The Idiot completed the final stage of his MedTrek around Cyprus last weekend with a three-day hike from Dipkarpaz to Famagusta. Each day, due to the heat, kicked off before 6 am and three other MedTrekkers occasionally joined him for portions of daily seaside hikes that each exceeded 30 kilometers.
Awakening at 5 am under a full moon in a seaside bungalow near Dipkarpaz in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
76-year-old MedTrekker Michael Knipe, a former foreign correspondent for The Times of London, walked with The Idiot for the first time.
Beach sights included tracks made by sea turtles, the remains of a collapsed staircase from a bygone era and the remarkable ruins at Salamis.
Sea turtles bury their eggs in the sand on numerous beaches in Cyprus each June.
A collapsed staircase carved in the rocks provided a few easy steps for MedTrekkers.
Playfully exploring the ruins at Salamis north of Famagusta.(Photo: Liz Chapin)
The circumnavigation of the third largest island in the Mediterranean covered 796-kilometers and took 29 walking days. But MedTrekkers were in especially good humor as they approached Famagusta.
Three MedTrekkers — Michael de Glanville, Michael Knipe and The Idiot — swap stories at the end of the first day’s outing. (Photo: Liz Chapin)
MedTrekker Liz Chapin smiles as she makes her way around a rock promontory on the second day.
The urban stroll on the road and seaside into Famagusta on the last day was a piece of cake.
The Idiot concluded the MedTrek around Cyprus at the end of the Famagusta beach that has been cordoned off by Turkish troops since 1974. The forbidden stretch of seaside, which separates the Greek and Turkish sides of the divided island, is not open to the public and the one-time hub of tourism has become a haunting ghost town.
The Turkish military prevented The Idiot from reaching and crossing the UN-patrolled Green Line to return to the precise point where he launched his MedTrek around Cyprus.
A sign of the times for over forty years.
The Idiot celebrates the conclusion of his MedTrek around Cyprus. (Photo: Liz Chapin)
What’s next?
The Idiot, following the advice of Marco Polo, plans to MedTrek through Lebanon, Israel and Gaza in September.
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