It was time to explore the western part of Cyprus!

Finally it was the right wind for us and we could leave Konnos Bay. Konnos Bay has been great for three weeks, but now it was time to move.

We had a night on anchor outside St.Rafael Marina before we sailed further on to Paphos. Paphos has no guest marina, only this commercial harbour. We called the harbour master and he told us where we should moor. No help, other than the port police who came by, most because of the paperwork.

We arrived friday afternoon in Paphos and saturday morning we had to wake up early as we should take the bus to Nicosia. A Norwegian woman, Anne, had invited us to come to the north side of Cyprus to visit her, and join her for a group hiking trip.

We didn`t check out the citybuses in Paphos, so we decided to walk up to the main bus-station for intercity-buses. (the citybuses stops right outside the harbour, we should have known that, then we didn`t had to walk three kilometers to the bus-station)

But on the way to the bus-station we passed by this amazing magnolia tree. It is stunning!

Anne came to Nicosia to pick us up and we drove over to her place. First we stopped at Driftwood restaurant to have dinner. A Norwegian girl is working there, it was nice to meet her too. The food was really good, and the view is stunning!

Anne contacted me after my question on a “Norwegians in Cyprus” group on facebook, we have never met her before. We are so grateful to be able to visit her.

This is the first night since we started our sailing journey that we slept somewhere else than in our boat.

And the view from the bedroom wasn`t bad either.

Here is her cat. A little bit skeptical in the beginning.

The view from her house. In the morning sun we could see Türkiye.

Hiking together with North Cyprus Walking and Trekking

The main reason we visited Anne was to join North Cyprus Walking and Trekking on a hike. We were around 60 people who met to join this hike. They are walking all year around and you can find them on facebook.

We were walking in lovely nature.

People from Norway, Finland, UK, Germany, and many other nationalities.

The first small break

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In a long row…

Anne and Astor

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The flowergirl!

Two flowergirls!!

So much flowers everywhere!

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The main reason for this trail was the tulips. It was a lot of them!

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Nice view with the high mountains in the background.

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This trail was around 10 km. It was really nice walking together with other people.

Our walk, 10 km, 3,5 hours.

A video from this hike:

When we came back to Anne`s house Astor wanted to check out the swimmingpool. I think it was the same temperature as in the ocean….

Basically we should stay here only for a night, but Anne invited us to stay an extra night and we decided to do that.

Sina Monastery

Astor and me didn`t thought that 10 km was enough so we decided to hike up to Sina Monastery, only 20 minutes from Anne`s house. It is a road/trail all the way up, but is steep! After only some meters you have an amazing view!

The monastery is just a ruin, but I guess it has been pritty amazing once

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An old tree

Don`t walk outside the trail (in front of the monastery), there is only prickly bushes… we tried…

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The church

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It is possible to drive up to the monastery, so we walked the road back to Anne`s house, made it a loop.

Bellapais Abbey

Since we stayed one extra day, Anne wanted to show us more of the northern part of the island. First we drove to Bellabais Abbey.

Bellapais is a ruin of a monastery built in the 13th century.

I have now started to read Victoria Hislops book Sunrise. The action is on Cyrpus and it is about what happened in 1974. I should have read this before I came to Cyprus…

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Great view to Kyrenia (Girne) and you can see Türkiye on the other side of the ocean.

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Kyrenia/Girne

After visiting the Bellapais we drove to Kyrenia.

We visited the castle from the 16th century.

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One of the rooms leading off the courtyard contains the Shipwreck Museum, which exhibits the remains of a Greek mercant ship from the 4th century BC, one of the oldest vessels ever to be recovered, together with its cargo. In 1965, Andreas Kariolou, a Greek-Cypriot diver, discovered the vessel, laden with millstones and amphorge of wine from Kos and Rhodes. The vessel was sailing to Cyprus when a storm wrecked it outside Kyrenia harbour. In 1967 he showed the wreck to archeologists. A team, under Michael Katsev of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, then studied the wreck from 1969 to 1974. The vessel was approximately already 80 years old at the time it sank. Today, the 47-foot-long hull (14 m), made of Aleppo pine sheathed in lead, is preserved in a specially controlled environment in the Museum, together with its amphorae. Wikipedia.

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St. Andrews Church. Here is were the Norwegian were gathered for easter celebration.

Here is a video from our day in Kyrenia. Thanks a lot to Anne for having us. Hope to see you again!

The western part of Cyprus is amazing and many amazing trails is waiting for us. We will spend the next days in and around Paphos, check us out next week for more!