Head for the Hills. Two Days in the Mountains.
Trip Start
Mar 16, 2004
1
6
35
Trip End
Jun 13, 2004
Troodos,
Cyprus
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Cyprus is dominated by two mountain ranges and I set out at 9am to tackle one of them on my way to Nicosia. Initially I was cycling along the coast on a fairly flat road and managed to put off turning right into the mountains for 20km until I got to Pomo.
Imediately the road rose up before me. I gritted my teeth and expected the next 32km to Stavros tis Psokas to be like this. The road flattened out a little after a few km and the rest of the cycle wasn't so bad
Cycling along the coastal plain
. I took the tourist route on a reasonably good quality dirt forest road. The beautiful pine forest all around me was a pleasant distraction and I stopped often to admire the view, do a bit of bird watching or practice with the camera. About halfway there is a shady picnic site called Livadi. Wooden picnic tables and benches, water, a bubbling stream flowing through it and numerous trees labelled in Greek and Latin. I'd say in summer its packed, but I had it to myself. I had lunch here and forced myself onwards and upwards. As I neared the top of todays climb I disturbed two goats by the side of the road. They were medium sized, brown coloured with white patches on their hinds. Having seen photos since I'm sure they were moufflon which is a type of uncommon mountain goat in Cyprus.
In late afternoon I got back onto the paved road and came to a junction where the sign for Stavros pointed downhill to my right. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad as I'd have to retrace those 3km in the morning. Anyway I enjoyed the rapid descent. At times during the day the wheels had hardly moved, now the km ticked up like seconds on the bike's computer. Within minutes I'd found the campsite which seemed to be closed, but I stayed anyhow.
The campsite was built in pine forest on three terraces in a narrow steep sided valley
Detail of door mosaic Kykkos Monaastry
. I couldn't find any shower and it was long drop style toilets. As soon as the sun set became a very chilly evening so I was soon warmly wrapped up in my sleeping bag. I read for an hour or so before drifting to sleep.Next morning I had to jump around a little outside the tent to get the circulation going. The sun eventually rose over the ridge and shone onto the campsite. Of course my tent was in the shade of a tree. I was dreading the climb back up to the main road so I was a bit slow in packing up. Two jays were feeding on pine cones nearby so I watched them for a while.
I couldn't put it off any longer and set off. Once I get my second wind it wasn't so hard. Several times I startled game birds which flapped of into the forest. The crash barrier beside me creaked as it warmed up in the sun. The climb continued for a further three km before leveling out. Some clever engineer had designed this road to follow a contour which meandered around the head of the valleys which fell away either side. I caught glimpses of the sea between the row after row of mountains covered in forest.. From checking the map I reckoned I was about 1100m up. I knew I'd have to climb to 1700m before the day was out. I was intending to stay at Troodos campsite near Mt Olympus
Experimenting with the camera
.I was due a tea break as I passed the famous Kykkos Monastry so after taking a few snaps of the ornate mosaic doorway I stopped for coffee in a little cafe just around the corner. Opposite me was a row of tourist shops selling postcards and religious items, very like Knock in Co Mayo. The tourist attraction and the tourist trap. There were several coaches parked up nearby.
The cheese and ham pancake renewed my energy and with the words of wisdom of the owner that it very, very cold inn Troodos and a tough climb I set off. Well what can I say. The man was right. Most of the climb was concentrated in the last few km and the temperature fell rapidly as I got higher. After the village of Podromos, where a sign said 5C, the ditches by the road were filled with snow. As I passed near the summit of Mt Olympus I meet skiers literally stepping of the piste and into their cars.
There was a road signed for the summit, 2km. However it was 5pm and the last 2km took me almost an hour, so I resisted the temptation to go to the top. From the junction I was able to look over the wide green central plain towards the other mountain range in the distance
Giant golf balls
. Those mountains are in Turkish territory. I could also see Nicosia spread across the plain. A sign beside me read Nicosia 84km. To the left was the broad sweep of Morfu Bay.The snow was piled up on either side of the road and I was on the shady side of the mountain. My fingers were freezing despite my gloves so I had to work hard to control my speed on the rapid descent. Four or five observatories occupied the peaks around me, looking all the world like giant golf balls.
I wasn't surprised to find Troodos campsite closed. The phone box was half buried in a snow drift. I was pretty cold myself now and fancied a warm bed, hot dinner and a beer. The air warmed as I got lower and in the mountain village of Kakopetria I found a really good B&B above Romio's Restaurant.
The owner and staff were all very helpful and friendly. After a lovely hot shower I had mousakka for dinner and watched some football on telly over a couple of beers.The bar looked cluttered and chaotic but everyone knew exactly what they were doing.I'd already forgotten about the tough cold climb.
