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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Somewhere
in Cyprus by Neil Sanderson "25 Years of Turkish occupation." This is immigration at Larnaka Airport, and the authorities have erected a wooden plaque to inform you of the fact as you arrive. My next fortnight was to be spent exploring the Greek southern part of what is the 3rd largest island in the Mediterranean. Larnaka was very warm and sunny. It was Sunday May 2nd mid-afternoon, a pleasant change from the snow I'd seen back in England only days before. Accommodation at this time of year proved to be no difficulty. I had to hand a Rough Guide, an AA Explorer Guide and a Collins Holiday map (all were to prove useful at some point). It was a case of: pick your hotel/apartment, walk in and agree a price. Frangiorgio Hotel Apartments offered me a sizeable double-room, with Continental breakfast for £17 a night, approximately £20 in sterling. This was less than the minimum charge according to a tourist board poster in the room. As a single traveller, I had automatically been given a discount - a nice surprise which was repeated elsewhere on my travels. Frangiorgio is quite central in Larnaka - near the Tourist Information Office (not dissimilar in appearance to some of the monasteries on the island). With it being Sunday afternoon, there were many locals out for a stroll along what is a very attractive Eastward facing seafront promenade. Well decorated with flower-beds, palm trees and riviera style lamp-posts. One-way traffic is still permitted long here, which is where I first encountered a peculiar Larnaca phenomenon cars. It is very rare to see a single one moving anywhere here, as they seemed to prefer moving around in convoys of several at a time. Many bore a distinctive red number plate, which in Cyprus means `Hire Car'. There is no better colour to enrage the locals with and, if the sound of car horns was anything to go by, they were enraged. I later learned that this is commonplace in Cyprus, although more an expression of impatience than anger. The southern end of Larnaka is perhaps its most interesting end, with two mosques and a fort/museum. The fort/museum, costing just a few cents, includes a nice scenic view north, back along the promenade and beach towards the marina and harbour areas in the distance. Many furniture workshops are in action around this, the Turkish quarter, during the day. Nearby, is the landmark church of Agios Lazaros. A large cherry-blossom, and a flock of resident pigeons which get fed daily, adds a feel to this church which has a prominent 17th century belfry section added on - the object of most people's photographs. A bright yellow Mk1 Ford Escort parked in the courtyard the following day made for a more bizarre photograph. I decided to take a bus trip one morning to the town of Agia Napa which is in the southeastern corner of this friendly island. About 20 miles from Larnaka, you get a coastal run along Larnaka Bay before passing through the Dheklia British sovereign base, one of two bases retained after Cyprus gained independence in 1960. Solar heating is very popular on the island as shown by numerous dwellings, which had large water tanks; usually coloured white, bolted on to the side of their roof. Agia Napa itself is now a resort town, nightclubbers paradise and concrete jungle of bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. In the middle of all this there is a Venetian style monastery where a large group of tourists were being given what seemed a very enlightening guided tour. Unfortunately for me spoken in German. C'est la vie. Thursday, I embarked on car hire and headed inland to Nicosia. Drive on the left in Cyprus to avoid excessive car horns. The dual carriageway north is of good quality, but with frequent traffic lights rather than roundabouts / merge lanes. Nicosia is also known as Lefkosia on the island and many road signs confirmed this. Bales of hay were an unexpected sight for the time of year; the climate enables at least two harvests a year to be made. The drive had a mid-summer feel about it with wheat crops in abundance. Entry towards Nicosia proved unusual as two vans some 100 yards or so up ahead decided to have a gentle ram into one another. Myself, and another red license plate in front managed to inch our way through the discussion that quickly followed. Central Nicosia is surrounded by a large circular wall complete with 11 `Bastions' which are protrusions around the circle. This boundary wall is not always visible as it sometimes drops below ground level in the form of a moat. Accommodation is relatively scarce in the capital, but Rough Guides came to my rescue on this occasion; nominating Tony's Guest House in the pedestrianized area just inside the wall. Breakfast is served on the roof here, from where you can enjoy a view across the rooftops of central Nicosia towards the hills on the Turkish side. Principal sight in central Nicosia is the Archbishop's Palace, which comes complete with an enormous statue of the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios. It actually appears taller than the palace itself from certain angles, but this is an optical illusion. Then there is the Green Line itself, separating the Turkish occupied North from the South. You cannot miss it, unfortunately, as it divides Nicosia into two. A military post at the end of one of the streets offers a platform view across into the uninhabited buffer zone between North and south. Two or three of us quickly took a picture of what was effectively a bomb site with a Turkish flag on view. A visitors' book was nearby, next to the platform, for people to express their feelings on the situation. Back in Larnaca I had heard that once a year some Greek Cypriots are now allowed to visit a church in the far North East - but they are not permitted off the coach until they reach their destination. The enduring memory of my entire fortnight was being awoken at 4.30 the following morning by the Islamic call to prayer. An eerie, haunting, loud speaker-assisted sound carried its message across the capital from a mosque in the Greek southern side of town. This gave scope for optimism, maybe. The central mountainous part of Cyprus was the next part I visited. A steady climb upwards as I approached from the north: having driven west from Nicosia