Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

I am curious to know why so many people who live here permanently in the North go to the South frequently. We have lived here 7 years and have never found the need to go as you can pretty much get everything here now. If there is something really not available here (such as favourite underwear for example) then we ask our family to bring it with them next time they are here for a holiday.

So what are we missing that is so enticing on the 'dark side'

I don't know why you call it the dark side, it's the South side. Animal food is about half the price with much more variety, and their is a much larger choice of human food as well. If you have a lot of post, then it is often worthwhile getting a P.O. Box in the South, as it's more reliable and much faster.
Some people like to go and others don't, it's a personal choice.

We go South for 10 Pin Bowling. KYKKO Bowling Alley outstrips Kings Bowling.

Like you BOERBOEL I didn't so for over 8 years. Then I realised I was being a hypocrite. My friends were getting the odd one or two things for me. My New Years resolution was to go my self. Basically like Stellasstar, I go for dog meat and treats. Much cheaper and more choice.

We don't go very often, try to tie it in with an airport run but most relatives/friends come to the North now. I am planning to go later this month and over the last few months have built up a list of things I need to get(it's quite long!) - they are either unavailable here or much more expensive. As previous posters have already said dog food is much cheaper - the saving on 2 bags pays for the insurance. Another big saving is on decaf coffee - I can't get the brand I want here but when I could it was 50% more expensive. We have a circular route that involves visiting Athienitis supermarket(best price for dog food & coffee), Lidl, Sports Direct, Ikea(for a coffee & if I can persuade my husband, a look around), Leroy Merlin, Superhome Centre and Carrefour - pretty much a whole day out!

I agree, far more choice in terms of pet foot (and cheaper by far) Bigger and better supermarkets, the beef steaks and pork are to die for. Its also nice just to sit and have a coffee, a nice walk down Ledra street, the odd McDonalds or KFC. Now there is Lidl they have some great bargains, even better I have found a Sports Direct for golf gear, what's not to like.

Where is Athienitis Supermarket please come_on_aylin?

Go about 4 times a year - why? Pick up friends who think it is better to fly into Larnaca than travel with Turkish Airlines, buy new underwear for wife because if we dont keep the wife happy we will never get her out of her old underwear - lol, because I yearn for the odd Sausage and Egg McMuffin (well somebody has to eat them) and one visit a year to a dear old friend who lives in Paphos! Thats it and I can do without lidl and all the rest, if they shut the crossing points today it will save me 100 euros a year in insurrance and I can buy underwear across the Internet. As we have not been off Island for the past 7 years it would also mean no more McMuffins but I can live with that too.

If I had wanted all the things I miss and all the supposed choice of things in the South then I would have lived there instead of here!

It's just personal choice really, we're not all the same nor think the same way. We go because it's a day out and we have chance to shop in different places, it doesn't mean we don't appreciate what we have here, it's just nice to have a change now and then. I'm pretty sure when in the UK we all tried a different supermarket or out of town shopping centre sometimes, it's the same thing I guess.

Aerhere,

See this post http://www.kibkomnorthcyprusforum.com/v ... =8&t=13785

The supermarket referred to in post 2, on way to sports direct, is Athienitis (seem to have spelt it differently in later posts on that thread).

Fully agree Elizabeth, my friend and I like to go and mooch around the shops and department stores and have lunch in IKEA. It makes a nice change of scene. We do the Mall of Cyprus first, then M&S, the Mall of Engomi and finally Alphamega. Sometimes we buy and sometimes we don't but it's nice to have choice.
Also love mooching around Girne but it's different and also much hotter!

I have been three times this year, and do feel that when I cross the border coming back, I am HOME!!

elızabeth, I agree that is personal choice and have no wish to start any arguments but I really dont want to pay to go to a different supermarket just because it is there. Everywhere I went in the UK they took the same currency and did not get annoyed when I happened to present the wrong one either, I did not have to be checked into and out of each county as I crossed the borders, I did not have to pay extra insurance on my car to visit anywhere in the UK and I was never treated as a second class citizen in Shropshire just because I came from Yorkshire! Wish I could say the same for here but it is just not so because this is not just one country but two. Had an interesting conversation with a British couple from Paphos at the last music event in the British High Commision in Lefkosia and they report the hate that is felt by them from the local Cypriots down there - so its not just me, its the change in country and nationality that I dislike.

