Ozankoy

[Harrythecod]

Thinking of moving to ozankoy from edremit pros and cons please we are looking to buy a house with land pre 74 title near to the village feed back appreciated

[Ragged Robin]

Lovely village, but not enough parking for the number of restaurants! If you are in the village make sure you have adequate parking for yourself and guests with easy access as too many people use the village streets as a short cut. Expat restaurants and pubs can be a bit noisy, but not too bad so far this year. Dont buy a house in the villlage with front door/windows directly onto road, as your house will be full of exhaust fumes!

Probably not as much social life as Edremit: The Charities mostly seem to chose venues further east or west of us!

Village street can be dangerous because of the traffic No pavements!.

Not many shops - but if you have a car Karakum /Catalkoy are close, for Chemists , Supermarkets etc. though it can sometimes take l0 mins to get across the coast road!

Water supply can be erratic but so far touch wood usually adequate, but you have to guess what time of day it will be switched on and off!

[waddo]

Do try to find out where the new road is going to be before you make a choice. A simple search of Google Maps/Earth could point out possibilities "IF" it goes ahead. Not putting any sort of damper on your plans but wise to check it out first - right now it is all guess work of course but old plans called for a new road cutting through to just the East of Ozankoy and ending up at a major roundabout just before China Bazar (dual carriageway all the way), personally I can't see how that would work now that even more building has taken place but remember it's Cyprus and if enough cash changes hands then anything is possible! Used to live in Ozankoy and moved to Catalkoy to a smaller place, we still drive through Ozankoy nearly every day and to us and due to the amount of students now around it seems to look more like Ozanistan every time we pass through - not being nasty here, just an observation. Would be worth your while to transit through every day at different times to get a better feel for it. Big bonus is it has "Possibly" the best butcher around!!!!

[Deniz1]

Also you may have a problem getting permission to purchase on pre 74 as you are not trnc citizen presumably.

[gary&shirley]

Hi, we currently reside in Ozankoy, it is a lovely village however it is very quiet, limited social life compared to West and getting onto the main road is horrendous and will probably be worse when the dual carriageway is built if ever, good points are the butchers and restaurants which are great however the dogs barking constantly every night and very loud motor vehicles is something you will have to get used to, if I had a choice now I would not buy here.

[Mimi2]

Ozankoy is great. Love living here. We just outside village center. Dolmus bus ever 15 mins 3tl into town. Car not needed. Great bars & resturants in walking distance. AND best butcher for miles

[Reyntj]

Sorry for diverting the thread but whats so good about this butchers and whats it called any idea on prices for bon file etc thanks

[kerry 6138]

http://www.kibkomnorthcyprusforum.com/v ... rs#p173180

see above thread.

[flowerfairy]

I can ditto all of the above.
Sausages are superb, very meaty. Beef topside, wonderful. We had a roast leg of pork yesterday, lovely.
I have rump steak in the freezer waiting to be tried.
He knows I don't ''do'' fat, as is always very accommodating,they are also really lovely people.

[jazzdolly]

We live in Ozankoy..just above actually. I would not want to live in the heart of the village, but there are great bars and restaurants there, as well as other amenities such a tailor, hairdresser, barber, kebab place, two village shops, butcher, as well as reliable locals who offer various services.
The water has been reliable for us, electricity cuts few and the Belediye have helped us a few times too.
The centre of the village may be noisy with dogs and cars, not to mention the mosque, but living just outside means we can cycle or walk in within minutes and get to the main road within 10. The Dolmus is reliable and the refuse collection every Monday night without fail.
Main bonus: we are in the mountains and have a panoramic view of the sea: best of both worlds.
For those with school children, it takes 5 minutes max. for school run.

