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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
Joan and I got back from our trip to Dubai yesterday evening and I then started loading all these pics for you to see, only to find that I had loaded them all into September. The time to delete every one of them and re-input in August is not something I want to do, so sorry folks I will have to put all the diary in to this month also.
August 25th
This pic of a classic sunset is something I just had to share with you. We were sitting outside on a latish dinner when this fireball could be seen. The cloud formations above the sun were also something else, one to be kept for posterity.
August 27th
We traveled from Larnaca to Dubai via a stopover in Bahrain for about 2 hours. With the 1 hour time difference between us here and Dubai we eventually arrived at our hotel around 11.45 in the evening. We had been advised to go through Dubai duty free on the way in, as firstly it was the Ramadan period and secondly you can only buy wine and spirits in top class hotels and restaurants. So we arrived with three bottles of good Australian wine and some Heineken. After we had unpacked we sat out on the balcony and discovered that the wine glasses supplied just very nicely held a full bottle of wine........
Bearing in mind that it is now middle of the night the view from our balcony was of an amazingly busy city. All around us we were surrounded by ultra modern, ultra designed, high rise apartments and office blocks. Right across the road from us they were working late in to the night building a new hotel to be opened soon.
Even at the time we went to bed finally, which was almost 2 a.m. it was hot and very humid, almost too humd to get any fresh air.
August 28th,
This is of course Friday and therefore their Sunday so nothing is open until quite late so we opted to try Jumeirah beach for the morning. We had booked and afternoon/evening safari on the internet before we left here. Joan just loves that sun so the beach was really the only place to go. The hotel offered free transport to the beach because their outdoor pool was under maintenance. The concierge organised the taxi and only when we got back did we discover that the driver had taken us to the wrong beach, so they had to pick up the bill for both directions. Anyway the beach was quite deserted and we didn't really work out if this was because it was Ramadan or just that only mad dogs and English go out in this sort of weather, but the sea was lovely and warm so we enjoyed our swim.
We were collected from the hotel at 3.30 to go on our 4 x 4 safari, which turned out to be great fun. There were just 6 of us in a big Land Cruiser thing and our driver had been doing this for some time so was very safe. There are three or four companies doing this sort of thing and they all seem to use Toyotas and claim them to be the best and safest vehicle for the job. We must have done around 15 - 20 miles over the sand dunes, climbing steep hills and sliding down, often sideways, over the other side. This is a vast dessert area and there are sand dunes as far as the eye can see. The whole thing was great fun and we finally ended up in the village were we were invited to enjoy a meal.
There were camel rides on offer, but as it was free there was a very long queue by the time we got there and anyway we were not too impressed by old grumpy. I managed to get in to trouble of course by spending time texting Andrew, about a customer who was bothering me on holiday.
The food served was delicious and Joan was busy taking pictures of the baker and the chicken BBQ man. There was also a lady in one of the tents doing a henna tattoo for all the ladies. Since coming home, Joan is now wondering just how long before it wears off.
A good first day and very glad to have a couple of cold beers to come home to in the evening.
August 29th.
We had been told that the Old Town was interesting and to get there we had to begin by crossing the creek. We took a water taxi across and even this was air conditioned, we are beginning to realise that you just can't get any fresh air here at all because of the constant high humidity. Guess we would have been better waiting until February/March time to come, but because of the French thing we really had to chose now.
In the old town it was very much like Istanbul, even down to the Souk where everybody was trying to sell dodgy watches to tourists. We walked around the old Town for about 1 hour and then crossed back over the creek for a taxi. We took this to the Dubai Mall, oh what lovely cool air conditioning. This place is absolutely huge and comprises of 1228 shops, spread over three floors. The one thing that we did notice was that the prices of things were even higher than in UK and Europe. That was a great relief to me as the boss kept saying "I am not paying that much". We did find a shoe shop with a big sale so she succumbed to two pairs which were very reasonable.
Inside this Mall is a full sized ice rink and it was getting quite well used and we also found the water wall to be quite lovely. From one of the windows, when the heat haze lifted a little, I managed to get a pic of the Burj, what will be the worlds tallest office block when completed in December.
