Going South a breeze.

[Mollie the cat]

Yesterday we decided to go South, the first time in almost three years.

We needed stuff you cannot get on the North. We were surprised how easy it was, no problem at the crossing point both ways, we had forgotten how much choice there is in the larger supermarkets, the thing we did miss was a morning coffee at Debenhams, it has been replaced by an Italian café which was rather expensive.

[benjaminbutton]

Oh Debenhams, the only store on the Island, North or South that I miss. I used to love the salad bars at both stores.

[13roman58]

Did your passport get scanned? If so it will start your 90days max in 180 stay in an EU country.

[Groucho]

We've learned to live without "stuff" from the south... and their petty fogging tactics.

[gates]

No they didn’t scan our

[a1sysman]

Passport checking at RoC check point (Metehan), hit and miss - some times waved through, other times passport scanned. Experienced both scan or wave through crossing into RoC and out of, at Metehan, in recent weeks.

Bostancı crossing, passports always scanned.

Ledra street crossing, ditto - passports scanned.

[waddo]

Are you still getting the "16 hour" permission to drive your TRNC registered vehicle by obtaining the TOM? I say 16 hours because the office is not open before 08:00 and the permission expires at 23:59 the same day!!! Only applies to 3rd country nationals of course,

[a1sysman]

Are you still getting the "16 hour" permission to drive your TRNC registered vehicle by obtaining the TOM? I say 16 hours because the office is not open before 08:00 and the permission expires at 23:59 the same day!!! Only applies to 3rd country nationals of course,

Yes.

[gates]

Best crossing is pyla after you got your letter

[Mollie the cat]

The Greek side never looked at the passports either way.

[waddo]

Gates, so you drive to Metahan, get your TOM, then drive back through to TRNC and down to Pyla? Interesting but time consuming if the South to North que is long at Metahan.

[gates]

In fact i went over pyla boarer 2 times as the insurance is for a month they don’t ask for anything but your passport

[waddo]

Just as a gentle reminder, if you have no valid TOM then your insurance is not valid either. So you take a chance in the hope the ROC police will not stop you. Worse, you take a chance that you don't get involved in any accident! The SBA customs are not interested in your car/driving license or insurance, they are they to check on illegal entry and or transportation of items subject to customs charges. To my mind the TOM is a bit of paper solely designed to cause disruption to travellers, if you don't read it all there are lots of "pitfalls" in it that can cause you to become illegal. But it does make sure that at least two happy people at Metahan have jobs - lol.

[benjaminbutton]

Groucho, I completely agree with you and only ever went down South once a year to buy really decent perfume!!!

[Groucho]

Groucho, I completely agree with you and only ever went down South once a year to buy really decent perfume!!!

Yeah, Brut...