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Spending winter in Cyprus

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Deciding to spend the winter in Cyprus was a forced decision for the group. The oncoming cold, the difficulties of having to spend many nights sleeping rough, combined with the nasty surprise of the unfulfilled promise of a winter-long shelter on the Turkish coast, convinced our pedal caravan to get on a ship to Cyprus, where the weather promised greater leniency. On landing in Famagusta, in fact, the scenario changed completely, and everyone was able to finally relax a little.

FAMAGUSTA - «In Cyprus, we were quite overwhelmed by the beautiful climate at Famagusta – continues Piero – where we were able to enjoy workouts in swim wear on the beach as well as getting an excellent reception from the locals. We started to put on shows in the pubs with a very good response from the audience».

Cipro spiaggia

Practicing (and relaxing) on the beach in Famagusta

«The only regret was represented by the parting with Scuccia, our stray dog. After having been in quarantine we left him with some of our friends there. He was also left behind because he had started to become aggressive during street performances when he took to protecting the space where we put down our hat as if it were his territory. It was upsetting to have to tie him up during the shows, so we reluctantly entrusted him to people who, we knew, would take good care of him . The period in Famagusta went smoothly and without any problems. We often played in the clubs,where they allowed us to 'make hat' and they also gave us food».

A picture of Scuccia, the Cyclown Dog

«At that time the group consisted of nine people. Shanti, a clarinet player, and juggler, from San Francisco: Channing, a complete lunatic from Oklahoma, one of the first components of Cyclown Circus, he was very good with the unicycle and the accordion, Marylise a Canadian from Quebec, a true phenomenon on the violin and an excellent singer; Simone, from Rome, good at juggling and on guitar, Johnny, from New Orleans, aged 42 at the time, a strong bass player and with a great circus spirit, he enriched each number with some new sound; Raphael, an American who lived in New Orleans, violinist, guitarist, he also played trumpet and clarinet, he bought a banjo in China and after a while he could play it too; Rocio, a talented Argentinian clown who had already been on the road for nine years, having left before the Argentine crash and not gone home; David, an earnest and self-effacing German who had joined in Istanbul and who played the guitar, he had little of the circus spirit and returned to Europe after Cyprus. And of course there was me.».

The Cyclown Circus

TOWARDS NICOSIA, THE Cyprus ISSUE - «We moved from Famagusta to Nicosia. This was a really nice trip, with beautiful streets and a mild, let's say, autumnal climate. At one point on the road we saw a huge layer of cement on one side of the mountain and the Turkish Cypriot flag was depicted on it. It had been made so big to make it visible to the Greeks who are on the other side of the island. It was our first encounter with the intricate Cyprus Question.».

The concrete flag

«Suffice it as an example that even water, with springs that are in the Greek side but not in the Turkish one, is sold as if it were fuel from the pumps - just like in the photo below - to realize the difficulties of coexistence that still persist there in people's lives today, "Su" in Cypriot language means water».

Oil? No, water!

We end this first adventure about Piero and the Cyclown Circus with a documentary by Dimitris Sfyris, where you can get to see them in action. Enjoy!

Goodbye Turkey, it’s time to spend the winter in Cyprus

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When we last left the group, our cyclist friends had split into smaller groups. Piero was the first one to arrive in the town of Mersin, only to realize that the promised shelter was actually a house of cards. Falling apart.

 

Camping out in Turkey

Camping out in Turkey

Mersin

"We were the first to arrive in Mersin, and we immediately called the number of the guy who had offered us hospitality. He started talking very vaguely from the first moment. Anyway we managed to get an appointment, so we could see things more clearly. When the guy saw that there were just four of us he exclaimed: "Thank goodness. My parents are at home, they didn't leave and now I cannot accommodate everyone. "

Our world fell on top of us. We were quite tired, among other things. He led us to his house. We had to leave the bikes in the yard and already this kind of scared us. We entered the apartment, and were met by the stare of an old-fashioned Muslim-style father, and a mother who was evidently very embarrassed. We took a shower, more or less. We could not wash our clothes. We felt completely out of place. We slept in the living room and the next day the guy told us that we had to get out of the house. We left after breakfast and tried to get some news of the others. We spent a few days waiting for them to arrive in this vast, new city,  a city built round its harbor."

