Antalya Revisited: the Metropole of the Turkish Riviera

Antalya is a mega tourist magnet on the Turkish Riviera. According to one airlines industry report, the airport of Antalya handles more passengers every year than both airports in Istanbul put together. Nobody would doubt this once you see the crowded queues at Antalya airport's departure hall, full of tourists from all over Europe and the Middle East, pushing and shouting their way through the scramble otherwise known as check-in. During the summer months, there are direct flights to some of the most obscure and little-known airports in Europe, known probably only to industry insiders.

I had been to Antalya once several years back, and my first impression upon my return visit is: more new hotels, more posh cafes and restaurants, and prices have become very steep too, especially in the Old Town and the tourist areas. 

Aizanoi: the Temple of Zeus

I have seen image of the Temple of Zeus at Aizanoi in several publications about Turkey, but have never had the chance to visit it until now. Although it is probably amongst one of the most familiar images of Greek archaeological sites in Turkey, the ruins of Aizanoi has been out of the usual tourist track.

I guess the reason of this relative neglect is because unlike the extensive ruins at Ephesus or Bergama, there are relatively little old stones left standing in Aizanoi. Hence most tourists choose to give it a miss given their tight itinerary.

Kutahya: the City of Tiles

Those who have been to Istanbul will not fail to be impressed by the beautiful tiles which adorn the walls of the mosques and some important public buildings. While most people would have heard of the famous Iznik tiles, and the town of Iznik does continue to produce smaller decorative items such as vase, plates, bowls etc., to this day, yet as a matter of fact, most of the beautiful decorative pieces one gets to see in the tourist shops all over Turkey are actually produced in Kutahya, a town some 70km away from Eskisehir.

As if to make a point, everywhere in Kutahya you get to see the city's most famous product. The main square  in the centre of the town is adorned with a giant vase with traditional Ottoman tulip design.

Eski Foca: Little Fishing Village on Northern Aegean Coast

One of my all-time favourite destinations in Turkey is the northern Aegean coast, which stretches all the way from the Gallipoli Peninsula to the quaint little fishing village of Eski Foca, near Izmir. Like its Greek neighbours on the island of Lesbos across the Aegean, Eski Foca has a distinctive feel of wind-swept small-town rustic charm about it, which makes for a lasting impression. 

 

About 1 hour by car or bus from Izmir, Eski Foca is a popular weekend getaway for city dwellers from Izmir. On weekends, the little bars and restaurants which line the harbour front remain open until late in the night. Many of the small meyhanes (wine bars) also have live music performances in the evening. Due to the presence of a large military barrack right outside the centre of the town, the whole village has probably one of the highest concentration of internet cafes in the whole of Turkey.

 

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara

For those who are interested in the history of early civilizations in Anatolia, especially those from the Bronze Age such as the Hitties, a visit to Ankara's Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is a must. Although the entrance fee is a whooping 16TL, but considering the thousands of years of history behind each and every artifacts on display, it is really worth it.

The Museum has a pleasant courtyard, which is dotted with some exhibits.

It was a rainy and stormy day: Kusadasi Revisited

The weather in February in this part of Turkey can be atrocious. It was raining like the end of the world when I stopped at Kusadasi for one night while on my way from Cesme. The good thing about visiting Kusadasi in the winter month is, there are far less few tourists and the atmosphere is much more congenial than when I last visited the town in the summer of 2007.

Luckily for me, the sun reappeared on the second day, so I have been able to wander around the shoreline and take some photos. Granted, Kusadasi is not my ideal type of Aegean town, but then how many visitors from outside of Turkey know about truly beautiful places such as Ayvalik or Foca?

The shores of the Aegean is a good place to stop, have a few glasses of tea, and admire the beautiful Aegean Sea.

Bogazkale/Hattusa: The Anceint Capital of the Hittite Kingdom

Of all the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Turkey, the ruins of the capital of the the Bronze Age Hittite Kingdom at Hattusa, near the modern turkish village of Bogazkale in Turkey's Corum Province, is the one which really merits a visit.

As the site of Hattusa is a bit off the beaten tourist track, there are only two or three hotels in the village of Bogazkale, and all of them are closed in winter. Temperatures in winter could drop to as low as -20 degrees Celsius, which means water pipes would freeze and burst, while the roads leading out of Bogazkale would be rendered unpassable due to heavy snow.

