Nestling on the Laona Plateau in the Paphos region of western Cyprus is Miliou, one of the island’s smallest yet most beautiful islands, set among vineyards, citrus groves and almond trees. It’s unspoilt countryside and stunning mountain vistas make it a most delightful rural setting.
A trip through the village gives a glimpse of rural Cypriot life, where traditional looms are used to make cloth and the whole community centres around the local coffee shop.
A walk on the wild side
If you like to ramble through the countryside, Miliou has a spectacular show of blooming flowers during the springtime when the village is surrounded by the aroma of the surrounding pines and lemon groves.
The village is also a popular nesting site for nightingales and an ideal spot for bird watchers, particularly in spring and autumn when the main bird migrations take place.
Relax and unwind
The area is also supplied with an abundance of natural spring waters, and adjacent to the springs is the site of the ancient Ayii Anargyri monastery. Built in 1649, it’s believed to be one of the oldest on the island and the site is now home to a natural healing spa resort.
The Ayii Anargyri spa has a boutique hotel with room for 150 guests – that’s more than the entire population of Miliou – a swimming pool and luxury spa that makes the most of the region’s mineral rich waters. All this makes it the perfect place to get away for some rest, relaxation and rejuvenation.
A taste of Cyprus
If you really want to get a taste of authentic Cypriot cuisine, Miliou has some fantastic taverns and restaurants that offer some of the island’s best traditional dishes all made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
Pangratios restaurant is a perfectly rustic, family-run taverna situated in the town square that serves up possibly the best Cypriot meze you’ll ever taste. The comfortable and romantic setting also makes it the perfect spot for a quiet glass of wine or two.
If it’s a good but inexpensive evening out you’re after, Petroula Christodoulou offers a range of local delicacies, including mouth-watering fish dishes and vegetarian platters.
Just outside the village is Aphrodite’s Rock Brewery, serving up some fantastic dishes to perfectly complement the freshly-brewed ale and hand-pulled cider – and make sure you try the tasting paddle.
Action and adventure
If you fancy some adventure, take a short trip away from the village for horse riding, buggying and quad biking through the scenic countryside.
Eagle Mountain Ranch is located about eight miles from the Ayii Anargyri spa resort and is a family-run riding school that caters for every level of rider – the sunset ride and picnic is an absolute must.
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Or if you prefer more high-octane adventure, Chris Andreou is the name for buggy, jeep and quad bike safaris. Take the extreme quad safari from Coral Bay for an all-day round trip of some of the island’s most beautiful and historic landmarks with enough twists and turns to keep even the most experienced rider happy.
Even a trip to this tiniest of rural villages can open your eyes to a world of Cypriot culture, cuisine and adventure. What are you waiting for?
Check out the Olympic Holidays website for a list of the best hotels in Miliou and for further information on this amazing destination!
As you probably know, India is home to some of the worlds most popular dishes!
The rich creamy curries everyone knows and love are a staple part of north Indian cuisine but the south Indian cuisine is undoubtedly better as we think it’s slightly more exotic, spicier and maybe even a bit lighter, thanks to the huge influence of coconut in the southern part of the country!
So without further ado, here’s 7 examples of South Indian Food You Can’t Miss!
(Leave your arguments, disagreements and dishes I missed out in the comments section!)
Sambar
Sambar is an absolute staple of south Indian cuisine. It’s a sort of tangy vegetable broth made with pigeon peas! Loads of ingredients go into it, you won’t escape it if you visit south India as it’s served with pretty much everything. This isn’t a bad thing!
Parotta
Parotta with coconut goodness
Parotta has to be the best Indian bread (not to be confused with Paratha, a north Indian bread). Unlike a chapatti (which is dry fried), parotta is made with a bit of coconut oil, giving it an amazing taste.
It’s rolled flat then coiled up before cooking so that it peels off in flakes when you eat it. The best part is seeing the person making the bread, smash the bread up making it more springy. It’s the best!
Idli
Idli and sambar Idlis are little stodgy rice and lentil cakes that are made in a pressure cooker! They’re quite boring by themselves and they’re are typically coupled with sambar and eaten for breakfast. Idlis are definitely a breakfast item, it’s hard to get them after 11am. Pour the sambar over the idlis and dive in!
Vada
Vada’s are like funny little doughnuts, but aren’t sweet at all. They’re usually made from dal (lentil) or gram flour and are another breakfast item served up with hot sambar. Get there early while they’re hot and before they sell out!
Dosa
Masala dosa! Now we’re talking! Dosas sum up my memory of south Indian food. Dosas are made from rice flour and dal combined with water, then poured out onto a large round hot plate (tava) and quickly cooked. They’re filled with a variety of ingredients, rolled up like a huge tube then served with sambar and coconut chutney.
