The journey from North to South is about 120km so it took a while. In Nicosea, the divided capital that seperates the Turkish North from the Greek South, there were a couple of fairly hot students wandering around in nice tight white Erasmus t-shirts. We had a bit of an oogle at their arses then walked past. They pounced on us as we passed them
'Heyyyy.... can we get a photo with you! It's an erasmus thing, we need to get photos with as many strangers as possible!'
We agreed of course. They wanted to do it pecking our cheeks. As they were taking the photo of Duncan with the Spanish chick, Duncan dived in for the pull, maneuvering for the mouth-to-mouth dock. Totally shot down! Pretty funny though. My bird was a bit chubbier but she didn't think I was a creep!
Wednesdays are a bit slack here in Cyprus, all the Kombuses (cheap, communal taxis) and buses stopped going between towns at about 7pm. We got back a bit late and the buses had stopped. We talked to the world's slowest ticket collector about our options (he spoke Turkish, Arabic, and Kurd. We speak English, Spanish and French, our Kurdish is a bit weak, so you can imagine how it went), and ended up on some random bus. He was blabbering something about a Oto-Stop and then dumped us at a roundabout 20km from Kyrenia. Needless to say we ended up hitching.
After 10 minutes we got a lift with a couple of Turkish Uni students, 22 and 24 yrs old. As soon as we got in, they handed us a cold beer! Legends. The driver was also taking some serious swigs too so we followed suit. Very friendly lads though.
The next stage involves a flight to Beirut on Sunday. A monumental tactical error, turns out that is election day for one of the most closely-contended in Lebanese history. If Hezbollah get some more power it could seriously kick off there, and half the population absolutely hates the other half after their 15yr civil war. And they are all armed to the teeth. Also, all the hotels are full with returning citizens to vote.
We spoke to Geoff Lord's brother-in-law, who lived in Beirut for a long time, and he thinks our timing is sub-optimal. However, on Monday, our first full day, it should have cleared up a bit, and as long as we avoid the town square we should be ok.
'Heyyyy.... can we get a photo with you! It's an erasmus thing, we need to get photos with as many strangers as possible!'
We agreed of course. They wanted to do it pecking our cheeks. As they were taking the photo of Duncan with the Spanish chick, Duncan dived in for the pull, maneuvering for the mouth-to-mouth dock. Totally shot down! Pretty funny though. My bird was a bit chubbier but she didn't think I was a creep!
Wednesdays are a bit slack here in Cyprus, all the Kombuses (cheap, communal taxis) and buses stopped going between towns at about 7pm. We got back a bit late and the buses had stopped. We talked to the world's slowest ticket collector about our options (he spoke Turkish, Arabic, and Kurd. We speak English, Spanish and French, our Kurdish is a bit weak, so you can imagine how it went), and ended up on some random bus. He was blabbering something about a Oto-Stop and then dumped us at a roundabout 20km from Kyrenia. Needless to say we ended up hitching.
After 10 minutes we got a lift with a couple of Turkish Uni students, 22 and 24 yrs old. As soon as we got in, they handed us a cold beer! Legends. The driver was also taking some serious swigs too so we followed suit. Very friendly lads though.
The next stage involves a flight to Beirut on Sunday. A monumental tactical error, turns out that is election day for one of the most closely-contended in Lebanese history. If Hezbollah get some more power it could seriously kick off there, and half the population absolutely hates the other half after their 15yr civil war. And they are all armed to the teeth. Also, all the hotels are full with returning citizens to vote.
We spoke to Geoff Lord's brother-in-law, who lived in Beirut for a long time, and he thinks our timing is sub-optimal. However, on Monday, our first full day, it should have cleared up a bit, and as long as we avoid the town square we should be ok.
Here is a room in the Holiday Inn, it has a great view which is why it is a well-known sniper hang-out. Hopefully we should get a good price!
Here are some of Hezbollah's public relations team in Tripoli a little north of Beirut. They'll be out in force come Monday with a few Syrian and Iranian assault rifles. Shit. Luckily Duncan has a very sturdy pair of flipflops as his only pair of shoes so he can run really fast.
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