Cyprus-Forum.com

[denizaksulu]

You beat me to it Zan. I will join you soon. Have a great time and I welcome your photos and letters too. You take great pics btw as posted on 'your' website.

Regards


"dont let the bastards get you down" as was Asil Nadir told.

[Nikitas]

I read Zan's posts with great interest because the Karpasia region is the part of Cyprus I know best.

Each and every village along the way to Apostolos Andreas has special meaning and vivid memories for me. Perhaps Zan does not know the region so he left out descriptions of the journey. There was Boghazi, with the restaurants and cafes, first stop for a rest along what was considered a long journey back then. Then came Leonarisso, with cactus plantations that give those delicious fruit. Ayio Andronikos, with the beach surrounded with ancient structures, it was like a filmset. Voukolida, a hamlet right on the water. And on to Ayia Triada, the Holy Trinity, with a small cafe on the beach and an old parachute used as a shade tent. The owner would set tables in the shallow water so you could have a drink with your feet ankle deep in the sea. The essence of refreshment!

Nearby is Yalousa, where I learned to ride a donkey. My friend Iordanis taught me how, he is now a senior doctor in a Greek hospital, but in my mind he is the donkey teacher.

Nearby is the biggest village of the panhandle, Rizokarpasso, presumably that is where Zan saw the Greek cafes, owned by those that were cut off by the invasion. There was one part of the road I called the Big Dipper, a long downhill followed by a sudden and long uphill. I always wanted to tackle the Big Dipper on a bicycle but they would not let me.

Past the village was the truly wild part. Miles long sand dunes, maquis brush, and then you came to the first of the three fences marking the property of the monastery. I think they were a mile apart. The truly dedicated and devout would start to make their way to the monastery on foot, some on their knees. The livestock of the monastery were allowed a free run of the peninsula. Fence, two, then fence one and you were at the wide plaza of the monastery. The "prison cells" were the plain and simple accomodations available to pilgrims. One part of the central plaza was set up as a huge open air butcher shop cum kleftiko area. You bought meat and had it instantly prepared for the oven.

The monastery was a favorite place for christenings, hence the feast preparations. The true pilgrims came for more somber things and their demeanour was more serious. Everyone milled in the plaza, and I remember one time where we must have been hundreds if not thousands of people there. The memory contrasts sharply with the lone and miserable priest described by Zan. Back then the place was alive, now it is dead, waiting for the new "owners" who will "buy" it and turn it from a communal place to luxurious and private playgrounds.

[zan]

Thank you Umit and roseandchan. I had a taste of the drivers yesterday Umit and my greatest concern was the number of cars that strayed across the centre of the road. I always seemed to be driving defensively. Didn't seem much different to Menorca to tell you the truth. Must be a Mediterranean sickness.

Deniz

Don't delay my friend. I need as many different perspectives as possible and your honesty is something I am looking forward to.

Nikitas

I am afraid I don't know any part of Cyprus well. I say that with a heavy feeling in my heart but that is the circumstances of my life that I intend to correct. I welcome any clarity you can bring to this thread if only you would leave out the doom and gloom of what might happen to important areas. Like me and my life, the scars of the Cyprob will itch for ever and may even become inflamed at times. Like the greekifying of the South the North bears similar war wounds. I was just glad to see that the complete cleansing of the GCs from the TRNC is just a myth and that normal GCs and TCs are able to live in the same village albeit in different cafes. I am wondering if there are as many TC cafes as visible as the GC ones in the TRNC???

