A Christmas break in Pafos, an ancient Cypriot port city steeped in Greek mythology

By Dr Chitra Gopinathan

Chitra Gopinathan is a Consultant Anaesthetist working at Queens Hospital in Romford. Her hobbies and passions are varied. She enjoys the creative side of herself. She attempts a bit of writing and drawing when she gets the chance and feels inspired. She has a blog site, ‘Chitra’s musings’ at gchitra.com. Although it was a regular feature, it has now become a bit adhoc as she puts it. She enjoys reading, travelling and eating out.

The pick-up time was 7.58, Dino was very precise about the timing. We waited at reception, the time came and passed. Where is he, I wondered. We are in Pafos, Cyprus. A break booked at the very last minute. On arrival our tour rep informed us that Christmas was not the best time to be looking for excursions. “Cypriots are religious and when Christmas comes everything gets shut down from Christmas Eve till Boxing day, however there’s a lot to explore near the hotel, you’ll be fine”, she concluded. We walked to the Old Town on Christmas Eve. The town resembled a ghost town. The restaurants were open but everything else was closed. On Christmas Day we walked along the coast past ‘Pafos castle‘ all the way to the lighthouse and in the evening in the opposite direction to the sunset point of Cyprus to witness the sunset and visit the quaint little church which adorns this point. Cyprus is much more than this and I had given up hope of seeing the island when we bumped into Dino. He runs a tour company. He was fully booked for Tuesday but agreed to put on an extra jeep if he found more people to join the trip. Luckily there were.

Stellios was only 5 minutes late. Once the rest of the fellow tourists were picked up, we were on our way. Our first destination was the sea caves. Cyprus, a word derived from copper due to the presence of copper mines, is the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. Every year the island rises by a millimetre from the sea level he tells us. Cyprus thus arose from the seabed thousands of years ago, brought about by volcanic plate movements. The sea caves are the result of erosion of the cliffs by the waves. More than the caves the sight that greets us when we reach this point is that of a rusty shipwreck, a ship from Sierra Leone which got stuck here in 2011. The captain stayed for two years and tried everything but the ship wouldn’t budge and finally he abandoned it.

Stellios explains about Cyprus’s violent past. He was in school 50 years ago in the northern part of Cyprus when the Turkish army invaded and evacuated them. The elderly and infirm were left behind and the able bodied fled on foot. They had no choice. It was ordered at gunpoint and there was no transport. Fifty years on the bones of those left behind are still being identified using DNA evidence from living relatives. Stellios left his family house and fled to the south of the island. Half a century later the trauma and aftermath still looms fresh in his mind. He tried to find his birthplace last year only to be told to leave by the Turkish settlers who now occupy his house. The way he describes it sounds like he is yet to find closure and the trauma still haunts him. There is a ghost town he tells us, Famagusta, which was cordoned off with water and electricity supplies cut off when the attacks happened. Five-star hotels along the coast were shut down and now snakes inhabit this town which is three times as large as Pafos. This reminds me of Chernobyl and its aftermath. I did not know that there were other cities in this world facing similar predicaments albeit due to different reasons.

We make numerous photo stops along the way. A banana plantation, Lara beach where it is the wrong time of the year for turtle watching and a gorge which is out of bounds due to falling rocks. Stellios takes us to another gorge with sheer drops on both sides of the path as the jeep winds its way up the hills. He drops us off to take pictures as he drives further up the hill to wait for us. Height and me have never been the best of friends. I take a few pictures and wonder why the others are happy to have their photos taken as they pose precariously near the edge of the cliff. One the guys call out ‘I love you’ and the sound echoes back from the hills. Another fellow traveller bleats like a mountain goat. The mountain goats teetering further down the hills respond. The rest of the group enjoy the exchange.

The most important destination of the trip, the blue lagoon, is next. As Stellios drives up the dangerous narrow road, it feels like a rollercoaster ride than a leisurely trip to see a beauty spot. This is not a drive for the faint hearted. Most people leave their cars in the parking area near ‘Aphrodite’s bath’ and climb the 6 kilometres. The puddles on the road, the slippery shiny surface as the water evaporates and the acutely angled slopes make us sit in the jeep with our hearts in our mouth. Stellios, pauses briefly at the bottom of the incline, accelerates, and steers the slopes effortlessly. When we come to sheer drops, he does the same again, this time his feet hovers over the brakes slowing the speed. I am impressed but instead of instilling confidence, he recounts tales of accidents that have happened along this route. I let my gaze wander to take my mind off the perils. The Blue Lagoon comes into view. The azure blue sea, the black rocks, the gentle waves, one of the most breathtaking scenes I have seen in a very long time. We come to a stop. Stellios shows us the narrow path down the cliff that leads to the beach. He reminds us that, it is because the roads are not modernised and made safe that they are able to keep the traffic levels low and we are able to enjoy nature in its purest form. Those who do not have the luxury of being transported up these perilous paths need to do it on foot or take a boat trip from Latchi. The sun sets before four during the winter months and I don’t see myself setting aside a day to do this walk. For the weary day trippers, the effort is richly rewarded once the destination is reached. I spend the next hour hypnotised by the vision. Some of the group go for a wade in the slightly cool waters.

On the way back we stop to see the grotto where according to mythology Aphrodite used to have her baths. A secluded place where water falls from hidden springs as if from a shower and where it is more than possible that Aphrodite enjoyed a shower or two. A lunch stop by the sea, another stop to see a donkey sanctuary and we are ready to call it a day.

Wednesday and we are going home today. We still have time and have not seen the main sites in Pafos. The archaeological park is just a short walk from the hotel and a must visit. It is open today. If we miss it, It would be like going to Pompeii or Herculaneum and not visiting the archaeological sites, although not as extensive but equally important. We spend a couple of hours walking around the site, some parts of it dating back to the 2nd century BC, marvelling at the 2nd to 5th century mosaics decorating the floors of the excavated buildings, climbing the lighthouse, taking a seat at the amphitheatre, rewinding time, walking in the footsteps of those before us and picturing the world as it used to be. Soon it was time to head back to the hotel for a leisurely lunch before catching our flight back home.