Cyprus, an island to be savoured. A stodgy diet of 10,000-year history? That's what Jenn and I expected after reading up about Cyprus. We didn't fancy such one-dimensional fare, so we set out to find the other flavours of Cyprus.

Larnaka, on the south coast, was a good place to start. In our hire car, we drove from the airport into town past the vast salt lake, dry at this time of the year, but home to millions of flamingos in Spring.

Our first venture was to explore the coastline East of Larnaka. Not all that scenic - rather flat and, at the tail end of summer, brown-dry. At the east end of the south coast, we came to the carefree holiday town of Agia Napa. Here was the Relaxed Cyprus. Everyone walked around in tropical things, obviously enjoying the beach and the sunshine.

Round the end of the south-east peninsula, Cape Ghreko, and a stop at Fig Tree Bay for our picnic lunch. Such a beautiful spot, looking out over the bay, with water-skiers etching lines of white across the Mediterranean blue. A few kilometres further north, and we were stopped at the Turkish Cypriot border. We turned around, and that was the start of an exploration that took us along the whole south coast, and up the east coast as far as the other end of the border.

That afternoon, back in Larnaka, we thought we'd better go and see something old! There is a very good archaeological site right in Larnaka, called Ancient Kitio. A very well kept and presented excavation, dating back to 1300 BC. It was here that we savoured the Ancient Cyprus, which is so rich in ancient and mediaeval sites. I'll select a few of the best to describe. Kitio is not a very big site, and there are wooden walkways with explanatory boards - in Greek and English - to guide visitors. Looking for Kitio, we learned two things. First, streets in Cyprus towns are sparingly labelled with names, so throughout the trip, we asked - and asked - for directions. Secondly, Cypriots can't read maps!

next page - pg. 2 - Larnaka on foot and at Night

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