The Idiot wanted to MedTrek across the aptly named Green Line into the town of Famagusta in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus just before Earth Day (April 22). But the United Nations, which controls the 180-kilometer Green Line buffer zone that has divided the Mediterranean island country since the Turks invaded it in 1974, wouldn’t let him cross it on the country’s eastern seaside. He was warned that the Turkish military would arrest him if he gave it a shot.
“Do you remember the movie ‘Midnight Express’?” one Cypriot, who was born on the other side of the Green Line and became a refugee following the Turkish invasion over forty years ago, asked The Idiot. “Well, you don’t want to be arrested by the Turks patrolling the Green Line because they’re the same as the ones that you saw in that film.”
The Idiot didn’t have any trouble reaching the Green Line from Larnaca by MedTrekking along the sea on some respectable paths, cooling off in some inviting swimming holes, keeping bemused by some dog-friendly (and not so dog-friendly) signs and watching people in touristic resorts.
Cyprus features one of the best paths on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Idiot followed this rocky trail to get around Cape Grecko between Larnaca and the Green Zone.
He jumped off cliffs into the inviting Mediterranean Sea at his daily swimming hole du jour.
He was delighted that dogs have their own beach in Agia Napa.
He kept his hands to himself during the MedTrek to the Green Line.
He noticed that non-MedTrekkers flock to Cyprus’ sandy beaches in resorts like Protaras.
But the fun and games ended when The Idiot reached the Green Line (http://fms.ws/Mx6ME/35.06599N/34.00359E) that prevented him from continuing along the coast to Famagusta, the once popular jet set resort that has become an uninhabited frozen-in-time ghost town since the invasion. Except for the Turkish military, no one is allowed to roam amidst the still-standing high-rise hotels or empty streets.
The UN made it clear that The Idiot wouldn’t be spending Earth Day on the other side of the Green Line.
The distant remains of Famagusta can’t, to The Idiot’s chagrin, be reached by MedTrekking on the coast. Look carefully and you’ll see a red Turkish flag at the watchtower on the beach.
However, The Idiot didn’t leave the buffer zone without taking the UN to task for the dilapidated state of a former watchtower and posted a video (See “Dilapidated UN Watchtower on Cyprus Coast” @ http://followtheidiot.com/idiot-ic-reader-reactions) that he hopes will encourage the international organization to tear it down — or turn it into a memorial to remind people of the lunacy of the Green Line should it ever disappear.
The Idiot chastised the UN for the lamentable state of a former watchtower on a cliff on the eastern coast of Cyprus.
The Idiot left the UN flag, which signals the location of the Green Line, blowing in the wind and returned to Larnaca to MedTrek clockwise around Cyprus. He’ll try to get to Famagusta when he arrives from the other direction in early June.
NB: There are several official checkpoints in the interior of the country where The Idiot, or anyone else, can show his/her passport and enter Northern Cyprus without any problem. However, The Idiot will try to cross the Green Line on the seaside at the western end of the island before he heads to an inland checkpoint. Inshallah.
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