Larnaca, day 1. Streets of ancient Kition

I went to Cyprus on the first flight of Donetsk-Larnaca. The airline has just opened flights on this route. Tickets cost was expected cheap: I flew to Cyprus just for 280 UAH. Then I still not knowing that it was one of the last flights in Donetsk in general.

The first flight was marked by a huge queue for registration. It is necessary to say, that the aircraft was packed to capacity. I had to fly with a friend, but she could not. But I registered her for the flight and had the free seat nearby. I was not in a hurry. I had a Priority Pass and I went the registration without a queue. An experienced pilot taxied to the runway and the aircraft flew up from the ground… and just two hours later Cyprus appeared outside the window.

The border is passed very quickly and without further questions. I had a Pro-visa free, issued free of charge through the Internet (how to do it yourself). I handed the paper to the border guard and literally in a minute or two I got my passport back. There was stamped the stamp of entry into the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and a visa. However, it was stamped in such a way that I remembered the border guard with a bad word for a long time. Because this nerd managed to spoil three pages of the passport for two unfortunate stamps! For 2015, this is the most arrogant border guard in this regard.

A bit of wandering around the airport, I went to the bus stop.

It so happened that I came to a bus stop, looking at the trail of the outgoing transport. I had to wait for half an hour until the next bus arrived. I set on the backpack and at the same time I was trying to adapt to the local weather. On the one hand, the weather was hot; on the other hand, wind blew just ripping off the cap. I removed ankle boots, jeans and jacket in the backpack. And I put on sneakers, summer camp trousers and a T-shirt with my favorite Portuguese windcheater. By this time the bus came. I gave 3.5 Euro to the driver for a ticket around the city. So I was going to the hotel…

Where was I? The bus was supposed to bring me to the hotel! No-no-no… As it turned out, the road to the hotel closed for repairs. So I drove right up to the end to wait for another bus. And then I rode up a couple of stops, put the backpack on my shoulders and went on foot to the hotel. Thanks encouraged. Then I thought about the necessary comfort in traveling.

Meanwhile, Cypriots and tourists appeared on the streets. Sometimes they chewed something very appetizing, making me hungry. After all, I ate last time in Zaporozhye – a day ago.

The bus in the opposite direction arrived only after 30 minutes. And for a long time wandering through the streets of Larnaca, the bus took me right to the entrance of the city. The driver pointed to one of the roads and said that the hotel was somewhere there. Well, thanks guys! It’s good that I had a point in the navigator and after half an hour I come to the hotel with a backpack on my back.

I was evil because of the repair of the road. I burst into the hotel Larco Hotel where I had booked the night. I settled quite quickly. I met a tourist from Russia in the hall, with whom I agreed to go to explore the city.

Throwing things in the room, washed and a little dressed, I took the city backpack and went down to the street. The sun shone hotter, but the proximity to the sea was felt. The wind just knocked down. We went to wander around the city through the streets of Larnaca without maps and a specific purpose.

Larnaca is the successor of the ancient city – state of Kition. According to one version, it was founded by Kition, the grandson of Noah. It changed the name several times. Then, after joining to the Kingdom of Cyprus, it was called Alykes (which means «Salt lakes»). After the capture of the Turks in 1570, it became known as Larnaca.

We quite quickly and unexpectedly went to the main attractions of the city – the Church of St. Lazarus.

This Christian Shrine is known all over the world. It was built in the IX century, on the place where was located the grave of Lazarus (Bishop of Kition). Many times it collapsed, suffered from fires and invasions (Arab, Crusades, etc.). However it retains its former greatness to the present day. The interior is striking in its beauty.

Go ahead… There is some kind of gymnasium or school…

There are no people on the streets. It is a weekday, heat and early in the morning. Cypriots are so lazy, and the weather does not want to release them into the fresh air. So it is very difficult to take photo and portraits of the Cypriots. There are more cats than people!

But there are many different inscriptions and graffiti on the walls. I don’t even know what is here and what is written?

We wandered into the territory of a monastery, most likely.

Everything is filled with flowers and trees inside. It is generally a distinctive feature in Cyprus. There are a huge amount of flowers everywhere.

Again, there are the Cypriots! Apparently, local schoolchildren with their teacher painted and studied something here.

Once again we stomped through the streets, where the eyes are looking. There are still no grocery stores, not to mention supermarkets. The feeling is that they do not eat at all here.

There is still no one on the streets. Only cars… As I wrote in a previous article, the Cypriots are too lazy. They even prefer to drive by car 100 meters than to give exercises to their feet.