[niceone]

I love Ozankoy, but as others have said finding parking in the village centre is a nightmare, also negotiating the roads is horrible as they are so narrow and one ways blah

[Groucho]

Sorry for diverting the thread but whats so good about this butchers and whats it called any idea on prices for bon file etc thanks

100tl per kilo but it is properly aged and very very tender.... needs to be ordered really

[Ragged Robin]

I love Ozankoy, but as others have said finding parking in the village centre is a nightmare, also negotiating the roads is horrible as they are so narrow and one ways blah

Right on both counts nice one. I too love (or rather loved)Ozankoy but it is becoming a nightmare with the amount of traffic and the inconsiderate parking. The roads are just too narrow and twisty and never intended for the amount , nor type , of traffic it is now carrying and there are too many restaurants without their own parking, which means too much street parking.

The one way system however, never seems to be to be observed. Maybe things would be better if it were reintroduced more logicallly - and with notices in English! - and enforced. And if vehicles (other than local delivery vans and smal'l trucks) over the size of a five seater saloon car were banned.

the excellent butcher who has been mentioned does do his best to provide what parking he can ,but it is usually occupied by two four b fours and inaccessible to those with walking difficulties.

[elizabeth]

Unfortunately more people means more cars on the road, that applies everywhere, and if people live in or around the village and contribute towards the same they have to use the roads, even if the roads are unsuitable for the amount of traffic.
There are a lot of 4 by 4 s on the roads but in many cases they are the only vehicles that can cope with the huge number of unmade and damaged roads and are needed to gain access to many properties, a sad state of affairs but inevitable.

[kerry 6138]

Surely if Harrythecod buys a property in the village he's likely like the rest of us in the village not to worried about parking , personally I like that I can leave my car and walk to half a dozen café bars and restaurants and shops get a dolmus to Girne, most of the outlying restaurants have car parks.
if we turned the village square into a car park surely this would add to the traffic.

[Ragged Robin]

Actually the villlage square used to be a car park. However it was unpaved and unmarked and the post-2004 newcomers with no knowledge of village customs decided it was unsightly and made a fuss, with the result the then[/u Muhtar decided a statue of Ataturk would look nicer! However I doubt that alone would have served even on pub/restaurant , and all the open space, once used for dog walking, which might have made a decent car parks has been taken up by infill housing.

[Ragged Robin]

I do wish people would try to understand that Ozankoy is a real village occupied by real people. Many of these are locals who have been here a long time. Quite a lot are elderly, frail and lame and either do not own cars or cannot drive : if people respected where they were and saw their surroundings instead of keeping their eyes and minds on their destination , they would notice them pottering around visiting each other; as well as young children running around and playing. A couple of weeks ago an elderly Cypriot lady was trapped, scared and shaking against a wall, while a vehicle that refused to give way to another coming the other way trapped her against the wall! A while back when I was still able to walk dogs, I tooo was trapped against a wall, and got a nasty bang on the elbow from a speeding car driven by an Englishman who did not even stop, One day there will be a really nasty accident and then the you know what will really hit the fan!

Those of us who are lucky to own and drive cars ((albeit small and elderly, the ca rs I mean!) have serious difficulties and are in danger getting into and out of our own drives because of the pressure of impatient traffic

[Ragged Robin]

There may be the occasional case where the state of an access road is a valid excuse for a 4 x 4 but generally lots of people seem to manage ok with ordiary cars. The main reason for driving these vehicles is prestige and keeping up with the Jones, and at least one driver of such has admitted on this formum that he drives that type of vehicle because he know that in an accident he would come off best : not an advertisement for safe and considerate driving!

However since these vehicles do have the advantage of height I just wish their drivers would use it to look the houses they are passing: see the muck which they throw at door and windows and occupants have to cope with daily, and the damage generally, including unreported impact damage, they are doing to the fabric of building, and perhaps decide to use their superior power to find another way to Girne an back home.

[Cally]

I have a friend who lives there (she doesn't drive) & when I am over with hire car, I absolutely hate driving up there to pick her up. It is so narrow & twisty & whilst I creep round corners there are those that drive as if they are the only people on the roads.......................

[Harrythecod]

Thank you all for your useful comments much appreciated

[David]

So if you could start again where would you move tom and why ?

[Hammerhead]

Not easy place to drive in with all the rat runs.

[Ragged Robin]

Not easy place to drive in with all the rat runs.

