Today we traveled to the Turkish region of the island of Cyprus. The Turkish region covers the North-Eastern part of the island. After traveling through the city, we headed to the beach for a few hours. Then we visited the sea caves and a land bridge to take pictures.

The country of Cyprus became independent in 1960 and the country of Turkey invaded the island in 1974. This invasion was peaceful for the most part. The islanders were alerted a few days beforehand and warned to move out of their homes onto the other side of the island. The city of Famagusta is a very interesting place. We traveled through the old abandoned part of the city which was made up of many huge empty buildings. This will probably be one of the most unique things I see in my lifetime.

All of the buildings in the picture above are empty. They have been abandoned since the invasion almost 50 years ago. Only just recently, they paved the main road again to make way for new innovation.

When the British agreed to let Cyprus become independent in 1960, part of their terms was that they kept British bases on the island. I asked our tour guide why the British did not help the Cypriots when the Turkish warned of their invasion. She told me that the British saw Turkey as a protection against other countries. These countries were predominantly Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, and Turkey itself. Their decision to keep out of this situation was to protect themselves and the rest of Europe from a bigger situation.

After going to the beach, I stopped at a take away restaurant to eat quickly. This was next to a cafe that has been there since before the Turkish invasion. Our beach, Fig Tree Bay, was positioned outside of the Turkish region, and this was the place where a lot of that population fled.

Finally, we saw the sea caves and a land bridge. These provided some great pictures spots, but me and my friends found even more fun in throwing rocks off the tall cliffs.