Cyprus E4 European Long Distance Walk: Comments on my trip

Late September and early October was probably not the best time to hike across Cyprus. Vegetation had been dried by the summer sun, dusty yellow and brittle. It must have been green in the spring and full of flowers (see those recorded by a previous blogger). Although later in the year it was still very hot for walking, around 30 degrees in the afternoon, although I was told it was a late heatwave.
While the brochure for the route is no longer available from the Cyprus Tourist Organisation, there are plenty of E4 signs scattered across the country, yellow diamonds with a black E4 in the centre as in Greece. Not enough though, to navigate by, for that you really need to download a track onto your GPS or smartphone (see links on the daily blog pages for the GPS track of my route). I used a Navitracks map of Cyprus on my GPS, but the Europe OSM (Open Street Map) map I had, or indeed Google Maps, was almost as good. I was slightly confused as some signs with the E4 logo point to nearby towns with facilities, but the E4 does not necessarily go to those towns. The frequency of the waymarks various greatly and sometimes only the yellow and white painted poles remain, with ancient snail shells stuck to them.
Much of the route is on vehicle tracks, forest and farm roads, surfaced with gravel or white and dusty from the underlying limestone. Tarmac roads, when they are followed, were invariably quiet. There were however some good sections of footpath (monopati), often nature trails with signs naming the vegetation or rocks (although note that at the season you walk in, the named plants may not be visible). Thinking I would be mainly on forest or farm tracks I wore hiking shoes for the first time on a longer trip like this. Probably a mistake as stones, burs and sharp bits of grass easily got into my shoes and/or attached themselves to my socks in a way that required painstaking efforts to remove. A tear which developed in the fabric suggested they would not cover many more kilometres, although they were not some cheap trainers. Next time I will wear boots.
The E4 in Cyprus can be split into three. Firstly, the section from Pafos to Lysos across low hills, among scrub and vineyards, and around the Akamas peninsula. Tourists racing past in motorised buggies, raising the dust, can be a bit disconcerting in places. Best for its villages, which the E4 tends to bypass, they are worth a visit for their coffee shops, accommodation and general atmosphere. Although not on the route, I recommend a visit to the mosaics at Pafos.
The second section is across the Troodos and surrounding mountains. Classic walking country among pines, monasteries and ancient villages, the section from Lysos to Stavrovouni monastery is the best part of the E4 in Cyprus. The route meanders around the mountains so it takes a long time to reach a place that may be only a short distance away. There are certainly quicker ways to cross the mountains but that misses the main objective of visiting places you would not otherwise see, enjoying the scenery and changing patterns of light at a slow pace. Most of the time you will be on your own but at a few popular spots, such as the Kykkos monastery and Kaledonia waterfall, there are plenty of people about.
In the third section, the E4 extends to Cape Greco and then doubles back on itself and returns to the Larnaca area. Others have ended their trip on reaching Cape Greco, and little need be lost by doing this. The area has its interests, the residues of history in the form of the UN buffer zone and the British base, and the resort town of Ayia Napa was more enjoyable than I expected.
The B&B accommodation I stayed in was an unexpected pleasure, a chance to enjoy a traditional house and listen to the owners. Hotels were more predictable. The way some were aimed at the British tourist, was enjoyable in a kitsch sort of way. In the mountain section it is difficult to avoid a few nights of camping, but it has the advantage of seeing the sun rise and set across the pines. Forest campsites and picnic sites, with water and many with toilets, make camping a bit easier.
Long distance walking is not a popular Cypriot activity and I did not meet any other backpackers, but it is an interesting country with a lot of history, old villages and a variety of landscapes so somewhere to consider.

The total length of my walk on the E4 in Cyprus was 555 kilometres (347 miles), including the effect of missed turns and diversions to hotels, coffee shops, monasteries and other sites of interest it was 610 kilometres (381 miles). Click here to go to the start of my blog of walking through Cyprus.