More dosa-ness!
Dosas are very light and you can easily pull them apart and dip into the sambar. You’ve got to use your hands for this dish! Try Masala dosas, usually filled with fried potato, onions and spices and served in triangle shape inside the dosa – YUM!
Uttapam
Uttapams are quite similar to dosas, but much thicker, denser and nowhere near as big. They’re usually served with sambar (everything is served with sambar!) and chutney. They’re also known as Indian pizzas. A belly buster!
South Indian Thali!
The ultra thali! South Indian Thalis are legendary! ‘Thali’ translates to ‘plate’ and are guaranteed to fill you up! It’s the ultimate budget meal, as most restaurants keep refilling your plate until you refuse any more! What makes the south Indian version better than other thali meals is the additional coconut used as an ingredient and the base oil for cooking.
This particular thali was consumed in Mangalore, it was unbeatable! I literally couldn’t walk after I finished it.
A sizeable bulk of our time in Chiang Mai was spent in the city’s amazing coffee shops, so it’s been a great pleasure reviewing them and reporting back to you! We’re not sure what a doctor would say about our caffeine intake – but it’s all in the name of research! Chiang Mai and coffee shops go hand in hand!
All the coffee shops we’ve reviewed in Chiang Mai have to fit a certain criteria to be included in our coffee shop review.
Each coffee shop must:
Have Wi-Fi
Be independently operated – No Starbucks please
Be homely/quirky/fun/weird enough to amuse us
Have bone-chilling air-con
and obviously serve amazing coffee!
There are hundreds of coffee shops dotted around Chiang Mai, and these are our 10 absolute favourites – mainly located in Chiang Mai’s old city or around the Nimmanhaemin area.
Check out our super duper Chiang Mai Coffee Shop interactive map!
Librarista! Librarira is probably the most sophisticated coffee shop in Chiang Mai we’ve visited. First thoughts are that it’s like an art museum café back in England; incredibly modern décor, expensive looking fittings, and comfy chairs! With an attached library and clean lines it’s uber cool The library is stunning, with English and Thai language books. There’s also a meeting room upstairs.
Charge Points: Several Americano Price: 70B Cappuccino Price: 75B Décor: Exposed piping, futuristic, ultra-modern, Clean, sophisticated. Fun exterior, colourful Location: 16/2 Nimmanhaemin, Soi 5 Facebook:cnxlibrarista
Pros: Jaw dropping décor, comfiest chairs in our review. Cons: Low tables, a bit more expensive (but worth it)!
Café de Thaan Aoan
Thaan Aeon
Café de Thaan Aoan is one of our most frequented coffee shops in Chiang Mai as it was so close to our apartment! It’s a very mellow café, quiet music, ever happy staff, English language newspapers, good furniture – tables and comfy chairs for working and a sofa for relaxing. Shaded and sunny spots out the front if you like to sit outside. Plus loads of cake options, and HP sauce on offer if you’re ordering food!
Charge Points: Two, but sometimes have an extension lead available! Americano Price: 35B Cappuccino Price: 50B Décor thoughts: Soft pale colours and furnishings, bright and airy, loads of natural light Try: Chocolate rum balls! Location: 154/5 Prapokklao Road Facebook:cafedethaanaoan
Pros: Well priced, relaxing! Cons: Lack of charge points, the ambiance music seems to be set on loop (James Blunt a lot of the time)!
Sipping Coffee
Sipping Coffee – Amazing!
Situated right near the main Chiang Mai university campus, Sipping Coffee is one of our favourite Chiang Mai Coffee Shops for its sheer coolness. From the kitch ornaments on the large shelves, to the model railway above your head when you walk in! With a cosy, stylish vibe, plastic flowers and comfy chairs and glass tables – It’s a great place to work or just flick through their many coffee books and magazines! Hot tip! 20% off on Wednesdays!
Charge Points: One or two, over 30mins 20B for 2 hours Americano Price: 50B Cappuccino Price: 55B Décor thoughts: Kitch floral, blocks of green colours, clean, loads of natural light Try: Cappuccino Cream Dream Location: 81 Suthep Road
Pros: Far from Chiang Mai’s old city, 20% off on Wednesdays. Cons: Far from Chiang Mai’s old city.
Coffee Lovers
Coffee Lovers! We first came here because we heard they sold Vietnamese coffee, but don’t come here especially for that. The outside and inside seating arrangements are a mixture of table and chairs, and big fat comfy single sofas. They’re incredible – great for those long sessions!. There’s two computers available to use (free for 20mins).
