I arrived in Cyprus for a one week holiday two days after the Greek Cypriots rejected the EU and UN’s proposed reunification of the island, stopping the Turkish North from joining the EU on May 1st, with the rest of Cyprus. I stayed in Ayia Napa, but also visited Lefkosia (Nicosia), the World’s only remaining divided capital.
Ayia Napa
I stayed in the tourist trap of Ayia Napa. In the summer the town is filled with young party people, but this hadn’t quite kicked off by the time I was there. In the middle of Ayia Napa is a monastery and a park, providing a calm refuge from the loud music being played all over the town.
Greek Cyprus
I drove around the island, and visited the small village of Polis on the western end, Pyla, Larnaca, Cape Greco and the divided capital, Lefkosia (Nicosia).
Turkish Cyprus
Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus in 1974, and the country was split in two. The Turkish call it a rescue operation, the Greek an invation and illegal occupation. I entered the territory in Lefkosia, and took a bus to the northern coast.
The UN zone
A UN buffer zone runs along the border between the Greek and the Turkish areas. Some places this zone is several kilometers wide, and at a small stretch in Nicosia there is no buffer, just a big wall, between the two.
