Day 33 – Athens

After spending the morning online in a cafe near the hotel we explore the Acropolis. The ongoing restoration work detract somewhat from it as an archaeological site but the ascent is impressive and the views far and wide.

The ancient Greeks considerable contribution to water engineering included inventing the Archimedes screw to lift water and aqueducts to move it, later superseded by pipework following the terrain of the land and relying on the siphon principle, discovered by the world’s first hydraulic engineer, the aptly named Hero.

 

 

Day 32 – Patmos, Pireaus, Athens

We welcome in the new day in a bar in Skala. At 0130 we head around to the port and join several hundred people and a few dozen cars queuing for the ferry.

At 0235 a bright light on the horizon prompts some murmuring. Even as it grows nearer and becomes several lights it looks far too small to be the overnight ferry but just in time it grows in to a large ship and slowly turns through 90° to dock.

It docks at 0245 and we board to discover bodies everywhere. There are no cabins available so we need to choose a patch of floor. Deciding the space near the entrance where tickets are being checked would become vacated once everyone had boarded, we hang around for a while and though someone else has the same idea we get a decent spot in which to manage 5-6 hours of bad sleep under the fluorescent glare.

Arriving two hours late we find that there’s no metro from Pireaus due to engineering works. We follow some other disorientated tourists rather than the non-existent signs and find the replacement buses a couple of hundred metres along the other side of the main road, discreetly tucked away in a side street. We leave soon after boarding and arrive at Faliro station, where we can complete our journey to central Athens.

We are staying in the pleasant Plaka district, which has a relaxed and sociable if touristy atmosphere. We spend the afternoon wandering the locale, returning to watch the sunset from the hotel’s roof garden before heading out for refreshment.

Day 31 – Patmos

Patmos suffers from water shortage and relies on imports from the mainland and other islands. Whilst the focus needs to be on managing as well as meeting demand, the island may in the not-too-distant future benefit from zero-carbon desalination. A floating, autonomous desalination unit, powered solely by wind energy is being trialled by a start-up company that emerged from a research project at a Greek university and is now seeking partners for “scaling up” and commercial deployment of the technology.

Being the weekend research opportunities are a little limited, so we swap bikes for a moped and explore north part of the island, returning to Grikos late in the afternoon to collect our belongings. We spend the evening in Skala, blogging on the beach, followed by dinner and drinks, all the while watching the clock slowly tick towards 0155.

Day 30 – Rhodes, Patmos

The Dodecanese Express hydrofoil departs Rhodes on time at 0830, calling at Symi, Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi en route to its final destination Patmos, where we plan to stay for two days.

We arrive on time at 1340 and are met by our hosts from the Grikos Hotel, who take our bags while we set about trying to organise leaving the island. Unable to book the Blue Star ferry before arriving in Greece and advised by a Rhodes travel agent that it was full, we are anxious to secure our route home.

A helpful travel agent with excellent English confirms that it is full, mainly with Athenians returning from their summer holidays. It is particularly busy this year due to a reduction in the number of ferries each week.

There is an alternative, leaving at 0155 on Sunday morning. Perhaps the timetabling was inspired by Syrian rail travel. However it is also full, though our chances are rated at 50/50. We can be added to the “waiting list” but will not be contacted, so need to regularly pop in to the travel agency to see whether space has become available. Not exactly how we wish to spend our time but the alternative is to turn up for the Blue Star and cry, which sometimes works apparently.

We have lunch and consider more radical exit routes via Kos or Samos, possibly involving the heresy of flying. Returning to the travel agent to explore these options further we are delighted to discover two places on the 0155 ferry have just become available.

Able to relax again we hire bikes and explore the south part of the island.

 

Day 29 – Marmaris, Rhodes

In the morning we take the opportunity to catch up with blogging and email. Later we walk around to the marina and have lunch, which is the best meal we have had for a long time.

Attempting to locate the port in the absence of any signage we take a wrong turn and end up slightly late for check-in at 1500. Not that it matters, as we sit and wait in covered, external seating area for the ticket office to open at 1530. Once we have our boarding pass we wait until 1550 for security and immigration to open. We are then held in the duty free shop (which has no seating) for 40 minutes before eventually boarding. There is no explanation for the 55 minutes delay but a local tells me this is fairly typical.

Fortunately the crossing is only an hour, as we are cooped up in a strange, small boat without much view through the mean, heavily tinted, salt-encrusted portholes. Moreover Turkish transport entertainment plumbs new depths, with the Showgirl Kylie broadcast fortunately barely audible over the labouring engine.

We get a little lost hunting for our accommodation but it’s a good introduction compact, historic Rhodes Town. It’s a little quieter than we envisaged but there’s a relaxed vibe and we enjoy another good meal.

