Once I found out that the student organization I am part of (ESTIEM – European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management) is holding its bi-annual conference in a place with a controversial background, I was naturally intrigued and eager to take a trip there. Northern Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) is recognized as a sovereign state by only one country in the world – Turkey. All other governments and the United Nations (UN) recognize only the government of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island. Even if they do, the UN has established a Buffer Zone (also known as the Green Line) between the two regions which are completely separate from a travellers point of view.
As I started looking into flights to Northern Cyprus, it turned out that the most affordable option from Estonia was to fly to Paphos, which is situated on completely another side of the island. Even though the distance between Paphos and Famagusta (my destination) is only about 200 km, there were no easy (and affordable) options to get from one point to another. So I decided to make things interesting and make an adventure out of it.
How to get to Famagusta from Paphos on a budget?
Step 1. Arrive at Paphos airport after midnight.
Sounds easier then it is. Well, at least on the off-peak season. The city seemed pretty dead at 1 am. Luckily, I had spotted a pub next to a street from the bus window where there were a couple of guys sitting. I made my way there and asked the guys if the place was still open.
The random guy: “Well, what do you want?”
Me: “Just to grab a beer.”
The guy: “Well, alright then. Join us.”
As it turned out, the bar was actually closed, but I had stumbled upon the owners, a Scottish and a South-African. They offered me their expensive whiskey and local olives and we ended up chatting there until 4 am.
Step 3. Sleep on a beach chair of a fancy 5* hotel.
I hadn’t booked accommodation for that night. Mainly because I was arriving late, wanted to leave early and it seemed to be pretty warm in Cyprus at night time as well. Perfect conditions for a night on the beach. I got a recommendation from the bar owner to try out these laying chairs in front of that hotel. I ended up catching sleep for a couple of hours with the sea right next to me.
Step 4. Take a swim at sunrise, venture around the city (and castle area) for a bit and grab breakfast at the supermarket.
There are amazing public “swimming pools” at the beach at Paphos called the Municipal Baths. Changing booths and showers are right next to the platform from where you can jump into the sea. Just a perfect start for the day!
Step 5. Take a bus from Kato Paphos Bus main Station to OSYPA terminal.
The information is available at the bus station.
Step 6. Take a bus from OSYPA terminal to Larnaca according to the timetable you have previously checked and planned for.
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO! There is a website for planning all of your bus travels in Cyprus – http://www.cyprusbybus.com/. Do NOT do what I did –
- Step 6.1 – Arrive at the terminal at a random time. Luckily the next bus to Larnaca was about to leave quite soon. They are only a couple of times per day actually.
- Step 6.2 – Get off the bus in Limassol because they told you in Paphos that you should change the buses there in order to get to Larnaca. Find out at the station that the same bus you just got off from actually also goes to Larnaca city. See that the bus is just leaving at the very same moment.
- Step 6.3 – Take another bus to Larnaca AIRPORT because the next bus is leaving right away and you can easily get from there to the city. Right?
- Step 6.4 – Wait at Larnaca airport for a while and take the long city bus trip to the beach area of Larnaca.
End up paying 3x as much for the trip from Paphos to Larnaca as you would have if you would have just taken the correct bus. Luckily the prices for the buses are not too bad – the straight trip would have been around 5 €.
Step 7. Take time off in Larnaca by having a swim, a walk-around and a lunch.
The beach in Larnaca is wide and the water temperature in October was just amazing. I ended up enjoying myself for quite a while before starting to figure out how to get to Famagusta from there.
Step 8. Get confused about bus times and wait for the correct bus in the stop for 1.5h.
Let’s be fair – the Cyprusbybus.com website is not the easiest the comprehend, alright.
I wanted to cross the border to Northern Cyprus in the south so the best option seemed to be getting a bus from Larnaca to Deryneia (Paralimni) and cross the border on foot there. The buses to Deryneia leave from Old Larnaca Hospital about once an hour or two. It is a city bus and takes some time to get there. The price of the bus was only 1.5 €.
Step 9. Arrive in Deryneia, walk to the border and cross it.
Make sure to get off in the correct stop because I missed mine and had to walk back. The Deryineia crosspoint on Cyprus side itself was relatively easy. There are 2 booths in the middle of the road and you just need to get in the same line with the cars. The same goes for the border point on the Turkish side.
Step 10. Start walking along the U.N. Buffer Zone with wire fences and abandoned buildings.
This was the moment I had been waiting for! To see and experience the Green Line (the buffer zone) firsthand.
According to Wikipedia:
” The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus is a demilitarized zone, patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), that was established in 1964 and extended in 1974 after the ceasefire of 16 August 1974, following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and the de facto partition of the island into the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus (excluding the Sovereign Base Areas) and the unofficial Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the North. The zone, also known as the Green Line, stretches for 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Paralimni in the east to Kato Pyrgos in the west, where a separate section surrounds Kokkina.”
It fascinating that the zone cuts through the centre of Nicosia, separating the city into two sections. Different parts of the zone range from less than 20m to 7km. Nicosia remains to be the last divided capital in Europe.
In the Paralimni area, where I walking through, the road was bordered by fences and abandoned buildings on both sides just a mere 5 metres from it.
Step 11. Realize it is about 10 km to Famagusta, it is getting really dark and you are in the middle of nowhere.
Because I spent so much time enjoying myself in Larnaca, the sun was already setting down. As described beforehand, the road was bordered with wire fences and creepy abandoned buildings. There were no people around and the dogs were starting to bark in close distance. A couple of cars were passing from time to time. It started to feel a bit sketchy to hang around there for too long after the sunset. It took me about half an hour of hitchhiking before I managed to stop someone.
Step 12. Reach your destination in Famagusta after 24h of being on the road.
The guy took me to the centre of Famagusta and we even managed to have a small conversation even though he didn’t speak any English. He spoke Russian though which I understood just a bit.
Any other options on how to get to Northern Cyprus?
Well of course!
I got my adventure that I was looking for but there are plenty of other ways to get there. Probably the easiest budget option is to take a direct bus from Paphos or Larnaca to Nicosia and cross the border on foot there. By that, you can also see the city of Nicosia. I actually did that route the opposite way on my way back from Famagusta to Paphos.
If you are with a group of people then it is not that expensive to hire a taxi from either Larnaca or Nicosia as well.
Safe travels!
