Today was like Groundhog day.  A few years ago, I made a trip from Budapest to Bucharest and back in one day.  Today that trip was in Cyprus, or maybe Turkey, or both.  You see, Northern Cyprus is Turkey. TRNC stands for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and has done so since 1974.  It was news to me as I began to learn more about Cyprus in preparation for my visit here. Interestingly, TRNC is only recognized as an European Union State by Turkey, no one else.  What this means is, when you hire a car you are told to not cross the border.

Obviously, I did.  You have to pay for extra insurance in order to do so, and it is no mean feat finding the border   Near to Nicosia stands the green line where you are required to pass the border with your passport into Turkey.  It is like any other border, except it is hard to find, at least for me.  Find it I did, pass across I did, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure.

That is not to say it was not fraught with challenges.  Having got lost on the aforementioned Budapest to Bucharest trip I got a step ahead this time and rented a Sat Nav when hiring the car.  What I did not anticipate is that the Sat Nav would not work in the TRNC, as that is Turkey, and it is also challenging, even in Cyprus. With Sat Nav set to English you might think it would be easy to navigate, not so.  As I made the journey I learned that Limasol is Lemesos, and Nicosia is Lefkosia.  This might be basic learning in road map navigation, but it sends satellite navigation into a world of hurt in a car driven by an English man!  Throw in a crossing of the border into Turkey, a border that you can’t find, and it was going to be one of those days.

The Cyprus roads are good, and the only worry is when you look at the speed you are going and it says 100mph on the dial, then you remember we are in kilometers, so you are only going about 62mph.  Kindly, they also frequently remind you to drive on the left

Having finally made that venture over the border I was able to visit Saint Hilarion Castle.  I had done my homework, and at every turn everyone had said amazing things about visiting this castle set in the hill side.  Fortunately, you are able to drive a good way up towards the summit, but there are still many 100s of steps to reach the top, but made that climb to the the top – and have the photo to prove it.

The view is indeed fantastic, no other word for it.  Spondicious.
 

Following the descent down I made the short journey to Kyrenia, or is it Girne.  It would have been more trouble with the Sat Nav, but of course it wouldn’t work in Turkey!! Anyway, Girne is a jewel hidden away in the northern part of the country, and it made me understand why Turkey wanted it so much.  Of course, more challenges, getting Turkish money with US bank cards (difficult) parking a car and getting out of the parking lot (difficult) finding the way back to the border (difficult).  But, as I mentioned, I had the experience of Budapest -> Bucharest in the Avison bank, so this was next to nothing, almost.  The long journey back to my hotel in Paphos (that’s Pafos to Sat Nav geeks), but all was well and I had lots of beers waiting + Beef Stifaldo.  So, a good evening prevailed after visiting that catchy place, TRNC !

The view from the hotel balcony back in Paphos is not bad either 🙂

ps: thank you to the kind people who I stopped on the road side to ask directions on both sides of the border, and who were only too happy to help!