Well, I made it back into the crazy and cold city of Istanbul last night, after my brief journey to the land of the sleeping - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. As most of you know, the reason for the trip was to buy a new visa for Turkey as my old one had expired. So why did I choose Cyprus? Obviously because it was the quickest and cheapest destination I could go to by plane. I could have gone on the bus again to the fascinating town of Svilengrad in Bulgaria where I went last time, but I chose to spend a few more lira and head somewhere new.

I arrived late on Friday night and was greeted by the taxi driver my hotel had arranged. As we headed from Ercan airport (near the capital Lefkosa, or Nicosia) to the little harbour-side town of Girne, my first impressions of the place were that it was a lot like the Australian outback. A few hills, a few trees, and not much else. The driving seemed more Australian than Turkish too - nicely surfaced roads with clear signs and safety barriers (almost non-existant here), driving on the left (although half the cars have the steering wheels on the left too), and most drivers obey the speed limits and road rules. It was difficult to see much as it was dark, apart from the many billboards & neon signs advertising the island's casinos.

I was greeted at my hotel by the lovely owner, Kemal, who moved to Cyprus just 6 months ago from Istanbul with his family. It was called the Watermill Hotel, and is a little bit out of the main drag, but nice enough. As I was deaf from a combination of my headcold and the plane's descent, I headed straight to bed for a long and much-needed sleep.

Breakfast the next day was pretty much standard Turkish fare. A few cheeses (including 1 that resembled rubber), tomatoes, olives, hard-boiled egg and bread. In the daylight, I could see the lovely view from the hotel - a stone carpark, a few apartments, set in a nice mountain backdrop.

After breakfast, I headed out to find the dolmus (which was more like a minibus) to head back to Lefkosa for the day. On my way, I stumbled across the harbour, the feature of which is the venetian castle (I think the majority of it was venetian anyway, although there were many additions in its time). More about the harbour later. Dolmus to Lefkosa was quick and cheap (3ytl), but it ended up at the bus station in the newer part of town. Not having a decent map, I just took a punt at which direction to head to find the old walled city. Thankfully, I got it right, and found myself at the old city gate, which now doubles as the tourist information office. I got myself a great map, which has a walking tour planned out, making it easy to see all the important sights. There is also a blue line painted on the ground showing the walking tour, so you don't have to be too good at map-reading, except where the line has faded...

The town has quite a lot of interesting buildings. From gothic churches that have been converted to mosques, to Turkish baths, to Armenian monasteries... There are also a lot of obviously once-grand houses that are in various states of disrepair. Lots of slummy places. Lots of interesting windows and doors to photograph. Like my first impression of Istanbul, I found Lefkosa to be vary bare of women. There are lots of groups of young men, but not a lot of girls around. I guess they are all hiding away in the houses cooking and cleaning and popping out the babies.

There was a 'fresh food' market I came across in Lefkosa. I have never seen so many rotten apples and tomatoes. They have a lot of citrus trees in the country, but I guess their other produce is not so great. Still, women were buying the rotten fruit by the bagful. Another thing I noticed - the women do their shopping with old prams and strollers. Often there are no children in sight, but there's women young and old pushing around pramfuls of food. I suppose it's practical, but it does look odd.

After about 5 hours of walking around there, I went back to Girne and crashed in the hotel. My cold medication had worn off and I passed out in bed (in my clothes) for a while. After forcing myself out into the wild streets of Girne (not a soul to be seen!) for some dinner, I ended up having an ice-cream and orange juice before passing out again at 9 for a 12 hour nap!

Feeling refreshed after my breakfast of rubber and egg on Sunday morning, I ventured back to the harbour to have a proper look around. The harbour is very small and surrounded by touristy restaurants with less-agressive-than-Turkey-&-Greece touts. A lot of the people living there are British retirees, so there's lots of English speakers, English food, and prices in pounds. I wandered around the back streets of that area to see some of the older Turkish & Greek housing. The town has just 1 or 2 mosques and maybe 2 churches, one of which only opens every 2 weeks I think. I went into the castle, which gives a pretty good view of the town from the top of the walls. I finally got to take advantage of my student card too, as Turkish museums only recognise Turkish students.

In my last hours before I had to leave, I caught a cab to the nearby village of Bellapais (or Beylerbeyi in Turkish). It is a tiny place with cute houses and restaurants and a gorgeous monastery perched on the hillside. Back to the hotel to say good-bye, then off to the airport again. On the way to the airport, I saw that there's loads of new contruction everywhere. The Brits are taking over the island as quickly as they are taking over the south of mainland Turkey. Construction and tourism are the only real sources of income there I think.

Oh, did I mention the weather? Beautiful clear skies on Saturday, and warm, warm, warm all weekend. No jackets and scarves needed there. But don't think about shopping there. Same stuff as in Turkey, but less choice and higher prices.

So that was my trip to Cyprus. It was topped off by a cheap (compared to Turkish prices) duty free alcoholic purchase while waiting in one of the smallest airports I have ever been inside. I knew I was back in Istanbul when I got to immigration and had to wait for ages and ages and ages... I had a nice time in Cyprus, but it's still good to be back in this crazy, noisy, busy place.

Photos will be on my website in the next couple of days. I'll send the link when ready.

M

We visited NC a couple of years back and had a great time. By coincidence we were there on the day they opened the border and hundreds of greek cypriots came pouring over, mostly to visit the monastry at the northern tip (It was amazing to see the contast in cars, Turks in the Sahins and old renaults / greeks in their brand new 4x4 trucks). We found a fantastic beach, completely off the road and deserted and spent three nights camping there. We stayed in Girne also, but found that the restaurants had two prices (no change there then).

