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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
Quick trip in to Nicosia this morning to collect some pics for the new website that Joan is developing and the across the border to the DIY shop to try to buy a wireless security system to put around various parts of the house. There has been an unfortunate increase in the number of break-ins of late, so conscious of the fact that we are out and about lots and away at least a couple of times a year, we just feel that the deterrent of an alarm would be good. Looks like DIY is not possible so I will have to wait for the local guy to come over next week and give me some clues. The general feeling amongst us all is that because the building work has slowed down the Turkish workers over here are desperate for money and are starting to resort to petty theft to keep themselves in basic food etc. If they do break in they seem only to take stuff they can easily convert to cash and leave the traceable things alone.
The big story in the news this week is the possibility that the fugitive Sean Lupton, wanted for the Securitas raid in 2006, might be hiding here on the island. Guess you have all read about it in the UK press, UK police believe that he and two others, both Turkish Cypriots, may have escaped to TRNC with the missing £32 million. The prime minister says that the British and local police have jointly investigated this claim and concluded that he and the other two had never been on the island. The press seem to think otherwise and with £32 million buying a new passport should not be difficult. Interestingly there was a report in the Sunday Telegraph and the reporter who wrote this called me twice on Thursday asking general questions. Maybe he thought that for a share of the spoils I would happily hide him away. mmmmmmmmm.
Another surprise for us all this week. A 20% rise in gas prices, I guess the government is still short on its budget figures and 2008 forecast. All of this must be putting the final nail in this governments coffin, but I suppose once introduced no replacement government is ever going to take the prices and taxes back down.
Former German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has flown directly in to Ercan airport, together with some leading German businessmen. They are to have some high profile meetings with politicians and business chiefs. The visit is being hailed as being symbolic and possibly speeding up moves to end our isolation here. The South are naturally very upset by this, especially the direct flight in to Ercan.
Motoring at the forefront of the news again. 70 accidents in the 6 days between January 1st and 27th. Add to this police checks which show a huge list of offenses such as speeding, mobile phone usage, no seat belts, not obeying traffic signs etc. etc. Not too good as statistics go.
Big push here on no smoking in public places. A charter has been pushed through the Council of Ministers this last week and looks to be ratified by MPs soon. Have to admit that it was refreshing last time we were in UK to sit in pubs and restaurants and not come out stinking of cigarette smoke. We are both ex-smokers and had sort of got used to the fact that it was the norm here but it will be nice not to have to contend with it. Even after almost 19 years there are still times when I could murder a nice cigar.
Sat in bed last night and read the last bit of the newspaper which included the letters page. Sometimes I get quite incensed by some of the letters from expats. This week it's about either barking dogs, a big irritant I agree and gunshots on hunting days which is disturbing somebody on their mountainside and woodland walks in their retirement. Now hunting is allowed on Sundays only for 10/12 weeks of the year and the locals have taken pleasure in their hunting for many many years, so why oh why are we coming here and trying to convert the place we chose to live in to something that suits expats. STOP IT. We are guests in the country that belongs to Turkish Cypriots, accept their ways and the flaws, stop moaning and enjoy the lifestyle.
Very early start this morning. Anne & Jeff are on the 9.55 a.m. flight Ercan to UK and we volunteered ourselves as taxi. Jeff has more tests in UK during the coming weeks but we hope to see them back home here on 21st February with the all clear.
After Joan and I got back and had breakfast, the repair gang got going on our garden shed door. The door had dropped so I had changed the position of the lock hasp, Bryan being a joiner said "you can't do that, it needs fixing proper like", so this morning he came round to do just that. With the aid of his big clamps, some hammering on extra nails and Stewart's supervision, it now hangs straight and true. Thanks Bryan.
With that job done I was all set to clean up the site a bit where the tilers had been busy when Joan decided that the pampas grass needed it's annual pruning. This has to be done on a day when there is no wind because it is very much a case of light the blue touch paper and stand well back. In no time at all it is a roaring inferno and ten minutes after you started the huge pampas grass plant is a blackened mess. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the thing recovers but this is apparently the official pruning method. Apart from this she is a frustrated fire chief..... The big problem after this is the clean up as this fine black soot goes everywhere and I still have to get the hedge trimmer out to finish off the job.
