Thoughts of Cyprus

It is a crazy place...

Schitzophrenic.

The Northern part of the island is like no-where else. This is because technically it doesn't exist. It is unrecognised by the international community (apart from Turkey), and yet through some creative interpretation of international law it is counted as part of the EU.Its renegade status means that there are NONE of the large international businesses there (1). It must be one of the only countries in the world without a Starbucks, a Macdonalds or a Wallmart (or whatever the local re-branding is).

On the other hand the south of the island is full of all of the conveniences of western civilization. All of the stores and resteraunts seem to be there (even Nandos!) It is a comforting feeling, but slightly sad that the center of the southern half of Nicosea is just like the center of any large European city.

I think Cyprus is possibly the only place in the world where you can step from the Middle East, to the middle of Europe in the space of 100 meters...



(1) Apart from coca-cola of course... I suspect that you could visit tribes of remote amazonians that haven't had contact with the outside world for hundreds of years, and there would be 2 constants. The first would be coca-cola, and the second would be that they all supported Man Utd...

In Da Lobby.... Will there be T.P.?

So here I am. In Cyprus. On the first stop on my world travels. I've given up my job and my life in the uk. I won't see any of my uk friends for over a year. Unless they come out to visit me of course. And now I have started on my life of luxury, my retirement...

I somehow feel like i should feel something more. A palapable sense of relief perhaps, that I've escaped from the rat-race. Or some measure of trepidation at the vast wide unknown that I have thrust myself into.

Somehow I'm not feeling any of that. In some ways I guess it is a good thing, it shows that I am confident that I can handle whatever life and the world can throw at me. Perhaps it is symptomatic of a void of imagination, without the ability to even think of all of the things that could possibly go wrong. I'm kinda wondering if my ability to take things in my stride, without allowing them to affect me too much, is somehow limiting my appreciation of life...

I guess in the meantime while I figure that out I'll just have to continue to enjoy myself, and the awesome sunshine, foood and hospitality that I continue to find myself surrounded by...

PS. The title is partly because I am typing this in the lobby of a near-by hotel, which has wireless internet, and partly because I watched the Beavis and Butthead movie the other day. If you haven't seen it, I can thoroughly reccomend it!

Travel Itinerary

Thought that I'd post a rough itinerary of where I will be, and when.

If anyone reading will be in roughly the same places, at roughly the same times, we can see about maybe hooking up...

August 6th I fly to Cyprus. This is the only date that is set in stone at the moment.

I will be spending roughly 2 weeks in Cyprus (mostly in the Northern Turkish part). I plan to do lots of diving here. And lounging by the pool, and other such things...

Then I will fly over to Egypt (or possibly get a boat over), and spend 2 weeks in Egypt. In this time I will be visiting the Pyramids, possibly doing a bit of salsa, going to the Red Sea to do more scuba diving, and meeting up with some good friends I have over there...

After all of this excitement I will fly back to Cyprus, and do more diving,
and hanging by the pool, and whatnot, until the 12th of September when there is a Salsa convention starting (http://www.salsajamincyprus.com/).

Once the dancing has all finished I will be flying on to India. I'm not sure where I will be, but I plan to have a kind of flying visit of India, taking in a couple of towns for a couple of days and then moving pretty swiftly onto Nepal.

In Nepal I will be doing some trekking. I want to see the Himalayas from close up, and maybe I'll find a Buddhist Monastery or something and do some meditation on the top of the world. Nepal could take up to a month, and is one of the places I'm looking forwards to seeing the most...

After my calming time in Nepal I will be flying on to Thailand. Really there is too much I want to see in Thailand. I could probably spend 6 months just there, but among the locations I would like to get to are Chiang Mai, Pai, Bangkok (to visit some friends I made last time I was there. You know who you are ;^), Koh Tao, and a couple of other islands.

Somehow I have to fit all of this in before the 13th of November, when there is a salsa convention starting in Bangkok (http://www.salsabangkok.com/).

Once this is over I will be meeting a friend, and travelling with her to Cambodia. There I'm mostly interested in seeing Angkor Wat. But it will be interesting to see the culture and all that, and see how it contrasts to Thailand.

I'll probably pass back through Thailand after this, and on to Malaysia. Take in Kuala Lumpur and visit some good friends I have over there. Then check out some of their beaches (and maybe fit in a bit of salsa while I'm here).

Then on from Malaysia to Indonesia, where the plan is pretty much the same as in Malaysia. Visit some friends, see Jakarta, and then Bali, check out some beaches and just see what happens. It will be Christmas around this time, so I will either be spending Christmas and new year either in Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia. I'm not sure where yet, I'll just have to play it by ear...

Anyway, I have to fit all of this in in time to get to Sydney in time for the 29th of January (in fact, probably the 28th in time for my birthday!), which is when and where the 3rd salsa convention of my travels kicks off (http://www.sydneysalsacongress.com.au/). I'm hoping a good Australian friend will join me for this.

I think Allan will be joining me sometime about here, and we will travel around Australia, possibly doing a bit of work here and there (i already have my work and travel visa, and an Aussie phone number!). My Australian Visa lasts for a year, so I will take full advantage of this, and then depending on funds, I will see what I want to do next....

(But if I do have lots of money still at this point New Zealand looks nice, then South America for Mardi Gras and finally South Africa for the world cup. But we'll have to see about that...)