Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Cyprus: Polis

Polis and the Chrysochou Bay
Looking east over Polis and Chrysochou Bay from the Aphrodite Trail

Driving north along the coast from Pafos to Polis was delightful, and for the first time in our trip we witnessed people sunbathing, in a pretty little spot called Coral Bay. If the weather was going to be pleasant, then I had high hopes for our planned hike round the Akamas Peninsula, just west of the town of Polis. I was getting a little tired of only being able to explore Cyprus with the bent back of the man who can't use his umbrella because it's too windy; some sunshine-soaked wandering was long overdue.

The Akamas Peninsula

The Akamas Peninsula
The view over the Akamas Peninsula from the summit of Moutti tis Sotiras

Of course, we woke up the next morning to rain, and as we drove west towards the peninsula, the frustrating prospect of yet another day in the driving rain irritated me almost as much as the dangerously idiotic bravado of the boy racers who make up a noticeable proportion of Cyprus's drivers. While four-wheel-drive after four-wheel-drive overtook me on blind corners, we headed west for the Baths of Aphrodite, a tourist attraction on the coach-tour circuit that nonetheless signals the start of a number of walking tracks through the unspoilt Akamas Peninsula.

Goats on the Aphrodite Trail
The goats of the Aphrodite Trail