May 18-23, 2018

Haaiiii, I’m in Cyprus for the week! The island is an independent nation and is part of the EU, but Northern Cyprus is a Turkish Republic inhabited by Turks, Cypriots, and many others and the south part of the island is inhabited mainly by Greek Cypriots. There has been lots of turmoil in the past between the two ethnic groups and there is definitely an ongoing rivalry, but it is currently peaceful here. I think…

I went to both sides of the island and had a blast!

In Kyrenia (on the Turkish side) I went to the beach, on a boat trip, and visited a castle or two!

Kyrenia Castle

Saint Hilarion Castle – built in about 1050

A pic of me to prove I actually went to Cyprus and didn’t just get all of these pics and facts off google

 

The water is amazingly clear here! You can see straight to the bottom!

Turtle beach – there is a turtle conservation project here that protects turtle eggs! I saw cages around nests but did not luck out to see any turtles (I think they hatch on a month or two)

Adorable harbour

I rented a scooter and headed to Limassol on the Greek side to see some ancient ruins and shit. Let me tell ya, it is like night and day. One second you’re in Turkey, the next you’re in Greece. The border crossing gave me all kinds of trouble, I orginally attempted to cross on Sunday. I was promptly told that I could not cross because I needed to purchase insurance but the insurance place was closed and that I should come back tomorrow. Fuck. Then the next day when I tried to cross I didn’t have the proper documentation. Fuck, again. I nearly cried at hearing I wouldn’t be able to cross again and the guy took pity on me and helped me out. Thank God. Thank Greek Cypriots. They were nothing but kind to me! Off I go!! On my scooter!! *Meep Meep*

This is the exact moment that I realized I grossly under-estimated the size of this island. I was on a scooter on a 2-3 lane divided highway going 60-70km/hr while cars, trucks, and semi’s ripped passed me going 110. Kape. This is great. Such fun. HELP.

Me.

So. Once I arrived at my destination I saw some kick ass ruins from before Jesus’ time.

Playing with the photo features 😉 Also, this is all from around 300BC to 400AD

Ancient tile work that still looks this amazing

An amphitheatre to watch the gladiators fight and shit

The Greek side of Cyprus is super Greek – Orthodox churches and all. Limassol also has tons of street art and I vibe with that

Nissi Beach – supposedly the nicest beach in Cyprus… I’ve seen better…

Then I headed back to the Turkish side of the island to catch my next flight.

I didn’t take any actual pictures on the scooter

Cyprus was interesting with the whole divided nation thing and has an intensely rich history. If you’re interested in genocide and ethnic cleansing check out some documents from Cyprus in the 1970’s. It’s crazy what happened and the animosity that remains. I won’t get into it here, but have a look yourself.

The clear blue waters make this place hard to leave but I can already smell the pizza and pasta waiting for me in Italy.

Ciao.

-XO Kris