After going back to the hotel and changing for dinner we went to a highly recommended restaurant called "The Meat Company". There we had a lovely dinner and as it was our 29th wedding anniversary we felt that £50.00 was reasonable for a bottle of wine. Gulp,,,,,,,told you the place was expensive. This place specialises in beef from either Australia or America, all of it aged either 120 or 160 days and I have to say that it was one of the most tasty steaks I have had in a long time.
When we left the restaurant we were close to the Mall where the Dubai water fountain is showing. This is an absolutely stunning display and if you want to see it properly then log on to http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqHYBRWgXQ&feature=related.
August 30th.
Our last full day here so what else is there to do but have a look at another Shopping Mall. This time we went to The Emirates Mall, slightly smaller than the Dubai Mall but has indoor ski slopes. These really are quite amazing and although looking through the glass viewing stands you get a feeling of false, they must be quite something to try out. We both used to do lots of skiing,but these old legs are not what they used to be so we decided to give it a miss.
The shops are once again quite something else, hundreds of them but at the end of the day quite expensive. Just before leaving Cyprus my Canon printer had given up the ghost and was going to cost 75 Euros to repair, so we looked here. They were around the same price as we can buy for in the south, until one guy in Jumbo Electronics told us to look in the basement area at Carrefour. Low and behold an Epson TX 200 for £40.00 including two extra black cartridges. Joan had left plenty of extra luggage space, just in case she said and once out of the packing the thing fit exactly in to a carry on suitcase.
Joan did manage to replace her old and battered dark blue handbag, so she didn't come away empty handed either.
In the evening, when it has cooled down somewhat, we walked along the Dubai Marina and found a nice Italian restaurant to spend an hour or so. Afterward we sat out on the walkway, as it is called, at a Starbucks coffee shop and watched the world go by, mostly cruising in their Ferraris, Lambourginis and the odd Bentley.
August 31st,
Our return trip home was relatively uneventful, although the Gulf Air flight to Bahrain was 45 minutes late taking off and we only had a 1 hour stop over interval. When I asked the stewardess about it she said don't worry, it's this plane that is going to Larnaca so we will wait for you.
To sum it all up. Joan has wanted to go to Dubai for some time now and I had promised. We both very much enjoyed the experience but said not to be repeated. It is wonderful to see just what they are doing there in terms of buildings and design, but there is absolutely no fresh air anywhere and outside of some of the organised trips the only other thing is shops. Add to that the overall cost of eating out etc and there are many other places to go to. Give me Istanbul anytime.
Back in the routine again now. The Layabouts went out to, what used to be the Muhters Restaurant, but now his fancy new place in Karsiyaka, the Green Palace. Very nice T-bone steaks as always at a reasonable price. We have not been there for a little while because he had "Karoke and Curry" nights on a Thursday so we thought not for us. Guess he ws very happy to have a table of 14 again from us.
Back in the news with a look at the Weekend Cyprus Today.
The two leaders are due back in the talks later this week after a summer break. Still can't see much progress in unifying the island because the desires of both sides differ so much. So the question then is, where do we go from here?
It appears that bulldozers moved in to the Karpaz region, without warning or permission, for a new road project. This of course means that people are scared of mass development out there. What puzzles me is, if the paper knows this is unauthorised, why can't the government step in and put a stop to it?
An expat has complained that what he thought was an amnesty on car import duty was just a trap. This after he had been asked to pay £2,500 in fines and tax. He bought an old Mitsubishi in UK and drove it out here in 2005. He had not owned the car for more than 5 years and it was more than 5 years old at the time. Now the rules displayed on the internet for all to see explained that he could not bring the car in, so a little research before he came out would have saved the hassle and the newspaper complaint. Still I suppose it fills the paper up.
Turkcell 3G, the internet connection we use has just increased their prices without any warning. What used to be 70TL per month is now 90TL per month. This represents 28.5% increase for a service that just about works.
