Day 3 - Avakas Gorge

After a very relaxing second day with a delicious breakfast at a local taverna, followed by a day at the beach snorkeling and reading, today, on the third day, we're going on a long hike through the...

AVAKAS GORGE

Fortified by a delicious warm baguette with various toppings and a very tasty omelet from Hari's Restaurant – a cool location with friendly service – we approached the gorge via a detour due to roadworks. We drove as far as our little car (without four-wheel drive) allowed. The rest of the way seemed too risky without four-wheel drive, so we cautiously trudged along the very dusty, gravelly road on foot. Every passing jeep kicked up tons of dust, so we looked like we'd been dusted with powder from the very start.

We couldn't really pinpoint the actual start of the gorge; it was simply a beautiful hiking trail. In Germany, there would have been at least two ticket booths here, each staffed by two retirees—one selling the tickets, the other tearing them off.

The beautiful path initially led through a wide valley with a fantastic array of flora. The few trees we recognized included cypress, pine, juniper, fig, chestnut, and oleander. The latter accompanied us for almost the entire 3 km through the valley and the gorge. We had apparently chosen the perfect time to visit, as the valley was a sea of ​​blossoms, filled with a wonderful fragrance. Many trees and shrubs had labels in various languages, allowing us to learn about a few new plants. For example, we had never seen a pistachio tree before.

What a fragrance…

Throughout the valley, we could hear mouflon sheep scrambling on the steep slopes. If we were lucky and quiet enough, we could get close enough to photograph them and their lambs. Those who paid close attention could observe a variety of butterflies flitting from flower to flower.

The further we ventured into the gorge, the narrower it became and the steeper the walls grew. At its narrowest point, the gorge constricts to a width of only about 2 meters. We spoke with people who, in this confined space combined with the sheer height of up to 250 meters above, experienced claustrophobia and turned back.

We had to cross the stream winding through the gorge in numerous places, without any bridges, of course. There were usually stones in the stream that we could use as footholds. Some of them were quite slippery. All in all, the 3 km hike presented a real climbing challenge for us. With every step, we had to carefully consider where to place our feet. Climbing was definitely part of the experience. I even bumped my head when I wasn't paying attention. In some places, the path was completely invisible, and we had to figure out where to continue. Almost the entire route was lined with scree slopes, some of which were really tough to climb over.

In a few spots, there were also "pools" that beckoned us to jump into the cool, refreshing mountain water with our sweaty bodies. As soon as we spotted the first one, I knew who would be the first to jump in...

A real treat, this refreshing wetness

It's best not to look up at all the steep slopes. All you see there are the potential next rockfalls. In Germany, a path like that would definitely be closed. The 3 km felt like almost 10 km to us. We had planned not to go back down the gorge, but to take the parallel path along the ridge. It was supposed to be only 7 km in total. We originally thought that going back directly would be much faster. For the gorge itself, we inexperienced mountaineers needed about 3 hours. We never would have thought it. However, we were also overtaken by many speedy climbers.

We couldn't find a marked return route; hiking trails were only recognizable as such for the first kilometer. So we tried to gain altitude via scrambling paths that resembled alpine terrain, in order to then begin our return journey on the mountain plateau, parallel to the gorge. I think we managed that quite well up there. We simply went straight through the pine groves; there was always a path, even if we couldn't recognize it as such. In some places, at least, we had the feeling that we weren't the first to walk this way. The short grass was a bit trampled down, or the red earth was flattened over the numerous stones. After quite some time, we came across a gravel road. We were able to cut across the first two switchbacks through the pines. However, the next attempt failed miserably. As we lost altitude, the pine growth became increasingly dense and eventually impenetrable.

So we turned back and headed down the seemingly endless, dusty, and in places very steep gravel road back into the valley. The blind bends in the road, which kept appearing just when we thought we were nearing our destination, ultimately took a heavy toll on our strength, so we were glad to finally reach the car after what felt like endless kilometers.

In total, the hike, which was fantastic overall and one we wouldn't want to miss again, took us 5 hours and 30 minutes. According to Komoot, it should only have been about 7 km. It felt at least twice as long to us. We had actually planned another excursion for the second half of the day. However, we were happy to be able to settle in for a relaxing evening after an ice-cold beer, a snack, and a long shower.

We definitely recommend bringing the following items:

Sufficient time, sturdy footwear, plenty of drinking water, and good weather are essential. The gorge is impassable during the rainy season. We followed the advice about bringing jackets because of the cool gorge, as it was 25 degrees outside and 20 degrees inside, but to no avail.

Feel free to check out our other reports on Cyprus as well.