Richard And Jo Demeester's photos

From the Garden Tomb, looking out to one of the rocky ravines around Petra City.

A delightful cat amongst the ruins of the High Place Of Sacrifice, Petra.

Rounding a bend in the Siq, suddenly you encounter Petra's signature facade, The Treasury. I'm in there for scale. Tucked into a nook, it is an amazing piece of craftmanship. Just note that none of this is “built”, the entire facade is carved out of the sandstone. Actually created as a tomb, the name “Treasury” came from a legend that Pharaoh had hidden treasure in the urn at the top when he was in pursuit of the Israelites. Bullet holes riddle the urn, from vain attempts at shattering the urn and causing said treasure to spill out.

The Siq is a 1.2 kilometre rift in the mountains that provides the approach to Petra. It is beautiful rock, weathered to a polished sheen in places, and at some points, it is possible to match the rock patterns from each side. Narrowing down to only a couple of metres, with walls that rise up to 200 metres in places, it would be a fascinating and beautiful walk in its own right. However, the experience is enhanced by the anticipation of where you are headed. Additionally, there are some tombs, niches, and carvings to be seen along the way, and the remains of two aqueducts (one down each side) which were quite the engineering marvel of their time.

This map shows the walled town section of Lefkosia (Nicosia) leaving out the north/south division. It is a good map to show the shape of the Venetian built medieval walls – sort of like a snow flake, or a cross section of plant on a microscope slide.

A “not so obvious” sign from Northern Cyprus. Our interpretation was that cars have one speed limit, trucks and heavy vehicles another, and cars that are on fire or are exploding should drive slower again.

Gothic features of the once-upon-a-time-it-was Cathedral of Agios Nikolaos, Famagusta, modelled on the cathedral of Reims (Rheims) in France. The added minaret (when it was converted in to the Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque) does not blend in all that well.

Modelled on the cathedral of Reims (Rheims), France, this used to be the Cathedral of Agios Nikolaos. In 1571, the towers were severely damaged during an Ottoman siege, and after Famagusta fell, the conquering Ottomans stripped the inside and added a minaret. Since then, it has been the Lala Mustafa Paşa Mosque.

Ruins of one of Cyprus' city kingdoms, Salamis.

Fantastic and generous restaurateur, Tayfun. This is his self decorated place in the village of Yenierenköy. After getting us in to his place with a good deal and a great atmosphere, he thrust a bunch of freebies on to us, too. Coffee, which is not an unusual “extra”, but also a bag of fruit from his own garden – pears and enough grapes to sink a ship.

This is the the view from the third castle, Kantara, in the Kyrenia Range.

Viewed from our rooftop terrace in Kyrenia, you can make out the castle structures of St Hilarion on the rocky peak. The moon completes the picture.

This was the start of the big late lunch I referred to. This shows the dips and salads. Soon, we were to start receiving the meats and hot dishes. This meze had about 25 different dishes! No dinner needed that night.

In anticipation of a big late lunch, we had a light early snack. So healthy, hey, with our fruit. We found this cute little perch in the royal quarters of St Hilarion Castle. This is another of the three castles that I referred to earlier. A bit of climbing was required for this one, too.

The massive walls of Kyrenia Castle create a beautiful backdrop to the tiny harbour. The very late sun throws a nice glow over the scene.

This photo is also taken from Buffavento Castle. This is looking to the south of the Kyrenia Range, over the plain of the Mesarya. It is quite a contrast from the north view in the other photo. Visible here is one of the castle's lower structures.

Taken from a castle called Buffavento. The city visible down by the coast is Kyrenia. Buffavento was one of three castles in the mountain ridge known as the Kyrenia Range along Cyprus' north. The three castles were built in line of sight of each other, allowing them to send warnings with beacon fires. This one required a bit of effort to reach, being a 30 minute steady climb in the sun from the car park. Little fortification was required as the natural rock provided considerable protection already.

There is a soccer pitch in the foreground, and then barbed wire and barrels and the United Nations watchtower, marking the buffer zone of no-man's-land. The imposing wall on the left is one of the impressive spade shaped bastions on Lefkosia's fantastic Venetian medieval walls.