The Cyprus Blog at TripToCyprus.com

When i came to Cyprus in 2001, the first year was spent on visting all the regular touristy places like the Baths of Aphrodite, Rock of Aphrodite, Polis etc. After that, i started googling about Cyprus and started getting info on off-beat places like Avakas Gorge, Kelefos bridge etc. After a few years, i realised that Cyprus had something to offer in every nook and corner and hence i started visting every place marked with a brown board: A brown board is used in Cyprus to signify something of touristic interest. This “Giant Oak tree” was on one such board.

On the way to troodos from Limassol, around a 100 metres beyond the laneia police station (the only police station on the route), you will find a brown board saying “Giant Oak Tree – 400 m” pointing into a small lane towards the right. You can take your car inside this line and will be surprised to find big apartments built a little further down this lane. After few metres, the board points towards the left. It is better to park the car here and walk the final stretch as taking the car down this part would be a little difficult.

We went during Spring and the whole area was filled with all kinds of colurful flowers. We spent around 15 minutes at this place taking photographs from various angles. Anith even tried, though unsuccessfully, to climb the tree.

written by Rajaram S

Cyprus has never ceased to amaze me. Even after 7.5 years of exploring Cyprus, i still manage to find new pristine places that i have not seen before. For many, the only waterfall in Cyprus is the Kalidonia waterfall. Few others know Milomeri and even fewer have heard of Mesa Potamas waterfall. To my surprise, i came across this Chantara Waterfalls and i can definitely say that this is the most beautiful waterfall in Cyprus, unless there are more hidden gems like this!

Also known locally at the Handara waterfalls, this waterfall is easily accessible by road (earthern road). The beauty of this fall is because of the split in the main falls because of the huge rock in the middle. This offers numerous photographic opportunities to try out the slow-shutter technique to bring out the silky flow of the water.

This falls is located between Phini Village (or Foini Village) and trooditissa monastery. Phini Village is just a short drive from Kato Platres. Once you reach the village, you will see a clear signboard for handara waterfalls. This is a 2 km drive on earthern road. The road was a bit bad, but we managed it in regular family cars. If you are coming from the other side, drive to trooditissa monastery (this monastery is not open to public), cross the parking lot (the end of the parking lot if marked by an arch) and continue on the earthern road. The moment you leave the parking lot, the road becomes earthern. Keep going towards foini/phini (taking a left at one junction) and you will come across this waterfall right on the road.

The adventurous ones might dismiss this waterfall because of its accessibility through road. But, don’t worry, even they have lot to explore here. Once you gather the courage to clamber up the side of the waterfall (a path visible to the left of the waterfall) and then jump over some rocks, you reach the top of the fall. It was extremely slippery at the top and my camera had some close calls. Once you are at the top, you are rewarded with two more small waterfalls. We wanted to climb to the top of the third one to see if there are more, but it proved to be too slippery for us to continue! We spent more than an hour exploring the place and taking lot of photographs. I would give a big thumbs-up for this place and rate it as one of the must-visit places in Cyprus.

written by Rajaram S

NOTE: If you are seeing this through e-mail or in a feed reader, you may not see all the photos. Due to the large number of photos in this post, i have put many of them in flash slideshows which don’t show up on feeds.

The snow trek is a yearly routine which happens every jan/feb whenever we have a sunny weekend following a week of good snowfall. We had decided to go to troodos last Monday (Monday was a day off for us) as there had been good snow the week before and the snow was visible on the mountains even from Limassol. I checked the weather forecast for the weekend and it showed…

I went WOW! A snow trek during a snow shower. All were ready for it and this is the first time (in my 7+ years in Cyprus) that i decided to go to troodos when the weather was supposed to be “bad”.
We were not disappointed. What started off as a slight snowfall turned into a heavy shower and we loved it!Click on the photos below to see bigger versions (No new windows opened!)

Driving the car on some stretches was a bit scary, but we managed to reach until the artemis trail and return safely (with only a little push needed at one point).

Our original plan was to do the Kalidonia waterfalls trek starting from the top. When we got out of the car at the start of the trail, it was freezing! We had to get as much as cover as possible before we could start. It was also snowing lightly which added to the fun. This year, Anith was the new person on the trek (we make sure that we introduce a new person to this trek every year). But, the depth of the snow wasn’t as much as the previous years. So, it was like walking on a thin layer of snow, not the usual buried-until-the-knee kind of snow. After some distance, there was ice/water layer on the trail which made it difficult for the people who weren’t wearing the waterproof boots. So, we turned back and decided to try another trail. Some photos from this trail. Click on the images to get a bigger version.

