My Cypriot Adventure: Gelato and Mosaics in Pafos

On my sixth day in Cyprus, I headed to my last stop which is on the Western side of the island: Pafos. Due to a complicated bus connection (I had to go all the way back to Nicosia to get a bus to Pafos), I didn't arrive in Pafos until the afternoon. The bus schedule was also a bit messed up due to Ohi Day parades which blocked streets throughout the country. Once I arrived in Ktima Village (above the hill from the beach resorts), I threw my things down and walked down the hill to explore Pafos.

I made it to the Tomb of the Kings with enough time to take in the whole sight in daylight and then catch an amazing sunset as I was on my way out. The tombs themselves were nothing compared to what I'd seen in Egypt, but it was still fun to go down and walk around in some of the more elaborate tombs. Apparently the tombs were heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian tradition, when tombs resembled houses and were often filled with everything the person was believed to need in the afterlife.

Petra tou Romiou--Aphrodite's Rock as pictured out the bus window
en route to Pafos. It's the spot where Aphrodite, Cyprus' patron saint,
 allegedly emerged from the sea.

Kiniras Garden Traditional Hotel in Ktima Village about Pafos

Tombs of the Kings Archaeological Site which closes at 6PM in October

Pafos snails--these guys were on every vertical surface

The tombs were used between the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD,
and were actually built not for royalty, but by members of the upper class.

Some were more elaborate than others, but all had obvious burial sections.
The burial space is to the right in the above image.

This was the fanciest with an open atrium surrounded by columns.

The same tomb as seen from above. There are no treasures or artifacts
leftover from these tombs thanks to gravediggers.

Before the sunset

My favorite time of day to take pictures

Another fancy tomb

On the way out I saw the sky was turning pink so I went to investigate.

I was really glad I did! It was stunning.
(Blurry in the front, party in the back.)

After a gorgeous sunset, I exited the archaeological site and popped into Karlina's Tavern across the street. They were advertising "full English breakfasts" (this place was loaded with British tourists!) and 2Euro pints, so I took the restaurant up on the latter, along with some mezze. While eating, I made friends with one of the restaurant workers named Nikolas. He was somewhere in his 70s and the most smiley man I've ever met. At one point, after he finished tidying up the place, he came and joined me and started asking me where I was from and what I was going in Cyprus. I told him I was from the US and he told me about all the different relatives he has living in the US, and then I explained I was on vacation from Amman where I'm doing my PhD research. His reaction was priceless--"a PH what? What's that?" which was a nice reality check for me. By this time, the manager had come over to investigate and make sure Nikolas wasn't interrupting my meal and he laughed at this and tried to explain what it was to Nikolas. Before I got up to leave, Nikolas bought me a Cypriot coffee and sat with me while I drank it. When I flipped the cup over to read my coffee grounds, he was so impressed that i knew to do this, he called the manager over to read my coffee grounds. Apparently this is the manager's speciality and I got the best reading I've ever had--everything he said was accurate!

Coffee grounds reading

On my seventh and final day in Cyprus, I woke up early to eat a complimentary breakfast and then head down to the Pafos Archaeological Site which is the main site in town. While eating breakfast, I met a nice Canadian woman named Tina who was traveling around Cyprus for two weeks before heading to Malta (my next dream destination!). She was retired, widowed, and in her mid-seventies. She said she was sitting at home in Canada and thinking of places she still hadn't been, decided on Cyprus, and booked her ticket. She wasn't into the history or archaeology, but liked learning about how people live in different places. After we both ate, she got up and steadied herself on her cane, and then walked over to a nearby bench and pulled out a backpack. She set it up on the chair and put the first strap over her shoulder. I helped her get the second strap on and she was on her way. I hope I am still backpacking at her age!

Tina on her way to the bus station

After bidding farewell to Tina, I headed to the bus stop and took a bus down to the Pafos Archaeology Site which is famous for its mosaics. The ancient city of Pafos was founded in the late 4th century BC, but the mosaics and buildings in the archaeological site were constructed after the Romans took over in 2nd or 3rd century AD. The mosaics, often based on Greek myths, were huge, elaborate, and colorful and definitely did not disappoint! While I may not be huge into archaeology, I love to see human depictions and remnants of houses to get a better understanding of what people in different time periods thought of themselves and how they lived.

Pafos harbor with Pafos castle in the background

Mosaic in the House of Aion--Named after the god Aion who is depicted

Close up of the above mosaic

Another close up

View towards the lighthouse located on the edge of the site

Mosaic in Villa of Theseus--Theseus fighting the Minotaur

A mosaic of women in  the Villa of Theseus

Random house on site

Lizard!

House of Dionysus--depicts the tale of the Rape of Ganymede

The lighthouse on site

I loved this light teal/sea green I saw on houses in Cyprus

Had to get in my one-a-day picture!

This series of paintings are from an art display on the corniche

They all talk about the Turkish occupation

I thought it was an interesting political move in a popular tourist town

Pafos Castle

The nearby Municipal Market

After one more gelato, it was off to get my bag, get on a bus and head all the way back to Larnaka by way of Limassol, to catch my plane to Jordan. It was a long travel afternoon, but I broke up my day with lunch in Limassol during my hour long connection, and with dinner in Larnaka (more specifically a bacon cheeseburger and a beer at a brewery). It was hard to say goodbye to Cyprus, but I made sure to pick up a bottle of Pafos wine in duty free for when I was feeling a little homesick in Amman for Cyprus.

Logistics/Recommendations:

I really liked the Kiniras Garden ($64) in Ktima village which was a quaint hotel and restaurant in a traditional style house. It was only a 10 minute walk to the main intercity bus station which was a nice surprise. It meant that I could throw my things down and go off site-seeing, then come back and pick them up en route to catching a bus station out of Pafos. Ktima was calmer and less touristy than Pafos, had beautiful views, and a big tourist souk with lots of gift options. My only comment is that the price I paid through BookCyprus.com (and from other sites I saw online) was more expensive than the published price on the wall. During shoulder season (I went in October), the place was not busy enough to warrant a more expensive booking fee online. If I were to come back, I'd book in person with no worries.

The bus service in Pafos was excellent. They have a great network of buses in order to shuttle British tourists to all the different beach front resorts. There was also a bus that went back up the hill to Ktima village so I didn't have to walk back up post-gelato and beers (a nice surprise).

The only negative part of the bus system was the intercity connection from the Troodos area. This was another area where a car would've been much easier--instead of going all the way back to Nicosia and then down to Pafos, I could've just driven out of the Troodos and over to Pafos. The great thing about Nicosia, though, was that I knew where the bus station was and there is a placard up with all the bus route times which meant that all I had to do was wait for the right bus. 

Additionally, when traveling from Pafos to Larnaka, the bus actually stopped outside of Limassol and dropped off some passengers to get on a direct airport bus. I thought about hopping on the bus but I would've had to wait at the airport for 7 hours so I decided against it and took a leisurely trip back to Larnaka instead. In the future, however, I definitely would've spent more time in Pafos and used this bus service instead.