Paphos People

A couple of times a week, especially in summer when it is too hot to do much else, my wife and I go for a drive in the mountains and explore the various routes through the countryside. The roads are deserted and climate control keeps the interior of the car at a steady 22 degrees.

Yesterday we were returning from Troodos via Platreas, Omodos, Dora, and Kouklia. There is a nasty dip in the road just below Archimandrita which can knock the sump out of your car if taken too fast, so having carefully negotiated that we came upon a stretch of shallow rubble and dust on the road for about thirty metres, and there were some men working off the road to our right. There were no signs or traffic control - though frankly that is not unusual here - or any indication what the problem was. The road had been clear last week.

I was picking a way slowly through the rubble, as my car is somewhat low slung, and was suddenly aware of a few small rocks falling down the slope on my left. I glanced up and saw that a bulldozer working above had dislodged a load of rocks from the steep bank and tons of rocks, some as large as the car, were bearing down on us. I accelerated and the rocks crashed into the road behind us. Had I been looking the other way, we could have been buried under tons of rock. I don't even think that the bulldozer driver was aware that we were there! I didn't linger to labour the point.

These country roads can offer wonderful scenery and are a pleasure to drive, but safety is not high on the agenda, so be careful out there.

Glad you are ok KG - close shave by the sounds of it. Brilliant photo.

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"Your dog is your friend, your partner, your defender. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true until the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"

that was a close call mate !!..
glad everything is ok ...

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REACH 1000`s of PAPHOS CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE OTHERS CHARGE
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Whilst the optimist and the pessimist argued that the whisky glass was either half full
or half empty ? .
I drank it .....
The opportunist..

Brings it home to me you have to be alert on Cyprus roads all the time....thank goodness you were.

Jan

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ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD

OMG Graham that must have been so scary. Glad you and your good lady weren't hurt. Mind you -- you take your life in your hands when you drive through Kissonerga these days- up where the New Church is over looking the valley now that's another accident waiting to happen. Marj

It certainly was alarming - so much so that I didn't think to stop to take a photo, but fortunately we didn't get a scratch - not even on the paintwork

Yesterday was one of those days where every driver on the road seems out to kill you - probably affected by the heat - but that's something you take for granted here. I just didn't expect a man made land-slide

There are some great views up there. Dora is a very pretty village



and Archimandrita has an interesting history ... but dreadful road maintenance.

One of the other ways down, via Omodos, Pachna and Avdimou is being rebuilt, so that's another route to avoid for a few months, and the common route via Kidasi is simply dangerous as there are two stretches where the road is too narrow for the speed some local drivers like to travel. There was work going on on the lower section yesterday so hopefully one of those stretches will be widened soon, but the upper stretch below Mandria (the one near Platres) is long overdue for widening and no sign of work there

If you want safe ... but boring ... go via Limassol. Turn left at the second roundabout.

Marj
What's happening near the new church? I have not been down that road for ages.

Then dont bother Graham its like a bombs hit it -- digging up the roads for the umpteenth time to lay the pipes for the ---sewage -- system. Now that's the biggest laugh --where is the sewage plant going to be -- its a long way to Mandria. Marj

OK - got the picture. Our side of the village has escaped that work so far

At least the sh*t should roll downhill, so heaven help those at the bottom

Well you've seen what happens when it does KG you get landslides