Abandoned Villages - Istinjo

[Dominic]

Istinjo is an abandoned little village, with an active farm, just east of Filousa. You won't find it on Google or Bing Maps, unless you opt for satellite view and locate it manually. We have driven past it on numerous times ourselves before we realised it was actually an old village; from the main road it looked more like a slightly ramshackle farm. We only found out it's name when we did our Polis route the other other day. However, on that occasion we decided to stop and have a bit of an explore. Given that we had been following roadsigns to Istinjo since Samara, it only seemed fair. This is what we found...

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Ramone]

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the very same place when we had a long weekend last year staying in the Yurts which are nearby.
Great place to visit with plenty of walks with the dogs, peace & quiet & of course a couple of glasses of wine on the verandah.

[Dominic]

What are those yurts like?

[Jim B]

My wife lived on a Collective Farm in Central Asia and during the summer months when she was a child used to live in a Yurta while following the herds across the Steppe. They are very spacious and warm as they are made out of wool and wicker; my pal had one set up in his back garden at his house in Kazakhstan as his mum preferred sleeping in the Yurta rather than the mansion he owned.

Jim

[Dominic]

It's the "warm" bit that puzzles me. In Cyprus, don't they get really warm?

[Ramone]

We went In March & had a great time, they have a log burner which was very nice in the mornings until the sun came up.
I'm just guessing but the canvas doesn't hold the heat in like the house.
I don't know anybody who has stayed there in August so I couldn't say. But good question.

[Ramone]

info@yurtsincyprus.com
All the info is here Dom.
Cheers.

[Jim B]

The wife said that the bottom of the Yurta is folded up from the ground which allows a flow of air through during summer. She also said the fabric is woven horsehair and this keeps snakes and scorpions away; not sure if the ones in Cyprus are made of horsehair.

Jim

[PaphosAL]

Blimey, we learn something new every day here on PL! I'd never heard of Yurts (or Gir) until today. Thanks for the education, we're never too old to stop learning, are we?

It popped into my old brain that a Yurt is a bit like an Ikea self-assembly flat pack caravan without wheels, LOL!

Cheers- AL

[PaphosAL]

Still reading through your latest Istinjo blog, Dominic. Photo #15 is reminiscent of many other abandoned TC villages I've passed through, where time appeared to have stopped in the 1974 invasion, and TCs fled to the north, leaving part built properties behind them...

Other examples of this hasty retreat lays in Androlikou, above Latchi. Worthy of a blog, maybe?

Cheers- AL

[JimX]

You have never heard of Yurts AL where have you been?

[GreenArmy12]

Another nice interesting blog, thanks, please keep them coming! also loved the Pink Floyd reference

Al