For my whole walk along the E4 from Tarifa in Spain to Larnaca in Cyprus I have walked 10100 kilometres (6315 miles) over the last 5 years, excluding additional options and extensions. I have not skipped any sections using buses, taxis, cars or trains, although as I cannot walk on water I have taken ferries where needed. Below are links to the various sections I have walked:

A report on my complete trip can be found on Traildino.com

I have written a daily blog from Budapest, picking up from the pioneering blog of the E4 by John Hayes on the Tarifa to Budapest section, these are the links:

Walk on Kektura from Budapest in Hungary
Walk on the Alfoldi Kektura in Hungary
Walk through Northern Serbia
Walk through Southern Serbia
Walk through Bulgaria
Walk through Greece (including Crete)

I also walked a possible extension of the E4 from Portugal and heading east after completing the Cyprus section of the E4 I walked the Israel National Trail.

Update: Based on my travels on the E4 I have written a book "Six Pairs of Boots: Spain to Cyprus on the E4 Trail" by John Pucknell available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, the Bookdepository.com, lehmanns.de, bookspot.nl, and other good online bookstores.

Cyprus E4: Aradippou to Airport: Day 24

My final day of walking both across Cyprus, and across Europe on the E4. Highlights of my last day of walking were the Kamares aqueduct and the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque by the salt lake.
Rejoining the E4 north of Aradippou, I walked through an uninspiring vista of fields of stubble, rows of round bales of hay, cows herds in large sheds, silos and piles of gravel. Crossing the Nicosia highway on a curiously large bridge brought an improvement. I visited the little church of the Panagia Aimatousa, with its simple barrel vaulted nave and stone walls, and my final viewing of Greek Orthodox icons on this trip. Some road walking brought me to my final "forest", the Rizoelias park. Following the circuitous route up through small pines I reached a viewing point over Lanarca by a picnic site. Then it was downhill, exiting the park into an industrial estate.
After some urban walking with a diversion through ploughed fields (unfortunately attracting some fly tipping), I reached the suburb of Kamares and admired its lengthy aqueduct carried by some 20 graceful arches of yellow stone, built in the 18th century but looking Roman. Leaving buildings behind I crossed open ground to reach the large salt lake, white at the edges, red further in. Beyond it to the east were the buildings of Larnaca, to the south planes landing at the airport.
Hidden at first from my view, the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque shyly revealed itself as I rounded a corner of the gravel track I was following. An important pilgrimage site it is said to contain the tomb of Umm Haram, holy helper and Aunt of Mohammed, who died here during an Arab army attack on Cyprus. Inside the mosque is quite plain but looking back as I crossed a causeway towards the airport, its location beside the salt lake makes it a striking monument.
My final obstacle was to find a way into the airport, not always easy for a pedestrian as you are not expected to arrive on foot, but apart from crossing one busy road, it was all on pavements from the exit road of the mosque. This has just left me with a long wait for my flight back home later this evening, thinking of where my next trip might take me...

21 kilometres walked today. A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and on ViewRanger short code johnpon0047.

Kamares aqueduct

Hala Sultan Tekke mosque as viewed from the south, with the salt lake before it.

Cyprus E4: CTO beach to Aradippou: Day 23

A day of houses, half built houses, farmland and large cow sheds, followed by an evening visit to the sea front at Larnaca.
After a Full English Breakfast (the Tsialis hotel was a very British hotel (although a Russian flag was also flying)), I made my way north through quiet streets with concrete villas. After a little farmland there were more villas, many half built. Who will buy them I wonder? Reaching the village of Pyla for the second time this trip, I decided it was too early for a coffee and walked down the road to the next village of Oroklini which I also visited before on this trip. At the latter an obviously ancient church sits incongruously among the modern apartments.
The area is flat or low lying around Larnaca, but beyond Pyla and Oroklini the hills abruptly rise up some 80 metres to a plateau. My route out of Oroklini climbed up the side of this steep hillside on a new road. The Profitis Ilias church is a little off the path, near the summit, but I went the extra distance, only to find it locked. From the outside it looked like an old church with a big, newer extension at the front. Beyond the church was a viewpoint across Larnaca. In the distance lightening was discharging into the sea and the rumble of thunder followed. A few showers swept across, the few raindrops raising the smell of baked earth. I descended the hillside among some small trees and then it was across farmland to the next village of Kellia. More farmland followed, stubble left from harvest or ploughed fields. As I neared Aradippou the smell of manure preceded a number of farms with large herds of cows under huge open sided sheds. A few fans moved the air around.
I am now back at Villa Thermopilon in Aradippou, a kilometre or so south of the E4, where I stayed on my outward trip to Cape Greco.
The owner kindly drove me into Lanarca where I walked along the promenade, an area known as Finikoudes. Too late to visit the fortress, I wandered by it and the adjacent mosque. Eating some vegetarian mezze over a glass of wine, I watched people (and an occasional dog) walking up and down the sea front as the day darkened into night.