Amasya: Possibly the Prettiest City in Anatolia

Amasya is a pretty town, whose beauty will impress any foreign visitors at the very first sight. I instantly fell in love with the town as soon as I set my eyes on it. With its numerous well-preserved Ottoman timber houses, the ancient tombs of the Pontus kings and a castle which overlooks the town, and the serene Yesilirmak river that flows through the town's Old Quarters, Amasya is a real gem and by all means a city not to be missed. 

Amasya' beauty is all the more evident in the night, when the whole town was lighted up. It is very romantic to walk along the river bank or wander around in the cobblestone streets of the old town lined with traditional Ottoman houses.

Sivas: the Highest City of the Central Anatolian Plateau

After Elazig, next stop of my Grand Tour through the Anatolian Highlands is Sivas. Located at the junction of two important medieval caravan trade routes from Persia and Baghdad respectively, Sivas has been an important trade centre since the Middle Ages. It is also an important centre of learning during the Selcuk rules, and several medrese have been built in the 13th century, including the Gok Medrese, the most famous of them in Sivas.

Too bad the Gok Medrese was undergoing major restoration while I was there, hence only the photo of its two beautiful minarets.

Elazig / Harput: Ancient City on the Euphrates

Elazig - this name has long fascinated me. The name sounds nice (at least in comparison to the name of many other Turkish cities) and it is located near the confluence of the two rivers (the Murat and the Karasu) that join to form the mighty Euphrates, one of the most prominent and historically significant rivers in the history of humanity. Hence I decided to stay overnight in Elazig while on the way from Van to Sivas and Amasya, and have a look how this city looks like.

The city of Elazig is, as usual for any Turkish city located near big bodies of water, a dusty one. But it is also a thriving city with a very ancient pedigree and a sizeable student population, thanks to the presence of  the Euphrates University in the city.

Van: So much Water, Yet So Dusty (But the Akdamar Island is Very Pretty!)

One thing I do not understand about towns and cities in Eastern Turkey is, the closer they are to huge body of water, the dustier the air becomes. Van, which is on the edge of Turkey's biggest lake, is a dusty city. The air smells of fine particles of dry dusts. And it is extremely dry out there as well. Which means one needs to drink a lot of water and bring some nasal spray if required.

The modern city of Van is a bustling town full of cars and good-looking men: a predominantly Kurdish city, the fact that the streets of Van are full of good-looking young men seems to lend support to the opinion of some that Kurdish men are in general a better looking lot than their Turkish counterparts.

From Dogubeyazit to Van: Some Facts

There are only 5 or 6 buses a day from Dogubeyazit to Van, maybe less in the winter, hence it is advisable to buy your ticket in advance as soon as possible. I had to spend an additional two hours waiting for the next available bus, because the bus at 12 o'clock was fully booked.

The bus company which operates the route Dogubeyazit - Van is called Ishak Pasha Turizm (although they do not operate the mini-bus to the Ishak Pasha Palace). Their office is located at a side street opposite the mini-bus stop for buses to/from Agri, just a few meters from the main throughfare of Dogubeyazit.

From Kars to Dogubeyazit: Endless Road Works, One Military Check-Point, and the Visit to Turkey's Neuschwanstein

A visit to Eastern Turkey is incomplete without a trip to the slightly surreal Ishak Pasha Sarayi, Turkey's landmark equivalent to Germany's world-renown Schloss Neuschwanstein. Built in 1685 by a Kurdish feudal lord by the name of Colak Abdi Pasha, the whole complex was completed in 1784 by his grandson, Ishak Pasha, hence the name of the palace.

Day Trip to Ani: Remanent from a Glorious Past

As said, the first and foremost reason foreign visitors would want to travel all the way to Kars is to visit the ruins of the ancient Armenian capital of Ani. Located about 60km outside of Kars, the impressive early medieval ruins of Ani are situated on a steep ridge, overlooking the deep, curvy ravine of the Akhurian River, which also acts as the official border between Armenia and Turkey.  
Since there are no public transport between Kars and Ani, one needs to get a taxi from the town centre in order to visit the ruins. A taxi normally costs 90-100TL, the taxi driver would pick you up from your hotel at the arranged time, drive to Ani, wait for you outside the entrance gate for 3-4 hours while you visit the ruins, before returning to Kars. 

