Cyprus 6th October.
Cyprus part one:
On the road travelling onwards, now much closer to Cyprus. We finally reached Tasucu, the road from Kalkan had been all along the coast, past Antalya and Alanya. The most south westerly part from Alanya to Tasucu was very interesting and some what dangerous as the road once again became ever steeper, really narrow and winding in many places, yet remarkably was still being used by all sorts of heavy vehicles. At times I wondered whether we would make this final last leg of our trip safely.
We passed vast plantations growing bananas, their large green tropical leaves looked un-real. For a time it felt more like the Caribbean than Turkey.
We found to our frustration that the ferry crossing from Tasucu to Cyprus had not been bookable on line or by telephone, they simply do not response to either form of communication. This was already an indication to what type of company we would be dealing with, but it was the only way over by car so we had no choice. Ultimately it would be pot luck if we found a same day ticket.
We knew the sailing took place late in the evening, so once we arrived we headed straight to the ticket office. A large queue outside, not a good sign I thought. Once again Ed had the unenviable task of joining the queue, this time amongst a mixed bunch of nearly all men. His decision to make me wait across the road in the car a good one. After some time, he emerged victorious with two tickets for tonight’s crossing. We now had plenty of time to kill and get organised for the trip. Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to add a cabin as they had already all sold out. This would make the trip somewhat uncomfortable, only 6 hours i’m sure we can handle it.
The crossing was due to leave around 11.30pm. As we parked up close to the ferry it became apparent that the sales person had not given both our passports back with the tickets and we had a very panicky and rather speedy return back to the ticket office to retrieve Eds passport. I had visions of Ed being stranded in Tasucu, as I sailed off into the night for Cyprus (only joking I would have never left him behind.)
The time came for embarkation, two hours before departure and once aboard we realised this was not going to be a nice trip. A very old, extremely dirty ferry greeted us. Absolutely no where to sit comfortably let alone rest your head for a few hours. To make things worse the estimated departure time was way off, so finally at around 2am after 4 hours on board already and still waiting to sail. We decided to go out on deck to try and find an area that would be safe enough to lay down, we had with us a small blanket and my trusty picnic blanket that was semi water proof on one side, we laid it down on the floor just under a metal stair case, not ideal by any means but severe tiredness had kicked in and needs must. Somehow now cuddled up together on the floor with our one blanket and our bags for cushions under our heads we both nodded off. The ferry sailed off finally around 3.30 am and the sound of the engine humming and the slight rocking motion became slightly noticeable. I would say roughly an hour later I heard a strange ticking sound which I couldn’t quite work out, then a few drops of water hit my face. Please no, not now, yes it started to rain, we hadn’t seen a single drop for weeks, surely it wouldn’t be much. Oh, but yes it was, within 30 seconds we were forced to our feet, grabbing our now wet picnic blanket, off the very wet metal floor. Flashes of lightning in the distance moving ever closer, then thunder clashing in the back ground. You really couldn’t have written a more disastrous end to our attempt at slumber.
Above us on the next level a pretty black dog gazed down at us through the railings as we stood huddled in a corner, now slightly further in from the staircase and out of the rain. She too was now getting completely soaked, accompanied by her two drenched young owners sat next to her. Unable to take her inside they had no option but to sit it out. ☹
Well, the storm eventually blew over, we watched as it slowly headed back in the direction of Tasucu, relieved it wasn’t heading our way and now we could just see Cyprus in the distance as it began to get light.
Generally, everyone had started to stir and the lucky ones that had managed to sleep awoke. We now gathered our bits and re-positioned ourselves to a couple of plastic chairs, where we could see Cyprus approaching ever closer. Still away off but a lovely site, we could easily make out Girne in the distance and even from this way off view could see just how much it had grown since our last visit.
The ferry docked as we chatted to other passengers that we had now made friends with. Our shared experiences of this trip and others on the way our main source of discussions. Robert from Lithuania who had an uncanny resemblance to Roger Federa and a lovely young couple travelling with their dogs from Spain in a camper van.
