Photos

I arrived Cyprus late in the evening from Israel. The rain had just arrived too. Luckily, I had rented myself a good car for my three-day adventure. I pointed out a random village on the map, called Sotira, and drove in that direction. On the way, I made a stop by a beach to watch the stars. As I continued, the lightning lit up the horizon. As I reached Sotira, I parked the car and slept overnight. I should have taken into account the altitude...

The morning revealed a sleepy little town. I made a walk to the nearest hill. Surprisingly, there were some medieval ruins up there, and a magnificent view to the coastline. From the top, I heard there was some activity in the church. So I entered the church service and had a nice chat with some locals.

Later that day, I found myself in the high Troodos mountains, where there is even a ski resort. It was snowing when I visited the crowded summit of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Cyprus. By the evening I had reached Nicosia, where I took a walk through the city. I found it extremely "unique" to walk down the modern pedestrian street and suddenly find a border crossing to the northern side. So I crossed and spent two hours in the more informal Turkish controlled area before I went back to the south. What a difference between the two sides!

After Nicosia, I pointed out another random village on the map, where I could park the car and sleep. As a self-proclaimed geography nerd, I found it appealing to spend the night in the village of Xylotymbou, a Cypriot enclave within the British-controlled exclave of Dhekelia. So I went there.

The next day, I explored the eastern parts before heading back to Sotira. This time, I allowed myself some extra comfort and drove down to a hostel in Limassol.

The last day was spent on the southwestern coast, where this picture was taken. In my opinion, the scenic route near Pissouri was one of the highlights. The rock formation in the background is called "Aphrodite's Rock".