Week 19 - Turkey and North Cyprus

Traveling is wonderful, but like anything else it can be a lot of work, and travel during a pandemic is even more work. Since we traveled on Wednesday this week, it was mostly work, with a couple fun things squeezed in. First the prep, then the travel, then getting settled in Cyprus. 

It took most of Saturday, which was a rainy day anyway, to find the correct entry from for North Cyprus. It wasn't working and it was too soon to fill it out anyway since it needs to be done within 72 hours of travel and have a negative PCR test within that same window. I wanted to get tested late Sunday afternoon, so I would have ample time to figure it out. 

It cleared up Sunday morning and since we couldn't get tested until the afternoon, J and I took a walk on the Lycian Way, a trail not far from our house. It was beautiful.

We got back and started getting the kids ready to go, and decided it would be a good idea to call ahead. My research indicated that the state hospital in Fethiye was the place to go, and that we didn't need an appointment, but better to double check. The person who answered the phone directed J to come Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning for a Wednesday flight. That seemed odd since the 72 hours started Sunday afternoon, but whatever. So Monday we WhatsApped our favorite taxi driver, Khalil. He was busy but sent his dad who was also very nice, and we went to the state hospital. We waited a while in the PCR test line, which wasn't moving at all, so I left the others in that line and waited at the information desk line. That person showed us another place for international PCR tests, we waited there a while, then decided to try knocking on the door. Well, they weren't doing PCR tests that day because they were on strike, but we could go to the private hospital, so Khalil's dad took us there, and after a bit more waiting we got the job done. By then it was late afternoon and everyone was hungry so we got Khalil's dad to drop us off at a restaurant near the ocean. The food wasn't great, but the view was pretty and the kids could mess around by the shore trying to skip stones and stuff like that. Khalil's dad took us home, but it wasn't until late that evening that we got results, and the digital form still would not work. We tried several times, then called the help line, which said to push 9 for English and then promptly continued in Turkish. Finally, we WhatsApped our host in North Cyprus to explain the problem. His suggestion, contact the taxi driver he had arranged to pick us up from the airport. It seemed an odd suggestion, but turned out to be a good one. We went to bed Monday night questioning if we could even go to Cyprus and looking into possibilities of either extending the time in Turkey or going earlier to Lebanon. Naturally this meant a lot more time Monday night and Tuesday morning looking into options, then we heard back from the taxi driver around noon on Tuesday. He couldn't get through to the help line either, but questioned the last several people he had picked up at the airport and was told that we could just submit the form at the airport. I still had some doubts, because most flights won't let you board without the digital entry from for your destination country, but we figured if we got stopped in Istanbul it would be easy to get a flight to Beirut. So we got busy packing.

Wednesday was a long day, up at 2:30, in the taxi by 4:00, Dalaman by 5:00. We were encouraged that we were given boarding passes for both flights, and sure enough, we had no difficulty. They gave everyone paper forms to fill out on the plane and generated the needed barcode at the airport when we arrived. Now if only they would explain this procedure on the website rather than telling you the digital form is mandatory.

Nobody likes airport days, but it was another rainy one, so we wouldn't have done much anyway. We have it pretty much down to a science. The kids sleep in their clothes the night before, and we get them up just before the taxi arrives. They usually go back to sleep in the taxi, I pack food so we have breakfast at our gate, they do school work on the plane or while we wait. Then lunch at the next airport. I always work out the taxi ahead of time so we have someone waiting for us, ride to our house, get groceries, then dinner, baths and bedtime. It's a long day, but doable. We continue to be blown away at everyone's kindness here. First our taxi driver who helped us so much, then our hosts. They offered to drive us to the store, it's not far and we wanted to stretch, but then it started raining on the way home and a complete stranger offered us a ride. Again, we declined since we were so close, but people here are just so nice. 

We have a great villa by the sea, with fruit trees in the yard and two cats. Not many sandy beaches here, but a nice long boardwalk along the shore for my morning walk.

Thursday was an unpack and settle in day, and Friday we found a restaurant with a playground and had a long late lunch so the kids could play.

If you zoom in you can see Sean on the climbing wall. 

Cyprus is nice, similar to Turkey here in the North, but with a lot of British influence. Everyone seems to speak English, and with more British than Turkish accents. The market has Turkish food, but also oatmeal and cheddar cheese which the kids are happy about. We're glad we made it here, not a very glamorous week, but part of reality that I wanted to share. Next week we'll venture to Kyrenia where we can see a Venetian castle. 

J and I did a trial run with the bus without kids today and it's not difficult. Kyrenia, or Girne in Turkish, is a very old, very interesting city and we enjoyed the "date."

We're also looking into getting COVID boosters for us and possibly even shots for the kids, since they're becoming more available now.

So it will be another busy week.