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Published: July 20th 2015
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July 18, 2015 - This morning ended up being quite the kerfuffle. I woke up at 7am, had breakfast, internetted, got ready and left the guesthouse by 8:25 for my 9am bus. Of course I got lost on the way to the bus station. It was actually much closer than expected. But I got there at 8:55, so no worries. But at 9:10, a bus with a different destination and 9:30 departure time rolled in, and I got nervous. Seems I missed the bus! These buses never leave early. So annoyed, because the next bus left at 10:30. So I had to just sit and wait. At 9:30, another bus pulled into a parking spot, and I wondered if that would be the bus to Limassol I needed. Later it sounded like the bus was running, but I didn’t think about it. There were three other buses parked next to it, and none of them seemed to be going anywhere. At 10:00 I saw a couple of girls walk along the side of the bus, like they might go inside. I grabbed my things and went over. Just in time. Turns out it was the bus I needed, and it left
at 10am, not 10:30. The bus before left at 8am, not 9:00. Apparently the bus schedule is different in Saturday than weekdays, but I had no seen that before. He yelled at me to put my stuff under the bus and then we were off. So glad I didn’t miss that one too!
An hour later I was in Limassol. Then the challenge of trying to find my accommodation began. Oh, me and maps. I did a pretty good job actually, all things considered. The sea was good for orientation. When I got to the right door, I saw a note for me explaining that the bell does not work with a little map of how to reach the back door. I followed it, but only saw one garden door and there was a little lady who did not speak much English there. Then I saw another place but it was a work entrance to a building. Went back to the lady and she explained that her legs don’t work well and she just sits there all day and doesn’t know anyone. I turned around and saw a tiny opening, and that was the door I needed! It was
a room from airbnb, and I met my host Paris and he showed me around. He has an open style home where all the rooms are around a central courtyard, with a lot of plants. I had some water and then got my things rearranged and headed out to the tourist info, to get some information about the right buses to take tomorrow to get to where I was headed. I thought I could hit a few out of town places, but the buses on Sunday are limited, so I will just try to make it to Ancient Kourion and the Kourion beach, if all goes well. Got a kebab for lunch and ate it on the grass in a park near the sea that had a sign that clearly said there was no sitting on the grass allowed. Went to the Castle in town, and then went back to the house to wait out the heat of the day. Around 4pm, I went for a walk to the beach and it was quite crowded. Not very pretty. But I did find a place to see if the shade and then went for a swim. It was nice to be
in the water, but not very relaxing. I kept looking at my stuff, to make sure it was still there. I also figured I’d have to sit longer out of the water than in, in order for my suit to dry enough to put my clothes back on over it. Really not a very fun time, but it was ok. How do people do this? Maybe it’s more fun with someone else?
On the way home, I bought a bubble tea smoothie – weird, and I think she forgot to include the tea – and some milk for the morning. I decided I was full enough from the drink that dinner would be unnecessary. But Paris and his girlfriend invited me to have salad with them, and we had a nice dinner together followed by watermelon.
July 19, 2015 – I woke up at 7am today and messed around on the computer a bit in my room in front of the fan. It was actually quite cool outside, for a short time. I had some cereal for breakfast and yesterday I bought some milk to have with it. When I opened the milk, I realized it was not
milk exactly. It turns out it was a drink they do here for hot days, that is like salty milk with mint. It didn’t appeal to me, and was certainly not going in my cereal. But they had some milk in the house and let me use that. Much better. At 10am, I headed out to find the bus nearby bus station. Today I wanted to go to Ancient Kourion and a few other sites that my books mentioned you can get to in one day. But since it is Sunday, buses are limited, so I decided to just go for Kourion and possibly the beach nearby. Bus 16 left for Kourion at 10:30 heading to Ancient Kourion, ruins that are about 30 minutes away. On the way the drier stopped at a bus stop for a minute, but no one got on. Then a car stopped in front of us and a guy jumped out of the back seat. The driver opened the door and handed the man his hat and wallet! I guess he had left them on the bus and they had arranged to meet here. Pretty good timing, and so nice! I got to Kourion and
did my normal thing, walking around and sweating all over the place. It was good to see, but man, I’ve seen a lot of ruins in my life now. This one started to be built around the 2
nd century BC – pretty amazing. I thought I would have to take the last bus back at 2:40pm but managed to get the 12:30pm instead. Since it was early, I asked the driver to drop me off near the Kolossi castle instead of going back to town. It was maybe a 10 minute walk to get to the castle. I walked around it and it was good to see, but it was empty inside. It was built in the 15
th century on the ruins of another fortress from the 13
th century. I got the next bus at 1:30pm back to town, this time the #17 that left from in front of the castle. Good timing, as the next bus left at 2:55pm. Look at me, riding the buses like a local.
Back in town I came back to the house and had some water and chatted with Jeroen. Got brave and actually tried that milk drink I bought. Way worse than
I thought. It tasted like drinking salty cheese. Refreshing? Not for me. Stayed in a bit, out of the heat. Eventually got hungry and made my way towards the beach again – Sunday is a bit dead in town. I finally found a kebab place and grabbed one to go. Walked for ages and eventually found a place to sit and eat it in the shade. Walked a bit longer and found a place on the beach to sit. I didn’t feel like putting on my bathing suit before leaving – a one piece – but on the beach decided to see if I could pass my quick dry travel underwear off as a bikini. I think it worked, and luckily it matched. Felt better than a bathing suit anyway. And I never wear bikinis, so it was pretty liberating. I swam for a bit in the Mediterranean Sea and then read for about an hour before heading back. Chatted with my mom on Skype afterwards. Went out to get an ice cream as it was getting dark, and saw the crescent moon. It was a really nice evening. Showered in my underwear bathing suit to wash out the salt
and that was the end to my last full day in Cyprus.
July 20, 2015 - Had a short walk this morning for some more photos, and now getting ready to leave for 2:40pm flight to Kiev. Last leg of my adventure begins today.
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