On day 6, we had a long drive to Varosi! This was located on Turkish Republic of Cyprus side of the country. I think I underestimated the process of getting into this side of the country, but I quickly realized that I no longer had phone service, and we had a Turkish escort following us during the time we spent there. Varosi is now considered a ghost town and it has been uninhabited since the Greek Cypriots fled in 1974 due to the Turkish invasion. As I was walking through the ghost town, I was surprised to see how expansive the abandoned town was. At the same time, I was also impressed with how many other tourists there were. Around us, there were multiple groups and as I was walking, I overheard from another tour guide that this was a popular place for many celebrities back in the day. The beach was so beautiful but the infrastructure that was once there was dilapidated and overgrown. Seeing the beach and how beautiful the landscape was made me wish that this town was in better condition so people could enjoy it again. It was also interesting to see the amount of stray dogs that were here and how well they were taken care of!
Next, we stopped by Famagusta which is a city also located on the Turkish Republic side of Cyprus. It is known for its ancient Venetian walls that have been preserved since the 15th-16th century. It was so cool walking through and seeing the architecture that still stood there. I learned that even though these walls were used during the medieval times, when the British occupied Cyprus, they built an additional white lighthouse. Another cool fact was that in the 15th century, there were sarcophagus’s that were used to hold dead bodies however, the crusaders didn’t know this, and used this to hold water for their horses. As I was walking through this town, I was really awestruck that so many of these structures were still standing after hundreds even thousands of years! Seeing what remained of the walls and the architecture from that time period was really cool to experience in person especially since nothing in America is quite as old!
Lastly, some things I learned from Dimitra and Smaragda about modern day Cyprus included the history of the tensions between the Turks and the Greeks, much about the landscape, climate, and plants, and facts about the animals and food. Something I found really interesting was when Dimitra said that Cyprus has 144 endemic plants which is a lot for such a small island! I didn’t know what endemic meant before but she explained that it meant those plants were native to Cyprus. I also learned much about the carob tree and how those plants are often used as a supplement for chocolate. Warning, they are not ripe until they are brown! Learning about the culture and history of the olives and olive trees was interesting as I realized how crucial they are to sustain Cypriots diet. With the air being very dry, it’s hard to grow many things and so the olive is essential and has been so important to Cyprus for thousands of years. It was also sad hearing about how climate change is effecting Cyprus’s climate and the weather is now often very unpredictable. Hopefully with many people invested in combating the effect of climate change, we will be able to see some improvement and consistency for Cyprus in regards to the changing climate. I am so glad that Dimitra has been our tour guide throughout our trip, she was so informative and extremely knowledgeable on the history and culture of Cyprus which allowed me to learn so much about this beautiful country.
