December 10, 2023: The Social People
After a day road tripping through the Troodos mountains, I finally reached Paphos (also spelled Pafos). Paphos is considered to be the cultural capital of Cyprus and is a major tourist destination. My hostel was in the center of the old town, which is a few kilometers from the coast.
As soon as I walked into the hostel, a hulking Danish man offered me a beer. He was chatting with two girls from Estonia and Lithuania. We ended up chatting for 6 hours straight, only taking a break to get souvlaki.
December 11, 2023: Paphos (Pafos)
I was still a bit jetlagged and somehow slept in until 9:30. Normally, this would alarm me, but it turned out that there was a huge rainstorm passing through until 10:00.
At 10, I drove out towards the coast to explore Paphos´s calling card ancient ruins, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My first stop was the Tombs of the Kings, a series of 2,400-year-old rock cut tombs just off the coast. Despite the name, the tombs were not royal but rather for noblemen.
The rain this morning was so intense, many of the tombs were flooded.
Next, I drove south to the main Paphos ruins, called Nea Paphos. This site, close to the harbor, was the capital of Cyprus during the Hellenistic period in the 200´s BC. Nea Paphos contains some of the most impressive Roman mosaics in the world.
While the city is sprawling, the action is centered around two ancient villas in the center of the site. The House of Orpheus contained perhaps the most amazing single mosaic I have ever seen: Theseus in the Labyrinth.
Just to the north is the House of Dionysus which is a complete Roman villa of mosaics. I have never seen such a complete collection of in situ mosaics.
The rest of the site contained an amphitheater, a lighthouse and lots of open space. It was skippable. Additionally, there appeared to be many more mosaics on the site that were covered up with sand. I was told they are uncovered during the summer tourist season.
It was now lunchtime, so I stopped at a nearby taverna for some keftedes or Greek meatballs. It was delicious but was 30% more expensive than in Nicosia. Tourist pricing…
In the afternoon, I drove north to check out the Edro III shipwreck. The Sierra Leone-flagged vessel ran aground in 2011 and has been here since. There is nothing to do, as the ship cannot be boarded, but it is a cool sight.
Just north of the wreck are some sea caves, but I could not climb down the steep access hill with my foot injury.
I also tried to visit a nearby monastery but was told that it was closed due to flooding. So, I headed back to the hostel and hung out with my friends from last night.
Word of my rental car spread through the hostel (I was the only one brave enough to drive on the left) and a couple people asked if I could drive them to Larnaca tomorrow. I agreed to take them and planned to leave at 8:30.
December 12, 2023: All Along the South
The final crew ended up being Paula from Toby from Denmark and Paula from Poland. They fully trusted me to plan an itinerary for the day…and I was ready!
Our first stop was Aphrodite Beach/Aphrodite´s Rock. Cyprus is supposedly the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She was born from the ocean foam on this beach.
I must say, it looked much uglier than in the famed Bocelli painting.
Our second stop was the Kolossi Castle, built by the Knights Templar during the Crusades. It is part of the Republic of Cyprus but is all but surrounded by the British base of Akrotiri.
The inside of the three-story keep is mostly empty but there is an medieval-era mural on the second floor.
Another 30 minutes east was the town of Choirokotia, which contains the third and final UNESCO World Heritage Site in Cyprus: a 9,000-year-old neolithic settlement. It is considered one of the best preserved neolithic settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean. It housed an estimated population of 300. The settlement had several advanced developments including a wall which assumed that they were indeed a functional society. Choirokotia was abandoned sometime around 4,000 BC.
5 minutes away from the highway was the village of Tonchi and in the village of Tonchi was the Tonchi Tavern which has a very highly rated restaurant. When we arrived we were the only ones here. The owner/chef was exceedingly nice and spent plenty of time chatting with us. We ordered a bunch of dips to start. For my main, I ordered a winter beef stew called stifado. Due to the atmosphere and food, this was the best meal of the trip.
For our final stop of the day, we overshot our destination and headed to Capo Greco on the extreme southeast corner of Cyprus. Capo Greco is one of the easternmost points in the European Union. I saw “one of the” because there are many ways to count. Capo Greco is the easternmost point if you ignore overseas territories such as the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean and if you ignore Northern Cyprus which is de jure part of Cyprus/the EU but de facto is not. Just like the highest point on Cyprus, the true easternmost point of the Republic of Cyprus is a closed military base. But there were plenty of viewpoints nearby. Regardless, the area was very pretty.
We then drove the 50 minutes back to Larnaca where Toby got on a bus to Nicosia and Paula and I headed to the hostel never to speak again.
I then rested up for the final day of the trip: Famagusta.
Final Thoughts:
Paphos is known as a “must see” and a top destination on Cyprus…and I am not convinced. Yes, the mosaics and rock-cut tombs were cool but that takes max four hours to see. Beyond that, there was not much going on besides the beach, but it was too cold to swim. The town itself was not very cute.
For me, the highlight was the hostel and meeting fellow travelers. In general, the more offbeat the place you go, the more interesting the people you meet. While Cyprus is not incredibly offbeat for Europeans, going in the offseason is. I really enjoyed the conversations, as I learned so much about different places in Europe and made friends!
I also enjoyed the little road trip, which makes a perfect day. Each site takes about 30 minutes to see, so it’s best to see them all in succession.
Leave a Reply