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Published: August 23rd 2005
History - Just to give you an idea, because I had none before I came, Cyrpus is split between North and South. There’s been a lot of fighting here and for the last 20 odd years the UN have been here. The Nth of the island is Turkish and the Sth is Greek. The city of Nicosia, the capital, has an old town which back in the very old days was surrounded by a wall. This city has now been split between Nth and Sth. Literally, the line went through middle of the city and if you were on the wrong side of the line you just had to up and move and leave your house/business/possessions behind. To move between the Nth and Sth you have to pass through the UN buffer zone. There are Turkish and Greek passport check points and each time we cross over we have to show our passport (you get used to it after the first few times, I’ve lost count how many times we’ve crossed over).
Mon 1st - We arrived in Cyrpus at 3.30 in the morning (so we were tired!). Mum and dad greeted us at the airport with champagne, to keep
Snorkeling at Fig Tree Bay
This was the first beach we went to. The water so clear, as it is every where on the islandup the tradition started in Bangkok. We slept in that day, then went for a short wander around Cyprus. That night we had a really yummy meze at the Syrian Friendship Club. A meze is similar to a Turkish banquet, but yummier! Really cute restaurant with a courtyard full of flowers and a fountain.
Tue 2nd - We went into the old town up to a viewing tower to look over Nicosia. Then went to one of the UN buffer zone check points. It is one of the view places where you can stand of the Greek side and look into the buffer zone across to the Turkish side. Things are gradually relaxing and getting much better, but this used to be a huge novelty.
Wed 3rd - We visited Fig Tree bay beach. It was stunning, the water in Cyrpus is amazing. When you see photos is books and postcards - the water really is that beautiful!
Thu 4th - We went Nth and wandered around the Kyrenia harbor, dreaming about which of the huge yacht’s belonged to us. Then we went to Escape beach. Back on the history, after much unrest when the Turks invaded
Champagne in airport carpark
Drinking champagne in the carpark at Larnaka airport in Cyprus. Proof that we can drink at any time of the day/morning! Cyrpus they first landed on Escape beach. It is now a stunning beach where we spent many a day chilling out. That night we went to the High Commissioners House for a bbq to welcome the new AFP guys that were posted here with the UN. Good fun night.
Fri 5th - We had a lazy day then went to another beach (we have seen a ton of beaches in Cyrpus, it’s been great!) for dinner on the waters edge then up to a amphitheatre to see a play. The ruins and amphitheatre have been here for….years…not sure how many…but words such as AD 450 etc were thrown around. The island is very old. It was meant to be an ancient Greek play presented in English, it turned out to be in French. Which we probably could have lived with, but the nature of the play was, well, passionate. There was lot of crying, and screaming and very angry looks. Not sure what the hell it was all in aid of, but hey, the amphitheatre overlooked the ocean, the sun set was amazing, and we were sitting amongst ancient ruins. Pretty cool really.
Sat 6th - We went
Nicosia skyline
View of Cyprus, looking towards the Nth para-gliding, what an awesome rush!! Words can not describe how cool this was. Dana got flying first, lucky thing, the wind came in nicely and she was off. Me, I had 2 false starts and a bloody long wait before the wind was just right for take off. Afterwards we went back to Escape beach for another relaxing afternoon laying on the beach and swimming.
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