Our next stop was the Persephone trail. From the roundabout at the troodos square, take the exit towards the troodos police station. The first walking trail you will come across is the Pouzarides trail. A little further, you will see the start of the Persephone trail. We have walked this trail few years back in summer but that is for another post! This is a one-way trail around 2 kms long offering good views of the open mine. The snow was fresh and extremely soft. So, our attempts at sliding were futile. We didn’t go a long distance on this trail as it started snowing heavily. After a few customary photos, we headed on to our next stop, the artemis trail.

We weren’t sure whether we would make it upto the artemis trail. After the troodos square, the road wasn’t cleared much and it was white in many places with the final climb to the trail almost entirely on snow and ice. But, it was fun trying to park near the trail. We had to take u-turn and that is very challenging with ice all over the place. The snow was fresh as it could be with no signs of human activity on them.

Vidhya wanted me to take photographs of the snow which flies out when one walks across the fresh surface. The photos weren’t upto the mark, but there were ok.

Artemis trail is highest walking/trekking trail in Cyprus and is 7 kms long. It is a circular trail which runs around Mount Olympus. This trail offers impressive views of the surroundings of Troodos, including the Prodromos dam. I have been on this trail a couple of times, not more because it is difficult to convince people to walk for 7 kms. But, there was no sign of the trail now because of the snow. But, we knew where it started. There, we saw a sign pointing the direction of the trail.

written by Rajaram S

When i was in Seattle, i ordered a lot of photo-related products like photobooks, photocards, photomugs etc from snapfish, shutterfly and many such stores. During one such order, I was given a free 8*10 print. So, i chose to choose some of the pictures taken in Cyprus and ordered a print. The individual photos in the picture below are clickable and they will take you to the relevant post about that place.

The photos in the picture above: (Starting from top-left, going left-right and top-down)

• Taken at Stavravouni Monastery on a cloudy day.
• Aphrodite Trail near Baths of Aphrodite in Akamas
• Ski Slope on Mount Olympus in troodos. Photoshopped with a radial blur!
• Kalidonia Waterfall in winter
• Yellow Flowers near Kurion Beach on the limassol platres old road
• Kelefos Bridge
• Roudia Bridge (no, this is not the roudia bridge, but the approach road to it. The bridge is behind the camera!)
• Flamingo watching at Akrotiri Salt Lake
• River Walk near the kelefos bridge (A long-due post!)

written by Rajaram S

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.

Technorati Tags: cyprus bridge medieval bridges cyprus venetian bridges cyprus roudia bridge kelefos bridge elia bridge

written by Rajaram S

Technorati Tags: cyprus waterfall milomeri waterfall millomeri waterfall Kaledonia waterfall nature cyprus

written by Rajaram S

So, how do you get to the Double bridge in Trimiklini?

• If you are going from Limassol, take the road to Troodos from the highway.
• You will enter the village of Trimiklini after around 20 kms (not sure of the distance, but you cannot miss this village, as it is right on the main road)
• In this village, you will also find a shop advertising a “Waterfall”. Don’t go to this. This “waterfall” is just the trickling water from the kitchen probably. He even used to charge 1 pound for this sometime back.
• Just after the village, you will come across a small road bridge. If you stick (you or the car) close to the shoulder on the left of the bridge, you should get the view below.

This was how the stream looked like 4 years back, just before the best rainy season Cyprus had for a long long time. It was a very deep valley with just a trickle of water flowing at the bottom. We had even thought of carrying out a trekking expedition to the bottom of the river at that time.

This is how it looks now. Yes, it is the same stream. So full that it even overflows across the dam. Now, our thoughts were like “This would make a nice place to try kayaking”!

Don’t forget to visit this place when you got to Trimiklini. Perapedi dam is also close-by, but that would be part of another post!

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written by Rajaram S

After a few such unsuccessful attempts, we decided to go to our favourite spot, the place opposite the ski center, on the ridge. Guess what, Harish found life there, not the human kind, but the insect kind and it was alive and kicking!

Like last year, we found this ridge “undamaged” by human intervention and decided to go ahead and damage it with our footsteps and slides.

We were tired and about to make our way back to the car. Then a small snowball fight erupted and by chance, i kicked at a snowball. Harish happened to take a photo of this. I liked the photo a lot. Harish then asked me to do a kind of jump-kick which turned out to be even better on the photo.

So, this started a series of snowball-throwing-and-kicking photo session.

After a while , people got bored of snowing snowballs at me. So, they decided to get into the action and we started attempting flying kicks at each other. Harish was satisfied with staying on the ground level!

Of course, as always, we have the famous smart Cypriot and his four wheel driven jeep, attempting smart tricks on the snow, then getting caught and requesting for help! They are one of a kind!

