#Cyprus beaches reopen as new virus cases hit zero

A new form of beach life, spaced apart, emerged Saturday on the Mediterranean holiday island of Cyprus after more than two months of coronavirus-imposed curbs were lifted on freedom of movement.

The relaxation coincided with the first day of zero new cases of corona-virus in Cyprus since the first were declared on March 9.

"The people are good, the water's good, the weather's good, things are cool," said Georgios, a young gym trainer.

"We're here, we're having a good time... we're taking our safety measures."

The lifting of a swimming-only decree in force on the beaches brought sunbathers back out on the seashore -- but under social distancing rules.

The health ministry has issued directives on the placement of sunbeds and parasols. Also, only members of the same family can jointly take part in water sports.

"We've put the tables two metres (six feet) apart," said Panayiotis Neokleous, owner of the normally bustling Ammos beach club near the airport in the southern resort town of Larnaca.

"All the staff have taken the (COVID-19) test, they are all negative. Now we are all wearing protective masks, gloves and we disinfect our hands many times," he said.

The US-educated Neokleous acknowledged that the summer season was "going to be not so good because tourists are not going to come, or if they come, it'll be late".

"We are going to see a lot of restaurants and hotel businesses not going to make it and will have to close down," he said.

But for personal trainer Vanessa, a regular at the club, Saturday was a time to celebrate, even if a heat wave earlier in the week had given way to strong wind and choppy waters.

"I am very happy to be back ... And this is my favorite place to be... Anyway I'm glad it's all over and I hope it's going to be better," she said.

On Saturday, Cyprus also reported zero new corona-virus cases after the daily number of infections since the start of the month were down to single figures.

And on Friday the east Mediterranean holiday island announced a phased reopening of its airports to commercial flights from June 9.

But its two largest tourist markets, Britain and Russia are not on the initial lists, amid concerns over infection levels in the two countries.

The Cypriot government ended a strict stay-at-home lockdown on Thursday, reopening outdoor restaurants, barber shops as well as beaches, although hotels remain closed for now.

Since mid-March people could only go outside for exercise and essential trips which needed to be approved by text message while a curfew was enforced every night.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Indonesia - Bali named among top post-pandemic destinations

Bali is among the international destinations such as Andalusia and Catalonia in Spain, as well as Florida in the United States, listed as the most desirable places to visit after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The travel industry has been one of the hardest-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic, but travelers around the world have also been eager to get back on the proverbial road and visit new holiday destinations.

Dutch online ticketing company Booking.com has recorded growing wishlists on its app, listed by people in quarantine around the world in March and April.

On the list, Bali ranks second among the most desirable tourist destinations.

The island is listed along with international destinations such as Andalusia and Catalonia in Spain, as well as Florida in the United States. Krasnodar Krai in Russia tops the list.

In a statement, Booking.com said the list was based on the number of likes for properties listed on the app.

The data was compiled in March and April and compared to similar data in March and April 2019.

Alongside Bali, there are 27 Indonesian destinations on the list, such as West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and West Java.

The list also revealed that Indonesian users on the app are hesitant to plan international journeys after the pandemic.

Around 76 percent of Indonesian users’ wishlists comprise domestic destinations in sunny cities and places with beaches, such as Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, and Ubud and Seminyak in Bali.

Meanwhile, international destinations are dominated by Asian metropolitans, such as Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.

On Saturday, Reuters reported that Bali could reopen to tourists in October, following the government's success in controlling the coronavirus outbreak. If the infection curve continues to improve, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is looking to revitalize destinations and do promotional work for some parts of the country, including Bali, between June and October.

Source - #TheJakartaPost

Phuket Airport to reopen Saturday morning with limited flights and extra paperwork

International Airport to re-open from the morning of Saturday, May 16, less than two days away. Two days ago officials from the local provincial hall participated in an inspection of all the changes and preparations made to cater for passenger travel in the Covid era.

The Phuket International Airport is one of the last major airports to re-open to passenger traffic and commercial flights. The CAAT ordered the airport closed on April 3 to restrict air travel as health authorities nationwide battled to contain the spread of the virus at the time.

The order says that people arriving in Phuket from other provinces will be required to fill in an a form describing their travel history, particularly recently and information about where they are staying whilst on the island. At this stage the opening of the airport is only to limited domestic flights.

“All people leaving the island must register their health condition on the AOT Airports app.”

A ban remains in force for international flights at least until May 31 and a possibility that it could be extended another 15 days.

For land departures there has been a requirement for Phuket people, arriving in some provinces, to adhere to a 14 day quarantine. This order from the CAAT does not mention that requirement. We will post more information when it becomes available.

Currently land departures are required to have a fit-to-travel document saying that they have been in self-quarantine for 14 days before their date of travel. That has not been specified for air travel at this stage.

3 airlines have already notified the PIA of their plans to resume limited domestic passenger services in and out of Phuket, at one flight a day, according to the governor. Other domestic airports have been opened up around the country for limited services.

Provincial authorities also agreed yesterday to ask the Interior Ministry to allow reopening of all sea and road links from Saturday. No approval has been given at this stage.

The first flight we could see that was available for booking was a 9.30am flight on Monday morning with Air Asia from Phuket (HKT) to Don Mueang in Bangkok (DMK) for the princely sum of 4,686 baht.

Aircraft are also requiring specific seating to avoid people sitting next to each other and an insistence that passengers must wear masks. There is also no food and beverage services allowed on domestic services at this stage and travelers are urged to arrive at the airport 3 hours before their flight for additional check in procedures.

Source - The Thaiger

#Cambodia - Koh Paen residents aim to keep bamboo bridge tradition alive

Each year, Koh Paen residents built a seasonal, kilometre-long bamboo bridge for cars and pedestrians to cross the Mekong when the water levels were too low for a ferry.