along a yellow/amber patchwork of wheat fields. A roadside restaurant near Pano Amiandos provided a good vantage point over a lunar landscape which had once been an asbestos mine. The "capital" of the Troodhos district is Pano Platres, where I soon found a room for the night. Cedar and pine trees were plentiful; the air was much cooler once the sun had moved round. A quietness about the place was in stark contrast to Nicosia's traffic. The emptiness of my hotel, with about only two other guests, undoubtedly added to this. A continual distant sound of running water from a local stream completed the theraputic effect. Nearby, Mount Olympus; the highest point in Cyprus plays host to an RAF Radar Dome or giant golf ball (depending on your technical knowledge). There is limited skiing up here during the winter months and a good selection of nature trails. I settled on the Artemis Trail, which was a level 7km or so walk around the top of Olympus. Plenty of views over neighbouring forests and a chance to get your shoes covered in a thin layer of orange/brown coloured iron oxide dust from the trail path. Lots of endemic plants also, however, and regular features of interest all the way round. This walk was quite well shaded in many parts and perfect I imagine in the `peak' summer months when the remainder of the island is sweltering. One of the most popular monasteries in the whole of Cyprus exists in the mountainous area at Kykkos. The mosaics/frescoes are very colourful and modern in design (as recent as 1987 in places). The few monks who live here are prepared to allow visitors inside parts of the building; there is an equally modern museum with an abundance of orthodox artefacts. Photographs are generally not appreciated, possibly to preserve the trade of the postcard/souvenir sellers who are placed discreetly down the road away from the monastery. Nonetheless, I did accidentally manage one photo in the courtyard. There was also another chap there with a none too subtle on the shoulder style video camera about the size of a mortar. The monks kept a safe distance. Pleasant though the Troodhos mountains were, it was time for a change of scene and the populous town/port/resort on the South coast that is Limassol duly obliged. Breakfast at the Continental Hotel on the seafront can be recommended (you don't have to be a resident). If you are lucky, down at the castle/museum end of the promenade, you may get to meet the two tame pelicans which, due to their condition, now live permanently in Limassol. They were attracted originally by the salt flats that lie just south of the town. Follow the coast road west and then south, down to "Ladies Mile" beach. The able-bodied pelicans had long since left this year, but the drive along the sands was still an interesting one. Eventually, you are signposted to the Saint Nicolas monastery, a single storey building which has the redeeming feature of being the home to a large number of cats. Originally brought in to eliminate the poisonous snakes in the area, they now live a life of luxury in this peaceful setting doted upon by the monastery and visitors alike. The drive further on - round the opposite side of the salt lake - brings you to Kolossi Castle. There are photogenic views on all four sides from between the battlements at the top of this well preserved monument. The derelict sugar-mill "next door" is worth a closer inspection, but tread carefully as there are a number of vats sunken into the ground for the unwary to fall into. The journey from Limassol to Paphos takes you via the Episkopi Sovereign Base. The British forces here have subtly provided a "run-off " lane (in case your brakes fail); on a mildly steep section of road that runs through the base. Unfortunately, the hint does not appear to have been taken yet; I came across no other such example on the entire island, and there were numerous parts where one would have been justified. Descending into Paphos one afternoon I found myself behind a heavily laden lorry moving at approximately 10 miles per hour. Three miles or some 20 minutes later, it was still travelling at this speed as the entire trip had been one of descent. At one point, on quite a sharp bend, two young chaps sped by both of us, riding a single SOcc motorcycle and doing at least the same mph. Like 99% of Cyprus's motor-cyclists, neither were wearing helmets. Kato (Lower) Paphos on the western coast is home to a respectable cluster of archaeological sites on the plus side, and a sizeable cluster of tourists on the negative. The main advantage here is that it is possible to eat out cheaply. Picture postcard blue waters become reality a few kilometers north at Coral Bay. The town of Polis in the north is worth a visit, both for the drive through one of the quietest parts of the island and for the readiness of the locals to serve you pitta bread with your kleftiko when you get there. The bread I was given was still warm from the oven. A flat arabic style of bread, it is baked smooth on the outside, but retains the crumbly consistency of an ordinary loaf on the inside. Kleftiko is traditionally lamb roasted in a clay oven and served with the usual vegetables. My final day in Cyprus took me back along the south coast from Paphos to Larnaca. I stopped off on the way at Petra tou Romiou, an eye-catching sandstone coloured monumental piece of rock, which lies at the point where a narrow beach meets the sea. Said to be the place where Aphrodite (Goddess of Cyprus) once emerged from the foaming waters; the setting, when once away from the busy main road just above, is certainly a pleasant one. The beach is mainly pebbles, but this did not stop several people from participating in their own Aphrodite experience (i.e going for a swim). Back at Larnaca, near to the airport, I visited the Hala Sultan tekke mosque, which ranks as one of the most revered places of worship in the Islamic world. Open to the public, it also offers a close up view of the surrounding expanse of salt flats, which exist here as well as near Limassol. Just time
then, at the end of my fortnight, to discover the diminutive lighthouse
at Cape Kition, a short distance outside Larnaca. A short distance, that
is, so long as you manage to negotiate an interesting network of "B"
roads, which comprise the small village district of Perivolia. First published in VISA issue 36 (spring 2000). |