Holiday in Cyprus (2): arrival
On Monday, the flight from London to Larnaca was just over four hours and the time difference between Britain and Cyprus is two hours, so it took the best part of the day reaching the island. At Larnaca, I met the other members of the group. Since I was travelling alone, I was hoping for a group of decent size and variety, but I found that there were only three other members: a married couple from Suffolk and a single man from Leicester, all in their early 60s – each of them extremely well-travelled.
A laconic driver took us in a minivan from the south-east to the north-west of the island, passing through one of the seven border crossings between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This is a strange island which can be disorientating to visitors since often a place has Greek, Turkish and English names. But both parts of the island drive on the left, so that at least is a familiar situation for British tourists.
Our accommodation during our time in the north is on the outskirts of the coastal town of Kyrenia and called the Omar Village Hotel. It is a family-owned establishment, rather basic with no tea & coffee making facilities and very poor WiFi in the rooms (the WiFi in the restaurant is a bit better). But you can drink the tap water and they have the same three-pin plugs as Britain.
Dinner was included in the tour and consisted of a set menu of three courses with a choice of just two dishes for each course. Drinks were extra and we toasted my 70th birthday with local Efes beer. Down in the town, there were some fireworks which might have been for my birthday but could have been to celebrate the presidential election in Turkey at the weekend.