Apart from all the regular things like shopping etc we have not been out this week, until today that is. The gang decided that we would go back to that restaurant in Karsiyaka that we all rate highly. The restaurant is run by the Muhtar (pronounced mukta) who is the village headman. This is the guy, in each village, we have to go to to get permission, in writing, to live in his village, before we are granted residency, a driving licence or even allowed to bring our container loads of stuff from UK. Just about everything you want to do here, that requires involvement with anybody in authority, requires a Muhtar's letter first. A very important man in the villages and in this one extremely important because he runs the best restaurant around.
This restaurant is very simple and you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the tables but he serves some really good fresh food. One good example is a T-bone steak with all the trimmings at only £8.25 at todays exchange rate.
Our tiling men have been working very hard to finish off the new paths and the circular terrace, so now today and tomorrow Joan and I will be spending time cleaning up after them. One thing is certain, none of the local workers know the meaning of a nice clean job. Anyway in a few days, weather permitting I will add a few pics for you to see but really need to get the table out there and maybe the metal pergola over the top before it looks as it should.
One thing we did get installed today was the new security system to our villa. Very fancy electronic thing with movement sensors all around the place and the main box, apart from being connected to a very loud siren, is also linked through our mobile phones so we get automatic messages when we are out, about the state of the system. The funny bit was also the fact that the main box also talks to you as you go near the sensors, even when the system is disarmed. This noise we had to switch off because the thing is programmed to allow the whole house to be alarmed at night apart from our own bedroom area. So every time one of us turned over during the night, this thing kept saying "main bedroom" followed by " main bedroom" when one of us went to the loo. Result sleepless night and voice in my ear saying, "please lie still". It does not alter the effectiveness of the alarm having it not speaking to you, so we will learn to live with it that way and sleep more soundly at night. Sad that we felt the need to put such a thing in the villa, but this is a very quiet unlit road so peace of mind is worth a lot.
There have been several unconfirmed sightings of the on-the-run Sean Lupton with the £20 million + from the Securitas robbery. But then I understand that there is a £2 million reward for his capture, so it is not surprising that there have been some sightings following the rumours that he has fled to TRNC.
There has been no move by the government to end the confusion over the stamp duty debacle. The actual law has been around for many years but not enforced, now suddenly, we imagine because of the balance of payments problem the government is insisting that the money is paid, it says to protect buyers, at the higher rate. Basically what has always been law, is that property buyers are required to pay 0.5% of the contract value within 1 month, to the Tax Office. Late payment incurs a further 1% penalty charge an added legal fee for arranging payment together with payment to the Land Registry for contract registration. The important point about the payment of stamp duty is that it allows the sales agreement to be registered against the title deeds allowing protection of the buyers investment. There is heavy criticism about negligence on the part of the vendors and the buyers lawyers for not telling buyers about stamp duty payments and contract registration. Last time I looked, Naomi Mehmet, the lawyer who handled our purchase had a lot of information on duties and legal fees on her website www.nmplegal.com which you may find useful.
According to statistics, the cost of living increased again last month. This time by a further 1.6%, included in this was a figure for foodstuffs and soft drinks alone of 4.3%. All this compares with an overall increase last year of 9.7%.
Despite the small amounts of rain we have been having the effort to set up desalination plants continues. It is also happening in the South and is symptomatic of the desperate situation here on the island.
The Post Office has celebrated its 34th anniversary by installing an automated mailing system. Now thats interesting but does not solve the problem of mail from the UK getting lost before it ever gets here on the island.
This evening The Layabouts gathered for a real Sunday lunch at John and Sandy's. Sandy had bought locally a piece of pork which, wonder of wonders, still had the crackling on. Apparently this is possible only in the winter months if you ask for it to be left on. Whatever, it was delicious and we all enjoyed a superb meal. Not to be outdone even Jeeves wanted some lunch, John and Sandy's spaniel. He had been given a marrow bone to keep him quiet but think he thought that ours smelt better.
Anybody who wonders why sometimes I am a little late with updates can now see that it is due to a very helpful cat. She doesn't take kindly to being moved either.
Today we have had some real storms, thunder and lightening most of the night and then early in the morning another twister. This pic courtesy of Roger B as he was clearly awake much earlier then me. The danger with these things is that they do sometimes come ashore and thats when we get damage. This one stayed out at sea, which thankfully is the norm.
