Continual Vigilance

Cyprus is an island with strong greek traditions, but its great all year round sun is what attracts most of us, which has made it a very popular destination for Europeans, with over 2.4 million visiting its many resorts. The island receives over 330 days of sunshine a year, which has given it the name The Island of the Sun. There is no shortage of travel companies tailoring Cyprus holidays and low cost airlines such as Easyjet offering routes to Paphos and Larnaca, there has never been a better time to visit.

Cyprus attracts tourists from all over the world, but the majority come from Europe. Affluent eastern Europeans and Russians have also joined the crowd in recent years. One of the main reasons why there is such a heavy presence of Brits in Cyprus is because of the positioning of the British Armed forces in the southern Greek part of the island. The UK retains a military base in order to have a gateway for forces to the Middle East. The impact of this on the surrounding area is that Cypriots have grown used to, and in turn, now cater for the Brits. English is widely spoke and understood among nearly all age groups to driving on the left side of the road. A major attraction for many Brit tourists is that the island offers all of the comforts and familiarities of home, but in a more favourable climate.

For many reading this, the prospect of taking a holiday away from England only to be greeted at the airport by a hire car representative hailing from Croydon and being served an authentic Mediterranean dish of steak and chips will not appeal. However, this side of Cyprus, that continues to attract millions of tourists year after year, is only one aspect of the island and is concentrated around the tourist hotspots of Paphos, Larnaca and Ayia Napa. Fortunately as you venture off the beaten track, your are soon reminded of the character that has made this island a popular destination for millennia.

A trip well worth taking is into Cyprus largest mountain range, the Troodos Mountains. In the heart of the mountains you will find the Kykkos monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1998. Housing art and exhibits on ancient Greece, the monastery has the twin function of being a museum for visitors and a practising monastery lived in by worshiping monks. Kykkos even has its own winery where the monks bottle and sell their wine. A daytrip to the Troodos Mountains can be a welcome change from the beach and with overnight accommodation available in many of the authentic villages dotted about; you might want to spend a few days here sampling another side of Cyprus.

Hall was frostbitten and severely disoriented due to altitude sickness. Andrew Brash returned a hero to Calgarians. Now that Bahadur Sherchan has successfully scaled the tallest mountain in the world, he is once again ready to focus on his family. Min Bahadur Sherchan and four climbing guides reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meters) summit of the world’s highest mountain early Sunday, said Ramesh Chretri, an official with Nepal’s ministry of tourism.

“The Chinese weren’t allowing anybody on the Mount Everest. They ended up commandeering it for themselves, even though Mount Everest is shared by two countries. “Chomolungma or Mount Everest this year became a political pawn,” he said with some frustration.

Min Bahadur Sherchan last attempt resulted in the rescue of Lincoln Hall, an Australian climber who was left by his team in the “death zone.”

This year European mountaineer Anthony Loeff is reporting the scales for Mt Everest after he reached the summit of Mont Blanc in France earlier this season.

The 76-year-old man from Nepal is now the oldest person to have reached the top of Everest. Nevertheless, the decision to actualize a long-time personal goal left Andrew Brash with some internal uncertainties, he cited the political actions of China and Nepal as providing the greatest adversity he faced on his journey. His first found him within 203 metres of the peak when his team stopped to help a fellow mountaineer who was left for dead. Two years later, Min Bahadur Sherchan, a University of Calgary alumni, returned to Chomolungma to finish what he had started.

They flexed their muscles this year all the in name of the Olympic spirit, but it was hardly spirited at all.”

The Chinese were flying their airplanes over Mt Everest and had Chinese officials in Kathmandu. As he planned for the climb, Sherchan told reporters he wanted to inspire fellow senior citizens. He also said many Nepalese have established records on Chomolungma, so it was only fitting that the record for the oldest climber to reach the summit should also belong to a Nepali. Therefore, he was all too aware of the potential dangers Everest could bring. Certain parts of the climb are more dangerous than others and it is important for climbers to remain focused Sherchan just 25 days away from his 77th birthday beat the age record set last year by 71-year-old Japanese teacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa.

With the Chinese preparing for the impending summer Olympic Games, Bahadur Sherchan noted that the government’s actions hardly reflected the Olympic spirit. More than 3044 people have climbed to the summit since it was first conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who died in January, and Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay.

They basically coerced the Nepali government to not allow any climbers past camp two on the Nepali side. Andrew Brash returned this week from Nepal after successfully climbing to the summit of Mount Everest.