President Talat has hinted that the likelihood of a permanent division on the island is growing stronger, this because there appears to be no sign of a resolution. This has been aggravated by the Greek Cypriots pulling out of the first, post summer, talks because they were angry at the TRNC demand that they should show their identity cards or passports when they crossed the border to attend a special, annual, church service in Guzelyurt. Surely they did not expect that the Turkish Cypriots would allow hundreds of Greek Cypriots to wander freely within our borders, without them being checked in and out.
The Turkish Foreign Minister is also of the same opinion. He accused the Greek Cypriot side of doing it's best to make the prospect of peace on the island more difficult.
Big article on the AA meetings fills the paper also this week. Everybody likes a drink but yes just as elsewhere, some like it more, specially when it is so much cheaper here. Shame really, but a trap I suppose people fall in to, when they are bored.
Oh yes finally for this week. Anybody want to buy Michael Smith's old MGB. This vehicle he completely restored before coming here and now Barbara has decided to sell it.
Life seems to revolve around packing boxes at the moment. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will have to move in two stages. We have booked to go to UK on 3rd November, pick up the car we have bought with the steering on the left. This to be followed by a few days in UK, looking at furniture we might want if we sell complete here, buying some bits and pieces for the farmhouse and then driving to the Dordogne.
Before we can do that we have to decide what we need there now and pack that. Then we will eventually need a second shipment when we have sold. You can just imagine the discussions taking place about, "do we really need that there now" etc. etc.....oh boy.
Apart from that Sunday was supposed to be a day to relax. We did manage some of that and also a delicious dinner off the pork leg joint that had been in the freezer.
Joan and I did a sneaky to IKEA in the south today. We bought two chairs to leave in our bedroom, because we particularly want to take the two we have there, to France.
Now I have to take out the flat pack jobs and put them together myself. Anybody remember the original MFI packs from years ago, with the unreadable instructions and missing bits. Thank goodness things have improved lots since those days.
Boys night out was reasonably well attended this evening. This was partially because Stewart and Barbara have their old friends Richard and Brenda over from UK at present and Bryan has his sister and brother-in-law here. Made a change to talk to somebody else about things other than packing for France etc.
We went to The Scruples bar here in Lapta which is a great place for an evening whilst the weather lasts for us.
Both cats to the vet this morning for their worming injections, but....first catch your cat. Tiggy must have sensed it and did a disappearing act until almost 9.30. This is Tiggy's last chemo session for the time being but I have to go over to Istanbul and get 10 more doses as she needs one per month from now on.
Remember the picture of the Burj in Dubai, the worlds tallest building, now nearing completion. Well a regular reader kindly sent me this pic of Burj Dubai taken earlier on during the construction phase.
This is an incredible view even to showing the curvature of the earth. One thing is certain. I would not want to work up there.
The Midweek Cyprus Today reports that that wonderful airline, CTA, is to get a $5 million government guaranteed loan which they will repay over 5 years. At the same time they are reporting a $40 million annual loss, so the question has to be asked. How the hell.....?
The government is to close the outlying ambulance stations at Lapta and Esentepe, to cut costs. Their argument is that there are too few calls to these stations. Naturally there has been a major uproar by all who pushed hard for a much improved ambulance service here in TRNC. One of the heaviest critics has suggested that instead of hitting essential services designed to protest lives, they should make cuts at office levels where coffee-drinking quasi civil servants do little or nothing to improve the health of people they are hired to protect. I can second that as being an essential cut back if money is to be saved.
Ex-foreign ministers here are pouring cold water on a referendum this year and a TRNC presidential aide is suggesting that the two sides are far from agreement over the property issue. So what price an agreement on unification?
Later today we had a visit from Dolphin Transport. We have almost completed the packing of stuff we want in France in November. It will be interesting to find out how they cost it all out.
Some keep on going from strength to strength, In this case it was clear that Bryan's 75th was a date to be celebrated. Pat put on a lovely buffet meal and we all did our best to drink Bryan's fridge dry, at least the booze that his sister and brother in law had kindly left for us, after their recent visit. Seriously though an lovely evening enjoyed by all, well done mate keep them coming, those extra years of health and happiness.
