On the 18th July the Girne Amphitheatre hosted the play entitled “Pigeons without Wings” performed by the Theatre AŞHK. This year Kyrenia Municipality’s 7th Kyrenia Culture and Arts Festival carried the slogan “a bright future for the arts”. Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, Serdarli Mayor Salih Bayraktar and citizens watched the play which was directed by […]
Girne Municipality has donated 40,000TL to the Turkish Ocağı Limassol Sports Club (TOL), which won the Kibris Football Cup. Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü met with the Managers of the Turkish Ocağı Limassol Sports Club (TOL) who won the Kibris Football Cup. Nidai Güngördü stated that to honour the
Turkish Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said that the TRNC’s current international embargoes cannot continue forever, and there will be different processes after today. Cavuşoğlu spoke during a joint press conference, following a meeting with Foreign Minister of Estonia Sven Mikser.
We give below details of the films which are being shown at the Starlux Cinema, Karaoğlanoğlu for week commencing Friday 21st July 2017 until Thursday 27th July 2017.
By Margaret Sheard …… There has been some speculation and comment on Facebook about the recent incident of a Qantas flight from Sydney, Australia, heading for London Heathrow Airport via Dubai, being diverted to Larnaca Airport due to a medical emergency on the flight when a pregnant passenger became unwell.
Plaque of thanks to Minister Ataoğlu from the Northern Cyprus Cycling Federation
The President of the Northern Cyprus Cycling Federation, Ekin Adademir, made a visit to Minister Ataoğlu to thank him for his contribution to the 2nd International North Cyprus Bicycle Tour.
Minister of Tourism and Environment, Fikri Ataoglu, said in his speech that they are working to ensure that sports tourism has a distinct place in the tourism range of North Cyprus, pointing out the importance of alternative tourism varieties in the development of the country.
Ataoğlu said that the bicycle tour that took place is extremely important in showing that our country is suitable for such international sporting organizations. “We will hereafter continue to contribute to expanding this event”.
Adademir also expressed his gratitude to Minister Ataoğlu, emphasizing that he has given his total support to the organization from the first day, as he believed in the importance of the organization and its contribution to the country.
The North Cyprus Ministry of Tourism, which is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ministry of Health under the umbrella of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, met with members of the press at the HESTOUREX Fair, which was attended by a delegation of 2,000 people from 150 countries, and promoted North Cyprus Tourism in Antalya.
The Fair was the first attended in this category which helped us to promote our facilities in health and sports. During the fair, North Cyprus gave folk dancing and diving performances. Also traditional Cypriot food and beverages were provided to all visitors. North Cyprus was very well promoted in coordination with the Tourism Promotion and Marketing Department; with a wide participation with federations, unions, Health Tourism Council and universities which represented facilities and activities accordingly. There were Association of Tourism and Guides, Association of Hoteliers, Association of Restaurateurs, Representatives of Universities, Tandem Paragliding, Diving, Mountain Climbing, Fitness and Wellness sports, Football Federation, Golf, and Folk Dance Teams etc.
The Minister, Fikri Ataoğlu, also attended and encouraged the team during the Fair. He also had conversations with the public and bureaucrats. He stated that “Every time we attend Fairs, the TRNC stand always receives great interest and is now entering in the ratings. These fairs are significant fairs of world tourism. For example in EMITT Istanbul we were the first rating of all stands. We were the 9th among 187 exhibitors at the ITB Berlin Fair. In the UK, it was again the 1st, but the Greek lobbyists interfered and the stand ratings for the first time were not disclosed”.
Ataoglu pointed out that the TRNC has made great progress especially in the field of health tourism and reminded that the TRNC is the 54th member country of the World Health Tourism Council. Tourism in the health and sports area is progressing rapidly and universities have an important potential in this regard. He also said “we work extremely hard to promote tourism in our country” and added, “But we want a larger slice of the cake, and we are taking the necessary steps to achieve this” Referring to Health Tourism, as well as the developments in Sports Tourism, Minister Ataoglu emphasized that this sector has a very wide potential.
“Many people come to Cyprus from Turkey, either as a soldier or a student. Our student number is close to 100,000. The TRNC is extremely peaceful and tranquil and has a favourable appeal, it also has health sciences and hospitals. Our construction sector has gained momentum in the same way. In other words, we are expecting many Turkish citizens to come to Cyprus where our beautiful island has grown in an economic sense as well”.
TRNC Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoglu said, “Our country’s geographical location has started to become a tourism destination, which brings individual needs and desires to the forefront in parallel with the changes in tourism. In this direction, we are trying to introduce every opportunity, especially our university hospitals, our comfortable hospitals, our IVF Centres, our latest medical devices, massage at our hotels, SPA facilities and the possibilities we have in tourism for the aged disabled”.
At the Fair, the Minister explained our facilities in great detail and the team worked in unity to promote North Cyprus. It was a good venture for North Cyprus to promote this small island for well-being growth and development.
