Cyprus Diary - April 2002

The plane angles sharply in descent. The blue sea seems to leap at your porthole. The beauty of the gleaming Mediterranean takes your breath away. You couldn't hope for a better welcome.

Cyprus is a Mediterranean Island. It's called the Island of Venus, Island of the Sun, Island of Aphrodite, hundreds of names really but nothing does justice to this charming place. Locally, it's called Kypru. The population is about 700,000 (less than Bangalore!) It's history is complicated and interesting but it's most recent influences have been Turkish, British, and of course Greek. It's been colonised just like us, and everyone speaks English. The people are warm and friendly and very interested in India. Cyprus is located in a commercial hotspot - a Mediterranean port close to 3 continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe but they don't export much....mainly oranges. They import everything from everywhere.

Where we stayed was Nicosia, the capital city, locally known as Lefkosia. It's perfect to a fault, very picturesque, very neat and tidy, very laid back, and very very safe. The best way to see the city is by foot (I suppose that's the best way to see any place). Nicosia is the last divided capital city in the world. My bedroom had a view of this mountain with a huge crescent moon painted on the backdrop of a flag...that's where Turkish Cyprus begins. The Turks and Greeks hate each other with a passion that makes the Indo-Pak rivalry look like a romance. Though they're just across the border, they couldn't be more different.

Greek Cyprus (where we stayed) is more influenced by Europe. It's currency is the pound, and it's value in terms of Indian rupees would be around 77, but these people don't trade in the international market so if you crossed the border with a pound, it's as good as used tissue - absolutely worthless. This side of the fence, unemployment is almost nil, crime rate is 0, and the standard of living very high. They speak Greek. it's a very safe place. You can leave your house unlocked and go on a vacation and come back and nothing will be missing. You can safely walk around at 2 in the morning without worrying about being mugged. You don't have to worry about the taxis taking you for a ride (no pun), your pocket being picked, or your property being trespassed. The Turks I heard are everything the Greeks are not. There's rampant poverty and unemployment, and naturally, crime.

Nicosia is a beautiful city. When we landed, it was spring, a perfect season. The Mediterranean climate is very well suited for fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The flowers have to be seen to be believed! Every inch of available space has plants and you can see maybe a square foot of land with about 50 varieties of flowers of different colours. Lime and orange trees grow by the roadside and in spring, they're full of fruit. When the sea breeze sets in the evening, the aroma is intoxicating.

Where we stayed was the heart of Nicosia, just off the main road called Makarios Avenue, in a street called Dramas. Our apartment was on the 7th floor, and every window in every room overlooked the mountains in the distance. The sunsets were breathtaking (the sunrises also, I suppose, but I never rose with the sun to look). About 2 to 3 km from where we stayed is the Town Square, a local hangout - much like MG Road but a lot cleaner and not as crowded. No traffic is allowed in the Square, so there's only foot traffic. It's a block of area covered with hundreds of shops and yummy eateries. At the end of the Town Square is a memorial for the soldiers who died during the Turkish invasion of 1974. Just behind the Memorial is a wall with steps leading up. If you climb up and peep across, you can see where Turkish Cyprus begins. It's heavily patrolled by soldiers who're such hunks!

Nicosia doesn't have an airport. It did have an international airport until recently when the UN took it over, so it's not open to civil air traffic. The airport is at Larnaka, a city about 50 km from Nicosia. It's a good thing because the ride from Larnaka to Nicosia is absolutely stunning! The airport is right next to the Mediterranean, so when you descend, the view is awesome. On the other side are the mountains (if you have a good imagination, it'll help because no words can do justice to this sight).

The Mediterranean is a lovely colour. Ink blue in the middle, copper sulfate as it shallows off, and peacock green where the shores start. It's a very friendly sea, calm, blue, and very safe. You'll never see here the huge rolling crashing waves that you see in the other oceans. It's an ideal place to learn deep see diving and snorkelling and the beach towns have lessons for tourists - if you camp at a beach twon, it's irresistible, but we only visited the beaches, never stayed overnight anywhere.

