One Road- Ariann Mieka

The topic of which is the best Monastery to visit was on discussion early morning in our hotel lobby.  Verse and I were checking out of our hotel in Lemesos and going to stay in another town, but before we left we were asking the lovely older couple that own the hotel, which one of the many Monasteries was their top choice. The wife told us her favorite and asked her husband his opinion. He very strongly chose another one. “Kykkos Monastery is the one to visit,” he said, “It is the most impressive.” We were only going to be visiting one Monastery during our trip so we set off for his choice, which was located in the Troodos region. Kykkos monastery , which is set among picturesque hills, is the most opulent on the island and I guess by impressive that’s what the hotel owner meant. At the entrance purple robes are available for those visitors who aren’t dressed conservatively enough to put on while walking around. As we strolled through the property, we saw brig...

The massive cross sits high on a hill and is visible from miles away. Verse and I were driving in the Troodos region , heading to the Kykkos monastery when we spotted the 25-metre cross looming above us. Intrigued, we had to veer off route and drive up the hill to find out more. Stavros Fithkias is a small modern chapel with amazing wall paintings. As is common in the majority of their churches these frescos were intricate, bright and tell the stories of the gospels. This chapel was built in the 80’s and is a common stop for pilgrims heading to the Kykkos monastery. Prior to our trip to Cyprus I had no idea what a huge role religion had in their culture and history. (I guess that’s because I knew very little about Cyprus at all, save for the fact that it was the hottest location in Europe at the time I wanted to travel). A whopping ten of their churches (found on the Greek side) are Unesco’s World Heritage sites making this island a must visit for all those interested...

Verse and I love hiking to waterfalls so naturally that was a must on our list of what to do in Cyprus . We set off towards the Troodos Mountains, which boasts many wonderful trails like the one that was highlighted in my Lonely Planet guidebook. The Kaledonia nature trail is found within the state forest– the Troodos National Forest Park. The main attraction of this trail is the Waterfall that’s found 1 km in. The winding trail that takes you along the Kourris River was spectacular and although the vegetation was not as green and lush, it reminded me of hiking at home in Trinidad and Tobago . When we got to the waterfall, Verse didn’t miss a beat as he immediately began peeling off clothes to head into the water. I of course had to take photos and I wandered about as he practically ran under the 15m of cascading water. To get under the fall was pretty easy as it wasn’t a deep pool to swim through. Instead you walked through very shallow water and over small jagge...