At last there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Greek Cypriot newspapers claim to have got hold of top secret documents that argue that the real obstacle to peace on the island is not Turkey but the Greek Cypriot Administration. Is this at last a crack in the propaganda wall that the south have been putting up for years and is the rest of the world actually beginning to realise the real truth.
At a guess, if the two presidents are unable to reach any sort of agreement shortly, the rest of the world might just force one. Everyone is getting fed up with the total intransigence from the Greek Cypriots who really only want a solution on their terms and no other.
Easy money. Apparently a man walked in to the Kooperatif Bank in Girne earlier this week, took a ticket for his normal turn in the queue then calmly reached over an unattended desk and helped himself to 10,000 Euros. All this in full view of the CTV cameras, but he seems to have disappeared.
They have done it again! Andrew and his friends were due back from their holiday in Antalya tomorrow, but now he has received a call from the hotel company that CTA have gone on strike so they have had to reschedule them all to the late flight on Wednesday. Guess when he gets back he will enter in to an argument with CTA about hotel payment for the extra night.
Joan has been struggling with these headaches ever since we got back from Dubai and has been, at the request of the doctor, monitoring her blood pressure 3 times a day all week. She also had some blood tests done on Tuesday so today we had the results.
Strange what you find out. All appears on the face of it in perfect working condition and the tests revealed no problems with liver, kidneys etc, which is brilliant news. But when Joan was being questioned about her blood pressure tablets, which like me she takes a mild dose of, the doctor also asked about things like salt. When Joan said we only use low Salt he said stop immediately. Low Salt is 66% Potassium Chlorate, to give it flavour, and reacts with most blood pressure medication. So it looks like we have found the source of the problem, brilliant. The things you can learn and I have posted this as there may be others of our age group who take medication for blood pressure and believe in being sensible about many of the non proprietary things that are advertised as being good for you.
We use 3G as our internet connection and last weekend we were almost 48 hours without any sort of connection. It appears that Turkcell had problems with signal strength in Lapta, Alsancak and Karsiyaka areas. Lets hope that this does not repeat in the coming holiday weekend.
I went over to Nicosia this afternoon and whilst I was over there we had a huge rain storm. It was quite frightening in a way as there were hailstones about the size of mothballs bouncing on the roof of the car, very very noisy and quite disconcerting.
This evening we attended the BRS Supper by the Sea event at Denizkizi Hotel in Alsancak. They have been holding this event for the last few years now and it is always a good evening among friends with good food laid on by the Denizkizi. For those who don't know this, the Denizkizi is owned by the Niazi's family and most of you will know that famous restaurant. This event is always in aid of the Turtle Project here and last night raised 1,275 TL from the raffle alone.
The much awaited Starfever show is tonight at The Mountain View hotel. We have had tickets for this show for some weeks now and were looking forward to it. The show is outdoors at the back of the hotel and it has been raining quite a bit during the day so heres hoping.
A great show, we were all escorted in for this "Intergalactic" experience and luckily for us Andrew, who had assisted with stage build, had secured us a table. The whole story lead us on to some super music from Abba, Mamas and Papas, Michael Jackson, to name but a few. The four performers must have put in many hours rehearsing and I have to say it was excellent.
On the back of some of the tickets were the words the Chosen Ones and Bryan and Roger didn't look too happy at being chosen, but at the end of the night they were still with us so they had not been whisked off in to the universe as promised.
A great night and so successful that they have had to commit to a third performance in October. All the money raised is going to the 112 Ambulance service equipment.
Well it stayed dry last night, but doesn't look as if it is going to stay dry today. Black clouds all around and thunder rumbling over the mountains. I fact we heard later in the day that Nicosia had a tremendous rain storm resulting in some flooding.
Clearly a day to sit around, finish the final packing bits for France and read the latest newspaper stories.
Opening gambit is the by-pass is going to be 5 years late. It looks as if it will be end of 2012 before it is completed. Apparently one of the companies who bid for the renewed contract has objected to the result so it has to go back for investigation. We so desperately need this road to be completed as getting in and our of Girne in the mornings and evenings can be a nightmare.
