Cyprus is one of those places that you picture seeing in a Bourne or Bond movie as a place where someone goes to launder money or run some shady import/export thing. In truth it may be but the divided island of Cyprus has a lot to offer and a lot to do.

Cyprus is a Eurasian island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea which is called the pocket of the Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Israel and Lebanon of which they offer boats to.

Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean and one of the most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 2 million tourists per year. A former British colony, it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and became a Commonwealth republic in 1961. The Republic of Cyprus is a developed country and has been a member of the European Union since 2004.

In 1974, following a period of violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and an attempted Greek Cypriot coup sponsored by the Greek military of that period, Turkey invaded and occupied one-third of the island. This led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north. This event and its resulting political situation is a matter of ongoing dispute which is sort of mediated by the UN.

Driving from Cyprus to the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” is somewhat of a throwback. You have to cross international boundaries which of course requires a passport as it is a separate country as stated by the TCC but not actually recognized by the international community and frowned upon by the UN. However, nobody seems to do anything about it or even really seem to care. Northern Cyprus does boast a gorgeous landscape of mountains and an attractive harbor with views up at Turkey.

Cyprus itself has several attractions as well including two lovely cities of Larnaca and Nicosia and of course that little place called Ayia Napa. Ayia Napa has become the new Ibiza of Mediterranean. I had heard for years of its craziness and we weren’t disappointed when we arrived. I have to admit, it’s not really my taste as I really don’t like clubs and techno music in the least but you can’t help but be around it because it is on constantly-everywhere, even in the hotels.

It’s really quite astonishing how much music can be played in the open in one area but the central bar and club area ccertainly tries to set some sort of record. There are probably, without exaggerating, 500 bars and clubs in this one relatively small area just off the beach in central Ayia Napa. They are all competing for the thousands and thousands of people roaming the streets aimlessly in search of which place to go into.

Promoters offer you everything from buy one get one free to buy one get 5 free. Generally we just ended up hopping around a bit and finally settling on a place that we could semi relax in and not be hassled.

After three days in Cyprus, I was tired of loud music, being harrassed by club workers and the ridiculous amount of British package tourists that swarmed Ayia Napa. I do have to admit, there is nothing quite as good as watching drunk British guys dance on bars like a crazy college girl and make complete fools of themselves.

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