The city of Ani was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom, which once exercised control over a vast  stretch of territory, including much of present-day Armenia and parts of eastern Turkey. During its heyays between the late 10th and early 11th century, Ani  became a key stop of several trade routes due to its size and importance. The city boasted a population of some 100,000 - 200,000 people, and rivaled Constantinople, Baghdad and Cairo in terms of importance and splendour of its architectures. The city was known as the 'City of 1001 Churches', thanks to the numerous (for its time) technologically and artistically advanced churches, religious buildings and places of worship within the city's limits.

Kars: Going up the Kars Castle

Most of the visitors come to Kars because they are on their way to the ancient Armenian capital of Ani. Admittedly there are not many things inside the town of Kars itself which are of interest to the ordinary tourists, but there is always the imposing Kars Castle perching on the top of the hill overlooking the entire plateau, where  on a clear sunny day, one could take really good photos of the town.

The view of the whole centre of Kars from the Kars Castle.

Kars: the Snow City and Turkey's Gateway to the Caucasus

Kars is very much a border town, and it certainly feels like it has been in the wilderness for a long time. Strategically located at the far-eastern end of Turkey's vast territory, Kars is virtual gate of entry into the mountainous terrain of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Its strategic importance means Kars was a place repeatedly fought over by the great powers - most notably the ambitious Russian Empire and its successor state, the Soviet Unions. In the 19th and the 20th centuries, several military campaigns were waged by the Russians against the ailing Ottoman Empire, as a result of which Kars and its surrounding region (including Ardahan) were occupied/annexed by the Russians on several occasions.

After several changes of political ownership between Russia/the Soviet Union on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire/Republic of Turkey on the other, the political status of Kars and the neighbouring provinces of Ardahan and Igdir were finalised in the Treaty of Kars in 1921 between the Soviet Union and Turkey, when both sides agreed that these three provinces would remain part of the Turkish Republic.

From Artvin to Kars: Journey through one of Turkey's Most Beautiful and Rugged Landscape

The city of Artvin is actually quite worth a visit. Located very high up some steep cliff tops, and the surroundings are actually very pretty. For those interested in trekking and mountain sports, it is a nice place to spend a week or so and explore the nearby valleys and hills, or visit quaint riverside villages such as Yusefeli. 

In the morning, I set off from Artvin and travelled to Kars with Yesil Artvin bus company. The bus to Kars does not stop at the bus station of Artvin, but from a roadside stop next to the road to Erzurum and Kars.

The Journey along the Black Sea Coast (Part3): from Giresun to Artvin

From Giresun, there are hourly buses to Trabzon. I had been thinking for a while whether I should stay overnight in Trabzon and visit the Sumela Monastery, and continue my journey towards Kars via Erzurum, or if I by-pass Trabzon, and head straight to the lush green valleys of Rize and the Kackar Mountains. 

I was not particularly in favour of staying overnight at Trabzon, in part because of the lack of reasonably priced hotel accommodations suitable for a lone traveller. After the fall of the Soviet Union, many women from across the border entered Turkey and engage in trade as well as part-time prostitution. Nowadays Trabzon has become infamous as Black Sea's capital of human trafficking and prostitution. To cater for the growing demand for hourly rental, many small hotels now function as unofficial brothels. Numerous unregulated cheap hotels and 'guest houses' also sprung up all over Trabzon's inner city. It has become increasingly difficult for ordinary visitors to find a decent hotel at affordable prices: notable hotels which refuse entry to prostitutes charge more than 70 Euro a night for a room without breakfast. 

After some deliberation, I decided to travel by bus straight to Hopa, right next to Turkey's border with Georgia. The bus from Giresun to Hopa also stop enroute at Trabzon, Rize and several other small towns on the coast. As the bus drove into the centre of Trabzon, I was great I did not choose to stay overnight there, as the whole city centre is a bustling place full of seedy-looking make-shift cheap hotels with tightly closed windowns and very narrow entrance. Some even have pictures of scantily-clad Russian women on the door. It is obvious what these places are up to.

After leaving Trabzon, the view opens up again to gentle sloping hills on one side and blue open sea on the other. The region between Trabzon and Rize is the tea country of Turkey. Tea planations line the hills of the valleys, while almost every town en route has a Caykur tea processing factory. The Turks love their tea, while tea grown in the province of Rize is prized for its deep amber colour and smooth, aromatic taste.

