Plum Garden Cottage - Where is it?

North Cyprus

North Cyprus or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is much less commercially developed than the South and the pace of life is slower and generally less sophisticated.

The people are friendly and helpful. The scenery can be spectacular, plains, hills, mountains, unspoilt beaches, Crusader castles, ruined temples, ancient towns and there is very little you cannot reach with a car, but for the slightly more adventurous, a small 4x4 offers both open top motoring and easier access to some areas.

This is very much a country where the independent traveller can make of their holiday what they will, sipping a cool drink by the harbour in Kyrenia, scrambling up the track to the castle at Buffavento, inspecting the mosaics at Sipahi, finding good food in a village taverna.

Karaman

Karaman (Karmi) is a village at the base of the Kyrenia range of mountains to the south-west of the port of Girne (Kyrenia) in Northern Cyprus.

The village is about 45 minutes by road from the airport at Erçan, near Lefkosia, (Nicosia), about 20 minutes from Girne and around 2 hours from Larnaca. It commands extensive views of the coast and mountains, including the Crusader castle of St. Hilarion.

The village was designated a "Tourist Village" in the early 1980s by the TRNC government. Ownership of property was restricted to other than Turkish-Cypriot or Turkish nationals and as a result, all the property is owned by Europeans or North Americans. There are around 160 houses in the village, of which about 30 have full time residents. Karaman is not on a direct route to anywhere and is reached by a road which winds its' way up the hillside for about 5 kilometres. There is not a great deal of vehicle traffic in or through the village, so it is usually quiet and peaceful.
The village benefits from the European influence with many and varied trees, plants and an abundance of flowers. These combine to produce sights, shade and fragrances that vary with the changing seasons.