The guidebooks gave me a very wrong impression of Famagusta. They make out like it is a ghost town with huge Venetian walls encircling a few crumbling buildings with everything overgrown and left to nature. The walls are there for sure as are the ruins but there are also plenty of people living there as well, in newish houses and with the usual infrastructure. In fact the central area around the cathedral has undergone a degree of rehabilitation and pedestrianisation…
Kyrenia, jewel of the North coast, is probably the most picturesque coastal town in Cyprus. The picture postcard harbour certainly is but the huge residential developments which are spreading like wildfire along the coast certainly aren’t. The harbour itself is no longer used as such, except for tourist boats and the quay is lined with restaurants. Despite its ‘falseness’ it certainly is attractive and there is no better place to have a cold beer and enjoy some seafood while staring…
Although not far as the crow flies, to get to St. Hilarion Castle we had to climb up the Kyrenia range of hills. We started at the farwest and here is the view to the north west cape of Cyprus – the Korucam peninsula. From here we drove due East with the narrow plain of the north coast to our left and we could see the snow capped Taurus mountains of Turkey in the distance. The road was narrow and…
The day we explored Nicosia was the worst weatherwise of our holiday. Cold and dreary – just like a typical British weekend! It didn’t dampen our spirits though as there were plenty of things to do. Old Nicosia town is completely encircled by a number of bastions, built in the middle ages and as you can see from the map below still pretty much intact. It also means that the old city itself has been relatively untouched by development and…
West and south of the cottage we ventured away from the mountains into the wide Guzelyurt plain and its burgening orchards of oranges. Nearby is the bay of the same name where we went on a few walks and then stretching around the bay we found the ancient cities of Soli and hilltop Palace of Vouni. We also spent an afternoon in the foothills of the Troodos mountains in the village of Lefke. Guzelyurt town is the population centre for…
Welcome to Cyprus! And more specifically Carob Cottage. This first page is just a few photos of around the cottage we rented. The other pages feature trips to the orange growing areas of the far North West, a daytrip to old Nicosia, Lofty Castles in the Kyrenia Range, Famagusta and the far East, a trip to the charming old port of Kyrenia and a page of various walks we did in the countryside. We finish off with a few videos…
Northern ruins describes a number of disparate trips we did in the north of the country. Including to Jerash, the most famous Roman ruins in Jordan, Umm Qais, another Roman site but beautifully situated above the sea of Galillee, more Roman ruins at the attractively sited Pella and Machaerus, the citadel overlooking the Dead Sea where John the Baptist lost his head. I’ve also included trips to the town of Madaba famous for its churches and mosaics and the forest…
We had friends visiting us in August 2008 so we took the opportunity of visiting one of the top natural attractions of Jordan, Dana Nature Reserve. Basically, millions of years ago the surface of the Earth ruptured round these parts creating a huge rift valley. The land on the west went down and the land on the east went up. On the west you’ve got the Dead Sea valley and the lowest place on Earth. On the East you’ve got…
August in Amman is damned hot, so where do we go on holiday? To Aqaba where it’s even hotter! Aqaba has one big advantage though. It’s by the sea – the Red Sea which is fantastic for diving and that’s why we went. We stayed three nights in Aqaba at the Al Cazar Hotel and then another night camping in the amazingly beautiful Wadi Rum before heading back up north. There are plenty of dive sites all along the coast…
Wadi Mujib is one of the undiscovered gems of Jordan. If you are travelling along the King’s Highway you will need to cross this huge canyon. There are some pictures on the king’s highway page, but for this trip we went to where the wadi reaches the Dead Sea. Here the canyon is sheer and narrow and there are some convenient cabins nearby, right on the Dead Sea, in which to spend the night. These photos are from a trip…