Cyprus to Slovakia part 2

Part two …..

The story of the Skiing Trip actually started back in the August when I decided I was going to spend a week with Kris in Cyprus. Unable to take Cian out of school to come with me Peter announced that he would take Cian (his now 11yr old) Snow Boarding for his Christmas/Birthday present.

I was pleased for them, pleased that they would have a break away this winter and as I sat on the plane alone heading to the sun of the Cypriot coast, I gave it not a second thought.

My week with Kris was wonderful. I completed my Advance Open Water Diving course, I went windsurfing, paddle boarding, canoeing and swimming.

I created cities of sand much to the fascination of the German children staying in the Hotel. As my building grew they over-came their shyness edging ever closer to stand and stare. They began to chatter away in German that I could not understand so I politely nodded or smiled and continued my work.

Parents were dragged over to act as translators as the children grew more animated.”They are asking if they can help you?” one parent explained. “Of course!” I replied looking at the acres of empty beach. “They can create whatever they want!”

I set up mini building projects all over the flat sand, marvelling at the speed the children could extract the knives they required for their carvings from the restaurant! Bit by bit the children took over the construction until, quietly, I extracted myself on the pretence of a swim and left them all happily building!

We also had guests for dinner (four nights in a row) after one of the most amazing shopping trips ever. As part of Kristofer's contract, he is provided with a flat in the nearby village, He also gets all of his food and drinks supplied free of charge at the Aldiana Resort where he works. Very rarely does food make it home to the flat as his needs are met each day while he is at work.

At the airport pick up he had handed me a packet of crisps, a bottle of water and informed that he would take me shopping first thing in the morning as the cupboards were bare. He wasn't kidding about the cupboards!!

As we returned from the big supermarket in Kiti, 50 Euros lighter the next morning, Kris called into Smart to pick up some beer. “You get better deals here” he informed me with that knowing look people get after they have lived on a tight budget. Having loaded up the car with a crate or two of beer (I was here for a whole week!!) I wandered over to the vegetable stall outside gazing lovingly at the carry trays brimming with brightly coloured fruit and veg. I had just paid 3Euros for 5 small tomatoes in the supermarket, 2Euros for some garlic. Food was not as cheep as I remembered.

 I wandered along the stall spotting courgettes at the end. “How much?” I enquired from the toothless old man, he beamed and muttered something about 1Euro 50, I handed over a 2 Euro coin and went to put the courgette into my bag. “No, no!” he cried reaching for the carry tray, “you take all!”

I stared in disbelief as he poured the entire contents into a bag and handed it over. For a split second I thought he was about to charge me 1Euro 50 for every courgette and was about to argue that I only needed One but as his smile broadened I realised that 1Euro 50 bought the whole tray, filled to the very top with courgettes, not just ONE single piece.

I asked about the melons. 1 Euro 50 bought me a tray holding three shiny ripe melons. Tomatoes? Yes I got a tray full. Trays of peppers, onions, mushrooms and grapes were added to the growing collection of bags as my smiling Cypriot veg man pointed out more and more vegetables.

When Kris and I returned to the flat some major logistics were needed.

The Cypriot climate is warm, fruit and vegetables do not keep for long and we had a lot of fruit and vegetables.

Dinner parties and suppers were hastily arranged through a series of phone calls and our week was suddenly all planned out!

By mid week, Kris being in the 'lets party' mood and through a few more phone calls, had persuaded Peter to bring Cian and myself back over for half term (in a weeks time).

He had already explained his winter plans to me and felt that breaking them to Peter could be better done over a few beers in Cyprus than in Machynlleth.

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Back ground info to the Winter Plan - Kris passed his motorbike test way back in 2005. Two years later he left home, with his one way ticket to Cyprus, and had never felt the need to return to take his car license as transport around Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam was all bike orientated. When he got to the Bahamas he discovered that bikes were few and far between but as he was on the other side of the world he put it on his 'To Do' list.

In the Bahamas he was also informed that he needed a Local Licence to drive on the Island not his UK one and being the good law abiding citizen that he is, he duly took his Full UK Bike licence to the correct office and walked out 15 minutes later holding a Full Bahamas Car Licence valid anywhere in the world for two years!! So he bought a car!!

A year later he found himself back in Cyprus driving big trucks full of customers and towing one ton trailers full of dive gear all on a very suspicious yet legal license. Everything was going amazingly well until the licence ran out in August 2013! His choices, as he saw them, were to return to the Bahamas and try again to swap a full bike licence for a full car one or come home and take his test for real.

