Cyprus creek

Well as the out-laws are sunning themselves on their golden wedding cruise around South America, the missus and I decided to try the delights of Cyprus for a week. I had wanted to try out this Aphrodite Hills Resort which had a renowned golf course, and a spa for the ladies, and neither of us had been to the island before, so off we went.

Its a funny island in as much as it is divided by a UN separation zone between the Greek side and Turkish side, and the crossing point near Nicosia is like a front line was zone. The Turkish side is poorer, but many Greeks left and lost land worth thousands of Euro's when the invasion occurred, and they were forced to move South.

Now I have heard of Agia Napa and the various British enclaves which cover the military bases on the island, but other than that it was a voyage of discovery. Did you know for example that Mount Olympus in the Troodos mountains is nearly 2000m high? Well, we drove to the top up some very basic roads, and had we been in the mood, we could have skied in the substantial fresh snow which had fallen earlier. As it was we continued to the monastery at Kykkos, which is impressive, but not quite such a feat of engineering as those on Mount Athos, an area which is called the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain in the Macedonia region of Greece.

The golf course which I played four times, was a sound test of golf, particularly when the strong wind blew off the Southern plains of the Sahara. Over the course of those rounds, I played with Dutch, German and Russian partners, such is the cosmopolitan attraction of the area.

Many people, the Russians and English being prime, are purchasing holiday homes on the island, although I certainly would not fly over Portugal or Italy to do so. The island has a serious water problem and is discussing shipping water in from Lebanon. Pathos is already dominated by 'English' bars in the same way Agia Napa attracts the young crowd with its night clubs, and with limited transportation and few activities which could maintain ones interest in the long term, I fail to see the attraction of living there.

Now the locals try hard and are tremendously helpful and friendly, but I can't help but feel the tourist board send people around the island to look for interesting sites to drag tourists to. A natural spring has been called Aphrodites bath, a rock in the sea off Pisseria has been called Aphrodites birthplace, and so it goes on. All have the obligatory tourist shack but little else.

The mosaics at the World Heritage site by the harbour are impressive but they are an exception, and I suspect most of the visitors are there for the sun, Fat Mama's and the Rose and Crown. Ah well, everyone to their own.