Day 28 – Büyükkonuk, Kyrenia, Alanya, Antalya, Marmaris

Today is the weak link in our meticulous itinerary. We need to arrive at Marmaris port by 1500 tomorrow for the ferry to Rhodes. We were unable to book the coach travel across southwest Turkey online and, since we were therefore unsure how far we would get, we didn’t book any accommodation either.

After enjoying another tasty breakfast at Lois and Ismail’s we are a little late departing Büyükkonuk but we arrive in Kyrenia in plenty of time for the ferry. We can return the hire car by leaving it at the port, unlocked with the key under the rubber mat in driver’s footwell, a common practice in these parts apparently.

Having collected the tickets and paid the port tax we wait in the departure lounge for a while and then pass through security, pay another mystery tax, and have our passports inspected. The catamaran departs on time and though the sea appears calm it’s a bouncy crossing and we arrive an hour late.

 

After a quick trip to a cashpoint we take a taxi to the otogar, where we establish that the only bus going to Antalya leaves in eight minutes. We buy tickets and provisions and the smart Mercedes coach departs on time. We are forced to endure more Turkish television, some kind of Jurassic Park spoof this time it seems.

The reason the 130 km journey is scheduled to take two hours soon becomes apparent as we crawl along the free-flowing dual carriageways, the driver repeatedly hooting to announce his presence and collecting passengers at random locations en route.

Shortly after 1730 the coach arrives at the impressive Antalya bus station. There’s an information point with friendly and apparently impartial advice. We are shown which sales desk to go to, where we discover we are in luck: there’s a coach at 1830 going all the way through to Marmaris, albeit not arriving until 0030. We have time to buy provisions and to book a hotel online.

It’s another well-appointed Mercedes coach, complete with free wi-fi. We climb slowly out of Antalya in to a spectacular mountain landscape. The shadows gradually lengthen and it falls dark. I fatefully remark on the lack of television. At a 25 minute refreshment break we enjoy the 17 °C mountain air, the coolest we have experienced since leaving the UK.

After a brief stop in Fethiye we continue to Marmaris, arriving early. We take a taxi to the hotel. The driver is the nicest so far, speaking good English and being very helpful. He asks what we’re up to and, just when we are expecting an offer to collect us and take us to the port tomorrow, he tells us we can easily hail one in the street outside the hotel or better still just walk, and he explains the back route through the marina.

We weren’t expecting to make it all the way through to Marmaris, so we’re very pleased at the prospect of a relaxing day tomorrow. The only downside has been passing through Anlanya so quickly we miss what is reputed to be the only brewpub in Turkey.

Day 27 – Büyükkonuk, Kantara, Karpas Peninsula

Our reason for visiting Büyükkonuk is its reputation as Cyprus’ first pilot eco-village, which has benefitted from US, UN and Turkish investment since 2006. Traditional buildings have been renovated, including the Old Olive Mill and a rainwater harvesting scheme at the local mosque is in the planning stages; an 8,000 litre capacity, PVC tank will be used to supply WCs and basins.

This project is being led by our hosts, Lois and Ismail, a Canadian-Cypriot couple, who seem to be very active in the local community, as well as running the wonderful B&B and adjacent craft shop.

 

Lois brings us a delicious breakfast and afterwards introduces us to Ismail, with whom we chat over Turkish coffee. After a while we are joined by two new arrivals, friendly Barcelonans now resident in Stockholm, one of whom is a photojournalist.

Ismail tells us that the mains water is supplied from local artesian wells, now more than double the 45 ft depth required to reach the source. One well has dried up entirely so mains water is only available every other day now. Still, Büyükkonuk extracts more than enough for its own use and is able to sell to other villages. Treatment is basic, crude chlorination by bottle resulting in variable levels of dilution, so most people buy drinking water, which is more carefully treated and delivered by truck.

Depending upon the number of guests the B&B takes up to three deliveries of potable water per week, each of 19 litres and costing 3 YTL (£ 1.30). In comparison the cost of mains supply is 1 YTL (£ 0.40) per m³ for the first 10 m³ per month, rising for higher levels of consumption. Since mains pressure is very low Lois and Ismail use a dry, clay-lined well to hold mains water, pumping it to storage tanks in the buildings.

Across Cyprus water shortages have become increasingly acute, culminating in freshwater imports in 2008, in Greek tankers to the Republic and in Scandinavian designed, floating plastic ‘balloons’ to Northern Cyprus. Desalination capacity has been increased (making use of cheap and dirty, low-grade fuel oil) and in 2011-2012 a freshwater pipeline and electricity supply will connect the island with Turkey. The channel between Cyprus and Turkey is relatively deep so the pipeline will be suspended rather than run along the seabed.

