The Cyprus Blog at TripToCyprus.com

Photo collage on a Cyprus Map

Rajaram S — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:22:05 +0000

Harish and Anith took many of my photos and put them on top of a Cyprus Map as a collage. Must have been lot of work. This is the photo which is currently the wallpaper on my laptop. You can find a higher resolution picture (2.5 MB) here.

Earthquake in Limassol and Paphos, Cyprus

Rajaram S — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:30:25 +0000

An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 on the Richter scale shook Cyprus on August 25th (Tuesday). The epicentre was pretty close to Limassol, occurring near Amathus. But, nothing much happened because of this, just that people were shaken up a bit!
In fact, Cyprus is very close to a highly seismic zone. There is a major fault running through (or very near to) Cyprus. You can actually see the fault. If you go to lady’s mile beach (on the road from My Mall), you turn right at the T-junction to go to Akrotiri lake whereas to the left, the road stops. If you wade into the beach from just to the right of the t-junction, you should see a drop of a feet or so on the sea floor within a few metres from the shore. This is a faultline. This goes in a diagonal direction towards the sea , so goes further in as you go on lady’s mile beach towards Akrotiri. I accidentally noticed this. Once i was snorkelling close to the shore (close - very close as i dont know the ABCs of swimming) and i drifted off a bit. Suddenly, i saw the sea floor much deeper than i would have liked it to be. I panicked and waded towards the shore. Then i noticed the sharp drop on the floor.
Cyprus has had its share of mild earthquakes before. In the late 90s, there was a medium intensity earthquake, the effects of which can be seen on some of the old residential apartments on the beach road. I hope that there are no after-shocks of this earthquake, except the artificial ones to be created by the Israelis!!

Tiffany shopping mall opens in Limassol

Rajaram S — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:20:49 +0000

Finally, Limassol has its own mall! No, it is not called the mall of limassol or the limassol mall. It is called the Tiffany shopping mall. Originally planned to be opened on 8th August 2008 (08/08/08), the Tiffany limassol mall finally opened on 30th May 2009. It is located in Zakaki area just a few hundred metres off the new port. You can approach this mall from the mercedes benz/Bank of cyprus signal proceeding towards Paphos.

Photos of the mall during its various stages construction.

Now, what is going to happen to all the hang-out places in Limassol like Starbucks, costas etc? Are people going to flood the mall preferring it over these places?

Update: Got the below info in an email
Cyprus on Ice, Skating rink at My Mall, Limassol.
Cyprus on Ice will offer various forms of “ice entertainment” such as ice shows and events and ice hockey demonstrations in addition to ice skating familiarity sessions by instructors on site. Skates and ice hockey accessories and apparel will also available to be ordered at the rink, as is the booking of “Parties on Ice.”
Cyprus on Ice: Hours, Open Daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Location: Level -1, “My Mall Limassol” 285 Franklin Roosevelt, Zakaki, Limassol
Phone: 00357 25713305, mobile: 00357 97691601.

Chantara Waterfalls near Platres, Cyprus

Rajaram S — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:25:29 +0000

Cyprus has never ceased to amaze me. Even after 7.5 years of exploring Cyprus, i still manage to find new pristine places that i have not seen before. For many, the only waterfall in Cyprus is the Kalidonia waterfall. Few others know Milomeri and even fewer have heard of Mesa Potamas waterfall. To my surprise, i came across this Chantara Waterfalls and i can definitely say that this is the most beautiful waterfall in Cyprus, unless there are more hidden gems like this!

Also known locally at the Handara waterfalls, this waterfall is easily accessible by road (earthern road). The beauty of this fall is because of the split in the main falls because of the huge rock in the middle. This offers numerous photographic opportunities to try out the slow-shutter technique to bring out the silky flow of the water.

This falls is located between Phini Village (or Foini Village) and trooditissa monastery. Phini Village is just a short drive from Kato Platres. Once you reach the village, you will see a clear signboard for handara waterfalls. This is a 2 km drive on earthern road. The road was a bit bad, but we managed it in regular family cars. If you are coming from the other side, drive to trooditissa monastery (this monastery is not open to public), cross the parking lot (the end of the parking lot if marked by an arch) and continue on the earthern road. The moment you leave the parking lot, the road becomes earthern. Keep going towards foini/phini (taking a left at one junction) and you will come across this waterfall right on the road.

The adventurous ones might dismiss this waterfall because of its accessibility through road. But, don’t worry, even they have lot to explore here. Once you gather the courage to clamber up the side of the waterfall (a path visible to the left of the waterfall) and then jump over some rocks, you reach the top of the fall. It was extremely slippery at the top and my camera had some close calls. Once you are at the top, you are rewarded with two more small waterfalls. We wanted to climb to the top of the third one to see if there are more, but it proved to be too slippery for us to continue! We spent more than an hour exploring the place and taking lot of photographs. I would give a big thumbs-up for this place and rate it as one of the must-visit places in Cyprus.

Mathikoloni - Abandoned village in Cyprus

Rajaram S — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:12:26 +0000

There are many abandoned villages in Cyprus, some of which were abandoned during 1974 conflict and many abandoned due to natural reasons like landslides or earthquakes. You can find many such villages in the Pafos mountains. Mathikoloni is relatively closer to Limassol and is considered by many to one of the more beautiful ones to explore.

We had been to Mathikoloni many years ago. So, we decided to check out the place again 2 weeks back along with Harish and Anith. Actually the plan was to just stopover at Mathikoloni and drive through a mountain road to Akrounta near Yermasoyia dam.

To go to Mathikoloni, you have to take the Agios Athanasios exit on Jumbo/Linopetra roundabout. You cross the Agios Athanasios and climb towards Mathikoloni which is around 11kms away. Once you reach the village, take a right from the main road and go into the village. Keep going on this road and you will cross the new settlement and at the end of the road, you will see dirty signboard marked as “Akrounta - 5 km”. This road is pretty narrow and it is difficult to take a U-turn at any point. The road starts as being paved and it is paved for most of the distance. You drive down into the valley and there you have lot of photo opportunities with lot of greenery and mountains on both sides of the road.

Even Akshara (who has become a veteran of road trips now!) seemed to enjoy this drive down the narrow lanes. My mom, on the other hand, held on to the seat very tightly in the hope that the slope would lead to another road

After a while, the paved road gives way to earthern road which at points looks pretty bad. But, rest assured that this road is definitely navigable and you (whether you drive or not) will enjoy this short road trip. The road finally leads to Akrounta (Don’t turn towards Spitali) which is just a few kms north of Yermasoyia.