Introduction:
Turkey surpassed any expectations, the experience a wonderful and pleasant surprise. Is it possible to have a “new favorite” travel destination. Travel north along western Turkey, and travel south through central Turkey. Countryside possesses its own natural beauty’ rocky mountains and cliffs, verdant forests, or agricultural fields. While there are tourism pockets, it’s more integrated with local communities, with the opportunity to see how people go about their daily lives.
Some elements of the trip appear in “The Daily” including a mishmash of topics. Photo gallery has trip images, captions available when viewed in slide show mode.
WED 31 May: high-speed ferry from Santorini to Crete, afternoon ferry makes for a late night to settle in to Heraklion. It’s a relatively large city, and explore the stone and earthen ramparts that protect the old city. What started as a nagging headache, morphed into something much more soul-crushing. Go to bed early, delirious sleep, chills, nausea, vomiting. Most likely stomach flu, downside of staying in a hostel.
SAT 03 June: wake at 3am, early, even for me, and one of the few times I’m worried about sleeping through my alarm; ferry operates this route only twice per week. Board at 4:30am, find a couch, and sleep for five hours, still dehydrated and recovering from stomach flu. Twelve-hour, slow ferry from Crete to Rhodes, why do I waste the day. Check into hostel, and pleased to eat dinner, plain rice. Feeling better, rented Yamaha XSR 125cc motorcycle to tour the island. Appreciated the opportunity to ride un-crowded back roads, and see how locals go about their day.
If you choose to visit the Greek islands, cruise ship may be enjoyable, efficient, and cost effective. Tourists experience the best of each island during the day, and don’t lose transit time, as cruise ship travels between islands at night. Cruising is also cost effective, it includes most meals, as island lodging is expensive. My four transit ferries operated on time, used website to track ferry status, but, there are delays and cancellations from time to time, and inter-island flights are not always available.
TUE 06 June: before departing Rhodes, completed $50 on-line application for Turkey eVisa. One hour ferry to Marmaris Turkey, for better or worse. Errands in town, find local bus station, withdraw Turkish Lira at ATM, and stop at grocery store. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan re-elected president May 28th in run-off election, in office since 2014. Election posters remain visible, no protests or other disruptions.
WED 07 June: Muslims are called to prayer five times per day, first call begins at 4:30am. Using public address system, there is a certain beauty to the muezzin’s recitation. Of course, I enjoyed early morning chanting in a dimly lit Zen Buddhist monastery, and the smell of burning incense.
Marmaris bus station is unique, it’s at the edge of town, in a wooded area, with tall, and wonderfully scented pine trees. Reservation for 3-hour express bus to Denizili cancelled, and re-booked on 6-hour local bus. Not the end of the world, but not what I expected, especially since I re-confirmed the ticket the previous afternoon. Rather than resist reality, I try to imagine that I really wanted to ride the 6-hour bus. Climb on board, and overwhelmed by the smell of body odor; air conditioning doesn’t work, simply blows hot air.
It’s a scenic bus ride, lots of agricultural land use, and general respect for the land (ie. minimal trash and debris). AirBnB host meets me at the bus station, and guides me to his home; he is a political refugee from Iran, seeking asylum in the United States. WSJ recently reported that Iran executed 142 prisoners in May 2023, and more than 300 prisoners year-to-date; its execution rate second only to China.
Following day, visit UNESCO world heritage site, ancient ruins of Hierapolis, and the Pamukkale travertines. The later were formed by limestone mineral secretions from the underlying hot springs. To reach the area, it’s a 30-minute ride on mini bus, and enjoy speaking with the attractive, Turkish-Chinese tour guide sitting next to me. It was an enjoyable morning, out in nature, listening to bird song, could feel my rate of breathing gradually slow, better than any pharmaceutical.
Friends visit my AirBnB host, shared dinner together; cultural exchange more memorable than visiting any tourist site. Great company for an introvert, but late evening, dinner not before 9-10pm, and up until 2am talking and listening to music.
SAT 10 June: four-hour, slow train to Selçuk. Train is full, some passengers crowd the vestibule without seats, no other tourists on-board. Attempt to check-in at local hostel, but it’s closed. Boutique hotel next door honors my reservation. Walk into town, buy some vegetables and tahini at the busy farmer’s market.
Alarm goes off, overwhelmingly fatigued, and can barely get out of bed. Insert contact lenses, and return to bed for two hours. It’s two miles to visit ancient Ephesus, choose to walk, and passed by tour buses, taxi (taksi), and farm tractors. There is no shade, the sun reflects harshly off the white marble pavers, and makes it difficult to take photos. Walk back to town, and share company with young traveler from Paris. After walking 8-miles, head back to hotel after one too many touts for the day, more touts than I can take. It’s 82-degrees, and my patience expired in the intense sun.
