In Turkey I had been happy once I had found this awesome nature beach near Datca. After a pretty crowded coast in Turkey it had been the first real nature place.
On Cyprus I felt something similar when I found Akamas (see on Google Maps). This area is just awesome and wonderful and still my favorite on Cyprus.
Rosinante and I had some fun driving the tracks in Akamas which tend to be pretty steep, rocky and sometimes adventurous. The locals call one part of them “devil’s steps”. And it’s one of the rare places where I did not find any pure street Cars of the locals.
I felt very good to be back in nature, enjoyed the hiking, swimming, nature and the straight forward warning signs: “DO NOT TOUCH ANY MILITARY DEBRIS. IT MAY EXPLODE AND KILL YOU”.
After the ghost town, I did my first border crossing between the northern and the southern part of Cyprus. In the end it was all good but it seemed like that the customs officer was not very used to her job and so it took about an hour.
I followed the east coast of Cyprus and reached the city of Limassol. Just a couple of minutes from the city center I found this amazing spot.
I had a look at a shipwreck and spent my time with running, chilling and the beach and searching online for a cheap MacBook to push my music production from iPad to Ableton.
Before considering going to Cyprus for a warm winter and to potentially extend my visa and customs days in Turkey for myself and Rosinante, I had never given much thought to the political situation on this beautiful island.
However, there is a great deal happening there, with many realities to uncover. Honestly, I don’t feel inclined to try and comprehend and describe all the stories surrounding Cyprus, the north, the south, the Cypriots, the Turkish-Cypriots, the Turkish-Turkish of Cyprus, the Greek-Cypriots, the British, the UN, Greece, Turkey, the US, Cyprus as a strategic base, the occupied areas, military bases, abandoned villages, a ghost town, the children of Turkish-Turkish people living in Cyprus who are born with fewer rights, stolen land, compensations for those who lost their land, escapes, rapes, deaths, assassinations, power, and much more.
During my nearly four months on Cyprus, I spoke to various individuals about their perspectives on these issues. Although I have great respect for their lives, at a certain point, I became weary of it all.
Ultimately, the best description I encountered of the situation is: “Together in pain.” I came across this phrase several times in graffiti in Nicosia, and it truly resonated with me.
From my perspective, there exists an unresolved and dishonest situation that causes suffering for some, if not most, of the people involved.
One of the many things that makes this quite evident is Varosha/Maraş (location in Google Maps), a large city area that remains completely abandoned and guarded by UN troops.
Nonetheless, I guess, being human allows us to cope with situations like this, albeit in different ways. Some tend to blame, while others approach it with compassion.
Although this post might give the impression that being or living in Cyprus is synonymous with pain, that is not the case. From my experience, it was a wonderful place with lovely people and what I truly appreciate is that most of the people I spoke to, expressed a desire to somehow reunite in a peaceful way with everybody on the island.
And that’s what is all about, right? Love, compassion and helping each other.
