My visit to Polis Cyprus

When I entered the back water village of Polis in Cyprus, and saw the old buildings, I felt certain that I was going to have problems getting around with my manual wheelchair.

As I left the C&A apartments where I was staying and headed towards the village square, it was a bit of an uphill struggle, and my daughter Lesley pushing my wheelchair was placed under a strain. Eventually we arrived in the popular village square with its cafes and bars lining the main area, besides the few gift shops, the rest of the area was occupied by chairs and tables. We decided to stop for a coffee, and as we sat and we sipped our drinks in the warm sunshine, I took the opportunity to look around, and I noticed that because of the entrance steps, I couldn't find one bar or cafe that was wheelchair friendly. This meant that if I wanted a meal in this area, I would have to sit outside.

There was a bar in the square named saddles, and it was a British bar where all the ex pats met, and they were a great bunch of people, but sadly just when I thought that at least the British bar would be accessible, we came across three steps. Not to worry as the ex pats came outside and lifted me into the bar. I was informed by the owners, Korena and Andy that they should have wheelchair access within six months.

Wheelchair access to all buildings in the Polis square rating: 0/10

We decided to explore other areas of Polis, and it was at this time that I decided to change some money, so we headed towards the nearest bank, and found that because of the steps, it too was not wheelchair friendly, so I decided to check out the other banks in Polis and found that there was not one bank in the village that I could enter, which meant that either Lesley would have to go in for me, or I'd have to manage my finances out on the street. I also found that I was unable to access most of the cash machines, and the one machine that I could gain access to was not working!

Wheelchair Access to all the banks in Polis rating: 0/10

The next thing we did was to find out the best place to eat, There was only three places that were wheelchair accessible, so we didn't have much of a choice, so first we tried the restaurant bar "the royal" that boasted it was open "twenty four hours" a day. Access was okay through the only door with assistance, but there wasn't much room to manoeuvre around the tables, and as the restaurant was upstairs, we had to have our meal downstairs amongst the local village drinkers. The food wasn't too bad, and it was tasteful, but I wasn't too happy when the unshaven chef came out of the kitchen in his grubby white work clothes, I began to wonder if the food was okay, but there was no problems, and anyway, Lesley and I had different meals, so that if one of us became ill, the other would be able to look after the sick one.

Wheelchair access rating: with assistance 8/10, Independent wheelchair access 2/10. Wheelchair access to toilets 0/10

The following day we tried the second restaurant that was on the opposite side of the road just up from the Royal, and wheelchair access was no problem, but except for a few locals it was always virtually empty, and it didn't look too clean. But we decided to give it a go, and after the meal we both agreed that we would never go in there again, the food might have been okay by local standards, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth and neither of us could finish our meals.

Independent and assisted wheelchair access into the restaurant 8/10 Wheelchair access to toilets 0/10

We were left with one restaurant that had wheelchair access, and that was the Akrontariki. A notice stated that wheelchair access was at the rear of the building, so we went around the back and we were met by a waiter who took control of the wheelchair and pushed it up the ramp into the restaurant. We found the building clean, and the food was excellent, and the service too was excellent, so we decided to have our main meals here.

Independent wheelchair access 0/10, assisted wheelchair access 7/10 (steep ramp) Wheelchair access to toilets 0/10

The following day we tried out he shops and supermarkets. The supermarket nearest the apartment although convenient.

Wheelchair access 0/10

We went to the Co-op supermarket at the end of the village, to get there, we had to conquer a long steep road.

Independent and assisted wheelchair access 8/10

We visited the disabled toilets in the village and found them accessible, clean and even had a toilet roll in it! The problem was the toilets were in a car park, and some drivers had no hesitation in blocking the toilet entrance.

Independent and assisted wheelchair access 10/10 (as long as no cars are parked in front of the door.)

There was one final place to try out and that was the beach, which was fifteen minutes from the apartments. We set off downhill towards the beach area and we had only gone half way down the hill, when I asked Lesley to stop. Yes we could have got down to the beach, but getting back in a manual wheelchair would have probably placed us both in hospital, and I had to think of my carer as well as myself, and there was just no way I was going to have her pushing me back uphill. So we realised that the only way to get around Polis and to the beach, was either by using an electric wheelchair or a power scooter. We mentioned this to Chris, the owner of the apartments, and he promptly and kindly lent me his electric wheelchair free of charge.

The electric wheelchair made all the difference, and although it didn't get me access into the buildings, it made mine and my carer's life a lot easier so that we could enjoy the holiday. We made it to the beach in the electric wheelchair only to find that because of the terrain, there was no wheelchair access to the beach. Having said this, I was informed that a beach ramp for wheel chairs is to be laid and should be in place by the summer.

Wheelchair access for beach, rating 0/10

Mike Coatesworth