A summer in Cyprus

Shelley here – Last year we were lucky enough to spend the summer months on the beautiful island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. I had been once about 10 years ago to the south east of the island, it is mainly the party end and it was full of discos and drunk people so I was a little worried about going back as I had only gone the first time in order to take a weekend trip to Egypt. This time round we booked the exact opposite end of the island, the north west: a small village called Polis. We booked a block of 3 months online with a UK rental company and hoped for the best. The rent was cheap and the online photos looked really good. We flew to Paphos and then had to take a very expensive cab ride on to Polis, costing about 60 GBP. We arrived at night but could see the apartment was large, spacious, clean, well decorated, fully equipped with all we could need, and had 2 balconies for sitting out. Also waiting to greet us was a friendly note from the women who were renting it to us plus bread and a bottle of red wine, what more could you ask?! They popped round in the morning to give us all the details about the complex, the pool and the town of Polis.

We thought of hiring a car, but decided it was too expensive, plus we had the opportunity of renting the owner’s jeep on a day to day basis every now and then which worked out fine. Instead we hired a cute wee scooter (see photos below). We were given crazy old, cracked helmets which I had to actually wear on top of my straw sunhat! Boy did I look tremendous in that, somehow no photos are available of that wardrobe faux pas. John zipped around town with me clinging on to his back. It was brilliant fun!

One of the many aspects of Cypriot living that appealed to us was the delicious food. All the fruit and vegetables tasted so different from what we were used to in either of own home countries. They were grown in the surrounding fields and were wonderful. Lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, oranges, olives and many more were a daily delight. We sampled a traditional meze meal one evening in Polis. This meant we were served a selection of everything on the menu that evening. About 8 small dishes to start with, including dips, French fries, roasted and fried vegetables, potatoes, and then this was followed by several meat dishes, including lamb, roast potatoes and more vegetables. We were given a complimentary brandy to finish it all off. The moustached man in the photo was the local butcher and owner of the restaurant.

We ventured south to the resort towns of Coral Bay and Paphos to check out the more touristy parts of the island. We decided to go camping but of course didn’t actually have a tent. We trawled the shops in 90F heat only to discover that camping equipment was not amongst the top priorities of British tourists (the majority of the tourists were by far from Britain). Having asked a local for advice, we discovered we needed to head back up a steep hill to the main part of Paphos for a sporting goods store. Amazingly we found the shop, with a small 2 man tent for a ridiculously priced 35 Euros and with only 2 minutes to buy it before the shopkeeper shut for her ½ day closing (it being a Saturday), we promptly lightened our wallets and bought the item. Next we hopped a bus along the coast to just outside Paphos where we were told by the tourist board a camp site could be found. “Could” being the operative word. It was about a 35 minute walk in the heat along a dusty road. Eventually after several wrong turns and trespassing on a rather irate Cypriot’s land, we found a large arid field with some trailers and a large cement building in the centre which looked like the toilets and shower area. Not very promising. We wandered around looking for any sign of life and after some time two local men appeared and said we could camp wherever we pleased. (there were no other tents to be seen) The ladies toilet was locked, I would have to wait till later for the key, meanwhile John tried the men’s and promptly ran out with horrific tales of what he found inside. I will spare you the details. We had noticed when we were arriving at the entrance to the campsite that a night club was located right in front of it. As we were starting to set up camp we talked it over: the lack of clean showers and toilets, the shady looking owners, and we also realized that it would be quite unsafe with drunk revelers from the club able to just walk right in at all hours of the night. So it is no surprise to you to learn, dear reader, we upped sticks and took the next bus back along the coast to Coral Bay. Here we camped in the back yard of a restaurant, in fact on a large piece of cement, it being the only ant-free area to be found. On the up side we were totally alone, very safe and the lady who ran the restaurant kind of adopted us, she felt sorry for us I think. Plus she had no other visitors, well I mean who camps in Cyprus?! Most folk had holiday apartments. We set up camp-see photos of tent and me spraying for ants- and then hit the town. We enjoyed a pleasant evening of music from an Elvis impersonator who romped through his early life, Army life and ended with Vegas Elvis, much to the rowdy cheers of the rather tipsy Brits (me included!)

Another evening was spent in Inneia. This was a very small typical Greek village up in the hills. We were drawn there as a musical evening had been advertised in a shop window in Polis. The local mayor introduced the spectacle, all the audience sat in plastic chairs in the tiny town square, they were mainly Brits who now lived there but also some Cypriots as well. Wonderful kebabs, baked potatoes, salad, wine and beer were on sale at the side. We heard Greek music and watched some displays from fire-swallowers, then finally the top of the bill arrived…. Pat Savage. We had no idea who he was – turns out he was a Canadian rocker in his 50s who said he had had a number one hit record his home country and had played with Lynrd Skynrd. He also said he was touring Europe and filming all his shows for a forthcoming Discovery channel documentary. It turned out to be a really great night and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We even got up to dance, hoping of course to be captured on film in the documentary (!) We sped home on the scooter round the twists and curves of the hills back to Polis in the wee small hours.

As I mentioned earlier there are a lot of British tourists in Cyprus, but there are also a large number of them who actually live there permanently, having now retired and enjoy their free healthcare and UK pensions. (something we hope to be able to do eventually) Polis had some Brits as well, they were all well-behaved, middle aged to retirement age people who drank tea, read British newspapers and in the evening enjoyed a few glasses of wine. It was a quiet sleepy village with one large well-stocked supermarket, Papadopolous if I remember correctly, lots of little bars, cafes and restaurants. The most wonderful part of the place was its long sandy beach. It stretched all the way along the coast to the neighbouring town of Latchi. There was only one small café/bar on the beach which was always pretty busy with tourists and locals alike. At the weekends the Cypriots would come and use the campsite at the back of the café area and play and eat and just enjoy each other’s company. It was a very friendly, laid back kind of place. We especially loved spending a whole day there, me with my book, John with his MP3 player, and later we’d mess about in the waves like kids and also like all the other folk there. We took some photos of the sunset one time and another of an extremely high tide.

In the end I had to return a few weeks early to meet my appointment at the U.S. Embassy in London for a visa. John stayed on and enjoyed a little extra time in the sun. It was very hard to leave and it is reassuring to know that somewhere in this crazy, mixed up world there is a place that is tranquil, safe and filled with beauty, somewhere to truly just be… we can’t wait to return.

John here – All I can add is Cyprus has been the nicest place I’ve yet to visit. The people are way laid back, and at Polis there were hardly any tourists, as it is an hours taxi ride from the airport and that keeps them away. When Shelley left I spent my time riding the scooter to the beach and back, visiting Paphos, and kicking back with a very good South African friend of mine who owned one of the local pubs. I really enjoy meeting foreigners, debating politics and hearing their various viewpoints…which is why I love traveling as opposed to vacationing. Cyprus was excellent for that and someday we hope to return. I forgot to mention, one highlight for me was celebrating 4th of July on the balcony of our Polis apt. (old glory flying), as 99% of the complex were English .