Charge Points: Yes, but they charge 20B for 1 hour Americano Price: 35B Cappuccino Price: 55B Décor thoughts: Well lit, airy, mixture of brick and dark wood. Rustic, earthy vibe! Try: The White Mocha (70B) Location: 175/1 Ratchamalka Road Facebook: –
Pros: Comfy seats, extra friendly staff, well priced, they sell Beer Lao! Cons: The charging fee, the bad Vietnamese coffee.
Sweet Love Coffee
Sweet Love Coffee – Very pink!
Situated south of the old city towards the airport, Sweet Love Coffee has been a regular of ours for its quiet vibe, strong Americanos and girlishness (Eloise’s words not mine!) In and outdoor seating, floral covered tables, hearts and soft pink cushions, old Christmas decorations, low sofas, crystal chandeliers and flower pot men guarding the front door makes Sweet Love Coffee an interesting place to get caffeinated!
Charge Points: Loads Americano Price: 35B Cappuccino Price: 45B Décor thoughts: It’s pink! A lot of pink everywhere. Did we mention pink? Try: The ‘Sweet Love’ Americano! Location: Thippanet Road (at Wua Lai 6). Facebook:sweetlovecoffee
Pros: Always quiet, quirky decor. Cons: Not very masculine…
CoffiZebra
CoffiZebra!
Escape the carnage of Suthep Road and enter the cool, white and black world of CoffiZebra. Keeping to a zebra theme, the main area when you enter is prominently white, with white seats, cushions tables and chairs – while the other area behind is black – black cushions, table and fittings. Hot tip! 10% off on Thursdays!
Charge Points: Charger heaven – There’s one for every seat! 2 points! Americano Price: 35B Cappuccino Price: 45B Décor thoughts: Clinical, space-age Try: Hazelnut Mocha (amazing!!!) Location: Suthep Road, Suthep
Pros: 10% off on Thursdays, chargers everywhere! Well priced. Cons: Some of the white furniture looks a bit worn.
Ristr8to
A real coffee lover’s coffee shop, Ristr8to is loaded with some pretty amazing coffee options. After our Coffee tour with ‘Koffie’ when we were exploring the Bolaven Plateau by motorbike on our second visit to Laos, we were lucky to learn a lot more about the fine points of coffee production. We were pleased to see that Ristr8to had several ‘single origin’ coffee bean sources. Plus their head barista is a latte art pro! The prices reflect this.
Charge Points: None! Americano Price: (Single Origin Long) 78B Latte Price: (Thai beans) 68B Décor thoughts: Wood, brick and black walls, chalk boards with loads of coffee related stuff. Old, geeky and highly scientific coffee making utensils on display, indoor and outdoor seating. Location: 15/3 Nimmanhemin Road Facebook:Doppio Ristr8to
Pros: If you love coffee and its fine points, this place is for you. Cons: If you want to kick back and chill in a comfy quiet coffee shop or get some work done, this place isn’t for you.
Coffee Bar
Coffee Bar!
Coffee Bar came highly recommended to us as one of Chiang Mai’s popular digital nomad hangouts, and we stumbled across it by accident one day on our coffee shop quest. It’s a popular little place, especially with young Thais and students. The sort of place people stay for a long time, sipping their drinks while studying and generally not feeling rushed! The garden at the front is particularly funky with loads of quirky touches.
Charge Points: Loads! Americano Price: 50B Cappuccino Price: 55B Décor thoughts: Retro, rustic yellow/blue/brown wood, mock leather armchairs, good work areas. Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 7 Facebook:The Coffee Bar
Pros: Hip studenty vibe, quite communal, no pressure to drink and go! Cons: Relatively few seats, it might feel a bit too communal for some.
Marble Arch
Marble Arch! Weirdly named after the Marble Arch underground station in London, one of Chiang Mai’s most upmarket coffee shops, Marble Arch is one of our favourites and most visited on our coffee shop list. Marble Arch is a nice place to be, is well lit and relaxed with obviously decorative references to Marble Arch and London in general!
It’s set-up for people who want to work; digital nomads and students alike! There are bench-style worktops in the windows and tons of chargers. There’s also an expansive upstairs area that’s never open!
Charge Points: Unfortunately not near the sofas, but at the workstations around the edge of the room Americano Price: 55B Cappuccino Price: 60B Try: Marble Arch Coffee – The best latte EVER. Décor thoughts: high ceilings, professional, loads of light, Location: Nimmanhaemin Soi 9. Facebook:Marble Arch
Pros: Stunning décor, best latte in town, heavy on the Union Jack flags! Cons: Tad expensive, I would like to sit upstairs!
