Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

We have had a couple of really relaxing days, showing Les and Jill some of the local tourist places, lying around on a couple of beaches and sampling some local restaurants. It is still warm enough to sit on the patio in the evenings with a drink, something which I think they will miss next week back in U.K. Today we decided to go up to the Karpas Peninsula and stay over night in order to be able to really enjoy this remote place. The Karpas is the most easterly point of Cyprus and as yet it is untouched by development. It is frequently referred to as the nature reserve of Cyprus with its golden sands, protected /enlargements/golden%20beach.htm"> turtle nesting beaches and abundant wildlife, which includes the Karpas donkeys. We checked in at the Malibu Motel, late morning. This motel only has 5 simple en-suite rooms but is situated right on its own beach and only a few hundred yards from the fishing harbour at Yeni Erinkoy. I think we are looking forward to dinner already. We drove on to the very tip of the peninsula in the afternoon, only stopping at Golden Beach for a couple of beers and a kebab lunch. Towards the tip you come across the Apostolos Andreas Monastery which has the tradition of being the Lourdes of Cyprus. There is now only one old woman, speaking Greek, who mans the grotto and two policemen outside with a visitors book, which you are required to sign and enter your passport number. On our return journey to the motel we stopped for a swim and a coffee at the Sea Bird Restaurant, we had the entire beach to ourselves and it was great to wash off the travel dust. Dinner this evening consisted of fresh grilled fish; what else could you have here!. Proceeded of course by meze, washed down with wine, coffee and brandy. What bliss.