Nice write-up, Monsta! It's certainly been a destination I've kept in mind, and now have more food-for-thought to help make a decision... So where are you going to renew your visa next? You may want to try the other side of Edirne - little Greek village with almost nothing there, but still different and "European".

Next time I'm off to France for work (not as fun as it sounds - I'll be nannying again!). After that, not sure where I'll go. First time was just over the border from Edirne, but in Bulgaria. May try the Greek village if you give me some more details. It's ages away still so plenty of time to think of a destination.

Cyprus was nice, but boring for a lot of people I suspect. I love to photograph old buildings, so it was great for me. I also wanted to go to a few other towns, but I didn't rent a car so they were too difficult to reach. Definitely get a car or scooter if you go and you can see a lot more.

Stupid question: Is there a way to drive to Northern Cyprus, ie. take a ferry from where? That way I could take my car and not have to rent...

Just like in Turkey there are dolmuses going all over the place there. Only hassle is that they seem to end quite early in the evenings. When going to out of the way villages I used to catch a dolmus to the nearest crossroads and then hitch.

There is a ferry, from somehwere, but it would probably cost as much as renting a car anyway. One thing I found about NC is that driving is almost a pleasure. UK habits are quite prevalent, such as giving way at junctions, flashing lights to give way to oncoming traffic rather then as a warning that you are coming no matter what, indicating and not jumping the queue to save 0.060 seconds on your journey. Don't forget travellers, they drive on the right side of the road.

There sure is. I took the ferry from Mersin but we had intended getting it from somewhere about 45 mins West of there - the name escapes me now (Nothing to do with alcohol - had just driven overnight from İstanbul and was too tired to speak let alone register information) I think it was taş - something or another. Anyway, the ferry took all night, was filthy as only Turkish ferries can be (I didn't even dare go anywhere near the 'facilities'), but the crew were ace. We shared dinner which might have been stewed dog and whatever alcohol & fags we had between us. Grabbed a couple hours kip in the car, watched the sunrise and we were there.

Not suprisingly, customs was nothing short of a nightmare but my lack of sleep had caused aggression bordering on Incredible Hulk proportions and for once, it helped. Was supposed to spend the first night in a hotel near the port which was possibly the most soul destroying hole I have ever had the displeasure to visit and was swiftly transferred to Salmaki's Hotel / Casino (which was the whole purpose of the trip). One night in the casino, one rubber & egg breakfast (yep, it's the same everywhere) and one bee sting in the foot later, I concluded that this was not a place I wanted to spend any more time than absolutely necessary. A few telephone calls later, it appeared that all the planes back to Turkey were full (obviously I was not alone in my opinion) so I bit the bullet and headed to the airport to camp out and hope that a cancellation would crop up.

Lucky me. Got chatting to the guys from 'Televole' who I knew from my PR days and had been filming in Cyprus over the weekend. Turns out 'Ç' has decided to stay an extra night with some bit he's pulled and so they have a spare ticket! Not even the 3 hour delay could dampen my delight as the ticket was transferred to me as 'part of the crew' in exchange for some hot contact details in Bodrum. Much silliness in the form of drinking games ensued amid the chaos that can only occur when 3 full flights are delayed in an airport departure lounge designed for 50.

OK, I wasn't there long, I didn't really look around much and I'm known for my preference for most things Turkish but my lasting impression was of a desolate, characterless place where the people spoke funny (Turkish with a Greek melody & accent) and the food was crap. Shan't be hurrying back.....

But yeah, you can get a ferry.

CdnRed re ferries

There are regular ferry services from Kyrenia and Famagusta to towns on the Southern coast of Turkey, namely Mersin, Antalya and Tasucu. .....
More:
http://www.holidayinnorthcyprus.com/arrival_howto.jsp

I have not been there, remembered I saw some questions in VirtualTourist.

Also found this, but the answer is from oct. 2003 so not sure if the phone no's is correct but since I couldn't find Kibris Turk Denizcilik Sirketi in the other link I add it here.
- - -
Here are two companies and their numbers:
Kibris Turk Denizcilik Sirketi: (+ 90 392) 366 59 95/ 366 57 86
Fergun Denizcilik Sirketi Ltd.: +90-392-815 23 44/815 49 93
- - -

Bon voyage


edited +
Found link to ferry company
http://www.fergun.net/uk/index.htm

I am taking the ferry to Lefkose next week and was wondering if any of you has crossed from the Turkish side to the Greek side.
I heard some horror stories and I would like to have a smooth travel.

Unless you have a Turkish Cypriot id or a Turkish press card you will be able to cross into Greek Cyprus but when you come back you will be arrested by the Greek Cypriots for "illegally entering the Republic of Cyprus". It happens all the time.

[quote user="Oz Kanka" post="75984"]Unless you have a Turkish Cypriot id or a Turkish press card you will be able to cross into Greek Cyprus but when you come back you will be arrested by the Greek Cypriots for "illegally entering the Republic of Cyprus". It happens all the time.[/quote]

No, no, no. Don't scare her, Oz Kanka.

worldtraveler - You should have no problems crossing into Greek Cyprus, and crossing back. None whatsoever. Zilch. No worries. Keep us updated.

Yikes
I have been trying to find info on this. I will let you know how it all went after I return.

I was in Northern Cyprus 18 months ago with friends who crossed to the Greek side for a day trip and came back no worries

In which case, I hear Mogadishu is also great this time of the year.