We have received good news from our friends, the Aşık Family, that the Almond Hotel and Restaurant in Alsancak, has received 3 tripadvisor awards for 2017.
Following is a comment by Almond Hotel and Restaurant:
“It is with great honour to announce that after 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 we have been awarded another Travellers Choice Award this year (2017) in 3 different categories by tripadvisor…
We cannot thank our guests enough for making this happen for us…Thank you….The Almond Hotel & Restaurant is very proud to have been representing our country, North Cyprus, on an international platform for many years … Since 2008 The Almond has been rated No 1 Hotel in North Cyprus – Kyrenia District – Alsancak / Karavas and we hope to continue for many more…”
Congratulations from cyprusscene.com
You can visit the Almond Hotel and Restaurant Facebook page by clicking here
Book Review “One Man in a Bus” by Robert Wingfield
We were told of this travel book by Kyrenia Animal Rescue (KAR) and the fact that the author, Robert Wingfield, will be donating 50% of the royalties to KAR so I was very keen to read it. I obtained a copy and settled down to read and I must say it was hard to put the book down. It is a personal account of Robert’s holiday in North Cyprus, told in a very humorous and yet very interesting and enlightening way.
Living in North Cyprus, I have visited many (although not all) of the places Robert and his fellow travellers visited and could relate with many of the tourist attractions but from a different aspect as viewed by Robert, so it brought back memories and made me feel perhaps I should re-visit some of them.
Kantara Castle
The information about the various places visited was very comprehensive and informative (without being boring) and the humorous asides makes you feel what a great week’s sightseeing holiday was had by all. Robert took lots of photographs so there are many pictures of the places which were visited and this helps to show the historical attraction of the country. In a week the group certainly managed to see many of the historical sites and places of interest and with the background information this made the book very interesting to read and will hopefully persuade others to come and enjoy the experience.
North Cyprus is steeped in the history of many cultures which have inhabited the island through the centuries so for people who like to explore the history as well as enjoying the peace and tranquillity of many parts of North Cyprus, Robert has given a taste of what to expect.
Salamis
The book also includes useful information covering many aspects for travellers to North Cyprus which is not always found in basic travel guides.
The book can be purchased through Amazon and by ordering through the KAR website click here (KAR News) they will receive the benefit of 50% of the royalties from Robert Wingfield.
Following is some background information provided by Robert Wingfield about the book.
North Cyprus – One Man in a Bus
The thing that struck me most about The Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) is that there are few travel guides that tell it like it really is. To experience a country on your own gives you freedom, but you can potentially miss many sights that you wouldn’t normally visit, so either go for a guided tour, or follow the trail detailed in this book.
Ancient Theatre of Salamis
If you go in summer, then sitting on a Mediterranean beach is what you are looking for. It is too hot to explore. Choose a place with the best exchange rate and you can’t do any better than TRNC, with food and drink being of high quality and low price.
However, that is not why I visited the country. I am interested in the history of the place, meeting the people and experiencing the culture. Because the British were here for 85 years and left in the 1963, the TRNC has a wonderful feel of having been frozen in time then. Driving on the left side of the road, and stopping at familiar traffic lights and seeing speed cameras ready to catch the motorist who is concentrating more on driving than slavishly following an arbitrary speed limit, all help with that feel. Most people speak English too, and that includes the migrants from Pakistan. There is a Muslim culture here, but the overall feeling is one of relaxed devotion. The five-daily call to prayer is mostly ignored by the populace.
Kyrenia Castle
I decided on a guided tour. Our guide was a lady who has lived in TRNC all her life, but travelled widely in the English speaking world, so her translations were faultless. She was so good that I couldn’t even trick her with our quirky phrases such as ‘Know what I mean, John,” and “Leave it out.”
We were taken to many of the major sites in the country and given a very good historic background to each, all from memory. I never saw her with notes. I of course took lots, writing them up on a handheld device each evening before the wine levels got to eye height, and it is these, along with a great deal of extra research that are summarised in the book.
Vouni Palace (courtesy of TRNC Ministry of Tourism)
I have added my own photographs, which unfortunately in the paperback means that the price is quite high. This is not me being greedy, but a measure of the costs charged by Amazon for colour publishing. I am thinking about converting it to greyscale, but perhaps that would detract from the experience. I am also considering shortening it to facts and figures and releasing it as a picture-less pocket guide, which will be eminently affordable (and really fit in a pocket).
As with all my writing, there is an underlying element of humour – real life is funny enough if you look at it the right way.
Note: The pictures which have been used throughout this article, other than the book cover, are from our own archives so as not to detract from the lovely pictures taken by Robert and included in the book.
The Almonds is an extremely friendly hotel and holiday complex in Alsancak, a family run business which gives a lot of attention to the comfort their guests to ensure they enjoy their holiday. The Aşık family have kept their business at a manageable size for this very reason. The family comprises Ali and his wife Dervişe and their 4 children, Gülten, Ahmet, Ayşe and Afet they all contribute to the running of the complex.