The project is politically contentious with Greek Cypriots reluctant to be dependent upon Turkey in the longer term, assuming reunification at some point. Turkey, which is not generally water-stressed, sees the opportunity to ultimately export water to Israel. The seabed between Cyprus and Israel is much shallower and flatter, making such a pipeline significantly less costly.

We also receive the best explanation yet for the ubiquitous request not to flush paper down the toilet (a bin is usually provided instead). Typically manholes are not constructed with benching and swept bends, and therefore they partly fill with sewage. Paper does not break down as easily as sewage so is more likely to clog up the manholes. The problem is compounded by increasing bleach use, which severely impedes sewage being broken down naturally. Consequently most people have their septic tank emptied annually. By avoiding bleach use, Lois and Ismail are yet to have their tank emptied in 13 years of residence.

Future projects include developing more comprehensive strategies for water and wetlands management. The former could include education, perhaps leading to a reversal in the trend for exotic, non-indigenous, water-hungry garden plants (and the lawn at the new ‘ecolodge’), and integrating intermittently used, existing reservoirs.

It is hoped that the many areas of wetland lost to development (in Büyükkonuk for quarrying and later an industrial estate) can be reclaimed so that, in tandem with a hunting ban in sensitive areas, migrating birds will return, offering potential for more sustainable tourism.

Another vision is an “off-grid” campsite accommodating up to 100 people, featuring only temporary buildings, complete with composting toilets, rainwater harvesting, solar water heating and kerosene fridges.

Ironically there are also plans to route a new tourist highway through the village. However the recently elected new government advocates low-impact tourism, merging the Ministries of Environment and Tourism, so the village may yet be spared.

Later in the morning we visit the amazing Kantara Castle, not as large or well preserved as Crac des Chevalliers, but with even more impressive 360°views. The western part of the castle is not visible at all upon entering but paths through the trees and undergrowth lead to the living quarters and the vaulted basement beneath, originally housing a prison and later two large cisterns, still full of water today. The medieval latrines on the south walls were once flushed by the castle’s sophisticated water system.

 

 

After an inadequate lunch in Kantara we wend our way down to the coast via Yarköy.

Head down past Galatia to Artemis, a new casino resort under construction. Planning consent was conditional upon the development incorporating its own desalination plant, which has been completed. Temporarily, until the resort is fully built out, desalinated water is sold to local residents.

A small tidal lagoon has been converted in to a lake by disconnecting it from the sea, ensuring that it is always full of water but completely transforming the ecology, replacing birdlife with algae.

We head further along the Karpas Peninsula and stop for a swim east of Yenierenköy. Sadly the beach is quite badly littered and there are almost no fish in the sea. Ismail later tells us that in his youth anemones, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and many species of fish were common but sadly, as in much of the Mediterranean Sea, they have gradually disappeared, presumably due to industrial pollution.

After another lame meal in Bogaz (though at least we are spared the cats),we return to the B&B and sit out the back of Lois and Ismail’s house, supping Efes and talking the evening away with our hosts and the Barcelonans.

Day 26 – Polis, Lemesos, Lefkosia, North Nikosia, Boğaz, Büyükkonuk

To travel the length of this small but partitioned island, we have a long and fragmented day of travel ahead of us, primarily because cars rented on either side of the Green Line are not insured to cross it.

The first, uneventful leg is the drive to Lemesos to return the car. Close to Avis’ office, after a 20 minute wait, we catch a bus that we are told will take us to the bus station. It is soon evident that the bus is heading for the port so we disembark and walk for 10 minutes to one of the three bus stations, where the Lefkosia buses depart from. Or used to, as it is now abandoned. A short walk brings us to another bus station, where we learn that we’ve just missed the 1100 bus, leaving a 90 minute wait for the next one. We are going to miss the first of our two meetings in Lefkosia, with Artemis Achilleos of the Water Development Department.

Following a dreadful lunch and several attempts to contact Artemis we board the bus, which makes numerous stops en route. (This is the only public transport between the two largest cities in the on the island.)

The city of Lefkosia (Nicosia in Turkish) has been partitioned since 1974, the southern part being capital of the Republic of Cyprus and North Nicosia being the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised by no nation other than Turkey).

We walk from the bus station to the Ledra Street “border” crossing, easy to miss in its surreal location on a small road at the heart of the city. The buffer zone between comprises a narrow strip of abandoned city, barbed wire strung across gaps between the buildings. On the Turkish side our passports are inspected and we each write our name, nationality and passport number on a small piece of paper, which is then stamped. The process takes little more than a couple of minutes.

