On Tuesday, we travelled up to the northern part of Cyprus today, crossing the Green Line and into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized by Turkey. The Turkish flag and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus flag were immediately displayed all over the place. The two share the same design, with red and white, but are just inverted of one another. The heavy presence of flags and landscape altered the feeling of Cyprus and opened it up to the occupied north. The heavy military presence in the north can be noted as different from the south and when you first cross the Green line, there seemed to be abandoned homes for miles.
After visiting Famagusta, we then traveled to the ghost town of Varosha. The town was once a booming tourist area with a beautiful town for their beaches. The once popular area now all abandoned. The buildings are now weak and dangerous to walk in. The nature has taken its course and overgrown roads and the landscape. There was even a construction crane which shows how fast people fled the town. Everyone had to drop what they were doing at a moment’s notice, and it was sad to think of all the people who left their lives behind. It is now an attraction with tons of tourists walking around, and the beaches were flooded with people, as if acting like the place they were in was completely normal. It was odd to think of the events that took place in the town, but then to see tourists in floral shirts on the beach and biking around was uncanny.
On a spirited note, after the ghost town, we went to the beach. The salt water was so clear. A large group of us swam to an island off the coast. The island was covered in really painful rocks and thorns which we all tried to walk carefully. We wanted to get up on the upper level of the island where there was a Greek flag, and although we made it up, it was incredibly painful. We all regretted it but it is okay because it was an experience. We swam back to shore and relaxed.
We travelled back to Limassol and I showered up and went out to dinner with a group. It was called the Lab. I ordered the salmon with a mash potato puree underneath, grilled vegetables were surrounding it, and with a side of quinoa. The night and meal were delicious.
