This year Hajj holiday, I traveled to Cyprus 4-8 November 2011.
Cyprus is divided into 2 countries:
- internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the southern part of the island, which is inhabited by Greek Cypriots, and
- Turkey's backed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only recognized by Turkey, inhabited by Turkish Cypriots
Between the two countries is the Green Line or cease fire line, controlled by the UN.
I flew into Larnaca Airport in the South by Middle East Airlines, a Lebanese airline, the cheapest one I could get, though it was still very expensive since I took the flight too late.
Arriving at the airport at about 10pm, I rented a car and drove to a city called Lemesos since it was a good base to explore other sightseeing the next day.
The drive on the highway from the airport to Lemesos was nice and well signed, though it was dark in several parts of the highway. But the signs dissappeared when I entered the city, so I had no other choice than to ask people. I was surprised that most people in the South could speak English, including old guys and shop owners. I stayed in a backpacker hostel in the old city called Luxor Guest House. The hostel was runned by an American Cypriot old eccentric guy named Dean. With other guests, we shared Dean's Brandy and had a little chat.
The next morning, I planned to go to Ancient Kourion and Trodoos Mountain area in the same day, but as advised by the lady in the Tourist Info booth, I gave up Trodoos area, keep it for the next visit to Cyprus. After walking around the city and visiting the Castle, from not so interesting city of Lemesos, I drove west to the direction of Ancient Kourion, a Roman ruin, south Cyprus biggest attraction, one of my main destination in Cyprus. On the way, I stopped by in Kolossi Castle, a small tower. Then I went down south to visit a monastery called Monastery St.Nicholas of the Cats, attracted by the name and the story behind it. Nothing special in the monastery except there were lots lots of cats. I visited in good timing when a sister feeding the cats. On the way back, I drove a bit into the salt lake, took some nice pictures.
Finally I arrived at the Ancient Kourion, a great Roman ruin site. The area was large, with a perfect Roman theater facing the sea, rooms with mosaic tiles, pillars, a city called Roman Agora, and many more. Spending a few hours there, I drove east towards the divided capital, Lefkosia.
I arrived at night in the capital, directly went to the walled old city, to the Hammam, but finally I decided not to take the package with the massage since I had to wait for an hour, and the price was expensive (the package with scrub and massage costed EUR 80). I tried to find the youth hostel, informed in Cyprus Mail website, but shocked to find that even though the place had Nicosia Youth Hostel written in the front, it was not opened. I called HI hostel in Lonely Planet, but was informed that the hostel was closed few years ago. Finally, I found a room at Lonely Planet recommended budget hotel inside the old city, called Sky Hotel, a 2 stars hotel costed EUR 43.
I found an amusement park just outside the wall and rode on the Giant Wheel. It was quite a scary experience since I was put still in the high position for quite some time, worried maybe the staff had forgotten me, and worried that the power went down as happened once before I rode on.
The next morning, I crossed the border to the North at Ledra Street pedestrian crossing. I was a bit alerted, but the crossing was unexpectedly smooth and easy. I just passed the South side without checking. At the North side, I had to register my passport and wrote my name on a piece of visa paper. The visa paper could be used for many times. It was because for the South (Republic of Cyprus), the area in the North was part of the country, so going to the North was still going inside Republic of Cyprus. But for the North, going to the North was like entering the independent country, so a visa and passport check was required.
The northern part of Lefkosia, called Lefkosa by the North, was more deserted than the southern part. However, there were more big attractions than in the southern part, like my favourite Selimiye Mosque, which was previously a great church, but it was akwardly converted into a mosque. Other main attraction was Buyuk Han, a caravanserai turned to commercial center. It was closed when I visited on Sunday morning, so I came back here on my last night before I left the country.
Going back to the South, also a smooth border crossing, by getting the stamp out at the North, and only passport checking at the South, I walked around the city, visiting several point of interest, took lunch, got my car and drove to the North. Since the car crossing border was not indicated on the official map, by asking people on the street, I was able to find the crossing point in the city not far from the old city in the area called Agios Dometicos. The car crossing was also easy, with additional procedure of buying car insurance costed EUR 25 for 3 days. Then I was in the North with my car.