So why do so many people try to?

I can understand Cally -I had a similar problem with a non driving friend who stayed in Bellapaise (which is even worse for parking!)

But I do wonder when I look out of the window at all those cars going past where on earth they are coming from and going to and whether their journeys are really necessary! I know the population of the TRNChas increased but for one small village the number of vehicles is ridiculous, and it not all restaurants either because the heaviest traffic is during the morning.

[Hedge-fund]

During rush hours the queuing on the main road into Girne starts from Erdener supermaket so a lot of people dodge around it using the back roads which take them through Ozankoy.

[waddo]

Most of the early morning traffic through the village centre is children being taken to school - one child per car of course, you would not expect people to actually share a car and therefore not be able to show off their brand new "P" registered Mercedes battle waggon now would you? A lot of the excess traffic now appears to be coming from Catalkoy as well, I notice that between 07:50 and 08:30 the traffic on Catalkoy Cad leading directly into Ozankoy has increased dramatically over the past year - that seems to be people trying to avoid the normal traffic jam on the main road during rush hours. Once out of Ozankoy and down to the Bellapais roundabout it becomes a dice with death - apparently new vehicles do not come with indicators fitted anymore - trying to guess which way the stream of traffic is going to go - either straight at you and on through Ozankoy or off up to ESK! If you want to see what the latest fashions are then don't bother going into town, no, the latest fashions in clothing, makeup, hair do's and vehicles are all to be found in the ESK car park in the afternoon. You won't find much in the way of sensible parking but you will start to understand just why it is so important to have a new 4X4 and the correct mobile phone when picking up your child - those with more than one child tend to have smaller vehicles for some strange reason.

I know this is all a bit tongue in cheek and frankly I don't care what people wear or drive so long as they do so safely but I do wish they would take the one way system out of Ozankoy and go back to when it was anyway instead of one way! It was much easier to drive around then because people had to be polite or nobody got anywhere - hey, ho, sign of the times and age I think.

[kerry 6138]

Hopefully if and when the new road is built it will take traffic out of the village.

[Ragged Robin]

So if you could start again where would you move tom and why ?

If I could start again with the benefit of a Crystal Ball I would not come here at all in the first place, or if I did I would have left as soon as I saw what was happening here post 2004 but that would have been a terrible wrench as by that time as well as human friends I had acquired four footed companions and dependents whom no one else would have cared for.

IF I knew what know now about I my health, I might have thought about the Famagusta area - simply because it is less hilly and easier access to the sea, and as far as I know less built up. But I suspect I would have had to work a lot harder at learning Turkish, and wonder if I would have made such good Cypriot friends.

What of course I would NOT have done was to fall for that stupid investment that lost me so much of the savings intended to help with health and aging problems and would have made living anywhere so much more comfortable.

There are lots of places in the UK I would have liked to live, but they were all beyond my means even without the investment loss! I still fancy the Channel Islands, particularly Sark or Herm where no vehicles are allowed and a mobility scooter or even a pony and trap would be feasible and safe.



I

[ttoli]

Came through the village tonight after work (11:30pm ) , thought about stopping at the cavern but spaces all around jam packed , even turning the corner towards the 5 mingers cars parked on the left hand side, barely squeezed thru in my colt , heaven help an ambulance !! five minutes further on and I 'm home in Buffavento , no through traffic , above the humidity in Summer , great views and reasonable prices ( 2 bedroom apts with Pool £40k ).

[Mimi2]

I still love this village, but think we are about to suffer. When we get used as the new main road
To Girne. Whilst the dualing of the Girne / Catalkoy road takes place

[Hedge-fund]

Came through the village tonight after work (11:30pm ) , thought about stopping at the cavern but spaces all around jam packed , even turning the corner towards the 5 mingers cars parked on the left hand side, barely squeezed thru in my colt , heaven help an ambulance !! five minutes further on and I 'm home in Buffavento , no through traffic , above the humidity in Summer , great views and reasonable prices ( 2 bedroom apts with Pool £40k ).