Today's scenery was much improved on yesterday's, now that I was away from major urban centres and instead visiting small villages and passing vineyards.
The House of Sophia's where I stayed last night was notable in that the owners had restored an old house, others in the village looked less cared for. The next village, Moro Nero, had long been abandoned with only a old church and some remnants of walls left. Some areas were still cultivated, a dog barked from one of them.
My day's walk began by following the side of the valley past a few goats, olive groves and scrub. The regular lines of vineyards were visible in the distance. A steep climb followed as I left the valley and its farmed areas behind. Looking down at me from the summit a new house was under construction and beyond were many more, mostly completed and inhabited. Modern luxury affairs, concrete cubes with big windows framing a view across the valley to distant mountains, their carefully planted gardens contrasted with the surrounding scrub. Beautiful though they were the area appeared to have no history, no little kafenio with old men drinking coffee, no church I could see or village square. I was somewhat wrong as apparently there is an ancient monastery somewhere within the development area. A large golf course seemed the heart of the community. Unlike the dried up, rough, straw coloured vegetation which covered uncultivated ground elsewhere, the golf course was green, neatly trimmed and clearly watered regularly.
With the world getter warmer, the hottest global temperatures ever recorded occurring in the last two decades, I wondered how Cyprus was going to manage. The shrivelled leaves on some of the trees, many of which had lost their leaves suggested that the weather was not generous with its water at present and I wondered if water would become a problem. New building and its associated golf courses will only add to pressure on available supplies, although apparently the development I was walking through has its own reservoir and a system for reusing "grey water". I had seen signs promising permanent EU residency if you invested in property, no doubt this encouraged additional building.
I continued on to the reassuringly old village of Tsada, diverting briefly from the E4 to climb up to the village centre. By the church three flags were flying, that of Cyprus, the double headed eagle of the Greek Orthodox church and the Greek flag. Was the latter flying due to a continued wish to become part of Greece, an old theme in Cypriot politics?
Shortly after Tsada I had a salad with grilled halloumi cheese (a Cypriot speciality) at a microbrewery. I felt envious as fellow customers enjoyed a tasting menu of six different beers, but I knew if I did the same I would struggle to reach my destination for the night under the hot sun, so for me it was a Fanta.
White, dusty tracks reflected the harsh sunlight as they led me around the hills on a circuitous tour of vineyards planted on terraces, surrounded by areas of scrub and low trees. A lot of white soil was visible between the vines giving them a sparse look.
I arrived at the Perrgell Bed & Breakfast in the village of Killi early, having made fast progress despite the number of hills I had climbed today. My three course dinner there, among the trees in the courtyard, included as a desert of quince in a sweet syrup, sourced in the village, not something I have eaten before...
My first full day of walking I covered 20 kilometres with an total ascent of 800 metres. A gps file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, and on myViewRanger under short code johnpon0044.
The House of Sophia's where I stayed last night was notable in that the owners had restored an old house, others in the village looked less cared for. The next village, Moro Nero, had long been abandoned with only a old church and some remnants of walls left. Some areas were still cultivated, a dog barked from one of them.
My day's walk began by following the side of the valley past a few goats, olive groves and scrub. The regular lines of vineyards were visible in the distance. A steep climb followed as I left the valley and its farmed areas behind. Looking down at me from the summit a new house was under construction and beyond were many more, mostly completed and inhabited. Modern luxury affairs, concrete cubes with big windows framing a view across the valley to distant mountains, their carefully planted gardens contrasted with the surrounding scrub. Beautiful though they were the area appeared to have no history, no little kafenio with old men drinking coffee, no church I could see or village square. I was somewhat wrong as apparently there is an ancient monastery somewhere within the development area. A large golf course seemed the heart of the community. Unlike the dried up, rough, straw coloured vegetation which covered uncultivated ground elsewhere, the golf course was green, neatly trimmed and clearly watered regularly.
With the world getter warmer, the hottest global temperatures ever recorded occurring in the last two decades, I wondered how Cyprus was going to manage. The shrivelled leaves on some of the trees, many of which had lost their leaves suggested that the weather was not generous with its water at present and I wondered if water would become a problem. New building and its associated golf courses will only add to pressure on available supplies, although apparently the development I was walking through has its own reservoir and a system for reusing "grey water". I had seen signs promising permanent EU residency if you invested in property, no doubt this encouraged additional building.
I continued on to the reassuringly old village of Tsada, diverting briefly from the E4 to climb up to the village centre. By the church three flags were flying, that of Cyprus, the double headed eagle of the Greek Orthodox church and the Greek flag. Was the latter flying due to a continued wish to become part of Greece, an old theme in Cypriot politics?
Shortly after Tsada I had a salad with grilled halloumi cheese (a Cypriot speciality) at a microbrewery. I felt envious as fellow customers enjoyed a tasting menu of six different beers, but I knew if I did the same I would struggle to reach my destination for the night under the hot sun, so for me it was a Fanta.
White, dusty tracks reflected the harsh sunlight as they led me around the hills on a circuitous tour of vineyards planted on terraces, surrounded by areas of scrub and low trees. A lot of white soil was visible between the vines giving them a sparse look.
I arrived at the Perrgell Bed & Breakfast in the village of Killi early, having made fast progress despite the number of hills I had climbed today. My three course dinner there, among the trees in the courtyard, included as a desert of quince in a sweet syrup, sourced in the village, not something I have eaten before...
My first full day of walking I covered 20 kilometres with an total ascent of 800 metres. A gps file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com, and on myViewRanger under short code johnpon0044.
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| The valley I had been following since Pafos, here with vineyards at the on the valley floor, dry pasture above and then scrub on the mountainside |
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| Modern and expensive houses at the crest of the hill |
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| Vineyards on terraces on the hillside |
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