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.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
You Can't Get Out of Here, You Know
Scrape...scrape...scratch..tap...tap. A bandicoot. No, maybe a cat...or is it? Glllubb...gluubb...clink...clink...metal on wood, or was it glass on metal? No, this was not a four-legged animal. Footsteps...
She got up slowly from her bed and tiptoed quietly to the stairway. She saw him. His back was to her. He had lit a candle and was looking for a place to put it down. She stood there studying him. He was getting impatient; he would surely drop something now. CRASH! The vase. He spun around instinctively and saw her. They stood looking at each other, her eyes calm, his jumping wildly around the room. He grabbed the telephone and snapped the line in a single motion. "It's been dead for a while now," her voice was soft and musical. He looked up startled. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. "Just give me what you have and I'll leave," he tried to make his voice sound menacing. 'After I slit your throat,' he thought to himself. "There's nothing here," she said calmly. He looked at her closely. She was very beautiful and trying to be very brave.
He started up the stairs. "Where's the safe?" She moved to make way. "I've just been burgled," she said as he passed her on the stairs. He laughed. He'd heard everything else. There were two rooms on this floor, both closed. He opened the first door and went into the room. Except for a cot, there was nothing there. She stood at the entrance watching him. Why was she not screaming for help or something? "I told you...I've just been burgled 3 days ago," she said quietly. "Look, if you don't give me what you have, I'll kill you," he advanced threateningly. Terror crossed her face and she withdrew slightly. "I don't have a safe. All my valuables were in the living room, and he took everything - it's all gone, 3 days ago," she began to descend.
For the first time, he noticed the house was a mess. "Why haven't you straightened it out?" he asked before he could stop himself. 'This is crazy!' he thought. 'I came to clean up this place and I'm having a conversation with the resident!' He hadn't even expected anyone to be in. He'd been casing the joint for 3 days now and it had seemed unoccupied. He suddenly remembered he had seen 2 rooms upstairs but had only gone into one of them. He turned to go back up.
"Where are you going?" she followed him. He ignored her and continued climbing. She followed him. They reached the closed door. "There's nothing in there you know," she said and he thought he detected a trace of sadness in her voice. He tried the door. It was locked. Ah-ha! So this is where the action was. "Give me the key," he demanded in a quietly menacing voice. To his surprise, she reached into her robe for the key and unlocked the door. She was neither as clever nor as brave as he had thought. "You can't get out of here, you know," she said sadly as he entered. He stood still. There was someone sleeping on a cot here. Now, he would have to kill both of them.
He looked down at the sleeping figure and his heart slammed against his rib cage. He jumped back from the cot as if he'd been punched. His eyes widened in terror and his mouth opened in a silent scream. It was her! He spun around. He was alone. They found his body the next day - only his body.
She got up slowly from her bed and tiptoed quietly to the stairway. She saw him. His back was to her. He had lit a candle and was looking for a place to put it down. She stood there studying him. He was getting impatient; he would surely drop something now. CRASH! The vase. He spun around instinctively and saw her. They stood looking at each other, her eyes calm, his jumping wildly around the room. He grabbed the telephone and snapped the line in a single motion. "It's been dead for a while now," her voice was soft and musical. He looked up startled. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. "Just give me what you have and I'll leave," he tried to make his voice sound menacing. 'After I slit your throat,' he thought to himself. "There's nothing here," she said calmly. He looked at her closely. She was very beautiful and trying to be very brave.
He started up the stairs. "Where's the safe?" She moved to make way. "I've just been burgled," she said as he passed her on the stairs. He laughed. He'd heard everything else. There were two rooms on this floor, both closed. He opened the first door and went into the room. Except for a cot, there was nothing there. She stood at the entrance watching him. Why was she not screaming for help or something? "I told you...I've just been burgled 3 days ago," she said quietly. "Look, if you don't give me what you have, I'll kill you," he advanced threateningly. Terror crossed her face and she withdrew slightly. "I don't have a safe. All my valuables were in the living room, and he took everything - it's all gone, 3 days ago," she began to descend.
For the first time, he noticed the house was a mess. "Why haven't you straightened it out?" he asked before he could stop himself. 'This is crazy!' he thought. 'I came to clean up this place and I'm having a conversation with the resident!' He hadn't even expected anyone to be in. He'd been casing the joint for 3 days now and it had seemed unoccupied. He suddenly remembered he had seen 2 rooms upstairs but had only gone into one of them. He turned to go back up.
"Where are you going?" she followed him. He ignored her and continued climbing. She followed him. They reached the closed door. "There's nothing in there you know," she said and he thought he detected a trace of sadness in her voice. He tried the door. It was locked. Ah-ha! So this is where the action was. "Give me the key," he demanded in a quietly menacing voice. To his surprise, she reached into her robe for the key and unlocked the door. She was neither as clever nor as brave as he had thought. "You can't get out of here, you know," she said sadly as he entered. He stood still. There was someone sleeping on a cot here. Now, he would have to kill both of them.