From the videos taken by Anith “the brave” kumar, i have created a small video (1.5 MB) of all the sliding action, the first part is very small because of some wrong setting. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: troodos snow cyprus mountain mount olympus skiing

written by Rajaram S

If you are reading this post anytime in Jan/Feb/Mar, then go for this trek! I assure you that this will be one of the best treks you have done in Cyprus. This doesn’t mean that you can’t do this trek other times of the year, just that you have the snow to wade through. If you are trekking in the US or other parts of the world, many of the trails would be closed because of the presence of ice/snow on the trails. I have experienced this in South Carolina where the best trails were closed because of slippery conditions. Probably, they don’t to get sued if someone slips and hurts himself. But, this adds to the adventure, right?
No such rule in Cyprus! The Kalidonia trail is open throughout the year, be it sun/rain/snow. This trail is at its best in late winter when the track is covered with more than a foot of snow and you have to predict the path and proceed on it. We have done this trail in peak summer, when it was raining, just after it had snowed and each time, the experience is different. I particularly like the snow trek and have been it doing this walk for the last 4 years now, each time introducing a new group of friends to this wonderful trail. Btw, this waterfall is also referred to sometimes as Calidonia

You can walk this trail in either direction or even half way. The bottom of the trail is at Platres, right next to the Psilo Dendron Trout farm (you have take a right where the exit to platres goes to the left). From this point, you can walk to the fall in under 30 minutes (one-way). This distance is about a km or so. You have many stream crossings, but this part doesn’t have much snow unless the snow has been very heavy so as to even bury Platres.

If you are planning to go the full stretch, some of the points to take note of:

• The trek can be done either from top to bottom or the other way. It is not a circular trek.
• So, if you are really in the mood, you can retrace your path along the trek to reach your starting point or if you have really nothing else to do, walk the 7 km stretch on the road instead of retracing the trail.
• What i do: We always go in n cars such that our entire grp can fit into n-1 cars. We leave one car at the bottom point of the trail (near Platres) and then all of us go (in n-1 cars) to the top of the trail. After we finish the walk, the drivers get into that one car and then go and fetch the remaining cars.
• The snow can be upto a foot deep and it can get very slippery at places, so it is a must to wear good shoes, not the kind which wet your feet after few minutes in snow or sneakers with plastic soles. I have knee-high rubber boots, so i just don’t care where i put my feet! Get one of these, they are great and pretty cheap too. I got mine in Festival Shoes for just 4 CYP 3 years back and I have been putting them to real bad use on the snow and also on the salt lakes.
• Even if it sunny, it can get quite cold towards the early part of the trek (you are warmed up later!) because you trek under the cover of the trees.
• Be prepared to fall often. So, gloves are a must, as even a few seconds of the snow/ice on your bare hands can be terrible. Of course, this means that you have the painful task and removing the gloves often to take photos of the beautiful sceneries you get to see.
• There are lot of stream crossing and some of them are a bit tricky. So, be prepared to put your feet into the water.

There is one steep downhill section. There are steps here, but they are covered with snow during winter. It is not a problem if the snow is heavy. You don’t see any of the steps, you just slide down the entire way. But, if there is not much snow and there is ice, these steps get really slippery and difficult to navigate.

After you climb down this section, the trail goes to the left, but if you go to the right, you can see a mini-waterfall. If you look hard, you can also the wrecked remains of car caught in the trees above.

There is also another area which stands out from the rest. This particular area has lot of boulders, all covered by moss and the green colour of the moss stands out from the white snow surroundings.

After this trail, depending on the mood of the fellow travellers, we go over to Mount Olympus. We don’t go to the skiing side, it is very crowded and there is nothing much non-skiiers can do there. So, we go to the ridge opposite to the ski station, where there is also a viewing telescope (though i don’t know whether it ever worked). Here, the crowd is less as it is open and much more colder than the other areas. If the snow is fresh, this slope provides a great opportunity for some crazy sliding.

If you want to see more beautiful photos from the trek (65 of them with comments about each photo), click here to go to the Kalidonia Trek Photo page for a flash photo presentation. Warning: The flash is 3.5 MB is size, but rest assured that the wait will be worth it.
Enjoy the beauty that Cyprus has to offer!

written by Rajaram S

In July, it was extremely hot, now it is extremely cold! The weather is going crazy. Hailstorms were a rarity in Limassol, but just yesterday, there were more than 3 or 4 hailstorms. But, the good news is there is LOT of snow on troodos, good enough to last for a few weeks.

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cold cyprus weather cyprus limassol snow troodos cyprus skiing cyprus

written by Rajaram S