I flew into a town called Larnaka which is on the south east coast of Cyprus. This little city was one of my favourite places throughout Cyprus as the people were friendly, the food was tasty and cheap and the beach was pretty damn nice. I spent a couple of nights here and organised myself a hire car to get around the island as I had been warned that the bus system was rather slow and unreliable.
Welcome to Cyprus - The deserted island! Sometimes I felt like I had the place to myself.
Sundown at Larnaka beach... The small pod of sunburnt Russian whales had returned to their hotels.
Larnaka beach looked more like a lake than a beach!
The old part of town where plenty of pottery and other handicrafts are created.
Sunset in Larnaka with the locals and the church.
Craving some more chill out time I headed to the most eastern point of the island to a town call Agia Napa. Apparently this place is the next Ibiza but to be honest it felt more like a deserted part of the island. Tourist season had well and truly finished which for the Greeks this means pack up your hotel and hibernate! I finally found a hotel for 25 euro a night and decided that a couple of nights here would be just enough to soak up some Mediterranean sun and the best beaches of Cyprus. The beaches here were almost up to Australian standards... Very similar to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland so I couldn't complain! After enjoying a couple of days lazing about I jumped back in my beast of a car (Nissan Micra!) and headed west along the south coast with a stop at the beautiful Governors beach before arriving into Lemesos (Limassol), a reasonably biggish and busy city. After having seen so many big cities through Europe I only stayed 1 night in a rather average hostel (the only hostel in Cyprus) and decided that it was time to get away from the city and put my car to use off the beaten track.
Governor's Beach - Blackish sand and white rock with crystal clear water!
Signature pose on this interesting out of place rock.
I was so tempted to set my camera, wander to the middle and get a photo but I had to be happy with just this..
Sea Caves I found on the way to Agia Napa. The water was ridiculously clear!
Farrrrk!! Not again.. I stubbed this poor toe in the same spot for the 1000th time in my life.
I definetly need to purchase some Birkenstocks with some toe protection!
Sunset in Agia Napa close to Nissi Beach
More interesting caves...
Cape Gkreko lookout. I sat on this chair for a good couple of hours!
Sunset at Cape Gkreko. Pretty relaxed!
Snap happy! Awesome views to watch the sun go down.
A big day of driving followed as I headed west along the south coast with stops at an ancient theatre, the birthplace of Aphrodite, a wander around the historical city of Pafos and an offroad drive to remote Lara Beach. After a couple of hours sunning and swimming on this beautiful beach I jumped back in the car and followed the dirt track back onto the highway to visit the Baths of Aphrodite which was well worth the visit.
Kourion Theatre which is still used for performances today.
Upside down, Upside down! Greek Mosaics.
The Birthplace of Aphrodite.
Bath's of Aphrodite under a thumping fig tree. Apparently this is where the Greek Goddess of love and beauty cleansed herself.
Somewhat offroad for the Nissan Micra as I headed for Lara beach.
Quality views again..
Remote Lara beach. A few months earlier and I would have seen the hundreds of turtles coming to lay there eggs in the sand.
One of the more exciting things i saw in Lemesos/Limassol. A close up cat fight!
There were almost as many cats in this city as there were humans.
Sunset of the harbour in Lemesos.
I have to say that Cyprus has been one of the most frustrating places to backpack so far as they don't know the definition of the word 'hostel'. I thought I was going to have a cheap stay here but it seemed hotels were the only option. However with my bank balance looking a tad sad I headed to a small town called Polis which is in the northwest of Cyprus for a camping ground where I decided a night sleeping in the car would save me some pennies. As tourist season had finished the camp ground was deserted, there wasn't even anyone at reception to take my money so a free night was scored! On arrival I wandered over to the amenities block hoping to find some hot water in the showers... but I found myself a lot more! A french couple shivering post shower in the male toilets was what I came across! I guessed that the showers weren't too warm but after about 10mins of my extremely limited french and there basic English we were soon sharing beers on the campground beach watching the sunset. This is what I love about travelling! You just never know who you will meet.
My transport and bed for the night in this very Australian campground right on the beach!
Look at those Eucalypt trees.
The pebbly/sandy beach at the back of the campground that was our morning shower.
