Day 11 - Thursday 30th June - mileage 3487 - Kapparis Cyprus

The ferry crossing between Tasucuo and Kyrenia had been described by previous passengers on the Internet as "a floating skip" and this is not a description I would disagree with.
There are no facilities other than a single cafe bar that only opened at breakfast and the only thing I was prepared to have was a cup of sweet Turkish tea.
The loading process was very interesting however. The bow of the ship hinged upwards and a ramp was lowered to the harbour side. This ramp is just wide enough for a single vehicle, and they reversed the massive lorries onto the ship and then manoeuvred them alongside each other on the car deck.







The bureaucracy leaving Turkey was the most I have experienced to date in that I must have been asked for my passport and all the supporting paperwork for the bike by at least 10 different people. However there was never any problems just loads of checking.

When I was eventually loaded (last) I parked the bike where directed and as no deck hand came to assist me I went and asked the person who had seemed to have been in charge of the loading whether they were going to strap down my bike. He looked at me in a "don't be a wuss" manner then said no problem, went over to a wall and threw a coiled rope at my feet. I indicated to him "do you want me to do it?" and then asked him to what fixings was I supposed to strap it down. Again a withering look and he went away and came back with a crowbar and proceeded to lever up hoops from the deck that clearly had not been used for a very long time. He left me to my devices and so I proceeded to strap the bike in what I would describe as a crisscross pattern using the two deck hoops and two anchor points that looked reasonably strong on the sidewalls of the ship. As always I now wish I had taken a photo of my handiwork but at the time I was more concerned about just getting the job done and away from "withering gaze man".

I slept the night on what I would describe as a park bench on the open deck. Though I have to say that being lulled to sleep by the sway of the boat was not unpleasant. In the morning I did have the forethought to take a snap of my bed as I was taking pictures of the approach to Kyrenia.













Getting into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) seemed to be proceeding ok till it came to the matter of purchasing insurance. First went to the desk like everyone else and was charged 20 Tk lire for what I was told was 7 days insurance. Then directed to the immigration and customs. Immigration no problem I even managed to ask the official for a separate visa that they would stamp because I was intending to travel on to south Cyprus. (If you have a TRNC visa stamped in your passport you have problems getting into the Greek part of Cyprus). Then on to customs who proceeded to examine my motorcycle registration document as though it was a fraud, holding it up to the light looking for watermarks or something! He then asked for my insurance and I showed him the document for which I had just paid 20 Tk lire. He asked me where I was going and so I told him I was passing through TRNC to go and visit friends in southern Cyprus.
He told me that the insurance document I had purchased was no Good and proceeded to write a note on the document and told me to go back to the insurance cubicle and they would give me the correct insurance.
Went back and then 3-4 people gathered round to read the comments the customs official had written on my form. They shrugged their shoulders and then proceeded to start to write out another form informing me that I now had two options 1) 2 days insurance for 50 Tk lire or 2) 30 days insurance for 70 Tk lire. I then started to query this new higher price, and they said the original insurance was ok and the customs man was wrong, and to go back and tell him to consult with his boss.
I went back to the customs man and he then talked to me some more saying the original document that I had purchased was not insurance at all, it was just some sort of import tax, and that I could continue on into TRNC without insurance, but if I had any kind of accident I would find myself in all sorts of difficulties. He then genuinely said come with me I want to help you, and we went back to the "insurance cubicle" where there proceeded a long discussion in Turkish and eventually he told me that I should think very carefully about continuing without insurance, and in his opinion the 30 day option though expensive was the correct course.
By this time I was just glad not to be held any longer and so I took the easy option and paid the 70Tk lire.

So into TRNC and on my way to the apartment we have near Paralimni.

We had landed at 08:30 and I was leaving the port at 11:15 but soon crossed the 50km to the border crossing near Derynia close to Famagusta.

Passed very smoothly through the exit inspections of the TRNC and on to the Greek immigration controls.

The crossing at Derynia is in fact a sort of courtesy crossing point that is actually in the British Sovereign control part of the island. The border guard was a nice English chap, but unfortunately when he asked me from where I had entered TRNC and realised that the bike was not "registered" in southern Cyprus he said he could not let me through, and that they were not connected to the registration computer and that my only option was to go back into TRNC and then on to Nicosia and to cross the border there where they will be able to process the bike ! I tried to persuade him differently but he was politely resolute in that I had no other option.

So in the heat of the day I proceeded the 50km towards Nicosia.

The next problem I had was finding the crossing point in Nivosia. It soon became apparent that the crossing actually in Nicosia is for people on foot only. In asking people they indicated to me that the vehicle crossing was in fact some 10 km outside of Nicosia in a suburb. There are no signs to this place and I had to keep stopping and asking people for directions.

Eventually arrived at the crossing and queued up with loads of traffic to make the crossing.

The TRNC exit was no problem, then on to the Greek side and straight through immigration control, no problems and then on to customs, where a nice woman called Irene just asked whether I was importing drugs or anything illegal. When I said I wasn't importing anything she proceeded to just wave me through. I decided it was better to try and get the problem of the bike registration sorted now than have it all erupt in my face later, so I pulled over and went and talked to Irene about my experience at the British Sovereign crossing point, and how they had indicated they could not "register" the bike because they were not connected to "the computer".
She listened to all my story and conceded that I was having a "bad hair day" and then explained to me that because I had entered "free Cyprus" through an unrecognised entry port Kyrenia in "occupied Cyprus" there is really no way that the "free Cyprus" system can recognise and register my bike. However she was going to make out for me a CP 5 form which is what I would have received if I had entered Cyprus via a legal entry port. She looked at all the documentation I had received from the TRNC and found a Turkish registration document that looked very similar to her CP 5 and said that if I had shown that to the British border guard though not recognised officially she reckons he would have not known the difference and would probably have let me through.
We got talking and I told her the reason I had entered from Turkey was because on the Internet it says that all the ferries between Greece and Cyprus stopped running in 2008. She said this was just the then "day ferries" and that there are still loads of cruise boats that travel between Athens and Limmasol. These boats take cars and lorries as additional traffic, but don't seem to advertise the fact.

So now having landed at 08:30 I wa now entering the "free Cyprus" part at 15:45 !!

Now had to travel the long way round from Nicosia to Larnaca and then on to Paralimni. Arrived at the apartment hot sweaty and tired at about 17:00 hrs.

Nobody home, no barrier pass to get my bike into the complex, so went and had a shower, then down to the local beach and a swim in the sea.

Back to apartment at 18:00 and Savi and Lisa waiting for me.

Time to relax now for a few days before starting the reverse journey.

Well I knew I was likely to experience some problems bringing the bike through Turkey and then into Cyprus, but it has been quite a learning curve.

More later

TOR





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