Around Famagusta and on to Lefkosia

From the ferry terminal I started with a quick exploration of the old walled city of Famagusta and then I had to figure out how to get to the ancient ruins of Salamis that are 9km north. There is no public transportation to Salamis and taxis are a rip-off so I decided to hitch hike for the first time, since it's a perfectly acceptable way to get around here. I started walking out of town to find a good hitching spot, and when I found one I was too embarrassed to do it so I just kept walking. About 7km out of town there was a sign for a public beach and I decided to go for quick dip in the Mediterranean to cool off after all that walking.

Then I figured that since Salamis is by the beach I could just follow the beach until I got to the ruins. This turned out to be a good idea because by entering the site from the beach I avoided paying the 6YTL entrance fee.

After wandering around the ruins I made my way back to the road and stuck my thumb out. Within minutes someone stopped who was going to Varnavas. I didn't really know where that was, but whatever, it sounded fine to me. Turns out Varnavas is an old Greek Orthodox church about 2km away that has been turned into a museum.

When my ride (who either worked there or knew people that did) saw that I wasn't interested in paying the 6YTL entrance fee he told the ticket lady to let me in for free. After wandering around in the museum for a little while I thanked my new friend and headed back out to the road. Again I got a ride within a few minutes and this time it was straight into town where I then caught a mini bus to North Nicosia, the divided capital city of Cyprus. After crossing one of the weirdest borders ever, with a UN patroled buffer zone in between the two sides, I was now back in the EU.