Dayyyy 6 in Cyprus. Today we crossed the border into the Turkish occupied side of Cyprus in the North. We had to bring our passports and we got a Turkish official to follow us around on our tour. Along the drive, many of the buildings seemed to be ruined and abandoned on the side of the road and were surrounded by fence. The first place we went to in the north was Varosi, a ghost town as our tour guide put it. According to the tour guide, Varosi had been abandoned for more than 50 years. It seemed to me like Varosi used to be a very popular tourist destination spot, due to all the empty hotels and the prime location next to the beach. To be honest I felt like I was walking through an apocalyptic area with little to no signs of life. It was interesting to see how all of the buildings were missing doors and windows and that plants had overgrown many of the buildings and some of the roads. It was a little scary to me how they could let such a beautiful city turn into a ghost town, where I could hear buildings creaking. I also found it fascinating how many signs there were that expressed caution for the dangerous falling apart buildings. However, I think my favorite part of the city was the beach, with its beautiful clear water, void of people.
The next place we visited in Northern Cyprus was Famagusta. Famagusta is a fun name to say :). In Famagusta we got to see Othello’s castle, which inspired the Shakespeare classic, Othello. Famagusta was riddled with ancient buildings, and rich with history. I think my favorite place was the cathedral, as the tour guide called it. It was originally built to be a church by the Venetians, however after the Ottomans took over, they converted it into a mosque. The cathedral was beautiful, and it still amazes me how people in ancient times were able to construct something like that. Another thing I found interesting was the Tomb of Venus. Apparently, along the sides of the tomb there are designs that are able to depict a story. I learned from the tour guide that Cyprus used to be a place where the Ottomans would exile people. This is why there was a dungeon, which would hold the prisoners who were exiled.
Today was a day filled with history, but I also learned about some of the more modern history from the tour guide. On our walk through Varosi, I learned that before Cyprus’s independence the Turkish, the Greeks, and the British were all fighting to get control of the island. However, once independence from the British was established there became infighting between the Turkish and the Greek, which eventually led the Turkish to invade in 1974 and take occupation of Northern Cyprus. I also learned that until 2004 there were no checkpoints to cross the border from the North to the South. This meant that no one had contact with the other side for almost 30 years, which amazed me.
We then visited Fig Tree Bay and got to have a little beach day before we came back to the hotel. The sand was so nice and the water was a beautifully clear blue. Overall, today was a great day filled with history and some sandy toes at the end.