MON 12 June: train to Izmir, less than two hours, and short walk to hostel. Check-in, drop off backpack, visit Grand Bazaar. Purchase kilo of red cherries (2.2-pounds) for 20 lira ($1 USD). Buy candy in the market, cevizli sucuk; walnuts are strung, dipped in molasses syrup; when dry, it resembles a traditional sausage.
Wake up early, after first call for morning prayer. Drink coffee in the dull light, and smell yeast from the nearby bread bakery. Head towards Kültürpark İzmir for early morning run, before the sun becomes intense. It’s a nice space, clean and green, pruned trees arch over the composite running track. Area is rife with stray cats, kittens, and dogs. People are kind, and put out bowls of dry food and water. Dogs are tagged, neutered, and vaccinated.
After breakfast, visit Atatürk Museum. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an effective military commander, well-dressed statesman, and created the modern state of Turkey, following the 1919 Turkish War of Independence. He served as the country’s first president in 1923, until his death in 1938; he separated mosque and state, and focused on education, and other reforms.
WED 14 June: wake early 4am, before my alarm, before first call to morning prayer, before the roosters. Was planning to get up early, get some work done before getting on the bus. Make coffee, there is acrid smoke blowing, likely, the nearby bread bakery is stoking the oven, wonder what it’s using for fuel.
Five miles to bus terminal (otogar), too far to walk. City bus accepts contactless credit card, no need to buy bus ticket. I’m going in the wrong direction, get off and switch buses. It’s a travel day, spin the public transportation roulette wheel, and wonder how I will I get screwed today. Bus departs and arrives on time, pleasant surprise. Bus stops are brief, only enough time for passengers to disembark and embark. There is no bathroom on the bus, need to pee, but have this anxiety that I’ll return from the WC and the bus will have departed with my backpack on board.
AirBnB one block from mosque, first call to morning prayer is loud – I’m awake. Morning ferry across Dardanelles Strait, to visit Gallipoli National Historic Park. More than 100,000 soldiers were killed during the 1915-1916 WWI Battle of Gallipoli. Winston Churchill served as First Lord of the Admiralty, and led a combined Anglo-French force, along with ANZAC bombing of the Dardanelles, to gain access to Istanbul and the Black Sea. Campaigns ended in failure, and subsequent withdrawal from the region. Çanakkale Martyrs’ Memorial is 15-miles south of the ferry terminal, at the tip of the peninsula, difficult to reach unless part of an organized tour.
FRI 16 June: four-hour bus to Istanbul (aka Constantinople), cross Dardanelles Strait, Asia into Europe, across 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, longest suspension bridge in the world, with a 1.3-mile long main span. Bridge completion took five years and cost almost $3-billion; it opened in 2022, ahead of schedule, prior to Turkey’s 2023 centennial. Prior to the bridge, crossing completed by ferry.
Exit the bus terminal, walk across the street to the subway platform, no need for a ticket, wave contactless credit card across the reader; change from red line to green line, and I’m in the heart of Istanbul, an extraordinary, vibrant, and modern city, on par with London or Paris. Drop off backpack at the hostel, walk down to Galata Bridge, buy a fish sandwich for dinner, and sit down at the waters edge to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city.
Weather calls for scattered showers and thunderstorms, so up early to visit several mosques, including: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Suleymaniye Mosque, located at Sultanahmet Park. People may only enter a mosque outside of prayer time, need to be appropriately covered, and remove shoes. Carpets were brilliant shades of blue, red, or green, thick and plush, and soft under my bare feet.
Visit underground Basilica Cistern, built in the sixth century to store water; recent renovations completed in 2022. Architecturally, it’s ornate, with arched brick ceilings, and decorated columns, two such columns with the head of Medusa. Visit Topkapi Museum, which used to be the sultan’s palace, until the creation of modern Turkey. En route to the waterfront, walk through Gülhane Park, shaded from the heat by large, mature trees. In the afternoon, two-hour cruise down Bosporus Strait, which connects Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, and separates Europe from Asia. 20-mile strait is connected by three bridges (1973, 1988, 2016), one train tunnel (2013), and one vehicular tunnel (2016).
Visit the Grand Bazaar, which is interesting, but sells mainly souvenirs. Nearby Spice Bazaar is smaller, but much more compelling, colorful, and fragrant. Visit Istiklal Caddessi, pedestrian shopping mall, and stop at Sara Cafe, for Turkish “sand” coffee. Before turning around at Taksim Square, surprised to see large contingent of police officers, and realize that they stand outside the gate of the Russian Consulate.
THU 22 June: at sunrise, take subway to Söğütlüçeşme Station, on Asian side of the city. It’s a clean, modern subway, using Hyundai Rotem rolling stock. Subway tunnels below the Bosporus Strait, it would be an unfortunate time for an earthquake.