Option 2 seemed the more sensible but as he had no idea how long it would take him to pass his driving test after two years of bad habit forming Island driving he thought it would be a good idea to come back to the UK for five entire months until his new contract at the Hotel started up again in April of 2014!

Five months back in the UK with limited funds, no job, driving lessons to source and pay for, plus theory and practical tests to pass. I agreed that it would definitely be best to break this news to Peter over a few beers in the sun.

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I returned to the UK for three whole days before flying back out to Cyprus with Peter and Cian. Peter arranged for us to hire a car allowing us more freedom and shopping became so much fun!!

Our arrival was followed by yet another visit to the amazing veg man outside Smart. The shelves of the refrigerator were filled once more to bursting point, the cupboards were topped up and with our hire car Peter Cian and myself set out to explore the Island.

Most of my travels and explorations of lands over seas have involved a Rough Guide, sometimes a local map but more often a hand drawn scrawl on a scrap piece of paper and a lot of conversations at bus stops. I am now however the proud owner of an Iphone with its magic GPS Blue dot that travels around the world on some of the most comprehensive satellite and terrain detailed maps known to man. No longer do I end up wondering what way to go at a cross road, no longer do I miss that turn to the left that leads up the mountainside. Train stations are where they are suppose to be and postcodes can find you restaurants in amazing places.

 Some magic is lost as the Little Blue Dot works its way through the sprawl of a city, but with a child on board, a destination to reach before nightfall and no language skills it is worth its weight in gold!

 We travelled along the golden coast road before cruising onto the motorway, that by-passed the tangled maze of white shining apartments and offices in Limasol. We flowed smoothly over crossovers, sailed under bridges and navigated effortlessly through interchanges until we reached the mountain road that wound its way deep into the Troodos mountains.

 We passed huge dams (that were exactly where the Blue dot said they would be!!)

We stopped by the side of the road to peer over the sides into deep run offs.

We read 'interesting' signs full of information we knew nothing about!!

We strolled to the other wall and took photos of vast amounts of water

before driving slightly further along the winding road to photograph them again from a different angle!!

We ignored the Little Blue Dot to explore a road not on our map and discovered a Nature reserve abandoned and empty. The road continued to climb upwards giving us amazing views far over the lake down below.

Man hole covers had been lifted and possibly sold for scrap leaving gaping holes in the road – this was not a track to try at night!!

At the top of the mountain we were rewarded by spectacular views in all directions. From our view point the curvature of the earth could just about be made out through the heat haze that lingered in the air down to the coast.

There were also an alarming number of empty shotgun cartridges despite the large signs saying 'Nature Reserve - Shooting Is Prohibited' We wandered around an abandoned house over looking a steep gorge, discovered a 'No Shooting' sign decimated by shot gun pellets, peered down deep drains bereft of their covers and generally had a great time!

 We returned to the road upon the advice of our Little Blue Dot that then led us past a tiny turn off with an even tiny-er sign. Once again the Little Blue Dot was put away as we swung the car down the narrowing lane.

 Lophoy is a tiny tiny village nestled away from the road and hidden from the average tourist's sight.

 Cars must make it through the village's narrow cobbled streets as we saw them hidden between locked gates and wedged up 45 degree driveways but we were happy to leave our car on the outskirts and stretch our legs through the maze of steps and alleys.

 We explored tiny pathways that led us eventually to a church.

From the outside the church looked special enough but inside our eyes were met by a feast of gold plated intricate chandeliers that hung from the high vaulted ceiling to dangle a few inches about our heads. Every wall was covered with paintings, carvings, even the pews were decorated.

We stood in hushed awe feeling like invaders in our tourist clothing as the priest in full black regalia, complete with a huge gold cross hanging from his thick belt, stood quietly murmuring to a local man. They nodded as we entered yet seemed relieved when we left!

We continued our explorations down the wonderful crazy paving pathways.

We discovered the olive press but it was closed.

We found building that were falling down with hidden features to die for.

Floors designed with such detail!

We found buildings that were under repair but with no one in sight.

We heard voices from afar yet saw only three people as we worked our way round corners, up steps and down pathways.

We discovered houses, their shutters closed, silent within, with courtyards covered with grape vines.

Interesting wasp traps hung from the branches.

It was like wandering through the most amazing pristine ghost town, closed to the public yet somehow still alive.

Pomegranates hung ripened in the trees, sometimes spilling onto the floors and courtyards.

On the distance mountains we saw huge round satellite and communication monitoring equipment.

We checked the Little Blue Dot and discovered that Mount Olympus was in the not too far distance. We had a mission, we had a plan, we were off to see the home of Gods and be back in time for supper!!

To be continued …..