We have no problem in hiring a car and then stumble upon Fergün’s office, where we book the ferry from Kyrenia (Girne) to Antalya, completing the penultimate piece of the travel jigsaw.

Parking close to Ledra Street we re-cross the Green Line and head southeast to the Cyprus Hilton to meet Nakis Theocharides, the Health Club Manager.

Nakis was given responsibility for implementing Hilton’s we care! programme at the hotel. By his own admission he did not know a great deal about sustainability at the time, but received online training and set to work, ultimately leading the hotel to win the programme’s 2008 award, rewarded with mountain bikes for staff.

In Nakis’ view water is much more important than energy use and climate change in Cyprus, particularly given the major shortages last year. The hotel still experiences interruptions in mains supply, though less frequently this year. Other than a borehole supply for irrigation, mains water is required for all end uses, including the swimming pool.

Consumption has been reduced by retrofitting nylon bags to WC cisterns (to reduce capacity), and flow regulators to taps and shower heads. The latter initially led to customer complaints but these have subsided as communication has improved; green credentials are displayed in reception and on email signatures.

Last year Nakis saw a newspaper article about two other hotels achieving Green Key certification, sought more information and went to achieve accreditation in early 2009. Due to the initiatives implemented under the we care! programme, no additional work was required.

In terms of the future there are proposals by the landlord (Hilton is the building operator, not the owner) to refurbish the hotel, which will present an opportunity for more radical change, though the regulatory framework is very weak.

Nakis argues that behavioural change and technology are both important and interdependent, and the latter can stimulate the former. The health club membership is mainly Cypriot, whereas the the hotel guests are predominantly British and Greek. All are increasingly interested in the hotel’s environmental credentials, evidenced by responses in formal customer feedback.

 

We pass through the checkpoint for the final time, retrieve the car and head east, stopping at Boğaz for an awful dinner, accompanied by an annoying clowder of stray cats hunting for scraps while the waiters look on indifferently.

It is 2200 by the time we arrive at Lois & Ismail Cemal’s B&B, where we receive a very welcome warm welcome from Lois.

Day 25 – Polis, Latsi, Akamas Peninsula

After a morning of email, Skype, blogging and research we lunch at the Hotel Natura, where we arrange to meet owner later.

We hire a dinghy and sail off Latsi for an hour, and then spend the remainder of the afternoon driving around the Akamas Peninsula. Most of the roads are dirt tracks and we are glad of the four-wheel drive. It is one of the island’s last remaining wildernesses, partly because of its controversial use by the British Army as a firing range, even though it lies outside the Sovereign Base Area agreements of 1960.

We return to Hotel Natura to meet the owner, Dr Christos Georgiades. Since inheriting the family farm on Cyprus’ northwest coast he has resisted the advances of island’s established property magnates and developed a “holistic” hotel, the first phase of which is well-established.

Much of the focus is on water and food. A large part of the plot is still farmed, in a way that is sensitive to the local climate, particularly rainfall. As well as more conventional measures, such as irrigating early in the morning and late in the evening, Dr Georgiades draws upon his experience as a microbiologist to develop more innovative techniques, including plant breeding. One example is reducing the water needed to grow watermelons by crossing them with pumpkins, which have a more efficient root structure.

He makes the rather bold claim that “not a drop of water is wasted”. The hotel has four sources of water:

1. Potable mains water for drinking, cooking and ablutions;
2. Irrigation mains water for agriculture, supplied from a local dam;
3. A borehole for lawn irrigation; and
4. Grey water recycling for WC flushing.

Day 24 – Polis, Pomos, Kato Pyrgos

It is Saturday today. We head northeast towards the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) border, stopping first at Pomos for a swim and some lunch.

 

Afterwards we head further up the coast and are then forced inland to circumnavigate the Turkish enclave of Kokkina, a detour of 24 km.

Shortly afterwards we arrive at Kato Pyrgos, which is one of the most remote places in the Republic, and consequently much less developed. According to the Lonely Planet guide it is “like Cyprus used to be”. It seems an agreeable place with very few tourists and we stop for a drink. I can’t get data over the local mobile network but the barman has a laptop and a television each streaming English football, so I am able to find out that Colchester’s winning start to the season is coming to a premature end at Milton Keynes.

  

Back at the hotel the studio smells a bit funny again. We open all of the windows and start the punkah fan to cool off. There’s still a bit of a smell and we try to trace its source. Wedged under one of the mattresses there is a used ashtray and a couple of dozen seashells. We go on to discover other sea shells hidden on the bathroom window sill, behind the bathroom mirror and in the toilet brush holder. All very strange but at least once we have removed them the odour seems to dissipate.