[zan]

Letters from the TRNC (End of day two) cont....
My BIL and I finished our soup and not ten metres from where we were sitting was an historic area that he wanted to show me. Saman Bahce has been renovated to its former glory and beyond. It was erected to house the elderly, according to my BIL, in 1900 by the Ottomans. Unfortunately the lights in the area had been out for three days, we were informed by a lady sitting outside her house, and it was really difficult to see anything let alone read the sign at the entrance. What looked like shadows turned out to be people all sitting outside to escape the stifling heat inside. My BIL seems to have no fear and without warning asked this lady if we could go inside and have a look at the layout. She started to ask if I was from the press but stopped half way. Despite this I assured her I was not and the camera I was carrying was because I was a tourist from London. She said nothing but invited us into her house. A living room, bedroom, bathroom and a kitchen was the entire layout of this property. She had been allowed to knock the inside about as she wanted but the outside appearance was not to be changed. This meant that the very much needed window in her kitchen was blocked up and the heat unbearable even though she was not cooking anything and it was about 12 AM. This explained more why people were still sitting outside. My BIL mentioned that the people living there are the poor but the lady quickly interrupted and said that she was the only poor person there and the others were running at least two cars each. I hoped my BIL would not make such personal statements again and thankfully he didn’t. when outside, even through the darkness, my BIL commented on how many pots of flowers she had outside her home and was it allowed. She said that the beatification of the yard with plants is encouraged and proudly announced that the tourists always took pictures of her display. We thanked her and the neighbours that had sat by the fountain listening and made our way back to our cars. Kisses and hugs were exchanged and we made our way to Girne Kapisi where I made one wrong turn before finally heading back to the hotel. I may have been caught by a speed camera because unlike the other car, the hire car displays in MPH instead of the KPH. Happy days!!!!!


We are relaxing by the pool today and will eat at my sisters apartments this evening so there will not be much to write about today unless we go out and about in Lefkosa tonight.

thanks everyone and speak later.

[tessintrnc]

Thanks Zan!!!

[SSBubbles]

Thanks to you all for the welcome and well wishes, even the hostile ones........It all makes a difference

Lena

My sister (Youngest) lives here most of the time now and has been doing so for two years or so. They have built the first phase of their building in which they rent flats to students.


Halil

Thank you for the offer but I see no point in meeting Miltiades. He has no idea of what it is that drives me and I have no desire to further explain to anything further to him. I would love to meet Bannaniot though because although he does not agree with me he at least understands and is willing to face the truth and realities of the situation. A true intellect.

74LB

Thanks for the information. I hope to cover most of the TRNC if I can and will get some sucuk for my sister if I get to go to Mehmetcik. I am staying just outside Girne.



p.s. All.......Why is billy boy |Bobbit suddenly posting more now that GR has supposedly disappeared??????

The double team with Oracle seems all too familiar to me :wink:

Zan, we know this,yet still they deny any 'wrong-doings' Pathetic really, but it keeps us amused!

[repulsewarrior]

Enjoy your holiday Zan - you won't see this I guess till you're back from Karpas but if you visited Mehmetcik (Galatya I think) then I hope you bought some 'sucuks' - they are fab from there.

Out of interest, are you staying in the Famagusta area ?

what...? even the name Galatya was changed?

[74LB]

Enjoy your holiday Zan - you won't see this I guess till you're back from Karpas but if you visited Mehmetcik (Galatya I think) then I hope you bought some 'sucuks' - they are fab from there.

Out of interest, are you staying in the Famagusta area ?

what...? even the name Galatya was changed?

All villages/towns have Turkish equivalent names.

[74LB]

Zan, be careful as those speed cameras definately work !

I was greeted by the customs policeman at Ercan on entry to the TRNC this April with the news that I HAD to visit the Traffic Police HQ in Lefkosa to resolve some outstanding issues (otherwise I wouldn't be let out again !).

I was greeted at the said HQ with news of 3 speeding fines to the tune of £180. Still, keeps the economy going

[Sotos]

Enjoy your holiday Zan - you won't see this I guess till you're back from Karpas but if you visited Mehmetcik (Galatya I think) then I hope you bought some 'sucuks' - they are fab from there.

Out of interest, are you staying in the Famagusta area ?

what...? even the name Galatya was changed?

All villages/towns have Turkish equivalent names.

Only the mixed villages/towns. The purely Greek villages don't have Turkish names. You renamed them after the invasion to pretend that they are yours!