When the bus finally arrived at Hopa, it was already dark and I was disappointed by the sight of the town before me. The whole place was a big construction site, with new highways being built and half-completed ugly concrete blocks springing up all over the place. And the air was dusty and smells of engine oil. Immediately I dropped the idea of staying overnight in Hopa. The whole place looks and feels like a border-town-in-transition, as the population has increased almost ten-fold in the previous few years, following the re-opening of the border cross to Batumi, Georgia's most important harbour and an important shipping centre on the Eastern Black Sea coast. The rapid increase in cross-border trade between Hopa and Batumi is evident in the long line of trucks waiting up at the side of the highway leading to the border checkpoint. Sometimes the wait for customs clearance could take several days, even weeks.
I have nothing against border towns, but Hopa feels seedy. The few hotels available in the town either look outright like unofficial brothels, or they look so hastily built of the cheapest materials possible, without proper fire-resistant materials or safety installations.

The Journey along Turkey's Black Sea Coast (Part 2): from Sinop to Giresun

Although Sinop seems to be such a far flung and isolated place to reach from Western Anatolia, the town is actually quite well served by buses heading east along the Black Sea Coast towards Samsun, Ordu, Giresun and Trabzon.

After spending two leisurely days in Sinop, I jumped on the bus again and head towards Giresun, the Black Sea port city famous for its hazelnuts. As there are no daily direct bus between Sinop and Giresun, I first travelled by  a mid-size bus to Samsun, before continuing my journey along the Black Sea coast to Giresun.

Between Sinop and Samsun, there were again several road works sites, but at least this time the bus's air-conditioning system was working properly, and the whole carriage was not filled with dust and fumes from outside. It was easy to realise when exactly the bus had entered the city limit of Samsun, as all of a sudden, roads and schools and public buildings begin to appear which bear the name '19 Mayis' (19th of May), a date which is central to the national consciousness of the modern Turkish republic. The date commemorates the landing of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Samsun on 19th May, 1919 and marked the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence (May 19, 1919 - October 29, 1923).

As soon as the bus arrived at Samsun's main bus station outside the city centre, the bus to Giresun was waiting and I bought a ticket on board the bus. En route to Giresun the bus passed by Ordu and Unye, a beautiful seaside resort town with one of the most attractive stretches of sandy beach in the whole of Turkey. The atmosphere of Unye reminds me a bit of San Sebastian in Spain. It was a pity I did not anticipate Unye to be such an appealing place, otherwise I would certainly have stayed at least a night there and enjoy the beautiful views of the Black Sea from one of Unye's numerous seaside tea gardens.

Between Ordu and Giresun is Turkey's famous hazelnut plantation region, which produce some 625,000 tons of hazelnuts annually, accounting for 75% of the world's hazelnut production. The bus journey from Samsun to Giresun took about four hours. By the time I arrived at Giresun's town centre, it was already getting dark. Fortunately the bus stopped right in the middle of Giresun's town centre, near the harbour and the hotel I intended to stay at.

Founded by colonists from Sinop in 2nd century B.C., there aren't really much to see in Giresun. in spite of the long history. The town has one main shopping street leading all the way up a steep hill, in addition to the main road  along the coast which links Giresun to Ordu and Samsun in the west and Trazbon in the east. From my hotel room, one can see the Giresun Castle and part of the campus of recently founded Giresun University.

Sinop: Historical Outpost on the Black Sea

In modern history, Sinop is best known as the site of the Battle of Sinop. 

On 30th November 1853, an Imperial Russian fleet attacked some Ottoman patrol frigates and corvettes stationed in the harbour of Sinop without provocation, annihilated them all except for one steam frigate which eluded the Russians and escape to Istanbul. Although the Battle of Sinop took barely an hour from the start to the end, the event did have momentous consequences on the European politics, as the conflict provided the British and the France with the opportunity to delcare war on Imperial Russia and trigger what came to be known as the Crimean War (1854-1856).

Prior to the Battle of Sinop, both the Imperial Russian and the Ottoman Empire had been at odds over Russia's expansionist ambitions vis-a-vis Ottoman territories in the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast and Asia Minor. The unprovoked attack on Ottoman fleets in Sinop harbor and the ensuing Crimean War accelerated the decline of the Ottoman Empire, allowing major European powers to actively interfere with Ottoman Empire's political affairs.