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haracterised as an easy walk, Route 3 in Discovering Laona should take about two hours. The route takes us through the village past the laundry and the two churches, veering down into the valley towards Chrysochou Bay and eventually curving up through neighbouring Terra back to the Vrysses Taverna at the trough spring.

Not a particularly obedient group when it comes to following instructions, we had a meander through the village first. looking through every nook and crannie. There are many renovated buildings that are used as holiday accommodation, restored as part of the Laona project that promotes Agrotourism and sympathetic development of otherwise declining areas. It was a Sunday in January when we visited and most of the village was quiet and closed, apart from a few families visiting relatives for Sunday lunch – and the fattest cat that we have ever seen!

We talked briefly to one of the village elders (it helped having a Greek speaker in our party), who gave us directions and a brief guide to the illustrious past of Kritou Terra – the birthplace of Hadjiyeorgakis Kornesios, who served as the Dragoman (bi-lingual liaison between the ruling Ottoman authorities and the Orthodox Christians ) from 1779 to 1809. With his vast estates and exemption from tax he was the wealthiest man on the island. With power, comes danger and he met a sticky end when he was beheaded in Istanbul at the behest of the ruling Sultan. His mansion in Nicosia is one of the ‘must see’ places in the old town.

Suitably focused, we began our walk at the taverna, which was closed that day but looked like a good spot to refresh after the walk – it’s where you should end up two hours later. We investigated the springs and carried on down the road through the village that followed the ravine, coming to the crossroads by the coffee shop with the spiral stairs. Taking the left-hand fork, we soon reached the laundry area and the aqueduct.

Carrying on down this path we came to a small junction. Taking the left again, meandering down into the valley, we passed a small church on our right. We don’t know its name, but there were many icons of St George, so perhaps it’s named after the Saint. Further down, there is a rather imposing building with a date tree behind, which, complete with the stunning panorama, is picture perfect. In front of this is what was once (or may still be) the village football pitch, as you can just make out the blue goal posts through the undergrowth.

Continuing our journey, we took a path reminiscent of a quaint old English countryside lane, even coming across a picket fence at one junction. Both sides of the valley have numerous terraces, the higher ones cultivated with apple, almond and vine. It won’t be long before the path is carpeted with their white and pink blossoms.

As you walk along this path, you could be forgiven for the urge to take one of the paths to the left, which seem to lead to Terra. Don’t! You will only do what we did and end up trying to find your way back to the main path, waist-high in undergrowth and clambering over terraces. (Judging from the comments on the internet about this walk, we’re not the first to have made that mistake!)

Back on the main path, we followed it in a wide loop back to Terra, even though it seemed at times to be leading us to the main Paphos-Polis highway. Incidentally, this main path is part of the ‘E4’ – The European Long Distance Travel route, which is a walkers’ route that stretches all the way from Gibraltar to Cyprus.

As we began the gentle ascent to the village, we were rewarded by the sight of some stunning views across the valley, wonderful stone houses and the mosque, minus minaret. Soon, we were back at the bridge, within the allotted time (excluding our terraces episode). There were a couple of landmarks mentioned in the guide that we didn’t find, but we put that down to topography changing over time. All in all, a very enjoyable walk that is suitable for all levels of fitness and varied enough to keep children interested.