Sunday 15 May: KATO PYRGOS to KYRENIA / GIRNE (Northern Cyprus) 55 miles

Once again we feel sad to move on. Our charming hosts have been very welcoming and hospitable. We learn that the hotel is full in August when local people from Nicosia come to cool off as it is 50 degrees inland. We manage an early start and retrace our steps from yesterday back across the border into Northern Cyprus. My legs have not forgotten how hilly it is but after a couple of hours we reach flatter terrain. The towns are ramshackled and reminiscent of Romania or India. We stop in Guzelyurt and whiz into the museum to see the gold leaves of Soli excavated from the site that we visited yesterday. There are long stretches of wilderness interspersed with military controlled no go zones and we feel like we are in the Gaza Strip! We stop to refuel with Coca Cola and Turkish coffee so thick that we have to chew the grounds. The restaurant owner is hosting a massive family reunion. The route then becomes more undulating and scenic as we enter the foothills of the Tilliria mountains, passing a lake before descending through a cutting down to the sea. We are greeted with a westerly wind. I don't think we have ever cycled with the wind behind our backs before and progress is good which is welcome as we are both pretty weary and on our 3rd litre of water. The coastline here is very built up and overdeveloped. Finally we reach Kyrenia / Girne and find our rather smart hotel, The Colony which does have a rather colonial feel to it. Our room is not ready but we find an oasis in the roof top pool by which we crash out for a couple of hours. Bliss! Our room has a balcony overlooking an abandoned half finished concrete structure but in every other way is the most luxurious yet and we are feeling more relaxed by the minute.