Sotíra

So, after our early morning start, we get to Istanbul for a short layover, and then off to Cyprus. As we were flying in, we crossed over the Turkish mountains covered in snow, and then as we got over Cyprus, all we saw was green green grass of amazing farm lands. We arrived in Nicosia (the Turkish side of Cyprus), and had a little trouble finding our rental car company. We finally track the guy down, and it is a fly-by-night cheapo rental operation with a guy working out of a briefcase. The first car he was going to give us, ended up not having the right paperwork, and he said we needed to drive an hour to the north side of the island just to get a piece of paper. Jo very astutely said, what about one of these other cars. So after a bit of looking, the dude offers us another car with the right paperwork, and that saves us a lot of time and frustration. So we discuss that we are going to be traveling down to the southern side of Cyprus (the Greek side), and he explains that we have to get to a certain boarding crossing by 2 PM, and then buy insurance, to go to the other side. Did I forget to mention that the gas tank was on empty? So we finally get the paperwork done, and off we go. Found the first gas station, and filled up, no worries. Then we head to the specified boarder crossing, and get there in time, and make our way through. The paperwork was a bit off, as the said our rental was a white car, but really was a gold/brownish color, but he let us through anyway. We then made our way through the city, and finally got on the freeway. Nice. We had booked basically an AirBnB type apartment not far from the hash site. We rolled into town, and pulled up where we thought it was, and the address did not match any buildings. So after 2 hours of asking various people (even people who lived right next door to where we eventually found it), we could not lock it on. We finally went to little cafe and had a beer, and got on the internet and did some more research. We found one picture of the balcony, and determined we had been there right from the start. So we went back, and got the run around from the neighbor, who we think was in on the scam, and another guy shows up, opens up the room, and it is a mess. Nothing like the pictures, trash all over, beds not made, etc. So I just told them, refund our money, or we'll take it back to the online service he used, and file a complaint (still waiting). Then we just take off to find the hash, which was starting in 30 minutes. We finally found it despite the directions, just in time to change clothes and get the chalk talk (with the Larnaca H3). The trail was actually really good. Although at the start the hares explained that it had poured down rain this morning and washed away the marks. So we basically had a lead hare take us around the intended trail. No matter, was really good. We had lots of shiggy, good conversation, and we ran past a private zoo that had Kangaroos, Camels, goats, horses, and all the assorted other animals. The pack had all gathered at the finish, where there was some good food (due to a birthday) of fried chicken and sausage rolls. The circle was pretty much your standard read from the script affair, but as the sun was setting, it started to get really cold. We did not last long after that, and headed for the car . . . since we still needed to go out and find a hotel for the evening. The good news is, we found one close by, got checked in, ordered a pizza, and then got hot showers and warmed up. Sleep tonight will be amazing for sure. Tomorrow we drive back up towards the Turkish side, but will not have to cross the boarder. Wednesday will be back down near Larnaca, and will be a similar pack as tonight. More in the next post.

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