Cheap flights worked. I bought a ticket. I flew and saw the blue of the sea from the window of the plane. From that moment I did not think about anything else but to immerse myself in this water and have my first swim in the sea this year.
Already at the airport, just after the arrival, I changed clothes for a more summery version. At first, you feel a fiery heat and you see palm trees everywhere. Total holiday climate.
The first stop: Paphos
Since Paphos is a touristic town, it was harder for me to meet a coconut from Cyprus; I only saw red burned tourists around. Then, time to eat something. A name similar to what I’ve tried in Greece, let’s take it. A nice young waitress surprised us with her preparation for the tourist season. Every time, she came to us with something necessary: wifi password, map of Paphos, map of Cyprus…
Second stop: Limassol
I moved around Cyprus by bus but it will take you where the largest number of tourists is. My first time with CouchSurfing (you know the life of a volunteer and looking for travel at the lowest price) happened to be a very enjoyable stay. Limassol is a city in which 20% of the tourists are Russians, as it can be seen in every advertisement. More and more, I feel that I want to avoid places with a lot of tourists with an all-inclusive bracelet.
Büyük Han in Nicosia
Third stop: Nicosia
Our host from CS lived in the Turkish occupied part of the city. It is very interesting to see two faces of the same city. Crossing the border takes a few minutes after showing the identity card. It seems that it should look the same but it is not. Other people, different-looking buildings. To this day, the theme of the division of Cyprus is very delicate and there are many people who have never crossed the other side.
Fourth and last stop: Paralimni
In this city, we had a lot of luck to our host from CS. He was a very open person who answered our every question. With him, we noticed the language differences between the Greek and the Cypriot dialect and culinary differences. In fact, Cyprus tastes unearthly (wine, cheese and much much more). The colour of the water is amazing, with every shade of blue you can imagine, and when you are in the water you can see the bottom. I highly recommend this region, but avoid the wide arches of tourist resorts with hundreds of parasols and sun loungers on the beach.
To me, this time in Cyprus was successful. I have the impression that although the island is not big, there is still much more to discover. Are you flying with me next time?