Gulten deals with reservations, marketing and finance, Ayşe is an artist and you can see her work all around the hotel, Ahmet is responsible for the restaurant, bar and event management and is also a very forwarding thinking businessman who has a formed a number of business partnerships to promote and enhance tourism, Afet deals with the accounts side of the business. Mum and Dad – Dervişe and Ali, are very much involved with the customers, many who have become friends, to ensure that the family welcome and service is maintained for their enjoyment.
Having been there many times before, we went along to see the now completed new outside pergola, which is the summertime dining area, and were very impressed with the result. It is a very large area with many new features, including the existing rock at the side of the pergola with a more prominent water feature and traditional wooden bread trays which Ayşe has painstakingly hand painted with various types of Cypriot flowers, she was in the process of starting a new bread tray when we were there and she said it would take her one day for each rose she was painting as a central feature so it would take her 8 days to complete all of the 8 feature paintings The Almonds closes for the winter from December to March so that they can carry out refurbishment and improvements and their policy is to do this type of work during this time and not spoil their guests’ enjoyment when they arrive for their holidays.
Cottage bedroom and loungeMezzanine Villas
As well as the hotel rooms there is separate accommodation of 1 and 2 bedroom mezzanine villas and also triple bedded accommodation and garden cottages, nothing has been overlooked with a disabled friendly villa also being available, giving a total of 33 rooms available. For those guests that want to explore, Almond have their own car hire service.
Much love has gone into what is now a very successful holiday complex and Gülten told us about how it all came about. Her grandfather and his family which included the then young Ali Aşık, fled from Famagusta to the UK in 1960 when the troubles in the island were increasing. Ali returned to Famagusta in 1977 for a holiday and at this time he met Dervişe, it was love at first sight, they married within 2 weeks of meeting and Dervişe went back to the UK with Ali. Their 4 children were all born in the UK.
The family returned to Cyprus in 1990 and Ali bought the land in Alsancak in 1994 which was totally barren and overgrown except for 4 almond trees which were just blossoming and so the name of The Almonds was decided upon for his project of a holiday venue and he upgraded the entrance track by making it into a road with a traditional stone wall along the side of the adjoining stream. The buildings and walls were made from stone which Ali transported from the Karpaz, he built the complex and even dug out the huge pool himself with a JCB. This indeed was a labour of love and today we can see the results of all of Ali’s hard work. Gulten told us that Ali had an architect who drew up the plans for the villas and cottages but Ali felt there were too many and they were too close together and so he changed the plans as he felt they should be. Again thought was given to their future guests’ pleasure and comfort.
The Almonds is situated near to the main road but far enough away to give the complex a quiet and peaceful atmosphere and it certainly has that, it is also still near to the sea and of course there is a lovely backdrop of the mountains.
Some of the improvements which have been added is a communication system for the waiters to the kitchen, which will make life much easier for them and also speed up orders which are placed electronically, and cooked in a brand new programmable oven. In the garden area there is a traditional Cypriot oven which Ali built and is used for BBQ’s and also demonstrating bread making.
The water supply is from their well, which is regularly checked, and has a purifying system for the hotel and a separate one for the bar area which ensures a high level of hygiene. Quality hygiene appliances include top quality ice makers and dishwasher.
The new pergola is situated beside the large pool at the rear of the hotel and this area is surrounded by the villas and cottages, beyond that there is an orchard and vegetable garden area where there are chickens, ducks and also a family of ostriches. The garden areas all around the complex are beautifully laid out and well cared for and there are so many interesting artefacts, large and small, scattered around the grounds which you will suddenly come across, so well worth a stroll around. There is a wonderful backdrop of the Kyrenia mountains together with the views of the gardens from the various villas and cottages.
Everywhere in the hotel and in the grounds you can see the results of Ali’s passion for Cyprus history with his many years of collecting pots and cooking items and basket-ware, stone and wooden artefacts, most of which are labelled to give information about them.
There is also a children’s play area to keep them amused when they want a change from the pool. The pool is very large and surrounded by sun-loungers and umbrella’s and close to all of the amenities.
The Almonds can also cater for small wedding parties and it is certainly a lovely setting for this type of event.
Most of the staff have been with the family for many years and especially Nilűfer, which translates into English as Lily so most of their visitors use this name. Lily has been with the family for about 10 years and always greets you with a cheerful smile.
Almond Holiday Village have received numerous Trip Advisor awards and they have already received 5 awards in 2016 as shown below
12th bargain hotel in the world
8th bargain hotel in Europe
1st bargain hotel in Cyprus
3rd best service in the whole of Cyprus
5th romantic location in the whole of Cyprus
A wonderful achievement for the Almond Village Hotel and the Aşık family.
Many couples and families return to Almond Village time and time again and even those who decide to purchase a property still come to say hello when they are here. This is what a family run business is all about, paying attention to their guests, making sure they enjoy their stay and cultivating friendships which continue year after year.