Now the UK is being sued. The UK is being taken to the Court of Human Rights, for failing to uphold its guarantee on Cyprus. we have often felt that the UK has sat around in the background and done absolutely nothing to support the TRNC and it's people in their struggle to get any form of recognition, but hey what do you expect. Anyway this may just one more act in the Greek Cypriot propaganda machine.
Three expat men were arrested after stripping off and exposing themselves in Ozankoy village. Apparently they started off drinking in JKs bar in Lapta then drove with some women, through to Ozankoy were they attempted to get in to Liaisons Bar & Restaurant and were then arrested. There were many locals in and around the Mosque for their Ramada Sunday celebrations. This sort of behavior is disgusting and I would only suggest one result, deport them immediately, we don't need them here.
Did anybody get a look at the Liverpool/West Ham result yesterday? This was followed by an interesting Manchester game this afternoon enjoyed whilst it was raining outside a little.
Yesterday we went on one of our favourite summer trips. A day out on a gullet. Anne has some friends staying for this week and wanted to fill in a day of their holiday with a boat trip on our favourite gullet, Sakki.
Our regular captain is ill at the moment so we had a stand in, but even he agreed to go east along the coast which is our favourite direction, away from all the jet-skis etc. We moored up at Diana Beach were we were all able to go for a swim before lunch. The lunch which Tanya prepared for us was, as always, just lovely. Fish, chicken legs, crab claws and prawns all served up with various meze dishes and finished off with fresh fruit and coffee.
Ann's visitors thoroughly enjoyed their day out and no doubt they would do it all again. As always getting back into Girne Old Harbour seems to come all too soon, but a great day and enjoyed by all.
Yesterday evening the "Layabouts" had a few hangers on to contend with making it a total of nineteen of us to go out for our Thursday evening jaunt round the trough. Anne has got 6 extra in her place this week, all old friends from way back, so that swelled the numbers just a little, We did notice that it brought a smile to the restaurant owners face, especially when he saw the value of the bar bill.
A great night out again and lots of laughs and banter, especially within Anne's little group.
Yesterday evening Joan and I went round for Anne's BBQ evening, which she organised before her friends went back to UK this evening. I believe that the guys had been roped in as chefs for the evening and a great job they did too. We all had a very fine evening with lots of laughter, aided of course by the funny brandy which was served with coffee. Do you know what is equally brilliant, being able to organise something like this knowing that to sit out until midnight and beyond is not a problem. Joan and I will miss the Cyprus weather.
Sunday morning and Joan and I had a bit of a lie in, firstly because Joan is feeling really sore, she fell on the terrace the other day, says everything is all OK but now it is getting painful. Think the doctors tomorrow as I fear a broken rib, but she is not having any of it.
Headlines this week are "Battle Stations". This refers to the government decision, they say for economic reasons, to close the two ambulance stations in Lapta and Esentepe. They say that analysis shows very few calls to these two units but countering this argument are the petitions set up saying simply, if one life is saved then it is all worthwhile. I have to agree with this theory and feel that if the government was to address the problem of coffee drinking, no working, civil servants, they could save much, much more money that way.
Looks like we are maybe going to get a sort of "Open All Hours" society here, or a Tesco 24/7 style of shopping. The government is proposing to allow shops to dictate their own opening hours. This probably means 24 hour supermarkets with the little shop getting hit again.
President Talat has been in Washington and has called for the USA and the UN to help save the peace talks. Does this mean he is throwing in the towel or has he finally realised that there is no hope of a reconciliation because the differences are still too great.
We now have drug sniffing dogs at the ports and the airport. Yep we have finally started to get to the sort of society hat is so despised by many. Kids seem to want to experiment the world over and the money makers can't resist.
The temperature is dropping rapidly now and there is a forecast of rain next week, so maybe summer is over.
Got Joan to the Kyrenia Medical Centre this afternoon and yes they x-rayed and the doctor confirmed a broken rib. So now she has to sit up to sleep, no lifting, no driving etc for a number of weeks. Just have to get her back on her feet properly before we go over to UK and France on November 3rd.
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