21 kilometres walked today with a 230 metre total ascent.

View across Larnaca from the Profitis Ilias picnic site viewpoint, there is distant thunder and squalls of rain.

Promenade of Larnaca in the evening.

Cyprus E4: Ayia Napa to CTO beach, Pyla: Day 22

A morning's walk by the sea among people enjoying the sun, an afternoon by a quieter, rocky coast and Dhekelia Station.
After a morning latte and croissant in a coffee shop that would not look out of place in any city in the world, I headed west from Ayia Napa, along the paved path that runs beside the sea, joining a few morning joggers (but obviously moving more slowly). Hotels and resorts continued for several kilometres, some well established others currently being built, with one or two small churches, once on lonely headlands, now surrounded by developments. Sometimes I was on a paved path by a rocky shore, other times on a sandy beach, full of sun loungers and blue umbrellas. All kinds of people were stretched out on them: thin and fat, young and old, some brown, some pale, some red. Whether Russian or English they were enjoying a sun that I was finding a little hot. The sand made for slow walking and filled my shoes. I had to divert around a particularly large construction project (Ayia Napa Marina), after which the villas were more low key and people fewer. Reaching a creek where all kinds of boats were moored, I worked my way around it and onto a track passed a planned development (only the road had been built), farms and rough land before joining the road to the village of Xylofagou.
At Xylofagou I briefly joined the route I was on when heading east. I also downed two bottles of lemonade, thirsty as the water I was carrying was now close to blood heat and not refreshing. At the church there was a memorial to some people who had died in the 1974 Turkish invasion. Not the first that I had seen, they seem to have replaced the EOKA memorials erected further west. Returning to the sea, by another church, and a diving class, I had a little difficulty finding the right track down to the shore. Once I did it was several kilometres beside a rocky coastline on a gravel track, with a few pebbly beaches, where the occasional couple or family had parked their car and were enjoying a Sunday by the sea. There was a sign for a "Fisherman's cafe" beside a small harbour with assorted boats. Looking for something cold I looked in. There was coffee, cold water, questions about where I was going and comments on climate change, melting ice at the North Pole, the current heatwave in Cyprus and a friend's cafe in my home town of Cardiff (which was there 45 years ago, the Anastasia,  do you know it?),
Somewhat rested I approached a large power station, with red and white chimneys and was relieved when the tarmac road that I had joined took me around it and onto Dhekelia station. This is a British Military base surrounded by fencing but signage was discrete concerning nationality. The Union flag was flying at one location, the road I was walking along was called Waterloo road, there was a British Legion, a cafe run by a forces charity (where I quickly sank a large coke before it closed) and "No Photographs" signs but nothing explicitly said this is a British Territory.
After leaving the "station" it was a few kilometres more to the Tsialis hotel, where I enjoyed a very welcome, cold beer on the house.

33 kilometres walked today, a coastal section with no height gain. A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and on ViewRanger short code johnpon0047.

