Cyprus - Episkopi walk

I picked up Jimmy and followed his directions up into the hills North of Paphos. As we went to make a turn on to a minor road he said that it was OK at the start but would get a bit rough by the end. We then noticed the Road Closed sign. Uh oh! This would mean we had to drive all the way back down to the motorway and then take a different road back into the hills. Well, as Nicky and Dave will attest, I have discovered that Road Closed signs don't always mean that the road is closed. So I decided to give it a go. Well as Jimmy said it did get a bit rough and then at the bottom:

the bridge was being replaced. The road really was closed

and we needed to be across the other side of the river

to meet the rest of the group at a parking spot below that rock face.

So I went over to the man driving the bulldozer, pushing dirt up to make a ramp up to the bridge, and asked if we could walk across. Sure, no problem. So Jimmy called the walk leader to ask if he could meet us on the other side and drive us up to the meeting spot. Sure, no problem. The bulldozer driver got out of his cab, escorted us across the bridge, explaining along the way to the other workers what was going on. At the other side of the bridge there was a 10 ft drop and he maneuvered a homemade looking wooden ladder into place and helped us both climb down. Our chauffeur was there to meet us at the other side. All that excitement before we even started the walk.

We started with a steep climb, now we were above the village

and, zooming in, there was my little car, on the right, parked across the other side of the river.

We walked along the side of the hill at this level, past a cemetery

and able to see the views up and down the valley.

I would love to know this vehicles story.

I took way too many pictures of Almond trees

Wendy, one of the group, told me that last year they went on a walk and saw masses of wild Orchids. She was hoping we would go again this year.

A very friendly horse, tethered to a telephone pole.

After around 3 km we turned down hill,

past a field covered in bright yellow flowers

and back to the village

along a lower path.

Along this path there were signs indicating that we were on the E4.

The E4 European long distance path or E4 path is one of the European long-distance paths. Starting at its westernmost point in Portugal it continues through Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece to end in Cyprus.From Wikipedia

The path is over 10,000 km long.

In Cyprus:
This new section of the E4 was inaugurated in 2005, and is 539 km long. It connects Larnaka and Pafos international airports, traversing the Troodos mountain range and Akamas peninsula. From Wikipedia.

The rest of the group was going to stop at a cafe in the village for a drink but Jimmy and I walked back down to the bridge only to find that what we had used the ladder for was now covered in a dump truck load of loose stones. Also a couple of official looking men were up on the bridge with our friend, the bulldozer driver. We didn't want to get him in trouble but he waved us over and they were all smiles as he helped us up the stones and across the bridge. We uttered many "Thank You"s and "Efkhareesto"s and drove back the way we had come.

We met Kay and John and Jenny (they own the house across the parking lot from me and have recently returned) at a restaurant near the airport. We sat outside in the sun and ordered drinks and lunch and chatted away. Just as we were finishing Nikki and John (own the house next to Annie's House) walked on to the patio and we spent another hour or so in conversation.

Lovely walk, lovely meal, lovely people.