I drove all the way to Ercan Airport, to pick up my Turkish friend, Gunduz. We went to the most famous tourist city in the North, called Girne (or Kyrenia in English). Due to holiday, the first 3 hotels we visited was full, then finally we found a not so nice motel to stay. We had an expensive dinner in the harbour in a restaurant called Set Fish. The harbour was beautiful with lots of restaurants and cafes. The castle was standing in the edge of the harbour.
In the morning, we visited the castle, and we liked the view from it. After breakfast, we drove to St.Hillarion Castle, a 15 minutes drive on the way to Lefkosa. The castle was located on top of a hill, and view was hillarious. It was our favourite place in Cyprus. After spending a couple of hours in the castle, we drove to Bellapais, a small town in the mountain, 15 minutes drive from Girne. The town was famous for its hotels and one monastery called Abbey.
That day, I planned to visit 3 castles, but since I run out time, I had to gave up 1 castle, and went to the last castle called Cantara Castle, about 50km from Girne. After getting lost and losing 30 minutes, finally we arrived in the Castle, in the end of long winding uphill road on the top of the mountain. The view was amazing, we could see both seas of Karpas Peninsula, a narrow peninsula in the east side of the country.
That night, I planned to in a Lonely Planet highly recommended hotel, called Oasis at Ayfilon, in a beach called Agios Filon, far in the Karpas Peninsula. It became dark before we reached our destination. After driving for driving more than an hour, I realized that I came back to the road we had passed before, meaning we had been driving around back, and not getting closer to our destination. Tired and hungry, I decided to stop by to nearby town, called Mehmetcik, to ask people direction or to find a place to stay that night, since I almost gave up to reach Agios Filon. In the small town, we found a restaurant and ate dinner there cause we were starving. My Turkish friend liked the Adana Kebab we ordered. We asked about accommodation in the town and was told there were one guest house and one hotel in the town. The restaurant staff kindly took us to the guest house and showed us direction to the hotel. Finding the guest house was not worth the price of TL 60 per person, and the hotel costed as expensive as TL 85 per person, it was 9pm when I decided to give another try driving to Agios Filon, where the hotel we reserved costed only TL 75 for 2 persons. We stopped by the gasoline stand we visited 3 hours before to ask again for direction. We found out our mistake, taking left where we were supposed to go straight. We also called the hotel in Agios Filon to make sure about the direction. At about 10:30pm, finally we reached a city called Dipkarpaz where we met the hotel staff and followed the hotel staff to the hotel, another 15minutes drive to the north coast.
The hotel was located just behind an ancient church ruin, just in front of the sea. We were impressed by the location and happy that the hotel had internet and breakfast. The sea was just there few meters below our room and we could hear the wave sound from our bed room. It was really worth the price.
I woke up 7am in the morning and visited the ancient church ruins and walking around the rocky beach. After a nice breakfast, we drove more to the east of the peninsula to find the Golden Sands beach. We stopped in the beach marked by "Burhan's" and amazed by the beauty of the beach.
We visited our last major destination, a Roman site called Ancient Salamis, near a big city called Gazimagusta. The Roman site was quite like Ancient Kourion I visited in the South, but it was less preserved and less explained. The site was a huge complex with magnificent pillars, statues, and a great theater.
I decided to have a quick visit to the walled city in Gazimagusta (or Famagusta in English) before driving back to Ercan Airport for Gunduz. We had our late lunch, Iskander Kebab, in a restaurant in the walled old city, then climbed the wall to have the view of the old city.
After dropping Gunduz in the airport, I drove crossing the border to the South. Since I had a bit of time, and I had an unfulfilled wish to visit Buyuk Han in the North side of the walled capital (it was closed when I visited last Sunday), I drove to the old city, parked my car in the same parking area I parked before, and run to the border to the North. I was able to fulfilled my dream to see inside Buyuk Han, the caravanserai, found out that it had been converted to a commercial center with shops, restaurants and cafes.
Satisfied with successful visit to the Buyuk Han, I drove to Larnaca Airport, returned the rented car, and flew back to Qatar.