Connecting the island of Koh Paen to Kampong Cham city in Kampong Cham province is a giant 779m concrete bridge, opened in March last year, able to carry loads of 20 to 30 tonnes across the Mekong river.

Is it functional? Perhaps. Does it have any charm? Absolutely not.

But 2km south down the Mekong used to sit another bridge fulfilling a similar function, less robust and practical, but exuding an antiquated charm by anyone’s estimation.

Each year, for decades, the island residents of Koh Paen built a seasonal, kilometre-long (1,000m) bamboo bridge for cars and pedestrians to cross the Mekong when the water levels were too low for a ferry. And each year, when the rains swelled the river, the elements would tear it down again.

For local residents, the bridge was a backdrop to daily life since they can remember – only disrupted between 1973 and 1986 with the civil war and emergence of the Khmer Rouge – though the specific history of the bridge remains hard to pinpoint.

Prior to 1973, the bridge was owned collectively by a company established by 14 villagers from the island, according to 74-year-old Nai Seang, speaking to The Post back in 2017. She joined the company in 1964, purchasing two shares for 7,000 riel (approximately $1,500 after adjusting for inflation).

Back then, the bridge was only a foot and bicycle bridge built from locally sourced bamboo, with a 1 riel toll for pedestrians, or 2 riel for a bike (equivalent to $0.19 and $0.37 today, respectively). As the youngest in the company when she joined at the age of 22, she was the sole surviving member.

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The bamboo bridge also serves as a major tourist attraction for both local and international visitors.

 “The knowledge would be passed down from one generation of builders to the next,” she said. While Seang says she never asked the older members of the company about the bridge’s history, she remembers it when she was an infant, which indicates that it dates back to at least the 1940s.

That the bridge has become a tourist attraction was a strange curiosity for Seang. “I did not know the bridge has become such a tourist attraction. I was very young when I bought my shares, and to me it was just a thing that helps people cross the river, and a business,” she says.

But back in March last year, as the concrete monolith neared completion, for the first time in decades the residents of Koh Paen decided against building their bridge as a river crossing for vehicles.

Yung Oun, the owner of the old bamboo bridge, told The Post that it served as a major tourist attraction in the province, for both local and international visitors, so the loss of the bamboo bridge signalled a loss of money for the area too.

To avoid this, last year enterprising locals decided to keep the tradition alive on a smaller scale by building a tourist friendly, pedestrian only bridge as a replacement.

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 “Last year, our new bridge was only 700 metres. This year, we will construct it up to 800 metres,” said 60-year-old Bun Dara, a former Institute of Technology of Cambodia engineer and owner of the new bamboo bridge.

The bridge, built using more than 20,000 bamboo sticks, was officially opened on December 1. It is open from dawn to dusk, including weekends and holidays.

“On a normal day, I see about 30 to 50 people walking across the bridge,” said Dara.

To cross the bridge, pedestrians cost 2,000 riel, a motorbike costs 5,000 riel, a vehicle or tuk-tuk costs 10,000 riel and a larger vehicle costs 20,000 riel.

Source - PhnomPenhPost

Death toll in #Indonesia quake rises to 164

The death toll from a devastating earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has risen above 160, an official said Thursday, as authorities urgently appealed for medicine, food and clean water for some 156,000 people displaced by the disaster.

Many frightened villagers are staying under tents or tarpaulins dotted along roads or in parched rice fields, and makeshift medical facilities have been set up to treat the injured.

Evacuees in some encampments say they are running out of food, while others are suffering psychological trauma after the powerful quake, which struck just one week after another tremor surged through the island and killed 17.

"The death toll rose to 164 people with at least 1,400 people seriously injured and 156,000 displaced," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP.

Tens of thousands of homes, businesses and mosques were levelled by the quake, which struck on Sunday as evening prayers were being said across the Muslim-majority island.

Local authorities, international relief groups and the central government have begun organising aid, but shattered roads have slowed efforts to reach survivors in the mountainous north of Lombok, which bore the brunt of the quake.

"We are still waiting for assessments from some of the more remote areas in the north of the island, but it is already clear that Sunday's earthquake was exceptionally destructive," 

Christopher Rassi, the head of a Red Cross assessment team on Lombok, said in a statement.

He estimated 75 percent of houses are damaged in some villages in east and north Lombok.

"There are still some evacuees that have not yet been touched by aid, especially in North Lombok and West Lombok," Nugroho tweeted Thursday.

Source - TheNation 

Hurricane Irma destroys '95 percent' of French part of St Martin

The French part of the Caribbean island St Martin is "95 percent destroyed" after Hurricane Irma tore through the region, top local official Daniel Gibbs said late Wednesday.

"It's an enormous catastrophe. Ninety-five percent of the island is destroyed. I'm in shock. It's frightening," said Gibbs, a former French lawmaker, speaking on Radio Caribbean International.

The island is in need of emergency assistance, he said. "I have sick people to evacuate, I have a population to evacuate because I don't know where I can shelter them," he said.

At least six people have been killed in the French part of St Martin, Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire said.

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Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday.

The French minister for overseas affairs, Annick Girardin, was to fly to Guadeloupe late Wednesday with emergency teams and supplies to assess the situation, the ministry said.

 "It's too soon for casualty figures (but) I can already tell you the toll will be harsh and cruel," French President Macron said, adding that he expected damage on St Barts and St Martin to be "considerable".

St Martin ("Sint Maarten" in Dutch), located south of the island of Anguilla, is divided between the Netherlands and France.

St Barts ("Saint Barthelemy" in French), which lies to the southeast of St Martin, is administered with the status of a French collectivity, as is the French part of St Martin.

Source - TheJakartaPost