He looked down at the sleeping figure and his heart slammed against his rib cage. He jumped back from the cot as if he'd been punched. His eyes widened in terror and his mouth opened in a silent scream. It was her! He spun around. He was alone. They found his body the next day - only his body.
Oh, Blast!
One night, as we relaxed after dinner, we heard a huge explosion that rattled window panes and sent people pouring into the streets within seconds to locate the disaster area. To appreciate what I'm about to tell you, you'll need to know a little bit about my locality. It's just off a busy main road that boasts of half a dozen eateries always packed to the brim, video libraries, net cafes, a few small businesses and many other pretenders. Ours is a typical middle-class neighbourhood - small families (big quarrels), working single men and women, bored housewives, happy drunks - in short, a very ordinary neighbourhood with lots of action every day but all of us still convinced that we lead a quiet bored existence.
Into such a quiet and bored night was injected this aforementioned blast and the resulting outpour of human curiosity. Now, if such a thing were to ever happen in your neighbourhood, take my advice and do this - do nothing. Just stand by and watch a fascinating drama of humanity that will unravel itself; find a vantage point for your observation - from where you can watch two or three streets simultaneously. If you can move, unnoticed with the crowd, nothing like it. Here's what I saw:
From the convenience store at the corner of our street, emerged one of its owners, an affable bald man (now obviously distressed) walking rapidly and chanting in a low monotone to no one in particular: "What happened? What happened?" as he rushed into the first unlocked gates within sight - a block of the sprawling apartments nearby, and disappeared.
Next, a group of young men came charging down the street screaming, "Bomb! Bomb!" and turing the corner, raced out of sight excitedly. Following them were a band of young girls with their older female wards chattering animatedly. I stopped the group and asked "What happened?" "Sounds like a cylinder burst," one of the ladies ventured. A passerby picked it up and began running around screaming "cylinder burst, cylinder burst." This caused everyone to barge into the eateries on the main road which were all empty - because the crowd from the eateries were in front of an electronic gadgets shop guessing that to be the disaster site. The electronic gadgets shop was empty - they had set off to investigate the source of the blast too.
The entire crowd now charged into the next street loking for fire, smoke, blood, limbs, anything that would confirm a massive mysterious blast. They were met there by an equally huge crowd headed into our lane in hopes of finding similar carnage. Two drunks stumbling home met the excited crowd from both lanes and blabbered unsteadily, "Shumbudy shot the priminishter." Someone screamed, "Assassination!!" and everyone ran back into their homes to turn on their TV sets.
During all this time, there was one bewildered man following the crowd everywhere trying to get someone's attention. He kept saying "but please, listen to me.....listen to what I have to say...." but they rushed on mindlessly. Now that the street had emptied, I stopped the perplexed guy and popped the question "What happened?"
"I'm a truck driver," he said, "I was speeding down the road tonight and I ripped my tyre. I was trying to explain to these people that was the sound they heard."
Into such a quiet and bored night was injected this aforementioned blast and the resulting outpour of human curiosity. Now, if such a thing were to ever happen in your neighbourhood, take my advice and do this - do nothing. Just stand by and watch a fascinating drama of humanity that will unravel itself; find a vantage point for your observation - from where you can watch two or three streets simultaneously. If you can move, unnoticed with the crowd, nothing like it. Here's what I saw:
From the convenience store at the corner of our street, emerged one of its owners, an affable bald man (now obviously distressed) walking rapidly and chanting in a low monotone to no one in particular: "What happened? What happened?" as he rushed into the first unlocked gates within sight - a block of the sprawling apartments nearby, and disappeared.
Next, a group of young men came charging down the street screaming, "Bomb! Bomb!" and turing the corner, raced out of sight excitedly. Following them were a band of young girls with their older female wards chattering animatedly. I stopped the group and asked "What happened?" "Sounds like a cylinder burst," one of the ladies ventured. A passerby picked it up and began running around screaming "cylinder burst, cylinder burst." This caused everyone to barge into the eateries on the main road which were all empty - because the crowd from the eateries were in front of an electronic gadgets shop guessing that to be the disaster site. The electronic gadgets shop was empty - they had set off to investigate the source of the blast too.
The entire crowd now charged into the next street loking for fire, smoke, blood, limbs, anything that would confirm a massive mysterious blast. They were met there by an equally huge crowd headed into our lane in hopes of finding similar carnage. Two drunks stumbling home met the excited crowd from both lanes and blabbered unsteadily, "Shumbudy shot the priminishter." Someone screamed, "Assassination!!" and everyone ran back into their homes to turn on their TV sets.
During all this time, there was one bewildered man following the crowd everywhere trying to get someone's attention. He kept saying "but please, listen to me.....listen to what I have to say...." but they rushed on mindlessly. Now that the street had emptied, I stopped the perplexed guy and popped the question "What happened?"
"I'm a truck driver," he said, "I was speeding down the road tonight and I ripped my tyre. I was trying to explain to these people that was the sound they heard."
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