In this latest series, I will be going through all the countries I’ve travelled to on my mission to visit every single country in the world. In this article, we will be covering country #87: Cyprus. If you haven’t gotten a chance already, read this story first to find out why I’m trying to visit all 193 UN-recognized countries.
VIDEO – Country #87: Cyprus
Blog post on Cyprus
- My Spending Breakdown While Travelling In Russia, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland
- Places To Visit In Cyprus If You’re Only There For 24 Hours
Renting a car in Cyprus airport
I arrived in Cyprus at an ungodly hour of 2:55 am and felt dead exhausted. To make matters worst, when I went to budget rentals where I made a car rental reservation, the person who has my vehicle has not yet returned it.
The staff working for budge then looked for another solution for me. Shortly after, he referred me to Hertz. I was charged 85 Euros for a 24-hour rental which is quite expensive. With no other choice, I accepted the car rental and made my way to my accommodation.
Awesome Airbnb customer service
The owners of the Airbnb were very kind and allowed me to check-in at 4 am. Michalis and Sylvia are the names of the host and I would entertain the idea of returning back to Cyprus just to visit the welcoming couple.
I went to sleep as soon as I arrived. When I woke up, I purchased some home-cooked breakfast from them. My time in Cyprus was short. I got sucked in having a conversation with the couple and another traveller. This delayed starting my road trip even more.
But, that’s okay, because travel is all about the unexpected fantastic experience and conversing with the locals was well worth the delay.
Petra tou Romiou
Because my time in Cyprus was a mere 24 hours, I had to pick and choose a select few tourist destinations to see. The first destination I selected was Petra tou Romiou. This place is supposed to be the legendary rock where Aphrodite was born. Petra tou Romiou was on the way to the Tombs of the Kings which made it the perfect stop.
This place was beautiful but I was an idiot and didn’t have an external phone charger with me. I needed my phone to be charged otherwise, I couldn’t fly my drone here.
While I enjoyed taking pictures here, what I really wanted to do was fly my drone. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t do that. Lesson learned, when travelling, always have an external battery to charge your electronics.
Tombs of the Kings
My next stop is the UNESCO world heritage site thought to be the burial ground for Paphitic aristocrats and high officials. The drive to reach the parking lot of Tombs of the Kings was an adventure on its own. Tombs of the Kings is located in a city called Paphos and the roads here were narrow and challenging to drive through.
Before long, I made it to this archeological site and made my way inside.
As soon as I entered, I saw this cool looking chamber. Inside looks to be a dwelling from the olden days. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in one of these homes.
My next destination here is the one I saw on the google images. It’s basically these perfectly excavated ruins. I had a blast wandering through atop and between the halls of these magnificent ancient structures.
Stavrovouni Monastery
After I was done with the Tombs of the Kings, I drove all the way back east towards Larnaca where the Stavrovouni Monastery was located. This place is a cool looking monastery high up in the mountains. After a short stop at McDonald’s just to keep myself fueled, I finally arrived at the monastery.
They had very strict no photography or videos allowed inside the monastery grounds itself so all the pictures that I was able to take were from the outside.
Flying out of Cyprus
I was dead exhausted after visiting the monastery. When I got back to my Airbnb, I went straight to sleep. My flight was at a ridiculous time again. I had to get up at 1:30 am to leave the Airbnb to go back to the airport to catch my flight.
Conclusion
My short time in Cyprus was great because of the welcoming host I had in the Airbnb I stayed at. I really think travel is about the people you meet along the way. And my time in Cyprus proved that once again.
I do hate travelling so fast and jamming sightseeing in a short period of time. But when you only have 2-weeks off work, I do have to pack my schedule in order to visit as many countries as I possibly can.
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