North Cyprus Day 3 and 4: Kyrenia

Girne Harbour with the castke 

Once we had gotten back to the hostel that night, Steph and I shared our stories and our pictures. We settled on tie on who had more fun (but for sure we were lonely traveler). We discussed our plan for the next day. We were taking the 8AM dolmus to Kyrenia (or Girne in Turkish).


Day 3:
Obviously we did not wake up on time so had to wait for 9 AM dolmus. Dolmus is a like a mini van. But once the dolmus started, we reached Girne in no time. We took a taxi to our hotel even though we knew it was too early to check in. But knowing that it was off season, they would accommodate us somehow. But once we got there plans changed. We paid for the hotel and left our bags there and instead of checking in, we asked for towels and headed towards the beach. It was surprising that after being in Turkey for about two months and a half and being in Cyprus for three days, we had not spent time on a beach.

Harbour from the top of the castle

After few hours of chilling we were ready for some food and some time in the touristy town of Girne. Everybody was taking so much about this place so I was getting very excited for it. Girne, long strip of land facing the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to the east and mountains to the west. The city is famous for its old harbor, a very famous castle since medieval age and churches. Also, the town has small streets providing an atmosphere for its shopping district. Not to mention there are numerous hotels and casinos like elsewhere in Northern Cyprus.

Inside the Girne Castle Museum.
Showing the Venetian torture styles 

We decided to walk around the city and learn a little bit about it by exploring. It was around lunch time and there were a lot of tourists walking around or sitting at the restaurants. The restaurant chairs are laid half way into the streets and the staff try to invite you to their restaurant. Then we went to the Girne Castle. The castle was build by the Byzantines around 10th century and had been passed through the Venetians, the Ottomans and the British. Every empire have left their mark but without disturbing its originality. It was a very big castle and the first one I have ever been to in my life. I was kind of disappointed when I did not find the drawbridge though.

The famous Girne Shipwreck of the Mediterranean
Discovered after hundreds of years

Afterwards we went for chay and then back to the hotel to check-in and take a shower. That evening we went back to the city center for dinner and walked around the town at night. It seemed very lively. I had still not given up on going to Karpaz Peninsula. So we went around few big hotels if they had a group going there (as per suggestions). We ended up deciding not going there because during low seasons there are not much people going there. Instead we decided to stay within the city and go to the St. Hilarion Castle up on the mountains.

Well I have mentioned Karpaz Peninsula many times and if you are wondering what it is, it is the peninsula part of the island. It has miles long golden untouched beaches, wild donkeys who stop your vehicles for treats, other flora and faunas, and just peace and calmness you deserve coming from the city of 16 million people (official number may vary). It sounded like a true bliss when I heard about it. but was disappointed after I could not go there.

The breathe taking view from the St. Hilarion Castle

Day 4:

On the way to the Snow White castle

St. Hilarion Castle is also known as the Sleeping Beauty Castle. People here say that Walt Disney got inspired by this castle in his story. A castle up on the mountains hidden by trees and matching stones found within the same mountain might have been the reason.

This is the Snow White Castle

Once we got off the road, we tried to hitchhike up the way. At first we were not getting successful. And later we saw a military vehicle passing by where someone shouted at us which sounded like "GO BACK". We had realized that there are military camps up there and you can only pass with a vehicle. We were thinking of going back if we did not find a ride in next few minutes which we did. A German man with Claus helped us get up there spent time with us and brought us back to Girne around noon.

We were flying back to Istanbul today but we had a lot of time to kill and nowhere to go. So we decided to go to on a walk again and try to find something. We walked for few miles and ended up on a beach. I liked this beach because it did not have sands but pebbles. The pebbles were warm and round. I probably fell asleep under the sun for a solid 30 minutes. It felt amazing, away from the city limit and under the open sky it was a perfect spring break (self created). Afterwards we walked back, took the shuttle bus to the airport, got there hours early and waited for the check-in desk to open and once we checked in we waited until we the plane arrived.

Claus, Steph and me! 

I had a very good four days in North Cyprus. It was a last minute plan and we had not planned anything in advance. The lesson from the trip is that if you have a company and are ready to do things at your guts, you will love the experience. And not to mention I got to go "abroad" while in Turkey and I did not have to get a visa in advance for that so that was cool as well. And I would recommend going to North Cyprus any time of the year even though most tourist come during summer (that is why summer here is expensive).