One of many resorts whose beaches I walked across

New building in progress

The quieter rocky shore after Xylofagou

Cyprus E4: Around Cape Greco: Day 21

A hike through scrubland to the tourist resort at Konnos and onto Cape Greko, followed by a return to Ayia Napa walking beside the sea over rough limestone rock or along beaches.
I climbed out of town then followed roads and gravel tracks through an area of large bushes, exposed rock and an occasional Eucalyptus tree. I passed a military base, lots of aerials, some houses, an isolated church and no people. On reaching Konnos and the coast, the scenery changed dramatically. There were hotels, bars, a beach full of blue umbrellas and lots of people, usually in swimming costume, some looking fit, others with a lot of flesh wobbling as they walked. Tattoos seemed popular for men and women. As I sat down for a lemonade and ice cream, the lady at the next table had a tattoo down her spine telling me "you don't need a plan...", but the rest of the tattoo, lower down her back, was hidden by the back of the white plastic chair, so I am not sure what I did not need a plan for. Nor was she speaking English.
Finding the path out of Konnos was a little difficult, it took me while to realise it runs straight through the cafe, but once on the footpath it skipped up and down with signs identifying the different plants. The path led to a small church and below it the cave of Ayioi Anargyroi. People were jumping off the cliff into the sea. Not something I could recommend due to the risk of hitting a rock. However with the cool blue sea on a hot day like today I could see the attraction. A little further on there was one of a few natural arches on the coast that I would pass. I continued heading east until a fence prevented further progress. Beyond it there was what I took to be a military establishment with multiple aerials. So having reached the most easterly point on my trip on the E4 in Europe I sighed and headed west along the coast.
The E4 follows a footpath over rough limestone, the sea was to my left, with boats full of tourists on trips from Ayia Napa, on my right cliffs rose above me. I had to be careful to follow the trail, as the passage of feet had smoothed the sharp edges of the limestone, elsewhere it was unpleasant to walk on, slow dissolution by the rain having created a spiky surface. In time I reached the point at which the path was crudely paved, making progress easier. By now the cliffs had gone and resorts began, with their sun loungers, umbrellas, bars and areas of too green grass, kept that way by frequent watering.
After some distance on the paved path, it was time to follow the beach, avoiding people sunbathing and the carefully constructed sand castles (and a sand crocodile). The beach stopped at Ayia Napa harbour and a little further along the promenade I turned inland among the shops and bars to Barbara's apartments, a rather more modest place to spend the night compared with the resort hotels I had walked by.
In the evening there was a medieval festival. People lined the street waiting for the parade. The wait was eventually rewarded. People dressed in costumes pillaged from history slowly moved up the street, beating drums with tremendous stamina, blowing trumpets, throwing flags and swinging fire around their heads. Some were dressed for a masquerade, others on stilts wore fantastical costumes. Young school children waved in period costume. Speeches by worthy dignitaries seemed about to follow the procession so as people dispersed I left to eat in a Japanese restaurant. I chose it as other restaurants seemed to have been filled either by those who had been watching the parade or else the usual Saturday night crowd. Later there was a crooner singing on a stage in the square but I had an early start in the morning so I climbed back up the hill to my rooms.

25 kilometres walked today starting and finishing at my hotel. A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and on ViewRanger short code johnpon0047.

Beach at Konnos

Path back to Ayia Napa along the coast

Natural arch near Ayia Napa

Part of the Medieval festival parade, these drummers really had stamina!

Cyprus E4: Xylofagou to Ayia Napa: Day 20

Unless you had an interest in Market Gardening, this morning's walk was not going to be exciting. This afternoon included the Sotira "forest", although forest was perhaps too generous a term.
Needless to say the taxi I arranged for 9:30 a.m. did not turn up until after I rang him up 10 minutes later to remind him. So after a slightly late start I began my walk from Xylofagou. This morning I walked over the flat farmland of the coastal plain, an area of rich, reddish brown soil. In addition to fields of stubble where some grain had been harvested, there were fields of potatoes, kept green by water sprays rhythmically sweeping back and fore. A couple were out planting cabbages in neat rows. Long "greenhouses" with clear sheets of plastic for their roofs and "walls" of fine netting where being used to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. Other vegetables being grown I could not identify. There were some classic steel, farm wind mills used to pump water out of the ground but I have read that most of the water used for irrigation in this area now comes from reservoirs in the mountains.
In the afternoon I reached the Sotira forest. An area of marginally higher ground where the limestone rock is close to the surface. There were not many big trees, most were like bushes. A picnic area was close to the highest point in the area. Two churches hid beneath the summit, a more modern looking one in front of a stone built one that looked older. The stone church was in turn in front of a shallow cave with a bench. Climbing the rocks to the summit behind the churches afforded a good view of the coast and the town of Sotira inland, although it was scarcely a picturesque scene. As I walked among the Eucalyptus trees down to Ayia Napa, a pick up stopped and the man checked that I was not experiencing any problems, before returning the way he had come from. I doubt many people walk this section, it seems to have little to recommend it and on a hot day like today, a cool shower in my hotel seemed a much more attractive activity.
I had come across no GPS track of today's route in my research and had made my own based on the Cyprus Tourist Organisation leaflet. I spotted a few signs, and some yellow and white posts that once sported E4 signs, so I was on the correct route at least some of the time, although with the many farm tracks in the area, I could not be certain I was always on the one intended.
Ayia Napa is a tourist town in complete contrast to my walk today and for most of my trip. There are plenty of bars with "happy hours", clubs, souvenir shops, burger joints, and coffee shops selling latte to lads and ladies rather than Cypriot coffee to old men. I did however enjoy the generous slice of apple tart I bought with my cappuccino. It also seemed to have cash machines (ATM's) on every corner, whereas for most of my trip I found them disconcertingly hard to find.
My bed tonight is in the north part of town at Barbara's apartments, up the hill from the hustle and bustle at the centre of Ayia Napa.