Fun and games on the bulletin boards this week.This time all about our Internet Service Provider. There has been a falling out of the partners, Paul and Ronnie some time ago, so that they parted company, with Paul continuing to run the company. It would appear that the government has reinstated some legislation about the use of 2.4ghz wireless signals, with a threat to turn them all off. So Paul decided to upgrade everybody to the 5.8ghz range with the promise of improved performance. This in itself presented them with a cost implication for every user, so Paul sent an e-mail around asking everybody to pay up front, at cost price and then reducing next years connection fee by the amount paid. In other words he was to use our money to upgrade, but ultimately at no cost to us. Now this sounded like a very fair business deal to me. Some people decided that this was not a fair deal and stated posting on the message boards, which of course opened up a real can of worms. Ronnie in his wisdom decided it was time to do his dirty washing in public, creating even more mess. Other ISP companies decided that this was an opportunity to maybe take over customers so started getting involved and posting technical stuff on the message boards. So now The Internet Club is embroiled in all sorts of unnecessary extra work to retain their customer base. Personally we are staying where we are, as we feel that Paul has been straightforward in his approach and openly offered a deal to suit both him and us. If it is true that the telecoms department of this government are going to cut off the lower wave band then there are going to be other ISP providers and users with a similar problem. Also some two years ago, if anybody recalls notes on this site, I had a major confrontation with Extend Internet, because 8 weeks after paying my money, I was still waiting for them to come and install equipment and what was worse, they never, never answered the telephone. I found that the only way to communicate with them was to drive all the way to Kyrenia and get hot under the collar in their offices, until finally I asked for and got my money back. So much for their professional attitude and this from the company that is trying their, best to put the Internet Club out of business.
I am prepared to ride out the storm and hope very much that the service The Internet Club currently supplies stays with us and very much look forward to the higher speed connection that is coming our way. Also the promise of being able to download from a large library of films, TV programs etc and just plug in to our DVD player, free of charge, is very interesting over here, as the quality of TV programs leaves much to be desired. More than anything both of us welcome very much the fact that if we have problems the phone is always answered and help and assistance provided, a very welcome change from the norm here.
The Lapta Layabouts seem to be in trouble. It would appear that our presence in local restaurants has upset an ex-pat who clearly just wants to have a small restaurant to himself undisturbed by 12/14 people who are also supporting the restaurant owner at the same time. This is the content of the mail from a Mr Dave Fisher.
"With reference to your latest update (he refers to 7th February)
Please could you publicise in your diary when the regular night out for the "Lapta Layabouts" is so those of us with good taste can avoid bumping in to you at all. Perhaps you could put an alert on your website in advance.
The village restaurant in Karsiyaka is small enough as it is and it would be awful for people to arrive and be unable to escape the pomposity and arrogance that is the Lapta Layabouts"
You move around the island as if it s your own, akin to a swarm of locusts,destroying every good eatery that you come across. No doubt this one will be next."
Now we all realise that a large group can be a bit noisy and maybe that is what upset the man, but no restaurant owner has ever turned down our business or accused us of destroying his/her restaurant. As Mr Fisher is such a big reader of the site he should be aware that the "Lapta Layabouts" usually go out on Thursdays, so he could stay home that night and avoid us. As for pompous and arrogant............ what can one say.
Not to avoid Mr Fisher, but by way of a change we did not eat out as a group this evening, after all it is Valentines Day. Joan and I actually went to The Grapevine in Girne. This is a lovely restaurant run by Mal, the man who used to be at Padisha restaurant. We enjoyed escargot, green lipped mussels followed by duck. Very enjoyable it was too and just to be different for the evening we went to the Merit Casino to round off the evening. We are known as the last of the big spenders, 10 YTL each on the slot machines a free drink whilst you are there and then home when you have lost it all. We are of the opinion that there is only really one winner in the casino game, but it is fun whilst it lasts.
Just for a change, nine of the "Lapta Layabouts" went to Mr Chun's Chinese restaurant this evening. If you remember the last cancer charity dinner we went to, was here also. Good food and a change from Turkish style fare and because Joan and I were talking about our trip to the casino last night we all voted to do it again. Firm proof about who is the winner. Nine people with 10 YTL each, eight losers and Stewart came away with 10 YTL profit.
