Today we had a bit of an earlier start, beginning the day with a bus ride at 7:45. We travelled to the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus (the northern part). To cross the line into this part, we had to stop at a checkpoint and they looked at all of our passports. Then, a Turkish Cypriot joined us for the rest of our duration in this part of Cyprus. Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, and has occupied the northern part ever since. After the initial invasion, all of the residents fled their homes, and afterwards Turkey looted and took over these areas. However, there is one area that still remains a ghost town (about 17% of the area) in Famagusta, that was looted but has no inhabitants. We walked through this area, and it was like a time capsule seeing buildings just how they were 48 years ago with no people there at all. Our tour guide Georgia actually grew up and lived in this area, and was able to point out her past schools, theaters, and many more things such as where festivals would take place. Famagusta used to be the main port of Cyprus, but now the coast was lined with abandoned hotels and streets.
After leaving the ghost town area, we went to the medieval part of Famagusta where Turkish Cypriots do live. We visited various churches and some ruins. We were able to go on top of the walls and overlook the city and the shore. We also stopped for lunch at a restaurant here, and I was surprised by how cheap the food was; we assumed it was probably because 1 euro is equivalent to 15 Turkish liras. We then left the Turkish area of Cyprus, and had to check out at a gate.
We next went to Konnos Bay where we got to spend some free time at the beach. The water was the clearest water that I had ever swam in, and was a beautiful shade of blue. However, the water was still pretty cold. Today was an extremely hot day, so having cold water was actually refreshing. I also tried a frappe here, which is a popular Greek iced coffee.
After leaving the bay, we made a stop at the Sea Caves on our way back to Nicosia. The cave we visited was an underground area where we could look out to the sea. Unfortunately, there was a lot of light coming from the cave opening into the dark cave, so it did not photograph too well. After the cave, we stopped to observe a land structure that was a bridge made out of rocks (though not a walkable bridge). This bridge was over extremely blue waters, and made for a great view. After returning back to Nicosia later, we ended the day with a casual walking tour around the Old City, then I had dinner and rose ice cream (this is a specialty of Cyprus) with some friends.