Train departs for Ankara, and after passing Izmit, travels at high-speed (250 kmh | 150 mph). Arrive in the modern train station, take subway, and check into hostel. Ankara became Turkey’s capital, by decree, at the end of WWI with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul, occupied by the British, Ankara, remained outside it’s grasp. Ankara is not a tourist destination, but it’s a central location for train travel.
FRI 23 June: subway to Ankara bus station; three-story bus station, almost overwhelming; not just a mass of concrete, but an equal size green space of trees, shrubs, and grass. Bus drivers given breathalyzer test before departing; scenic, three-hour ride north to Safranbolu, UNESCO world heritage city, due to its 17th century, Ottoman-era timber home construction. Arrive mid-day, walk into the village as noon prayer sounds, as if, I’m on a movie set.
Sleep in without alarm, nice for a change, sunshine streaming in through the windows, birds chirping outside. Go out for morning run, steep, hill climb until the turn-around point. In the “new” section of town, see locals go about their daily lives; in the “old” section of town, see tourists go about their day. My lodging is an old Ottoman “konak” (Turkish: mansion), neither hotel nor hostel, and mostly underwhelming. First night, sleep on bed springs; second night, sleep on floor. Outside the bedroom window is a beautiful courtyard; ripe cherries grow from a tree just outside my reach.
SUN 25 June: morning bus to Ankara; upon arrival at the bus station, purchase tickets for Adana and Mersin. Not able to buy on-line (foreign credit card not accepted). Not concerned that the route will sell out, but some ticket agents are more agreeable than others. Check into hostel, walk to grocery store to buy water. There is a cigarette rack next to the cashier. Each cigarette box warns that smoking is dangerous, with graphic pictures of disfigured humans.
Weather is warmer than normal in Ankara. Head out early in the morning to explore, before the sun and heat becomes too intense. Visit a small neighborhood that retained its 17th century Ottoman-style buildings, similar to those in Safranbolu. From there, visit nearby Ankara Castle, and then to Anitkabir, the hallmark of the city, which includes the mausoleum for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
TUE 27 June: high-speed train to Konya, 2-hours (250 kmh | 150 mph). Wednesday marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha (feast of the sacrifice), second and largest of the two main Islamic holidays. Almost everything in the city is closed. Wonder if I will have to fast for the day, but find a small döner kabab restaurant that is open. Buy a wrap and stand at the counter while it is prepared. There are almost a dozen young teenagers waiting for lunch, too. They take great interest in me. They ask me where I am from, I reply, United States, and they ask, Amerika. For five minutes, I’m popular and the center of attention; teenagers want to shake my hand and fist bump.
Konya is a conservative and orthodox city, and home to the Sufi poet, Rumi. Mevlâna Museum hosts whirling dervish ceremony on Thursday nights during the summer. Whirling is an active form of meditation, to facilitate a closer connection to Allah. UNESCO proclaimed the Turkish “Mevlâna Ceremony” as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Grateful for the opportunity to witness; truly an overwhelming and emotional experience.
FRI 30 June: tram to bus station, three-hour bus to Cappadocia. Anticipate tomorrow’s hot air balloon ride – once in a lifetime splurge – over the region’s infamous fairy chimney landscape, as unique as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
Cost:
Track cumulative travel costs, 67-days. Turkish lira weakened against US dollar after May 28th presidential election, providing a tail wind. During the month, dropped from 19 to 26 lira per US dollar. Inflation in Turkey is 43% (US peaked at 9% in June 2022), as Turkey’s central bank opposed raising interest rates.
Recall that I lost $200 last month in Athens. Received $250 from Bank of America as a reward for using newly issued credit card; mitigates some of the sting from the loss.
Lodging: $1,655 total | $25 day
Transport: $1,511 total | $23 day (plane | train | bus | ferry)
Food: $118 total | $2 day
Other: $396 total | $2 day (FX | ATM | visa | tourism | other)
Total: $3,680 total | $55 day | $20,100 annualized
Passport health: 5-pages used | 38-pages remain | expiry October 2032.
Conclusion:
From Cappadocia, travel south, visit coastal town of Mersin and Adana; both cities are west of Gaziantep, epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in February 2023.
Anticipate visiting eastern Turkey in future; public transport is limited, likely rent car or motorcycle, and combine with onward travel to Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
When I visit US National Parks, recognize that one of the greatest powers in the world is time, wind, and water, particularly in shaping geological formations.
To practice Zen Buddhism, there is no gaining idea, more likely, it’s a losing practice, surrender, and give up. Stand outside in the mist, and imperceptibly, become wet.
Keep expecting travel to result in transformative change, but, any change is slow and imperceptible. Drip by drip, drop by drop. It’s likely misguided to expect any change.
Keep hoping that I will wake up tomorrow as a different person, a better person, but it never happens, a bit like groundhog day, a bit like hell.
I am happy. I just don’t know it yet.
garthmonroe 