Our friends Steve & Rez have been married 25 years, actually the official date was Valentines Day. Joan and I were invited to party time to help them celebrate. The "Do" was organised at Chateau Lambousa and Gordon the owner did us all proud. Nice cosy room with log fire, a bar and excellent food served buffet style. The disco style music persuaded some of us to follow Steve and Rez on to the dance floor, especially when the music got a bit more to th smoochy style which suited the oldies better.
Joan and I were very impressed with the whole and are going to talk to Gordon about maybe something for my 70th this June. He says that there is a nice garden area which would be ideal.
Sunday and another early start, this time to do a walk in aid of Cancer Research from Kozankoy, on the other side of the mountains, over the top to finish at the school in Karsiyaka. This is in fact the fifth annual walk, known as the Orchid Walk and there are 50 people attending from the UK and the expectation was for a total of 500 walkers. Unfortunately the day started off very badly with rain and wind throughout the night, so the numbers had definitely dwindled by the start. Never mind, so long as they paid the 25 YTL to the charity, they didn't have to get wet.
The first part of the walk, up the mountain is quite steep in places, but there are some lovely views. The rain was not exactly a downpour but with the wind driving across the mountain it was very wetting and fortunately cleared up after about 1 hour. The organisation was quite brilliant with a truck full of the juiciest oranges I have ever tasted following the walkers handing them out for free. Occasionally some of the helium balloons escaped and could be seen heading off in to the clouds and the walkers stretched out across the mountain road for quite some distance. Here you can see on one of the gentle bits, how far ahead some of the early starters were. Our little group,six of the "Layabouts" made it across to Karsiyaka by just after 12 noon, collected my car, drove back round the mountain to collect Bryan's car and then headed home for a well earned warm shower.
George had said earlier in the week, that his knees would just not allow him to do that walk, so the reward for us was a superb English Sunday roast, cooked by George and served up around 4 p.m. Nice one George, very enjoyable and now to bed. Guess I might be a bit stiff legged tomorrow.
Time now, after a busy weekend, to take a look at the newspaper. The first bit of news, which is not in the paper, is that Mr Papadopulous, the current President in the South has lost out at yesterdays elections. This means that the two remaining candidates have to go for a further round of voting next Sunday.
The first, Mr Christofias, has said that he favours reviving the July 8th agreement and aims to invigorate the fading will for a solution. He also states that partition may be the final answer with a North Cyprus state recognised by the rest of the world.
The second, Mr Cassoulides, an ex-foreign minister has attacked Papadopulous for coming to power proposing change whilst actually achieving political stagnation. He has not been reported as saying anything significant about resolving the north/south issue. We will have to wait and see after the next weeks results. One thing is sure, the old intransigent is out, so we may see some progress.
On our side of the border there is reported plan to take lawyers to court over negligence and profiteering. This all stems from the laws on stamp duty and the feeling that buyers have been mislead and now face extra costs. In short they say that lawyers are failing in their duty to clients and the possibility of a legal case against the bar association grows because the feeling is that lawyers could have prevented 90% of the problems, had they done their job properly.
Yet another plan for a change to a hotel in Lapta, currently being built, to be increased in size at a cost of $30 million dollars and to include another casino. Somebody knows something, because with only 25% occupancy of current beds in the north, why invest money like this.
A few weeks ago we found out about some panel radiators, that a Turkish Cypriot friend of ours is planning to import. He had brought in just a couple to test so we took one from him and installed it in to our morning room using an electronic timer to control the hours used. This panel radiator not only looks good but has proved to be very efficient so we are planning some more in other rooms. I am told that the first shipment is on the way, although this will not be very large as we are starting to head off in to the warm weather time again.
You can actually get access to detail from the manufacturers website www.beha-elektro.com/uk/download/brochures/Beha%20Panel%20Heaters.pdf There are indications of room sizes given as well as links to more technical detail.
Personally we have gone for the bigger sizes and the use of timers. You can always reduce the temperature required, on the control unit, so like all things we considered it better to oversize. We are currently testing the electric usage but it would appear that if we leave ours on 24/7 at around 20 degrees that it would cost 91 YTL per month to run. This compares very favourably with gas heating costs which are on the up here.