"We did shows, and after the first one we were invited to perform in a rather ambiguous club. There we just played some music, no one seemed to want to help us, and in the meantime night was falling. I don't remember where we slept that night, but I remember the two consecutive rainy days when we had to sleep under bridges. That's when I really had a taste of a bum's life. Everything was very dirty. The city chock full of kids sniffing glue from paper bags. They looked like zombies moving in herds, with these bags. Totally harmless, because of the drug. They were rather annoying, but unable to steal from us. A truly sad scene, which we tried to downplay by teasing them."

A show in Turkey

A show in Turkey

"The others took forever to arrive, but at least the rain was over. We slept for a night or two in a bar under construction, on the waterfront. Nice, finally. Then we get an email from the other group, they were 30 km from us, in the cottage of a family that had adopted them as part of their own family. They just couldn't leave, that's how good they were. And we were sleeping under bridges...".

On the way to Famagusta

On the way to Famagusta

On the way to Famagusta

"Finally, we were reunited with the rest of the group. And we tried to figure out how to get to Cyprus, where we had been told that winter is not so cold. "Why not," we said. We left the same day and we arrived in Famagusta. The island of Cyprus went through a deathly war 40 years ago, when the Greeks were attacked by the Turks. We often spoke about it while on the island. We had to leave Scuccia, the stray dog who had traveled with the circus since Bosnia, in quarantine, and that broke our hearts. We did a first show there, then we got on our bikes in the warm weather and enjoyed a nice swim in the sea after the cold we had suffered in Cappadocia a week earlier. "

The cycling storyteller: preparation and itinerary

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As true lovers of amazing travel stories, we at Personal Travels know the difference between a normal tourist, intended as one of those who do not stray from known paths and go around with their latest digital camera, and a real traveler, one who plans his/her departure, knowing what he/she ìs leaving behind, without the obsession of a fixed route and timing constraints. A choice that may not suit everyone, but that can surely fascinate most people. And speaking of travelers, we were awestruck by the story of the journey of Piero, better known as "Zio Bici" (Uncle Bike): a tour on two wheels - operated by pedals and not by a motor engine - that brought him from Italy to Indonesia, from Europe to Asia, over a period of about 5 years - 2005 to 2010 - alternating times with a motley crew of people who shared a passion for bikes and street circus, and long periods of solo traveling. And together with him we want to try to tell this story.

Zio Bici

Piero aka Zio Bici in one of his balancing tricks.

Preparation

"The preparation of the trip lasted 6 months"- he tells us - "I was about to leave everything, without knowing where I was going and not a worry about the time needed. Leaving Rome, a house, a good job. I've given away a few things and put aside some other things that seemed important to me. I packed my life in a couple of bags and left". It is easy to imagine how many difficulties need to be faced, from logistical ones to more practical ones, from the choice of a suitable means of transportation to that of what "baggage" to bring along, to the problems associated with different languages and customs that they were going to meet, or with safety in general.

"We started as a small traveling circus on Tall Bikes (customized bicycles developed in height). I had built my bike for the occasion after the experience of a previous three-month trip, where I had prepared a bike on two levels with cargo bays.A key variable is to know well the places that you are going to, so choose the best asset and avoid getting lost in impossible maintenance tasks".

Piero's Tall Bike

Piero's Tall Bike

Route

"In my itinerary, I tried to follow the heat as much as possible"- Piero goes on - "I started travelling East-bound in June, and I left Istanbul in October. In December, I was in Cyprus, perfect in winter. After winter, in mid-March, we headed back North, traveling through Russia and Mongolia in August, Beijing at the end of October, and then we headed South. To Laos. We kept on running away from the cold and the snow". This is the sequence of countries crossed during the trip: Turkey, then Cyprus, Turkey again, then Georgia, Russia and Mongolia. Then China, Laos and Thailand where we went back and forth many times, and finally Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. "The only milestones of our travels were visas " Piero tells us with a smile explaining how time flowed in a very different way during this experience.

One step at a time, week after week, and country after country, we will revive the story of Piero, to find out how he managed to put all his certainties of a wealthy western man at stake to find himself catapulted into such different realities, where what seems to be vital here, can become just a quirk or a tiny detail at other latitudes. Two wheels and the iron will to spin them around the world, with the juggling gear in a pocket of the bag, a little more than a hundred euro in his pocket, just to meet the first basic needs, and the longing and desire to share something with all (or most of) the people met on the street. Few but important ingredients for a memorable trip.

Ready to climb on the barrel of your virtual bike to cycle along with Piero?