It turned out that the French couple (Yann & Maud) were hitchhiking through the country on an extremely tight budget. I think they were pretty stoked to run into an Aussie with a car so the next day I offered them a ride to the Troodos mountains smack bang in the middle of Cyprus. It was rather fun travelling with these two. The conversation was slightly limited however having someone to help look out for road signs whilst I navigated each hair pin turn was definetly helpful. Sorry Maud if my driving was a tad erratic. We had a great drive through the pretty mountains with a stop off at a Moufflon (weird Cyprus goats) sanctuary, a trek up a hill and a visit to the Kykkos monastery. With money being an issue for all 3 of us we came to the idea that we could all sleep in the Nissan Micra... Hmmmmmm. We survived but lets just say I think we have all had better nights sleep!!
The famous Moufflon... Super excited!
Troodos Mountains.
Cedar Valley close to Troodos.
Sunset with the French!
Bed time in the Nissan Micra @ 7.30pm as there was nothing else to do!!!
The next morning at 5.30am after a rather average sleep we packed up our sleeping bags and headed towards the capital city of Cyprus in order to drop the car off at 9am. It was rather fun driving into the capital in peak hour traffic however after 30 mins of trying to find the bloody Hertz dealership with little directions we decided to pull into a carpark and make Hertz come to us! Thankfully they did after an hour or so. With the car handed back without a scratch but with an interesting woft of French/Australian body odours we walked into the city in search of the tourist info. The French and I enjoyed our last breakfast together which consisted of stale bread, smoked pork meat and halloumi cheese whilst sitting on the footpath with many strange looks from the locals!
Breakfast with the French on the footpath.
Nicosia has been one of the most interesting capital cities I have visited so far on my travels. There is UN border that splits the city in half. The south side being Greek and the northern half is occupied by the Turkish. It was clear throughout my trip that the relationship between the two isn't the greatest after the Turks invaded northern Cyprus in 1974. As accomodation was a tad cheaper on the Turkish side I made my first border crossing after breakfast. It was a rather weird feeling walking across the border, getting a stamp on a seperate piece of paper and then all of a sudden being in a 'different country' within another country....
Border Control! Greece to Turkey and back to Greece in Cyprus.
The two side definetly had a different feel to them. Most people in the Greek half spoke English however hardly any of the Turkish Cypriots spoke decent English. The Greek side of Nicosia is a very relaxed capital city as there is basically no traffic in the city centre, plenty of cafes and of course Kebab/Souvlaki/Shawarma shops. The Turkish side of Nicosia was even more chilled out and at times it seemed all the locals did was play backgammon, smoke shisha and relax out of the sun. I really enjoyed wandering about the split capital city however having to line up to cross the border did become a bit of a pain. The Greeks appeared to have put a bit more effort into cleaning up and making there city look and feel really nice. The Turks on the other hand hadn't seemed to do much building at all and walking down some side streets I felt like I was back in Cambodia. Whilst in Nicosia I managed to visit a great museum, eat on average 2 kebabs/souvlakis a day, get ridiculously lost and thankfully be saved by 2 fun Irish lassies! There I was standing on the side of a road with a thumping big map trying to find more buildings and museums and considering just bailing it back to my hotel. Then out of nowhere I was talking to these Irish girls who were currently studying in Nicosia. After a 10min conversation they took me to there favourite Shawarma shop and invited me to a traditional Cypriot dinner that there uni was having the next night. 20 euros for a mezze style dinner where the food just kept coming and coming.. Oh and so did the booze as it was as much wine, spirits and beer as you could drink! An extremely fun night was had with uni students from all over Europe. Plenty of laughs, live music and of course the traditional Zorba dance! Thankyou Amy & Emma! :)
Nicosia market street
Doner Kebab Turkish style - 4 euros for this feast!
Northern Nicosia (Turkish) - You could find this dump right next to a beautifully renovated building.
The city walls built by the Venetians
Turkish Mosque
Cool arty and crafty building with a cafe in the middle.
Liberty monument.
Kyrenia Gates
Amy, myself & Emma at the Erasmus Cypriot dinner! Cracking night.
After a fun few nights in Nicosia I decided to head back to Larnaka for a couple of days to chill out on the beach before flying back to chilly Scotland! Cyprus was well worth the visit and luckily I met some very fun folk along the way :)
Larnaka cats come with 2 heads...! Freaky Deeky.
1 final sunset in Larnaka before heading back to Scottyland.
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