The sole importer here has given me the following guide for prices, but says when the first big shipment arrives this week then maybe he can reduce, dependent on import duty costs.
800 Watt - 405 YTL
1000 Watt - 430 YTL
1250 Watt - 475 YTL
1500 Watt - 500 YTL
2000 Watt - 560 YTL
Joan and I had traveled across to the Famagusta area today to see three different couples who have bought in the Medview complex over there. They all wanted their apartments kitted out and everything just done for them so that when they arrive with children on holiday they can just enjoy.
Two of the couples had bought air conditioners through Medview and paid over £1,000 for them. We arranged for two of the same air conditioners, from the same supply company, to be installed for only £575. Quite some saving, as the extras sometimes are slightly inflated.
We got back to Kyrenia around 7 p.m. so decided to give The Cod Baba restaurant a try at is now under new management. Have to say that it was really very good, but being a bit more greedy than Joan I could have had the "extra large" cod.
This evening we were invited to dinner at Sue & Andrews villa. Sue came back with Andrew after the New Year so it was sort of the first time that we could all get together and join them for dinner in their villa. We had spent some time during "boys night out" evenings, winding Andrew up for a return on all the meals he had managed to scrounge whilst he was here on his own. It is a known fact that Andrew is a little careful.
The paper this morning talks about a Massive Air Deal. What they refer to is a deal British firm that is to make an investment at Gecitikale airport to redevelop it in to a cargo hub. The intention is to challenge the embargo on export to Europe and to offer major recruitment opportunities for local people. Lets hope that this is a success as it will give a much needed boost to the economy.
The sad news is that BRT, the only TV and Radio station that broadcasts in English is to cease its operations from March 3rd. They refer to this as a change of direction as it is their intention to set up BRT World as a digital channel. We will have to wait and see if we can get this through our Digiturk satellite links.
At a meeting of British Property buyers this week an almost unanimous decision was reached to proceed with action against lawyers, as mentioned last week. The action is proposed because it is felt taht there are around eight to ten lawyers who have failed to protect their clients interests. One well known lawyer has already agreed to take on the case.
Nothing changes here on the roads. Two more deaths during the last week alone in a total of 68 traffic accidents. They are beginning to install more speed cameras in a belief that this will slow people down and reduce the deaths. Me thinks that more stringent control over driving schools and a much more severe test would help the educational process.
This evening the gang went first to The Mambo Bar to say goodbye to Alex. He has been part of the LDs crew for so long that we shall miss his gammon and egg on a Thursday evening, but the problem with his residency means that he can no longer stay here as he is deemed too young and therefore taking work off locals. He could apply for the renewal of a work permit providing he can find £5,000 as a bond to lodge or indeed an employer who will pay the bond for him.
Have a last dance with me says Alex to Joan before we left for The Simena Club where Elvis ? was performing tonight. We have been a few times to watch Danny Fisher do his Elvis act at which he is very good. He could do with putting on a few pounds if he wants to emulate him, but have to say the voice is good. Andrew, Sue, Bryan and Pat had not seen this act before but for sure the 60s and 70s music got us all on our feet and made a late night of it. A good night out and probably no rush in the morning.
Yesterday was the final round of the presidential elections in the south. Mr Christofias was the final winner. He is leader of the left wing AKEL party and has communist roots having studied in Moscow. The positive note is that he has already pledged to meet with TRNC President Talat and to relaunch reunification talks with us here in the north.
Time will tell how far all this goes but at least they are going to talk and make efforts to resolve the age old problem. Fingers crossed for something in the future.
Last night being the "Layabouts" regular gathering night we all went to The Tervetuloa Restaurant, which is on the road going down to the Merit Crystal Hotel. we have been there before and the food is really good at an all inclusive price. By that I mean that you pick your main course and the price includes, an excellent meze starter, your main course choice, a sweet which is usually one of those sticky honey things with some fruit, coffee and copious amounts of local brandy if you are brave enough. Full to bursting always.
I am writing this now as I want everyone over here to support The Pumas rugby club next Sunday. The game will be played in Alsancak on the pitch on the way down to the Mare Monte hotel. Before the Pumas who play a UN team at 12 noon there will also be game with a team from Sunny Lane School starting at 11 o'clock.
So come on folks, give youth some encouragement and shout and yell on the touchline.
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