Green Line

More adventures today. I decided to visit Lefkoșa/Nicosia, 18km away.

The first part of the adventure was taking the dolmuș. Between here and Lefkoșa is a mountain range. The road is good, but very steep in places with several hairpin bends.

The bus was ancient. I spent a moment or two wondering about the state of its brakes. I decided very quickly it was too late in my life to be concerned with such nonsense. For 6TL (£1.20 or €1) each way, what can you expect anyway?

I’m glad I went. The KKTC side of the city has some lovely parts.

Another interesting part of the adventure was crossing the Green Line into the Republic of Cyprus. It cuts the city in two, as it has since 1974. There are only two crossing points in the city for pedestrians.

The crossing is now quite routine for foreign visitors who are EU citizens. Technically I believe I entered the Republic of Cyprus illegally when I arrived at Ercan Airport (and got my illegality validated with a stamp in my passport).

In fact the Republic of Cyprus border guards seemed less interested than the KKTC ones. On my way back into KKTC the Republic of Cyprus guard just winked and waved me through.

By the time I’d had a wander around the KTTC side of the city, then had a quick look at the Republic of Cyprus side, and looked at a few sites (KKTC side) close up, it was 3pm and I was very hot. Back to the dolmuș.

In fact the dolmuș is a good way to get around. You get a bit of an insight into local life. I suspect I’ll do it again.

The Blip is the Green Line seen from the  Republic of Cyprus side close to the Locmalı crossing. The Extras - the early 19th century Derviș Pașa mansion (he founded the first Turkish language newspaper on the island back in 1891), the Büyük Han which dates from 1572, and the Kumarcılar Han - from about 1600. 

Health Warning:- The Green Line crossing arrangements I’ve mentioned don’t necessarily apply to anyone who doesn’t hold an EU passport, and probably don’t. Even EU passport holders should check very carefully as to what the up to date position is before crossing.