Yolculuklar Türkiye'de

Friday, July 22, 2011

While I'm recovering from some awful 11 hour jet lag, there's a guest post I wrote up on Yes and Yes about traveling through Turkey. Much more specific details can be found here below.

In 2005 I spent four months living in Ankara, Turkey. Spending nearly every weekend on an overnight bus trip to somewhere else, I was able to hit everywhere except the North, bordering the Black Sea. Definitely worth a visit...or five.

Date	Activities
9/16/05	A bus to Antalya and a Dolmuş to Olympos, a wild backpacker town. Stay in cabins on stilts at Saban Pension. Walk 5 minutes to the Mediterranean. Wander the ruins in the woods. Climb cliffs on the beach.
9/18/09	Spend the day looking at the Ottoman houses in Antalya's old quarter.
9/24/05	A three day organized tour of Kapadokya. See the fairy chimneys, the Three Beauties, Uçisar castle, Paşabağ Valley, hidden churches, and the Göreme Open Air Museum.
10/7/05	Overnight train to Istanbul. The Hippodrome, Aya Sofya, Obelisk of Theodosius, Galata Bridge (my favorite), Turkey-Germany soccer game, and nightlife on Istiklal Caddesi. Take a ferry to the European side, and watch the sun rise over the Bosphorous.
10/15/05	Head to Hattuşa, ancient capital of the Hittites. Get stranded for a weekend, with only three dictionaries and no luggage. Look at old, old ruins. Eat fresh bread from the village bakery for lunch. Fresh apples from a farmer on the street who feels bad that you're walking all the way to Sungurlu.
10/25/05	Dad visits, take him to Pamukkale. Walk barefoot up a hill of calcium deposits. View the travertines. Swim with Roman ruins in natural mineral baths. Walk around the ancient ruins, that once formed the spa town.
10/22/05	Head to nearby Afrodisias, the former capital of its Roman province. More Roman ruins, a giant stadium, and kittens.
10/28/05	Take a 13 hour overnight bus ride to Kahta, near Mount Nemrut National Park. Hire a local company to drive you to the top of Mount Nemrut and observe the amazing views, with Antiochus' beheaded statues of ancient gods. Stop by a weaving school. Consider taking a donkey downhill.
10/29/05	Head south a bit to Şanliurfa. It's full of sacred carp and the beautiful Rizvaniye Vakfi Mosque. The Halilur Rahman Mosque at the edge of the Gölbaşı area, equally lovely. I love the architecture in Şanliurfa historical district.
11/3/05	Mom comes to visit Istanbul. Take a day boat tour along the Bosphorous. See Galata Tower, lots of mosques, Topkapi Palace (amazing İznik tiles), and Dolmabahce Palace. Istanbul is easy to do in 4 days. We're done.
11/7/05	Book a multi-day tour of the Western coast through the Turista Travel Agency. Head to Selçuk and see the ancient Roman ruins in Efes. Amazing Celsus library and Meryemana, the Virgin Mary's House. Stay in Kuşadası, a Mediterranean beach town with a nice pazar and taxi cabs from the 60s.
11/9/05	Çanakkale is bus-able from here. See olive orchards on your way north. Amazing sunsets at this harbor town. Çanakkale has a replica Trojan Horse and what is believed to be the ruins of ancient Troy. You're also near Gallipoli, important in WWI and relevant to ANZAC Day.
11/24/05	Fly to eastern Turkey to see Van and tag along on a documentary team focusing on women's religious rights in the country. Van Castle with views of old Van, and Akdamar Island with an old Armenian Church (lovely). There's a town in this region called 'Batman.' That's all I'm saying about that.
12/10/05	Konya, a conservative town in western Turkey, with the study abroad students. See the turquoise-tiled dome of the Mevlana Museum, watch the Whirling Dervishes in the Sema ceremony.
12/17/05	A 6 hour trip from Ankara to Bursa. Mosques. Tombs of the founders of the Ottoman Empire. Private hot spring tub in the hotel. Muradiye Tombs. The Yeşil Tomb. A rainbow over the red-roofed city.

There's more photos from my time in Turkey up on my Flickr account.