0111106-11 Cyprus, North and South

This week is the biggest national holiday in Turkey, and most businesses shut down for almost a week. Work on aVida, which is on the hard in the boatyard, will cease, and it is chilly here, so we decided to take a side trip to Cyprus.

Cyprus is a large island divided between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and the Greek Cyprus in the south. Cyprus historically has been invaded, occupied and battered by numerous empires and armies over thousands of years. In the past century, it has been an English colony alternating with Greek rule a few times. The north of Cyprus has had many Turks living there, the Turkish Cypriots, due to proximity to Turkey. The Greek Cypriots inhabit the south. Both sides are fiercely Cypriots, and fiercely loyal to their parent nations. In 1974, Turkey waged a bloody armed invasion of the north, claiming this territory for itself. There is now a militarized dividing line through the country, and right through the middle of the largest and capital city of Nicosia (Greek name), also called Lefkosia by the Turks. The Turks began changing the names of towns, archaeological sites, geo features, etc to erase the Greek history and culture, and "Turkeyfy" everything. Over the years since, there have been numerous killings and incidents, but mostly peaceful for the past 7 years or so.

The United Nations and most of the world condemn Turkey for this, and do not recognize the Turkish occupation. The Greeks call the north the "Occupied Turkish Territory of Northern Cyprus". The Turks constructed a lighted flag and Turkish title on the face of a huge mountain that faces the Greek side of Nicosia- it must be ½ mile long, and visible from many miles away across the entire valley. It is amazing that the island maps we get on the Turk side omit any detail of the south, and vice versa. As you can imagine, the enmity between the sides is still severe.

So we arrive from Turkey into the north because no flights go to the south. It is dark, and we rent a car and drive into Nicosia wandering around for a while, only to learn that the hotel we booked is on the Greek side, as the city is surprisingly divided between two countries, and our rental car is not allowed to travel into Greek territory. So, we drive to one of the several militarized checkpoints, park the car, and walk across the ½ mile wide DMZ, passing Turkish security checks, a UN checkpoint, and then Greek immigration and customs controls. From there the Greeks call us a taxi and take us to our hotel, quite late. It is clear we did not do enough research about what we were getting into, but all is OK.

We walk the lively and charming streets of the old town inside the ancient fortified walls for the evening, find a nice dinner in a restaurant on top of a building with a view of the town and the giant Turkish flag on the mountain. We are the only customers, and after dinner we spent a long time discussing Cyprus politics, Muslims, and religion in general- very insightful. We agree that nations and religions divide people, indoctrinate and infuse them with dogmas to maintain power and control; but other than that, most people everywhere are good people with goodwill.

In the am, we rent yet another car, for the Greek side. We now have 3 rental cars; 1 in Turkey at the airport, 1 in N Cyprus and 1 in the south. Changing our itinerary a bit, we will spend 3 more nights traveling the Greek side end to end, then return to the north for 1 night. The drive to Paphos at the far west end is scenic. Some valleys are covered with primarily coniferous trees, of course cypress trees, olive trees, etc. Others look like the savannas of Africa, with grassy lowlands and sparse trees. The hills are rocky and barren except for scrub brush, with dark red soil everywhere. We stop at Aphrodites birthplace, on a picturesque cliff overlooking the Med, with beaches and cliffs stretching far in both directions. After checking into the hotel in Paphos, we walk the town and the harbor, and explore the old fort, etc.