Still as said often before - each to their own!!

We travel to the south on the odd occasion as having spent my teenage years at RAF Akrotiri plus a couple of 3 year tours whilst serving myself at Ayios Nikolaos near Gazimagusa and living in Dhekelia and Beyarmurdu (Pergamos) we have many great memories and like to revisit old haunts.

Dont buy very much at all. Will try and get round to some old beaches (CESSAC at Dhekelia, Melanda Beach etc - one's that the tourists would never go to, plus re-visit old restaurants (Mahmouts iin Limassol and a few other gems) and despite all the development in the south we can still escape the crowds. Its a lovely island both sides but on balance we do prefer KKTC just because it is more relaxed, it is 10 years behind the south, we love the people, prefer the food and even the way things are done....or not as the case maybe!

10yrs!!! More like 30.

Mollie the cat wrote:10yrs!!! More like 30.

Even better if it was 30 years.......but having lived on and experienced both sides I don't think so.

I go South to buy unsweetened grapefruit juice as I can't find it in the North. I also like to visit Holland and Barrett for a few things and there's a nice little Italian type place near the checkpoint in Ledra Street where it's nice to have a spot of lunch and watch the world go by!

I try to buy local and support the local economy-but there are things you just cant get here,so my South trips are for things you can't get here.

Philoz
I agree.
That is a good supermarket, the one's in the north are all the same offering deals that will appear in the next one a week later.
I like the change and the selection of products THAT never appear in the north,
I bought a nice bunch of lemon grass from Alfa Mega and put them all in water, it took aprox 5 weeks for the to root but now I have 12 plants growing, the gigest one it have planted on the spare land next to me.
For the guy who have served in Germany you can get Bratwurst in Alfa maga, don't think lemar or any other market in the North sells them.
Lidhl sell Curry ketchup, HOT & MILD again a must have for a ex squddie who served anytime in Germany.
So yes I need to go south but when I feel it is needed, and to buy Lidhls beer at 1.5 TL a can. Say no more.

Seems like I have had a Marions??

I shop in the South on a regular basis, just for a change. However I don't go over just to shop but to have a day out. I can be at Protaras in less time than it would take me to get to Girne and I prefer visiting there. Like the OP I have lived in the North for 7 years and wouldn't move South to live, but if like me, you don't like Girne (though I do like Magusa) it can be a bit restrictive.

Live and let live.

Thanks all for replying, seems like I am missing a bigger choice of food selection particularly meat, sadly lacking this side and visiting Malls, Ikea etc which we did often in the UK. Was quite surprised to see Lidl mentioned by a few as being a good choice for bargains as on a different thread last week someone was complaining about lack of variety here and she wished there was a Lidl or Morrisons (would be Asda for me), poor woman was absolutely slated and told if she didn't like it here to go back where she came from. Please don't shoot me down in flames, not pointing a finger at anyone on here that was kind enough to answer my query, just making an observation!!
Unfortunately, don't think it is likely that I will get to visit all I am missing as like Philoz and Waddo, my husband is of the school of thought that we chose to live here and should be supporting this economy.
As I said in my original post, we have lived here for 7 years and never been so will have to make do with a catch up on all I am missing on my very rare trips back to the UK

OK, give this a try if you are mobile enough, but not until October when the summer heat has gone! Go to Lefkosia and park up near Kyrenia Gate, wander down to the crossing point and walk across to have a look along Ledra St - McDs is there as well mmmm - some good shops along the street but remember you are in a tourist area and you will find prices to be higher than elsewhere! If you want a visit to Lidl there is one about 40 mins walk from there, just Google earth it and go forth in search, it can be fun! Try to ignore the rubbish and needles in shop doorways once you get off the main touristy type streets and just wander around. Take a backpack to carry your stuff back in and a big bottle of water as well - enjoy the day!