So there we have it! Sorry if we’ve missed off your favourite! Where have we missed?!
We’ve heard of a chap called ‘Koffie’ who lives in Paksong – A Dutch expat, coffee lover and connoisseur who runs a coffee shop in town. Koffie was advertising that he runs a tour of a coffee plantation and a workshop where you learn how to roast coffee beans. It all sounded very exciting, so I signed us up for both!
Koffie runs his coffee tour at the Tat Fan Resort, which is about 38 km from Pakse. He has a table in the restaurant where he makes amazing freshly ground coffee for customers.
The tour started with a cup of coffee of course! Koffie made us a fresh cup of his home roasted, freshly ground coffee before we were on our way.
Koffie began by explaining what we were going to see and what to look for in the coffee plantation.
Robusta coffee tree
In this particular coffee plantation were Arabica trees and Robusta trees. Both very distinct appearances, but Arabica trees look like a Christmas tree in the way that they are small at the top and gradually get wider as the branches go lower. Robusta trees have a lot of branches stemming from the original branch and the bark has an interesting white colour.
Arabica coffee tree leaves
The leaves also give away which type of coffee tree it is. Both Arabica and Robusta leaves feel like plastic to touch, but the Robusta leaves have more of a velour finish, making it an easy way to distinguish the two types.
Coffee berries
Coffee beans grow inside red and green berries in clusters on the branches. You can actually eat these berries, which have a sweet taste, but be careful of the rock hard coffee seed inside!
The tour group walking through the plantation
Coffee grows better and ends up tasting better when it’s grown in the shade. For this reason coffee trees are planted close to each other and their tall, long branches overlap one another creating shade over the berries.
The Bolaven Plateau is situated on an extinct and ancient volcano, which spat out volcanic rocks around the entire region millions of years ago. But this also resulted in an incredibly fertile lava soil, which is great for coffee trees.
Paksong sits at altitude at 1,300m, and has its own micro climate, meaning it’s much cooler than other places in Laos. Throughout the year the daytime temperature is between 20-30 degrees and at night it’s cool enough to sleep without a fan on (!). It never goes as low as freezing, so overall a perfect climate for coffee growing.
Raw coffee berries and roasted coffee beans
Koffie gave us a few tips on coffee drinking and how to choose coffee.
If you want to try the best and feel good about what you’re drinking, ‘only buy single estate coffee’ he said. This means that the beans may have come from one farm, but definitely from the same country. Pro coffee drinkers choose single estate coffee to get a specific taste and to ultimately know what they’re drinking!
Koffie compared single estate coffee to single estate wine and single malt whiskey, as opposed to wine or whiskey blends.
The tools of Koffie’s trade
On our coffee tour we learnt that Nescafe (and other coffee giants) buy up questionable unprocessed coffee beans with an unknown grade of quality. This means they are purchased without going through the usual meticulous methods needed to prepare good coffee. The beans could be of any quality and strength. The coffee giants only want the essence of coffee and don’t want to pay a much for it!
Koffie showing us red coffee berries
We thoroughly enjoyed Koffie’s Coffee Tour and definitely think it was worth the 50,000 Kip (£4) we paid. The whole tour was about 1-2 hours and was very informative and loads of fun. We started and finished with an excellent coffee and left much more knowledgeable about coffee plantations and the whole coffee process. The experience made me eager to learn more about coffee and to choose my cup of caffeine more mindfully!
Freshly made coffee by ‘Koffie’
If it fitted with our plans we would have joined the more comprehensive coffee workshop on offer. But taking around 6 hours, we didn’t have another day spare. There’s always next time! On the workshop you learn how to roast coffee beans and at the end you take home a 250g bag of coffee, sounds like fun and it’s good value at 150,000 Kip (£12.70).
Tat Fan Waterfall
Tat Fan Resort is situated opposite Tat Fan Waterfall. It’s one of the most spectacular waterfalls we’ve seen in Laos, with twin torrents pouring out from dense forest and plunging 120m into the pool below.
Tat Fan Resort has the best viewing point of the falls, which makes the location a perfect place to start Koffie’s Coffee Tour and to enjoy a cup of coffee or two.
Entrance fee to the waterfall is 5000 Kip (42p) per person and 3000 Kip (25p) to park a motorbike.
Koffie also has a coffee shop in Paksong with a large sign outside saying ‘COFFEE’. He may not be there as he’s busy with the tours and workshops, but someone will still be able to whip you up an amazing cup of his roasted coffee!
Don’t forget to check out our other Bolaven Plateau related posts! :
