North Nicosia

Last Sunday I went across the border into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I shared a taxi with some other guys from the apartment who were heading in to town, and got dropped off at the Ledra Palace Hotel crossing. The Ledra Palace was the largest hotel in Cyprus at the time of the invasion/rescue, but is now used as housing for UN personnel.

Lonely Planet said that I would have to show my passport and have my details entered into a log book on the Greek side, and that they would carefully check that I had no Turkish or Greek background. Cypriots are not allowed to cross from one side to the other, and it is impossible to cross into southern Cyprus if you start in the north; only day trips to the north from the south are allowed. Still, the border guards didn’t seem too fussed and just waved me through when I showed my passport. So I walked through the exclusion zone, which contained this shop:





Presumably it’s been frozen in time since 1974, since it’s not going to get a whole lot of Cypriot customers! Barbed wire lined most of the road, but the relaxed nature of the border guards on both sides made me feel very safe.

On the Turkish side they checked my passport and entered my details in a computer. I then filled out a form and they stamped that rather than stamp my passport, which apparently would lead to problems at other Greek borders. One of the border guards “introduced” me to a taxi driver, but I declined and walked the 100m into the old city.

I didn’t really do much in North Nicosia except follow the Lonely Planet walking tour, and then wander around some more. There were lots of amusing/heartbreaking sights, such as the football field that has its seating on the other side of the border:





Or the church on the Greek side that backs on to the Turkish side:





Apparently they’re still allowed to hold services on the proviso that the back door is never, ever used!

The areas around the border were very run down:





It was even worse than the southern side, but there were also some nice areas where they’re making a redevelopment effort:





The mosque which I’d seen from the top of the Woolworths building was quite impressive close up and was lovely inside, very white and clean, with Turkish rugs covering the entire floor. It’s a bit of an odd building, built as a gothic cathedral but converted to a mosque after one of the many invasions of Cyprus. I also saw some more mosques and churches, and Turkish baths.

I found a nice place to have lunch, and I went for a Doner Kebab meal, and it was delicious, and so very filling! It cost 8,000,000 lira, or about $7 (Turkey has a rather large inflation problem).

I headed back to the border, I had my piece of paper stamped again, and this time the Greek guard did check my passport carefully, and asked me where I was staying. And so ended my time in the TRNC!