Hey everyone, it’s that time of the day again! Get ready for blog #5! On today’s agenda, we took a long(ish) bus ride from Limassol to Famagusta. During this bus ride, we were able to learn a lot about the history of Northern Cyprus from our tour guide, Georgia. One of the things that struck me was how mysterious the state of the occupied territory felt. Georgia mentioned how it is very hard to get a proper population count because the government says that the population is around 300,000. She noted that the best way to get an estimate is to track the energy consumption, which is being used at a rate way higher than the recorded 300,000. I also found it interesting how the only integrated Turkish and Greek village on Cyprus could be found in the buffer zone, under the control of the UN. During the bus ride, Georgia talked about how it’s nearly impossible for the Cypriot citizens in the buffer zone to industrialize because they need permission from the government to do so, and are typically denied, most likely to keep the buffer zone a quieter area.

Our tour took a more solemn turn once we got to Varosi, a city in southern Famagusta. The once lively city had been “frozen in time,” as Georgia put it. This city had been abandoned after the Turkish invasion in the 1970s, when it had been bombed. Nearly every window was shattered, the building crumbled, and the road was overgrown by nature. It felt completely unreal, like a set out of a dystopian film, except it’s not. It’s the remains of homes, schools, shops, and restaurants. It holds the memories of school graduations, music performances, and fun nights out. Driving out of the city, I could see the stark differences between the sides of the road. Out of the right window were very modern, usable, lived-in buildings and houses. Meanwhile, to the left were the crumbled, uninhabitable buildings that will forever remain untouched and frozen in time. After our visit to Varosi, we also had a chance to look at the old city, which had beautiful Gothic architecture. There, we were able to see an old church that had been converted to a mosque, and hear a live band performing on the side of one of thee brick alleyway paths.