Cyprus

Well another gem. I came here for 7 days and stayed 3 weeks and only leaving because I have some other places to get to. I have been looking for an “Under the Tuscan sun” or my own “Shirley Valentine” place and this is it! My hotel apartment with views of the Mediterranean and the sound of crashing waves, lying next to the pool,walking down to the beach, or sunning on my sunbed I didn’t want to do much more than this. The food is delicious, I didn’t experience any bad food, the people are friendly, the bus transport is easy to get around. I actually didn’t do as much touristy things as I normally do as it was just lovely to enjoy where I was staying. The Helios Bay Hotel is a family run place which has lots of Greek heart. I walked through the 5 star resorts nearby, they are lovely and modern but cannot compare to the family style hospitality of Helios. I found it difficult to leave to do much exploring.

I did manage to explore the Tomb of the Kings which is a short bus ride down the road from my hotel.

I hired a car for 2 days to do some of the areas which are accessible by public transport but can take up to 2 hours in different directions. So I had 2 full days of exploring the changing landscape. A trip of 3 hours took me 7 hours as I was forever stopping to take photos but I have added just a sample here.

This spot is Aphrodite Rock. There is a legend that if you swim around the rock you will have eternal youth. I don’t want eternal youth, now if you can guarantee eternal mature age with my energy minus the aches and pains, maybe. Note the sign to drive on the left. The only place I have seen a sign such as this is in Australia on the Great Ocean Road where there are many right hand drive tourists who do not remember to drive on the left.

Famagusta is in the Turkish occupied zone of Cyprus. This is so hard to understand that Turkey are the only place who identify the North of Cyprus as part of Turkey. There is a UN peace keeping force in the area, there is a border check when crossing into Famagusta. I was on an organised tour as I wasn’t even sure if my travel insurance covered me for anything in this zone. At the border our passports were collected and then returned by a Turkish Government offical who remained with our tour as an “escort”. Interesting how the people live “normally” on this side, there are lovely restaurants, shopping malls, boutiques, same as any other area but it left a bad taste in my mouth. St Nicolas Cathedral is now used as a mosque and is relatively free of any icons other than prayer mats throughout. The houses which were abandoned are a constant reminder of the invasion of 1974.

Some of the ruins of the Salamis Ancient City

I did much more exploring than expected as all I wanted to do in this beautiful island was just lie next to the pool or enjoy a beach or stroll the promenade in Chloraka, a much less touristy and less commercial area than Paphos itself.