Beaches and Buses

I took a trip to the beach on Saturday. My plan was to catch the first bus to Larnaca at 9am and return by the last bus at 4:15pm. It took 20 minutes from the airport at Larnaca to Nicosia when I arrived (although the taxi driver probably shaved 10 minutes off the time through reckless speeding), so I was expecting to be there around 9:40 or so. Unfortunately the bus didn't even touch the highway that runs directly between Nicosia and Larnaca, but instead took back roads the whole way, and made numerous stops. However the driver certainly wasn't taking his time! He drove very fast and did not tolerate slow drivers on the road - he often came up within a metre of other cars while travelling at over 80km/h - and the bus didn't have seatbelts. I didn't feel particularly safe.

So we arrived at around 9:50, and I stepped straight off the bus and onto the beach, so at least that was a positive. The beach itself was reasonable, but it's a darker sand which makes the whole beach look muddy and less attractive. The water was amazing though! Extremely warm, probably the warmest sea or ocean I've swum in. It was very shallow, about 100 metres or more before I couldn't stand. There also weren't any waves to speak of, but that's generally to be expected in the Mediterranean.

So I spent the day swimming and lying on one of those sunbeds under an umbrella reading The Da Vinci Code. I had lunch in a place recommended by Lonely Planet, I had a fantastic Mixed Souvlaki. After lunch the beach really started to fill up... and they were all Brits. It was very odd to be lying on a beach in Cyprus but only hearing British accents. Anyway it got to 3:45 so I went to get changed and catch the bus home.

After waiting around for a while I checked the sign and realised that buses stop at 1pm on Saturdays (I don't think I've ever been in a more useless country for public transport). The guidebook mentioned service taxis as an option to get back to Nicosia so I went to the office of one of the companies. A service taxi goes between two cities, it first drives all over Larnaca picking up passengers, drives to Nicosia and drops people off wherever they want. A flat fare is charged for everyone - £3.10 ($9.30), the bus was £2 ($6) - so it was a lot more attractive than paying the $50 or so for a normal taxi back home.

There was only a short wait of about 5 minutes before the taxi (a large van) set off from the office. We then drove around for about 1/2 an hour picking up passengers. We came to the last place and spent about 5 minutes driving around to find the right place, and then a further 5 minutes waiting for the passengers to come down. Unfortunately there were 2 passengers and only one spare seat. The driver said they would make a change outside the city so I had about 5 minutes of sitting 4 people to 3 seats. We then arrived at the changeover point, and for whatever reason I was made to get out and wait for the next taxi. I suggested that perhaps the last two people should perhaps wait as I'd already been on the taxi from the start, but to no avail.

So the taxi sped off, and I was left waiting with another guy who had ordered a taxi at that spot. After 5 minutes a taxi pulled up and the other guy got in, but even though there was plenty of room I was told to wait for the next one. I really don't know why. So after another 10 minutes a taxi finally arrived. We got to Nicosia and she dropped off people... I (of course) was the last to be dropped off. I said I was only paying half-fare due to the terrible service, but she went ballistic and threatened to call the police. So I just paid her and went inside. The trip was 1 hour and 45 minutes from when I got into the taxi to when I arrived home. I might get someone at BluePhoenix to make an official complaint... it will probably accomplish more coming from someone who speaks lives here and speaks Greek.

So all in all that was a terrible end to what had been a great day!