were on the jeep ahead of us that we missed looking towards the left where we would have found the bridge. We chased the jeep for another 20 mins and came to a fork. At this fork, we saw a board (The only one!) which said "Gefri Roudia" and pointed in the direction we had come from! A little ahead, we saw another jeep and went to enquire. That guy spoke no English at all and didn't understand the word "bridge". So, i called up my Cypriot colleague and found that "Gefri" meant a bridge. By this time, another gentleman with his jeep had also joined us. Luckily, he spoke English. He told us that we had to go back and we would find the bridge at the bottom of the valley. So, we turned back and kept driving. This time, when we drove down the final stretch to the bottom of the valley, the bridge was there right ahead of us! Well, i was supposed to watch the road, but what were the others doing? We were so tired by then, that we had some snacks before proceeding for photo sessions!

The Road-bridge over which you drive across

Getting all the kit ready for the photo session!


Vidhya and Anit tried to cross the river, but it turned out to be too cold for Vidhya!


We are ready to pose wherever you want!


And then, there it is finally, the roudia bridge...

You can go on top of the bridge, but the other side is blocked. It abruptly finishes on a cliff. The colours of the trees and the leaves and the evening lighting proved irresistible to attempt lot of photos. This place should look heavenly in Spring. So, if you are reading this before Easter, go there during the Easter holidays!

After the round of the usual shots, we moved into the experimental photographs. When you Anith, "the brave", Kumar around, you are guaranteed to get your share your share of weirdness!

Anith tries to do a Tarzan, but all that he achieved was to wet his ****s in the extremely cold water! Btw, the **** stands for "pant".

More photos...

Another way to approach this bridge would be Ayios Ionannis, Arminou and then through the abandoned village of Vretsia, but i have heard it is almost impossible to find Vretsia, as all the signs pointing to this village have been removed. Hope that you enjoy visiting Roudia place (hope that you find it!). If you think that any other detail would explain the directions further, do let me know.

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