The dis-embarkment went smoothly and we now looked forward to what should be a simple passing of security/customs and the 40 minutes or so drive to Nicosia. But this was far too much to expect of the port system in Cyprus. Back & forward several times to passport control then a separate area to register that we are bringing our own car in, followed by another area to have our ferry ticket stamped the list went on & on until we were ready to drive through the customs gates. However, only the Turkish registered vehicles about 90 % of the ships passengers were waived through, all foreigners had to wait and wait we did.
In total we waited a further 4 hours, their whole computer system crashed just as we, yes, I mean Ed & I were registering the last of our details through the tiny window of the customs officer’s desk. He abruptly announced we would have to wait until it resumed. I must say we are a very patient lot, I’m not sure many others would have been so silent for quite as long as us. However, watching Midnight Express has always made me feel very nervous of confrontation at any Turkish border, I guess.
Two hours into the wait the whole customs office (a Porto cabin with four windows) pulled their blinds down, the crowd of foreigners as we were now known, watched on as a scooter arrived laden with a large take away box of what looked like the Turkish version of KFC. The delivery driver was gone in a flash, the food swiftly taken from him and the cabin door slammed behind the eager customs officer. Lunch time I presume! Well let’s face it we all get hungry.
Time to raid our own vehicles for food, one by one you could see this tired bunch of upwards of 50 people (would-be tourists to Cyprus) looking to see what we could all eat, I seem to remember lots of crisps, nuts, fruit and snacks appearing from everywhere. We all munched away together in unison, and all in hopeful thought of a swift resumption of the system, after lunch off course. Then lunch over, still no joy, eventually we asked what happens if it never resumes, oh well, then we would have to go back to the old paper version one bright spark behind the window announced. So how long do you wait until you decide to undertake a paper version then? we asked. Yes, probably around now, he replied, reacting to our somewhat clear frustrations. The door opened and off one of them went, 30 mins later he returned with two large carbon copy pads. Oh yes, lets getting going now, however, once in the cabin the pads were now grabbed by two women officers occupying the opposite windows to ours and a rather heated argument ensued as our officer tried to persuade them that he should have one of them. It seemed like a day passed as we watched on. Well, it’s probably best the other (foreigners) couldn’t understand Turkish as to what was being said, let’s just say it’s not often you get to hear Turkish women swear quite the same as any man. Our poor officer outnumbered and thoroughly put in his place took it upon himself to go and find a third pad. So, we waited again.
He returned, finally, no apologies were given from anyone, almost dismissed as if this is an everyday occurrence for them. Our paper form now completed, we were free to enter the TRNC, we paused awhile and made sure our fellow companions also made it through the form filling extravaganza. We drove through the customs gates and stopped on the other side to say a final farewell to each other, but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate to say good bye here, after what we had just all endured together. We decided to drive up to Bellapais Abbey, a charming place just a short distance up the hill from Kyrenia, which has a great view overlooking the whole town. A celebratory freedom drink was definitely in order. Our little convoy, 1 Mercedes, 1 camper van & 1 motor bike. We also wanted to show our new friends that despite the complete lack of organisation and appalling treatment at the border, it really was worth all the effort of coming over to Cyprus. We were now able to relax, laugh about the whole ordeal and have our farewell drink together.
Off course by this time, we had been receiving concerned calls from Ed’s parents, where are you? Hour’s way passed our expected ETA, finally we announce we were on the road and almost there. The drive through Kyrenia on to the main road out was somewhat shocking, this relatively small town as we had once enjoyed, especially when our children were young, was now a larger higher more concrete one, shinning glass constructions everywhere, evolved somehow overnight and the high volume of cars forming traffic jams everywhere, as the small roads burst to capacity. It was a sad sight to behold.
We drove up and over the hill on the main carriageway away from Kyrenia, Lefkosa (Nicosia) appeared in the warm hazy distance. The whole city both Turkish & Greeks sides now visible.
Our final destination for now, quality family time, even new born family members to meet, lots of catching up to do for sure!
To be continued ……. It might take a while ……