Between the posts stretched wires. Of course, they are not so much and so messy like in Georgia. But it looks wildly anyway. It remains only to look around.

But I like small, neat and light houses, buried in greenery.

I was very interested in the unknown plant with cool bright red flowers, similar to a bottle brush. In fact, it’s the only thing that attracted attention. There are only abandoned buildings and garbage around.

There are statues of gods and goddesses from Greek mythology near houses and doors. It reminded me the statue of the Virgin in Western Ukraine.

But suddenly we found a supermarket. It could be identified very simply – there was much more garbage near than around. I have the feeling that there is no clean here.

 

Inside is a fairly wide assortment, comparable with a small Ukrainian store. I don’t know why, but I was convinced many times – the assortment in the shops of Ukraine and Russia is probably the widest in the world. You can buy everything you want there.

I bought yogurt, kefir, muffins, as always. At the same time, I took delicious oranges and pears. Paying, I managed to show my collective nature. Here, packers work at the market. They put in packages your bought products for you. You should have seen my face when someone started to pick up my products.

We bought oranges and left the store. Then we went straight to the orange tree.

It is very hard to see on the photo, but the tree is covered with oranges! And they were so ripe that the whole parking lot was covered with fallen oranges. I did not tear them up, but the Russian decided to take some. On the way, he tried it and said that it was bitter. I decided to believe in the word.

And again, we saw empty streets, rare transitions. They accompanied by a manual call to turn on the green light.

The transition is a rarity. The pedestrians are absent as a class. Many roads 100 meters from the tourist center are covered with grass.

Although, it is worth noting that if they make a crosswalk in Larnaca, then the conscience. It is particularly, when it is in the center.

Who is more attentive – noticed that driving is there left-sided. It is the consequences of a long stay under the British mandate. It is very unusual to cross the road here. You confused in which way to look. It is even more unusual to drive the car. And especially with their amazing road signs…

There was one woman – an aunt Marina – who drove me to Limassol. She was working here (from Moldova). She described Cyprus as follows: it is a big village, nothing more. In some ways she was right.

This picture, to be honest, I only saw in the game GTA: San Andreas. I was not observed anything like this even in our villages, which I visited in search of the rare sights.

But I know for sure who would have liked it – my mother. She’s a fan of flowers. So all these houses would be subjected to a massive photo shoot. As, however, I did.

Very soon we got lost. We determined our location on the compass, because it was outside of our map from the airport. Then we began to go back toward the hotel.

We were meeting again various temples on the way.

But not all the shrines look like that here. Apparently, because of the conflict with Turkey (as a result of the annexation of Northern Cyprus), there are a lot of abandoned mosques in the city center. Boarded up entrances and windows, a fence around and the spire of the mosque – are all that remains.

There are still ancient remnants, which history ascends to the Kition.

This «something» is discovered near the former mosque. It most likely performed a function of hours in some way, judging by the dial.

What’s hard – it is to go unprepared. It feels immediately. I have not studied the area before the trip. And I did not even make notes, in order to explore it after. I expected the usual holiday, which was transformed into a trip for the blog. What can I do…?

Telephone booths are powered by solar panels. It is like the lights on the promenade of Batumi.

Sometimes there are monuments. They are also surrounded by flowers and greenery on all sides.

Some creative individuals express themselves by exposing the results of their work directly on the wall of their own house. It is like the own exhibition.

There are special containers for clothes. Here you could put unnecessary clothes and shoes, which can be useful for the poor in the population.

Tiredness made itself felt, and we went slowly back to the hotel along the streets of Larnaca. I was tired very much. I did not sleep for more than a day and ate little. And how I wanted to shower by the time… This cannot be expressed in words!

At the same time we stumbled across a few old cars. This is certainly not a Museum of vintage cars, but it was difficult not to take pictures!

You can still see the old Cypriot registration number on cars. These cars were used from 1956 to 1990 (with an alphabetic index). They were without letters, only with numbers until 1956.

Quickly taking a shower, I fell on the bed. At the same time I wrote to several people in VK. Fatigue retreated. I ate the pears and started to fill out my travel book. Then I draw a piece of paper for tomorrow. I was going to get to Limassol by hitchhiking. I did not even know how the events would develop!

It is a foolish selfie of a sleepy face with the camera in the mirror. I began to relax, enjoying the view from the room to the swimming pool with beautiful sunbathing girls. The next day, I will pass a few dozen kilometers with a large backpack through the saline lakes. Then I will go around the airport. I will drive to Limassol where I get lost, lose my money and cap and go to a strange hotel at the outskirts… I will write about it!