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Cyprus March 2001 | ||
| Holiday
in Cyprus - March 21st March 2001 Staying in the Royal Court Hotel (part of the Atlantica Hotel) we had all the facilities of a self-contained apartment but with meals, facilities and half board at either the Atlantic or the Royal Court. The room was bigger than normal and has all the facilities of a self-catering establishment. The meals were excellent and, because of the discount are no greater than we normally pay in Tunisia. At 1:30 PM on the 12th of March we were sitting on the balcony with a temperature of 45 degrees centigrade in the sun and 25 degrees centigrade in the shade. That is without the air-conditioning switched on. This and the heating are under our complete control. On the 13th of March 2000 and when we collected a hire vehicle. We had paid for the smallest and cheapest vehicle but were given an upgrade to a four-wheel-drive Jeep. We took a drive to the town of Limmisol past the docks and took the road north, stopping at a monastery. Along the way we passed a number of new estates of beautiful large villas and a lot of traffic involving mothers collecting their children. While Cyprus has its trouble both during and after the Turkish invasion it is obvious that security costs have not fallen so harshly upon the Cypriot Greeks. On the 12 of March and 13th we drove to Curiium beach. Miles of beaches, almost deserted, at this time the year. By driving past several closed beach restaurants to the far end of the beach we could park the car right next to the sea. The sun shone and we were able to picnic, soak up the sun and watch and listen to the sea. The road from Limmisol of some 12 miles was blocked by an accident and UN soldiers (British) suggested we seek another route. We passed a vast amount of large communication aerials and drove up to the gates of an RAF station. We also passed a bunker some distance away from the RAF site. It seems likely this would be used to keep the communications open in the event of nuclear format 13th of March 2001 14.15 Cyprus time 12.15 GMT the temperature in the sun on the balcony 36 degrees in the shade of the room 28 degrees. 4th July 2001 |
Egypt We spent the two days travelling to and from Cairo and back. It was a very tiring time. On Saturday at 12.30 pm a taxi took us to Limissol Port and we boarded the cruise ship Marrisa which took us to Haifa arriving at 9:30 AM the next morning. Having had dinner on board (very good) and slept in a tiny cabin with a porthole (some had none) sleep was fitful due to the throbbing of the ships engines. We left Haifa in one of ten coaches that travelled in convoy with a military escort of armed soldiers. Four soldiers in a jeep at the front end of the convoy and four soldiers in a jeep at the end of the convoy. The coaches travelled two abreast allowing no other vehicles to pass. Each coach had a plain cloths officer on board. Our coach omitted smoke at one stage and a passenger told the driver who stopped to allow us to climb aboard a spare bus. At which time two other plain cloths officers joined us making three in all. They were three burly men on board and with no explanation I began to wonder whether we were being hijacked. All this time we had a guide on board explaining things on our route (beside the Nile) and also the history of Egypt. We were taken to see the Pyramids, the Sphinx and Cairo Museum, which was extremely packed, with its fabulous finds from the tombs of Tutankhamen. Our return journey was almost as eventful as the first. After wending our way through Cairo rush-hour at 4 PM we travelled to the outskirts of the city where we waited for the remainder of the coaches. Some of these coaches were late. Whilst we waited four soldiers from the vehicles, complete with bullet-proof jackets and machineguns, stood guard. We then drove on, two abreast, as before. When we reached Haifa we were never allowed to stop. Policeman stood at all the junctions stopping traffic to allow us to pass through all the traffic lights showing red. Leaving the bus at Haifa Port we had fight our way trough the same throng of souvenir peddlers that we had experience when we first arrived The overall impression of Egypt was of extreme poverty. The fields alongside the Nile were obviously very fertile and had lush crops but those who tended the small fields were housed in very poorly constructed shacks with straw scattered on the roof. In the urban areas the dwellings were of more substantial materials (brick etc) but mostly unfinished. Also, there were vast numbers of police and military. The apparent need for security (which from conversation with other people has been necessary for a long time) is no doubt a reason for some of the poverty | |