Duck!

The plan today was to walk one of the trails in the Akamas Peninsula which is a protected area and nearly a national park with signs like this everywhere.

On my way to the picnic site at the start of the trail, I kept seeing men in camouflage clothing in the bushes, at the picnic site itself there were hoards of hunters barbecuing and this was at 10 am. I decided that discretion being the better part of valour I would leave them to it, I did not fancy being peppered with buckshot after being mistaken for a legitimate target whatever that may be.

Latchi beach

I went for a quick explore around Latchi which has just about the right amount of tourist development for me, nice restaurants and cafes facing the marina and not an English breakfast or Irish bar in sight, and then I went to Polis which has gone the other way but it is mixed in with what used to be a nice small Cypriot town. This area is definitely worth visiting before it does get overdeveloped.

I settlrd for a Sunday chill session on the patio.

Latchi from the Akamas heights

Away from the tourists.

Yesterday saw the start of a new adventure, we headed off to Platres in the mountains to get hiking maps and books from the tourist office. The forecast for the weekend was rain and as we started climbing towards the hills it started spitting by the time we got to our destination it was hammering down - not a good start, however after getting the info we headed back to the coast and the rain eased off and touch wood has stayed away. We arrived at our secret destination at dark o'clock so we didn't know what the place looked like until this morning and what a pleasant surprise it was waking to the sun streaming through the window. The two bedroom apartment we booked is immaculately clean and in a lovely location and for three nights it is costing what you would pay for a night at a Premier Inn. 

My apartment

I have been out today exploring and on a 6 mile nature walk, it is hard to believe that I am still in Cyprus - the vegetation is green, I have only met two tourists and the locals are unbelievably friendly, everyone waves and says hello and I came back from my walk with a bag of lemons, oranges, pomegranates and tangerines and also two slices of cake all given to me by people in the village. I had to turn down the drinks in the local bar because I am going to a restaurant for dinner tonight and half a dozen glasses of ouzo or brandy would not have improved my driving skills.

When I got back down to the coast after the walk this was the sight that hit me, I don;t know why it is called sunset beach and there was no one else on the beach I could ask.

Exploring Cyprus

On Sunday, after my last visit in 1995 I went to the Turkish side of the old city of Nicosia, not a lot has changed, a few important buildings have been renovated or are being renovated with EU money (how does that work?) and there are a few more tourist oriented cafes and shops but they are still selling the same kind of copy sports clothing they were 25 years ago. The biggest difference is the border crossing in the centre of the old city and the ease of getting through, just show your passport and that is it. I had imagined that the Turks being mainly moslem and that their holy day is Friday this being a Sunday the place would be just a normal working day but no they seem to have stayed with the Sunday day off as it would have been before partition. Imagine the thrill I got when crossing the UN buffer zone to find two full teams of Pakistani workers on their day off, playing an ad hoc game of cricket. The pitch was a dust bowl in the middle of the buffer zone - what would have been the moat - the boundary was marked out with old tyres and cans and there was only one set of stumps but don't get the wrong idea this was a serious match and the bowling was lethal, I wasnt the only spectator.

I went exploring last week and ended up at an excavation at Choirokoitia, it is a large Neolithic village site dating back over 10000 years which was discovered in 1934, I spent an interesting couple of hours there and felt that after walking over the whole site that I had earned a big slab of locally made chocolate cake.

Today I got as far as Limassol and I went to the castle which is also a museum, the museum was mostly a collection of old pots which does nothing for me but one of the gravestones on display took my eye, it showed the figure of a man obviously wearing chainmail, I wonder if he may have been a Crusader - fantasy is a great thing. What was really interesting was looking at the building itself, it had been a defensive or religious site for nearly two thousand years and you can see parts of earlier structures within the current building indeed some of these were pointed out notices on the walls provided by the museum staff.

Recovery and exploration

The great news is that the lurgy is now under control thanks to 'Snip' if it is available buy it now for the next time you are struck down. I have now explored the whole area of Southern Cyprus east of Larnaca and to be honest it does not entice me at all. Yesterday I went up to Lefkara thinking I hadn't been there for along time only to realise that I had been there after Keira and Charlie went home - is it an age thing or something more sinister? I went out again today and visited old haunts at Kiti and Pervolia and I must admit that the wrinklies and Russians (W&R) haven't reached that far which makes this area desirable because it is still a community.

I am gradually getting into the Cyprus way of life - late starts and not too rushed, after all I've still got four weeks to go but the clothes are getting tighter, it doesn't help that there is a souvlaki shop just up the road and they are so friendly and cheap that I feel that I must give them my business. I have also been self catering and the difference it makes cooking or salading with local fresh produce makes the meals so much more tasty.The sad news is that one of the best fish and chip shops in the world, Lambros is closed for refurbishment - never mind it should be open again when I come back in March.
One of the reasons for my explorations is to find a bolt hole for the winter when I am finished with my world travelling and this [village house in Alaminos caught my eye, no garden but a secluded courtyard and an upstairs south facing patio - I haven't dared phone to ask the price.

5 weeks in Cyprus

I had a great start to this trip and I was sitting in Frankie and Bennie's ordering breakfast within 15 minutes of joining the bag drop queue, there is something to be said for using smaller airports like Liverpool for the whole relaxed, friendly atmosphere - even the security staff smile! I had a small panic attack after dropping my hand luggage but the casings and the disc drive all clipped back into place on my laptop and as you can see it is working OK.
It is good to be back in warm temperatures and I managed a Mixed Sandwich for lunch and souvlaki for dinner on my first day. The fly in the ointment is someone kindly gave me a dose of the lurgy, so I have had two days of feeling sorry for myself but the kindly local pharmacist recommended a medication called Snip and it seems to be doing the job. Knowing Cyprus this drug is probably still in the testing stage or on the banned drugs list in the UK but it is working for me.
So tomorrow the adventures begin with some local exploring of places I don't think I have been before and to see if there is anywhere I would like to live/hibernate in the Winter.