When Mornings Are Bearable

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Kantara Castle, Famagusta, Cyprus
I'm not a morning person. Only people with tea and bacon are able to wake me up without the risk of losing vital organs, and even then it should be done with full body armour and a long pokey stick. Sunrise is something I watch as I stagger home from the nightclub and if for some reason I need to get up to an alarm, I require a large quantity of Red Bull on an intravenous drip and it's generally best to give me a wide berth until I can at least communicate beyond grunts and clicks.

All this changes, however, when I wake up on a beach, listening to the waves lapping on the shore. I woke up as the sun ascended over the horizon, poking my head out of my sleeping bag and squinting into the light before wondering why I was actually squinting into a blinding fucking light source and retrieving my sunnies to watch the new day begin without upsetting my retinas. Despite my inherent dislike of sand and its ability to work its way into places where it's least welcome, I fucking love waking up on the beach, crawling out of my sleeping bag, stumbling down to the water to see if a swim is possible without sending my nipples into shock. There's something so calming, so relaxing about waking up to nature that it makes that extra crunch from the sand in your boiled egg sandwiches that little less traumatic.

So anyway, today we were heading to Nicosia via a couple of points of interest. We parted with the whopping sum of YTL62 (Yeni Turkye Lira; new Turkish lira), around €30 for the three of us for the food and drink we'd had the previous night before heading to the very tip of Karpas Peninsula, Cyprus' northernmost point. It's one of those places where you pretty much just rock up and take photos just so you can say you went there and is marked by the ubiquitous two flags of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus flying side by side, and a little hut with a man in it. I don't know why there's a little hut and a man, but you'd have to really piss your boss off to get stuck with that detail. Like stealing his lunch from the staff fridge or being caught banging his mrs.

We had another quick stop for Loody and Shups to go for a swim whilst I drove up a fuck off great big hill to look at Kantara Castle. The castle was built by the Byzantines and there was something about Richard the Lionheart taking it off them when he relieved Issak Komninos of the whole island because he wasn't very nice to his mrs when her ship ran aground or something. So he rocked up, kicked some Byzantine arse and claimed the island in 1191.
So yeah, the castle is ok. I'm a fan of broken shit but it's not the most awesome broken shit in the world, but the views? Holy fuck, the views are just stunning and I'm a sucker for pretty things. I contented myself with crawling all over the ruins and drooling over the epic views before I headed back to the beach to pick the girls up.

On to the last stop, Cyprus' capital, Nicosia, or Lefkosia, perhaps Lefkoşa. Conquerings, buying, selling, invasions and renaming cities. Dude. It's always a fucking drama with this bloody country.
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Comments

critters and crayons
2011-11-07

I'm with you- NOT a morning person. I've never awakened on a beach but that sounds awesome- Waking up outside is cool- when the natural light is your alarm clock. In the Army, I did a lot of sleeping out doors and we did some camping in Germany where my husband and I rode our tents strapped to the back of our motorcycles. Waking up in nature really is awesome. Super post and nice pics!

travelnshit
2011-11-07

Ah mate, I love camping. When I was travelling Australia, I slept in a swag for the most part when I was on the road in the west and the north (I prefer to avoid tents unless it's raining), and I was up and about with the sun most days. It's amazing how much more you get done in a day. I love roughing it, waking up and swimming in a river or lake. It's just not easy finding people who can go as long as me without a hot shower and a proper bed to travel with :)
And travelling by motorcycle? I'm still to do it, but it's definitely on the list. You must have been to quite a few places in the army.

Glad you like the post, thanks for the comment, Patricia :)

2025-02-17

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