Cyprus is divided into 2 countries:
- internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the southern part of the island, which is inhabited by Greek Cypriots, and
- Turkey's backed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only recognized by Turkey, inhabited by Turkish Cypriots
Between the two countries is the Green Line or cease fire line, controlled by the UN.
I flew into Larnaca Airport in the South by Middle East Airlines, a Lebanese airline, the cheapest one I could get, though it was still very expensive since I took the flight too late.
Arriving at the airport at about 10pm, I rented a car and drove to a city called Lemesos since it was a good base to explore other sightseeing the next day.
The drive on the highway from the airport to Lemesos was nice and well signed, though it was dark in several parts of the highway. But the signs dissappeared when I entered the city, so I had no other choice than to ask people. I was surprised that most people in the South could speak English, including old guys and shop owners. I stayed in a backpacker hostel in the old city called Luxor Guest House. The hostel was runned by an American Cypriot old eccentric guy named Dean. With other guests, we shared Dean's Brandy and had a little chat.
The next morning, I planned to go to Ancient Kourion and Trodoos Mountain area in the same day, but as advised by the lady in the Tourist Info booth, I gave up Trodoos area, keep it for the next visit to Cyprus. After walking around the city and visiting the Castle, from not so interesting city of Lemesos, I drove west to the direction of Ancient Kourion, a Roman ruin, south Cyprus biggest attraction, one of my main destination in Cyprus. On the way, I stopped by in Kolossi Castle, a small tower. Then I went down south to visit a monastery called Monastery St.Nicholas of the Cats, attracted by the name and the story behind it. Nothing special in the monastery except there were lots lots of cats. I visited in good timing when a sister feeding the cats. On the way back, I drove a bit into the salt lake, took some nice pictures.
Finally I arrived at the Ancient Kourion, a great Roman ruin site. The area was large, with a perfect Roman theater facing the sea, rooms with mosaic tiles, pillars, a city called Roman Agora, and many more. Spending a few hours there, I drove east towards the divided capital, Lefkosia.
I arrived at night in the capital, directly went to the walled old city, to the Hammam, but finally I decided not to take the package with the massage since I had to wait for an hour, and the price was expensive (the package with scrub and massage costed EUR 80). I tried to find the youth hostel, informed in Cyprus Mail website, but shocked to find that even though the place had Nicosia Youth Hostel written in the front, it was not opened. I called HI hostel in Lonely Planet, but was informed that the hostel was closed few years ago. Finally, I found a room at Lonely Planet recommended budget hotel inside the old city, called Sky Hotel, a 2 stars hotel costed EUR 43.
I found an amusement park just outside the wall and rode on the Giant Wheel. It was quite a scary experience since I was put still in the high position for quite some time, worried maybe the staff had forgotten me, and worried that the power went down as happened once before I rode on.
The next morning, I crossed the border to the North at Ledra Street pedestrian crossing. I was a bit alerted, but the crossing was unexpectedly smooth and easy. I just passed the South side without checking. At the North side, I had to register my passport and wrote my name on a piece of visa paper. The visa paper could be used for many times. It was because for the South (Republic of Cyprus), the area in the North was part of the country, so going to the North was still going inside Republic of Cyprus. But for the North, going to the North was like entering the independent country, so a visa and passport check was required.
The northern part of Lefkosia, called Lefkosa by the North, was more deserted than the southern part. However, there were more big attractions than in the southern part, like my favourite Selimiye Mosque, which was previously a great church, but it was akwardly converted into a mosque. Other main attraction was Buyuk Han, a caravanserai turned to commercial center. It was closed when I visited on Sunday morning, so I came back here on my last night before I left the country.
Going back to the South, also a smooth border crossing, by getting the stamp out at the North, and only passport checking at the South, I walked around the city, visiting several point of interest, took lunch, got my car and drove to the North. Since the car crossing border was not indicated on the official map, by asking people on the street, I was able to find the crossing point in the city not far from the old city in the area called Agios Dometicos. The car crossing was also easy, with additional procedure of buying car insurance costed EUR 25 for 3 days. Then I was in the North with my car.
