Last year, I spent Christmas in North Cyprus, doing very much the B list sites. I enjoyed the holiday, especially the hotel which was ideally situated just minutes from the little harbour in Kyrenia. But I didn’t want to repeat the same itinerary, which really did concentrate on some very minor sites indeed. So way back in the dark and gloomy depths of February, I booked myself on the same company’s Christmas tour of the major sites in North Cyprus, staying at the same hotel.
On the way out, the flight was mid- morning from Heathrow. It would have been a bit stressful travelling down to the airport on the day – you would have to get up so early to be sure to have enough time in hand to deal with delays. So I booked a room for the night before at the Thistle Hotel near terminal 5, and made my way there in a leisurely fashion the day before. It turned out to be a good choice of hotel – not for the hotel food or facilities, which were pretty much what one would expect. However, the transfer to Terminal 5 was unexpectedly interesting. Rather than going on a hotel hopper shuttle bus, for an extra 50p per person you can use the “Pod”. This is a driverless electric car that goes from the long term car park out the back of the Thistle hotel directly to T5 in just 5 minutes. Each “pod” is big enough for four passengers and their luggage, and there is usually one waiting at the car park. You get in, press the “start” button, and get whisked away to the terminal building along a dedicated elevated trackway. It was surprisingly fun, and made for a really good start to the holiday.
I’m back home now, in the middle of doing the first of many loads of laundry ( the downside of going away……). More description of the trip and photos will follow when I’ve unpacked my camera.
