January 2009

Thursday, 8 January 2009

North Cyprus Trip by Car Part 5


Client Testimonial: My Trip To Cyprus – Day Five: Lefke

Today was my last day in North Cyprus and I decided to drive to the Lefke area in order to take in some more scenery and visit the ancient city of Soli before heading back to Ercan Airport and catch tonight’s flight. I’m sad that my vacation here is over as there is still plenty to see throughout North Cyprus let alone crossing into South Cyprus. That’s a trip for another time though, and I’m simply thrilled that I did get the time here.
I made it a point to get to the Roman ruins at Soli today, and the mosaics here are just phenomenal. It’s amazing how well they have stood up to being buried for centuries and then rediscovered. Most of them are almost completely intact with maybe a tile here or there missing. The site is huge and there is plenty of work left to do to make sure it is completely uncovered and preserved as best as possible. There is even a Roman Amphitheatre here, the first feature that was discovered of the city in 1930.
From Soli I travelled to the Vouni Palace. This palace sits on top of the cliff and overlooks the ocean. You can see for miles and it is believed that the palace was built in the 5th century B.C. by Persian invaders. There was once a wall around the palace and it was burnt down by fire in 380 B.C. before the foundations were completely destroyed by the people who lived in Soli.
I took my time driving back to Kyrenia. I had plenty of time before my flight left and I was enjoying the evening scenery. North Cyprus is a beautiful country with a rich history that you can almost feel because of how old the history is. I will say that I plan to come back. As I was returning my rental car to the Pacific agent, I saw a shooting star rocket down in the distance. My wish? To be able to come back to North Cyprus for a longer stay.