Cyprus Mail brings the unwelcome news that the buses in Larnaca and Nicosia are to begin an indefinite strike on Tuesday. Last bus strike was three years ago, and the cause was the same - the drivers had not been paid. No real excuse for that, as they’re public employees, but non-payment of workers fairly common here. Particularly inconvenient timing for us, as we leave for Sofia the following morning. We can take a taxi, but they’re overpriced and the airport bus goes right past our door - when it’s running.
And, re the airport, the same newspaper site carries an account of a Russian government complaint to the Cyprus government (although on closer inspection the story seems to date from before Christmas). One of their nationals, a young woman here on holiday, admitted that she was going to be staying in the North and was consequently held in a cell and then deported to Russia, but only after agreeing to pay the cost of the deportation. This is a problem that arises periodically. It isn’t illegal to stay in the North, but staying in a hotel that was previously owned (with possibilities of title dispute) by Greek Cypriot is frowned on. Whether that is technically illegal is unclear, and some authorities say not. The official position seems to be to allow tourists to cross freely and stay in the North as they wish. However in practice this may depend on how easily offended any particular airport official is by the thought of tourists patronising Northern businesses. Have viewed the “official” list of hotels in the North, and all but a half dozen are considered to be originally Greek Cypriot owned. Happily, the hotel we sometimes use in Famagusta has always been, as we had known owned by a Turkish Cypriot family whose daughter is now the proprietor.
Posts