Thanks waddo, will have to see about persuading 'him indoors'. Would definitely not take the car so would have to take the walking route but as you say not until the summer heat and tourists have gone.

We used to think, we should not go South and as we flew with CTA, we had no reason to at all. But now that they're gone our nearest airport is Gatwick, our son lives only an hour away from there. We have also made some friends there and they have shown us the their favourite places and now we do want to see more. I think the Troodos is amazing and I really want to spend some time there, walking and exploring. The mosaics in Paphos are the best I have seen in a long time.
I have to admit to doing a bit of shopping, but then I see it as another country. When you live in Central Europe, nipping over the border somewhere is no big deal.
Yes, there is some hostility, but you can find that in England too!! I am German and have experienced it, not often, but I have.

Cyprus is one island, no matter the geopolitics. I expect the Greek side has a lot to offer and worth an explore (but don't ask me to learn another language!).

If there are enough people travelling south this will be logged with the officials both sizes so may influence any future relaxing of regulations/restrictions etc.
Hopefully there are a number of regular travellers going from south to north for the day (does anyone have any info on this?).

Just like keeping a mountain pass open it needs to be regularly walked.

If you don't want to walk there are plenty of buses that go to all the places that I have mentioned in my post. I think the cost is 1.5 or 2 Euros each way, the buses are usually air conditioned and the bus station is a short walk from the top of Ledra St., i.e. about 10-15 minutes walk from the crossing point in Ledra St.
Nos. 158 or 160 to Ikea/Cyprus Mall, dropping/picking up just beside the underground car park below Ikea (other side of road to hospital). When you get back on you need to check that the bus is going back to Nicosia centre.

No. 140 goes to John Kennedy Avenue, where Athienitis, Lidl & Sports Direct are (all within 1/2 km of each other).
The routes & timetables here, the bus station(starting point) is Solomou Square. http://www.cyprusbybus.com/routes.aspx?sid=5

We go frequently over the border, often to Limassol for business reasons. Do like to be able to boot the car down the highway without the wretched speed cameras. Also like a different choice of restaurants, particularly Japanese/Chinese which are much better in the south than here. Also Troodos is very nice, especially during the hot weather as its a lot cooler. I've lived here for years and spend plenty on this side so I don't have a problem with spending a bit in the south. The political problems are down to the Cypriots to sort out - not my problem!

Agobard wrote:We go frequently over the border, often to Limassol for business reasons. Do like to be able to boot the car down the highway without the wretched speed cameras. Also like a different choice of restaurants, particularly Japanese/Chinese which are much better in the south than here. Also Troodos is very nice, especially during the hot weather as its a lot cooler. I've lived here for years and spend plenty on this side so I don't have a problem with spending a bit in the south. The political problems are down to the Cypriots to sort out - not my problem!

Agobard .. Be very very careful, if you see a car by the side of the road, then it can see you ..
Quite often there will be a policeman sat in the back with a hand held speed gun .. Be warned ..

No problem Harita - we know pretty much where they all hang out, mostly under the bridges in the summer and we always have out radar detector switched on!

Hilltop wrote:I shop in the South on a regular basis, just for a change. However I don't go over just to shop but to have a day out. I can be at Protaras in less time than it would take me to get to Girne and I prefer visiting there. Like the OP I have lived in the North for 7 years and wouldn't move South to live, but if like me, you don't like Girne (though I do like Magusa) it can be a bit restrictive.

Live and let live.

We love to have a day out in the South, Troodos is wonderful at this time of year, Pommos is very pleasant for a lunch out, Latchi makes a nice change too. We put our fair share into the economy of the north so have no qualms about spending money in the South but wouldn't want to live there.

Incidentally, we recently priced a 3m, Parasol at a shop in Lapta/Alsancak, 1000TL without the stand, 1500TL with stand, bought one on the South, 3m, without stand, 41 Euros, another reason for going South.