The most beautiful was the Agia Napa (pronounced ayya-napa) beach town. It's the hottest tourist destination of all the beaches in Cyprus. It's spic and span, has lovely beachfront hotels and cottages, beautiful flowers and trees, great eateries, and deadly shops. The beach road is heavenly. You can spend hours just sitting on the benches on the beach road and watching life buzz around. We visited two other beaches - Pafos which is on the west and Kurion (also called Curium) which is on the way to Pafos. We visited Curium first. The road to Curium is cut through a hill and the terrain is very unpredictable on the other side. Sometimes, it flattens off into plains and sometimes it's just a sheer drop. We were travelling with friends who live in Limassol and have travelled the road many times. They stopped the car abruptly and told us to get out and take a look....we gasped! There was the Mediterranean!! It's beauty when you see it from the hill is indescribable. From where we were standing on the hill, we could see cars parked right almost to where the waves can lap on the tyres. It's not much of a beach when you actually get to Pafos. It's a very small strip and it's not as glamourous as Agia Napa. Hardly anyone goes to Curium I heard and I had to wonder why! It's not marketed as a tourist spot like Agia Napa, so it's probably the best place to go. We had a great time on Curium beach. Hardly anyone was around and the water was fantastic. Because we got there around 4, the sun was directly overhead, the water was lukewarm and the loveliest blue I've ever seen. It was then I noticed how the water looks a different colour at each beach. By the time we reached Pafos, it had started to get very cloudy and misty, so we missed the sunset which is apparently an unforgettable sight if you see it. Pafos is not much of a beach at all. It has rocks going out into the Mediterranean and you can go quite a bit into the sea. On our way back from Pafos, we stopped at a Pakistani restaurant (if you're in Europe, a Pakistani restaurant is home!!) called Pine Tree. It's right next to one of the two British bases in Cyprus. The minute you get out of the car, a very strong aroma of pine hits you - it's very sharp and refreshing. It's a small place and Asians are very welcome. No one cares where you're from. The food is lovely.

The Cypriot food is superlative if you're a non-veggy. If you're a grasseater like yours sincerely, you don't have too much choice. The traditional Cypriot meal is something called a Mezze which is (get ready!) a 30-course meal...yes! 30-COURSE! We weren't adventurous enough to try it. It's got lots of meats, vegetables, fish, bread, and fruit. They eat a lot of wheat products but rice is also available. You have food products from all over the world on that tiny island.

The Cypriots are great drinkers (my kind of folks!) The Cyprus White Wine is quite a hot favourite in the Mediterranean. They have 4 major breweries and KEO and SODAP are 2 of the most famous. KEO beer is as delicious as they come but their wines are even better- they have a real kick, especially their red wines. They drink a lot of coffee too! Every kind of tea in the world is available, but they're great coffee drinkers (my kind of folks again!). The Greek coffee is a must on all menus. It's very strong, made without milk, and is simply yummy! Traditional Cypriot sweets are apparenly very very sugary - I tasted just one kind, very masrshmallowy in texture.

Kakopetria is a lovely little mountain village tucked away in the Troodos mountain range. It's bang in the mountains and a tourist bomb. It's actualy just a 3-road job - you walk up and down twice and you've seen the entire village. People who're trekking up to Troodos stop here on their way up. Troodos is a very rare mountain in that it's heavily snow capped and brightly sunlit at the same time giving it an almost surreal look. There are cozy little pubs and eateries in Kakopetria and dozens of souvenir and traditional handicraft shops. Cypriot handicrafts are not so great if you're going from India. It's difficult to get very excited with plain-looking pottery and metal and leather work after you've seen the intricacies of Indian handicraft, but I suppose they'll do for the Western traveller.

Cyprus is an unforgettable experience - and one you'd like to experience over again.