More random thoughts on Cyprus

In many ways this is a strange place. Filled with history, ancient ruins and friendly people, it is also being destroyed by rampant development. Not all the ruins are ancient, many building sites lay abandoned, rusting concrete shells are sprinkled between the modern holiday villas. Many advertisements for the villas are in English and prices are quoted in pounds sterling, so my guess is that they are aimed at the English. I don’t think it is the current economic downturn that is behind the rotting shells, many of them look much older, although many are more recent that 30 years.

When we drove to the Karpas peninsula we noticed some really strange ruins. One that looked like embattlements made of concrete high on a hill above the ocean that had collapsed. Another huge concrete construction in the water, surrounded by abandoned rusting cranes. The sea for quite a distance before and after the construction was white, presumably with degraded concrete. That area was fenced off and looked to be from the 1970s partition, my guess it was being built by the Greeks and abandoned.

There is a massive area in Famagusta along the beach of abandoned high rise buildings and hotels they call the dead zone. These buildings belong to the Greeks. The first morning of the conference they took us to the beach alongside to ‘view’ the zone. Strictly no photographs allowed. One woman took a picture and a guard appeared with a whistle to stop her, so they monitor tourists. In a tiny village I sat in a café with the lady of the establishment and asked her about the age of her beautiful old house. She told me that she had no idea as they had only been there since 1974. She said her house in the south was abandoned and falling down noow, but they cannot return. Her current house belongs to the Greeks who fled the invasion. People on both sides of the green zone that divides the country have lost their homes, their personal possessions, photographs, heirlooms and so on. These people lived in peace for generations until the troubles that started when the British left. In fact Cyprus has always been subject to invasions since the beginning of history, so the situation today is pretty much business as usual. Yet everyone I have met here is friendly, outgoing, proud of their country and eager to talk about it.