I drove all the way to Ercan Airport, to pick up my Turkish friend, Gunduz. We went to the most famous tourist city in the North, called Girne (or Kyrenia in English). Due to holiday, the first 3 hotels we visited was full, then finally we found a not so nice motel to stay. We had an expensive dinner in the harbour in a restaurant called Set Fish. The harbour was beautiful with lots of restaurants and cafes. The castle was standing in the edge of the harbour.
In the morning, we visited the castle, and we liked the view from it. After breakfast, we drove to St.Hillarion Castle, a 15 minutes drive on the way to Lefkosa. The castle was located on top of a hill, and view was hillarious. It was our favourite place in Cyprus. After spending a couple of hours in the castle, we drove to Bellapais, a small town in the mountain, 15 minutes drive from Girne. The town was famous for its hotels and one monastery called Abbey.
That day, I planned to visit 3 castles, but since I run out time, I had to gave up 1 castle, and went to the last castle called Cantara Castle, about 50km from Girne. After getting lost and losing 30 minutes, finally we arrived in the Castle, in the end of long winding uphill road on the top of the mountain. The view was amazing, we could see both seas of Karpas Peninsula, a narrow peninsula in the east side of the country.
That night, I planned to in a Lonely Planet highly recommended hotel, called Oasis at Ayfilon, in a beach called Agios Filon, far in the Karpas Peninsula. It became dark before we reached our destination. After driving for driving more than an hour, I realized that I came back to the road we had passed before, meaning we had been driving around back, and not getting closer to our destination. Tired and hungry, I decided to stop by to nearby town, called Mehmetcik, to ask people direction or to find a place to stay that night, since I almost gave up to reach Agios Filon. In the small town, we found a restaurant and ate dinner there cause we were starving. My Turkish friend liked the Adana Kebab we ordered. We asked about accommodation in the town and was told there were one guest house and one hotel in the town. The restaurant staff kindly took us to the guest house and showed us direction to the hotel. Finding the guest house was not worth the price of TL 60 per person, and the hotel costed as expensive as TL 85 per person, it was 9pm when I decided to give another try driving to Agios Filon, where the hotel we reserved costed only TL 75 for 2 persons. We stopped by the gasoline stand we visited 3 hours before to ask again for direction. We found out our mistake, taking left where we were supposed to go straight. We also called the hotel in Agios Filon to make sure about the direction. At about 10:30pm, finally we reached a city called Dipkarpaz where we met the hotel staff and followed the hotel staff to the hotel, another 15minutes drive to the north coast.
The hotel was located just behind an ancient church ruin, just in front of the sea. We were impressed by the location and happy that the hotel had internet and breakfast. The sea was just there few meters below our room and we could hear the wave sound from our bed room. It was really worth the price.
I woke up 7am in the morning and visited the ancient church ruins and walking around the rocky beach. After a nice breakfast, we drove more to the east of the peninsula to find the Golden Sands beach. We stopped in the beach marked by "Burhan's" and amazed by the beauty of the beach.
We visited our last major destination, a Roman site called Ancient Salamis, near a big city called Gazimagusta. The Roman site was quite like Ancient Kourion I visited in the South, but it was less preserved and less explained. The site was a huge complex with magnificent pillars, statues, and a great theater.
I decided to have a quick visit to the walled city in Gazimagusta (or Famagusta in English) before driving back to Ercan Airport for Gunduz. We had our late lunch, Iskander Kebab, in a restaurant in the walled old city, then climbed the wall to have the view of the old city.
After dropping Gunduz in the airport, I drove crossing the border to the South. Since I had a bit of time, and I had an unfulfilled wish to visit Buyuk Han in the North side of the walled capital (it was closed when I visited last Sunday), I drove to the old city, parked my car in the same parking area I parked before, and run to the border to the North. I was able to fulfilled my dream to see inside Buyuk Han, the caravanserai, found out that it had been converted to a commercial center with shops, restaurants and cafes.
Satisfied with successful visit to the Buyuk Han, I drove to Larnaca Airport, returned the rented car, and flew back to Qatar.
