I'm pretty sure that the holiday reached its title of 'worst holiday ever' when we ran out of money three days from the end.

Although running out of money often makes the holiday more memorable and more interesting and encourages cameraderie amongst you and fellow travellers, there was absoluetly no cameraderie and no fellow travellers. To use a euphemism, eastern europe is the NHS whereas Cyprus is American hospitals. Unless you pay, there is nothing to do, and if you pay, there is something pretty crap to do. A dolphin cruise, a two hour learn to dive session or a drinking cruise all sounded equally horrendous and equally pricey.

AFter I had emptied out the dusty coins from the bottom of my bag and turned whatever I could into Euros, we sat down and had a coke in a bar. The woman was alone, working with three children to support. She travelled from larnaca into Ayia Napa each day, trying to make ends meet. She told us that her cafe was often empty, and when I supportively pointed out that her blackboard outside her shop was totally mispelt:

'Appel Cak with fluffy' should probably have read, apple cake with whipped cream, I began to understand why she was struggling to hold her own. She was a wonderful woman. She let us use her laptop so we could desperately find something else to do that was free/not drinking, and she told us about her wishes that her chidren finished school and got better jobs than she had.

Although Cyprus is famed as a cheaper Ibiza, away from the tacky neon signs and over flowing litter bins, it is a desert-like island. There is mass unemployment as greater numbers of people head to Larnanca or to Greece, leaving communities without children and unable to continue their farming traditions. This woman worked from 8 in the morning until midnight daily, and was barely making enough to cover her fuel costs. She looked worn-out, exhausted, and longing to change jobs.

'Maybe I'll open a cafe, not a bar' she mused. In five years time, she'l be in the same position again. Ayia Napa is becoming seedier, all teh cool kids are heading elsewhere, Miami, Ibiza and the Greek Islands. The town needs to reattract its original clientele, because it isn't just the quality of the holiday that will be ruined, but the lives of many who have based their livliehoods around tourism.