Turkey Travel Stories
Turkey Travel Stories is a collection of travel stories from all over Turkey contributed by travelers, sharing the experience of Turkish culture, special places, nature, Turkish hospitality and also some other travel experiences you should read before you travel.
Turkish Delights
From Selcuk we travelled to Kusadasi where we met up with my aunt’s stepbrother who lives there with his wife. I’d never met Mark and Barbara before but we had a great time hanging out, ended up staying at their place that night and talked for hours over a couple of glasses of wine. Listening to my aunt’s family history I realise how interesting the people who I’ve grown up with are. When someone’s always been a part of your life you don’t really think about where they came from. Her mother is Greek and took part in the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey in the aftermath of the First World War. She ended up marrying a British man who is my aunt’s father but they divorced. My aunt’s mother remarried and Mark is her second husband’s son from a previous marriage. Apparently before the family was kicked out of Turkey my aunt’s grandfather built (or designed?) buildings for the Ottoman sultans which can still be seen in Istanbul today.
Ruined!
It’s been a week full of randomly placed marble blocks, stepping over broken terracotta pipes and trying to visualise what used to stand in the grassy area that’s now home to skittering lizards and brightly coloured spring flowers. We’ve seen Ancient Roman ruins galore and discovered a Christian history in this part of the world that kind of took me by surprise. Shows you how little I know about these things…
Troy & Gallipoli
It has to be said that my first impression of Turkey outside Istanbul wasn’t great. Finding our way to the centre of Bursa from the ferry terminal was confusing and along the way we were laughed at a few times. Having groups of people obviously talking about you, gesturing toward you and openly laughing is never a way to be made feel welcome. I started to think that maybe there was a reason so much of Turkey’s tourism seemed to be centred in Istanbul.
Still in Istanbul…
Well we’re still in Istanbul, though we’re finally leaving this evening to explore more of what Turkey has to offer. It’s been great to have so much time in this fascinating city but two weeks in one place is enough for us. Actually the past month has been pretty relaxing; a week in Lviv (Ukraine) then a week in Kyiv and two weeks here. It’s going to be a shock to put on our backpacks again, though after a session at the post office yesterday they’ll be a whole lot lighter. I finally got rid of my pet rock, Melnik, who I’ve been carrying since the start of Bulgaria about 3 months ago. It’s a long story…
Istanbul
We’ve spent the past week in Istanbul, being befriended by carpet salesmen, exploring historic mosques, drinking fresh orange juice, watching dervishes whirl, eating baklava, counting stray cats, buying souvenirs in the Grand Bazaar and dodging rain showers. It’s been a busy week. On our first night in the city we headed out to the weekly CouchSurfing meeting where we met lots of great people who gave us a list of culinary delights to taste and some great tips for sightseeing in Istanbul and Turkey. On our way home, as we walked between the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque, it snowed a wet, heavy snow.
Cappadocia
“Mikael, you have been to a 115 countries worldwide”, Ismail Oral at the local TV-station asked me in an interview, “But have you ever come across anything like this?”
“I don´t think so”, I answered honestly and looked around me, “It is definitely one of the wonders of the world and has to be seen by any traveller before he or she dies.”
Cold(s), Culture and Caravanserais
Winter is supposed to be a time of relaxation and recharging of batteries - a gradual working through the boat jobs in preparation for the next cruising season.
Kickin' Back
We're now settled in to Finike for the winter. Finike is a bijou little town of 11, 200 inhabitants, nestling on the seaward edge of a semicircular alluvial flood plain surrounded by snow capped mountains. Most of the flood plain is dedicated to citrus fruit and growing vegetables under polythene. The Finike area exports oranges all over Europe. Here endeth the geography lesson.
Champagne tastes and beer wallet
...that's our trouble.
After hopping back via Kekova and Kas we ended up in Kalkan, where we've remained for 8 days and counting. It's a bijou little place. It used to be a Greek village until the population exchanges of 1922, when it was resettled by Turks. It was then devastated by an earthquake in 1958, after which everyone moved uphill to the new village.
Mad dogs & Englishmen
Or 'How our heroes spent the hottest 6 weeks of the year traipsing up and down the southern coast of Turkey looking for a winter mooring'.
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