Only 19 kilometres walked today, mostly flat. A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and on ViewRanger short code johnpon0047.

Irrigation in progress

View from summit in Sotira forest

Cyprus E4: Oroklini to Xylofagou: Day 19

After some rearrangement of tonight's accommodation, I hiked through young trees looking down over Lanarca from a hillside on the way to Pyla. Later there followed a long section of flat, but evidently fertile farmland.

The owner of the room I had arranged for tonight on booking.com sent a message saying he was not available. Frustrating, as it required a late change in my plans. As I did not consider the farmland I would be walking across suitable for wild camping, especially with the various military zones, I decided to spend another night at the Antonis G Hotel. The receptionist said they could arrange a taxi back from Xylofagou, the village that would be my destination for today. A "Caution Minefield" sign on the track today seemed to confirm that I had made the right decision.
First I retraced my steps back to where the E4 branched off the road. It led up through a farm where a large flock of sheep were sheltering from the sun under steel roofs. The goats seemed to be happier in the sun. I passed two oil drums with the UN buffer zone sign stating UN authorised persons only, with a token few wraps of razor wire. Climbing further up the hillside I joined a track through a plantation of pines and cypress being established on the white, dry chalky soil. Contouring around the slope, I could see Larnaca spread out below and cargo ships on the sea beyond. Aircraft regularly crossed the skies on route to Larnaca airport, seeming to defy gravity by floating in the air.
The dusty white track I was following led me down to a road into Pyla. The village was notable for having both a mosque and a church, both Greek and Turkish communities living together. I sat in a pub for a cup of Cypriot coffee, looking at a UN police station on the first floor of the building opposite. I had seen little evidence of UN personnel, although a pick up with a UN numberplate was parked outside. The pub was an older building with a wide, graceful arch in the middle of the open sided room in which I was sitting. I had seen these arches before in the middle of rooms, they appeared to served the function of a modern concrete or steel beam, allowing a wider room while using rafters of limited length. The lady serving me seemed to want me to stay, maybe as I was her only customer.
A kilometre or so after Pyla, by a landing strip, there was a fenced in area, with old coaches and the remains of some classic cars: I recognized Morris Minors, Austin Cambridges and Triumphs. At the next village of Xylotympou a sign pointed to a park of Peace and Folk Poets. On a white wall there were details of a several poets, suprisingly all from this one village. In another area of the park there a memorial commemorated the 2,200 Jewish babies born in Cyprus as a result of Britain trying to stop emigration to what is now Israel. Jews in transit were detained in camps in Cyprus in the late 1940's.
The remainder of the journey to Xylofagou was across flat farmland, much of it recently ploughed, some with irrigated potatoes or market garden produce. A bearded farmer in a pick up stopped to check I was OK, I doubt they see many walkers in the area.
Reaching Xylofagou I rang for the taxi from the Friend's cafe. Unfortunately it went to the airport. Staff at the cafe were most helpful in explaining where I was, i.e. no-where near the airport.
The taxi driver arrived 20 minutes later and returned me to the hotel at high speed, probably breaking several traffic regulations on route...
I decided to sit on the balcony of my room and watch the setting sun. Two pigeons took exception to this. They had laid two white eggs in a corner where a drain created a small hollow. I left the balcony much to their relief, and closed the curtain. Peeping around the edge I soon saw one of the pigeons sitting, incubating the eggs.

27 kilometres walked today, with only a 220 metre total ascent. A GPS track of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and on ViewRanger short code johnpon0047.

Maybe the decision not to wild camp off the track tonight was a good one....

Walk across farmland.

Irrigated potatoes