Turkey: the other other white meat

Ok, I'm going to try something a little bit different. After India and Nepal, we've arrived here in Turkey. Before giving any kind of recap on things, we'll start you off the same way we start our travels: with the plan.

With such a long trip, it's hard for us to really plan things too far in advance. We don't carry guidebooks as they take up too much space; we tend to rely more on word of mouth and the internet. As such, we do essentially no research on locations until we arrive in a country.

For instance, upon arriving in Turkey, we spent the first day wandering the streets of Istanbul chasing down accommodations from a list compiled before departing Kathmandu, then the second day planning a basic itinerary for our month here. We don't really make any hard plans, and we don't make reservations for anything more than one step ahead of where we are to maintain flexibility.

With that, here's what we came up with for Turkey:

Istanbul

The city with a foot in Europe and Asia, Istanbul was my first (!) time stepping foot in Europe. Istanbul is a great introduction to Turkey and the center of modern Turkish culture. A charming city, it combines old treasures from the days of Constantinople and the Byzantines with the bustling vigor of a modern metropolis. Here, you can see treasures such as the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in Sultanahmet, then hop a tram and cross the bridge up to Beyoglu and Taksim Square for shopping, bars and fine cuisine along cobblestone streets branching from the main drag of Istiklal. We stayed in Karakoy, just across the bridge from Sultanahmet, but downhill from Beyoglu.

A budget-buster to be sure, but a worthwhile one. How can you worry about money when washing down kebabs and baklava with Turkish tea in those cute little tulip glasses?

Selcuk

Located at the northern edge of the Turkish Riviera, the small town of Selcuk is home to the well-preserved ruins of the Roman city of Ephasus (Efes in Turkish) and plenty of other sites of Biblical significance. It's also a short hop away from the hot springs of Pamukkale and ruins of Aphrodisias. Selcuk is supposed to have a lot more character than nearby Izmir and seems more centrally located for what we want to see, so we decided to give it a shot.

Fethiye

Situated directly on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, Fethiye is at the heart of the Turkish Riviera and the start of the ancient Lycian Way. Upon viewing the Lycian tombs here, sampling the local Mediterranean cuisine and taking a dip in the pristine waters of Olu Deniz, we plan to board a heavenly four-day cruise on a gulet tracing the Lycian Way down the coast. 

Antalya

Antalya is the final destination of our planned cruise. Akemi loves beaches and we have yet to break out the swimsuits, so these last two stops should hopefully help us get our fix of water fun in the sun. We're at the tail end of the summer season here so don't know if it'll be warm enough for a dip, but expect phenomenal views regardless.

Cappadocia

The fairy chimneys of Cappadocia are one of the only attractions that we knew for sure we wanted to see before stepping foot in Turkey. This volcanic region is pocked with small caves which sheltered early Christians fleeing persecution. It still holds early churches and other relics of antiquity amidst the rocky backdrops. We look forward to going stone age and maybe taking a trip in a hot air balloon if our wallet isn't burning by that time.


From Cappadocia, we'll stop back in Istanbul for another night or two before moving on to our next destination. We have a month set aside for this part of the trip.

Have you been to any of our stops in Turkey and have any tips to make our trip better? Appalled that we left off your favorite stop? Let us know in the comments!