Wednesday 18 May Girne and St Hilarion

We wake to the sound of turkeys. In previous days we've heard ducks. There's still the same cockerel though; odd seeing as we're in the middle of town! At 09:30 Ahmed picks us up and we zoom up to St Hilarion crusader castle. We can actually see it from our balcony perched on the highest part of this mountain range. It has staircases everywhere which tumble up and down, from which there are incredible views down to Girne and the sea. We can just make out the Colony below. There are views towards the Masaori plain, hazy in the distance and the mountains behind. The highest part is 700+ metres. Even up here there is a military base. Ahmed is from mainland Turkey and resettled here with his family after the Turkish occupation. He explains how he had to do 15 months of national service, which is still compulsory for young men. We sit by the Queen's window, where Queen Eleanor, a scheming Lusignan queen, used to sit and scheme and admire the view. The Westerly wind really picks up in the afternoon, but with any luck it'll still be blowing tomorrow when we head towards the Karpaz peninsula in the East, the panhandle of Cyprus.