AM we drive to Larnaka. This is a large town, with a commercial harbor and port, and also a long beach area with a rather developed string of 5 story hotels, many restaurants and bars that is tourist oriented. At the end of the strip is a very interesting medieval castle with many historical exhibits and artifacts. Reconstructions of ships from 300BC with their cargos of large pottery amoras full of wine and almonds are on display. As with all castles in the Med, this one has been home to a succession of invading empires and cultures. After an afternoon nap, back out again for dinner, and then walking the back streets of the town we find "Mikes Bar" for a last night cap. We meet a retired Turkish Army Colonel who is now living on the Greek side. He is an engineer, and is working on an invention of a motor that will for 100's of years on the rare-earth magnets inside of it, with no other energy input. I tried to explain that he is describing a "perpetual motion machine", a concept that violates the fundamental physical laws of conservation of energy. So he runs home and brings me his drawings, offering me 50% stake in the business if I help him develop it. Sorry, but no thanks. Of course we discuss Cyprus politics, and due to his military connections he actually has a lot more information and insight into the dynamics of US, UK, Greek and other forces that make it what it is. The new news is that S Cyprus has recently discovered what is estimated to be one of or the largest reserve of natural gas in the world, and this will drastically shape the politics to come.

AM we drive to Ayia Napa and search for a hotel. This is clearly a summer tourist resort, with lots of resto-bars, night clubs, and hotels, the great majority of which are boarded up for the season. It takes us a while to find a decent hotel, and it is more of a large resort with beautiful pool area, large beach area with masses of tiki huts and lounge chairs etc. It is very busy here, full of mostly geriatric tour bus groups from UK, Germany, etc. So, we lounge and relax. At the far eastern end of Cyprus,there is a huge bluff with a lighthouse. The shore approaching this is eroded into numerous caves and tunnels, and it is quite a thrill to climb around, in and through these formations. The view of the crystal clear sea alternating turquoise blue over sand, navy blue over deep, and black over weeds, with the caves and rock strata alternating white, red and black in the background is stunning.

AM back to Nicosia, to return the car. The very nice rental car owner drove us back to the DMZ, we walk back across the DMZ to find our other rental car still waiting there. Then we drive to Kyrenia on the north coast. Very scenic, with a huge castle complex and other historical sites, and hotels and restaurants surrounding an old harbor full of picturesque fishing boats. The view from the roof of our "White Pearl" hotel is fantastic. The castle is immense, with numerous passages down deep into dungeons and storage areas. After a nap, we venture into the back streets again (away from the more touristy places on the harbor front) and we stumble onto a gem of an a very old estate that has been converted into a tavern, where we find seats right in front of a giant fireplace for drinks. The music is a great collection of world music, which then turns into salsa music. A very nice couple joins at the fireplace, and we enjoy good conversation and much salsa dancing together. Then dinner on the waterfront, and bed. It seems everywhere we go, we find salsa.

The trip back to Nicosia and the fight back to Izmir. It is late so we decide to find a hotel in Izmir, Turkey's 2nd largest port city. It is jammed with traffic, and rather cold here. On the waterfront packed with probably 100 restaurants and bars, we find good food, and a live band to listen to until late. In the AM back to the waterfront for a good breakfast (because we overslept for the hotel breakfast), and then the 2 hour drive back to Didim Marina at nightfall.

We decide to find dinner in Altinkum, the beach resort area of Didim. We are the only customers at this Chinese restaurant, so we get 100% personal attention from the owner/chef. He has 1 helper, a mute and deaf young man who has been with him for 6 years- they have an evident deep trust and relationship, communicating by hand signals. The owner sits with us for a long time after dinner. He is a Muslim, but very open minded. I ask him why the "good Muslims" do not "police their own" and stand up against the Jihadists. He says that Muslims are indoctrinated to be meek and submissive, which makes them pawns of religion, government and fanatics. The omnipresent broadcasts of prayer music from every mosque (there are Many) 5 times a day over every city and village reinforces this. He informs us that the President of Turkey is himself a Jihadist, and is working to push that agenda into the army and government which until now has been largely secular. It is rather amazing how many people here we have been able to engage in constructive discussions about these complex and touchy topics, and how much insight we are gaining from these experiences. I guess this is a very big part of the appeal of world travel, beyond sights, places, history, and nature. We tip the owner very generously, and as we are walking away, we see him hand the money to the young man. Truly a heartwarming experience, and the end to another great trip full of experiences of all types.