Turkey (All Around)

 After energy recharge after my trip around south – west Anatolia,  my next trip around the rest of the Turkey might have started. This time, I was accompanied by my friend Patrycja. We made approximately 5500 km while meeting almost every religious majority & ethnicity in the country. Out of 20 nights we spent during our trip, we had to use the tent only 2 times. For the rest of cases, we were invited to stay at our drivers' or friends' houses.


 Our first destination was Cappadocia – Goreme. Amazing area around ancient volcano, with lots of sand-like hills, which were made out of lava and with help from wind & snow, formed into current state, which ancient civilizations used and made into houses and temples. There, we found a cave, which we used as our hotel for a night and built a tent next to it. What an amazing experience! We explored the area in 2-day time (which is actually not enough if you want to visit all significant landmarks), taking our leave and heading to our next target, Trabzon, which was a bit further away, so instead of hitch-hiking, we took a coach, arriving to Trabzon early morning, where we had a pickup from our host.


 Not wasting a single minute, we headed for our target - Sumela monastery, which was quite apart from town itself. Although we made it to Maçka (a little town under the mountains, where is Sumela monastery situated) by hitchhiking, from there, we had to take a dolmuş, which took us up the hill, but still not even close - we had to climb for about 30 minutes to reach the monastery. The tour of monastery itself took less then 30 minutes, but was definitely worth it! Such an amazing structure built on the peak of the mountains - just wow! Leaving Trabzon behind, our next was stop Fındıklı, where our friend Muzaffer welcomed us & took us straight to Batum (Georgia) - alcohol, tobacco & casino paradise, where we refiled our supplies. Also, Muzaffer showed us the tea factory he is working at & gave us a big bag of it! Then, Muzaffers' family prepared for us such an amazing dinner with traditional fish & raki. Unfortunately, we could not afford to stay at one place for a long, so leaving such a lovely people behind, we had to move and carry on with our journey.

 As we left Fındıklı, a taxi stopped and took us to the main highway without any charge, from where we had a lift straight to Erzurum, what a great luck! Our driver introduced us to his friend, who own one of the oldest historical coffee shop in Erzurum (also under UNESCO) & gave us a tour around the place. At the end of the day, he provided each of us with free hotel apartment - as a compliment. As we hardly absorbed, how generous can people be, we went to sleep with a great feeling, that these people are not only in a fairy tales...

 Waking up a bit early to arrive in time, our next goal was Mount Ararat & city of Van. As we approached the city of Doğubayazıt, where is Ararat situated, we were bit of shocked, how different this place is. As soon as we dropped off from the truck, a bunch of kids run straight at us, asking us for money. While we successfully resisted them, one really old woman, looking like a witch, was shouting on us in Persian language - most likely asking for money, chased us, until we reached a petrol station, where she finally found another target. We managed to take some beautiful photos, and as soon as we were ready, we carried on with our journey to the city of Van.


 Upon arrival, our friend Hakan & Çağlar picked us up and took us to their favorite restaurant, where I ordered a plate filled with 5 different kind of kebabs, yammy! Next morning, we were invited for the famous Van breakfast with so many ingredients, including the best cheese I have had in my whole stay in Turkey, again, yammy! After having such a wonderful breakfast, we went to see the lakeside and Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross - Akhtamar, which is situated on the small island. Countryside there is just breathtaking! Nature is so pure without any mark of pollution. By the way, I would like to mention that Van as the largest lake in Turkey, has so high salinity, that during even the coldest winters, when temperature drops down to -30°C, does not freeze and water seems to be like an oil - that's even more than the Dead Sea.

 Moving on, our next stop, Mardin, was quite far away, so again, we had to be a bit in hurry. Fortunately, everything went right and we reached Mardin before sunset. Our friends' friend - Sedat, picked us up and took us to his hometown, which is actually partly in Turkey, and partly in Syria - Nusaybin. To be honest, there is nothing special about the place, except the feeling that you are literally few steps from Syria, and temperature, which could get during the day over 50°C. Mardin, in the other hand, as one of the cities called cradle of the civilization is one of the most beautiful ancient cities you can visit.

 From Mardin, we had quite a short way to the Şanlıurfa. Similar to Mardin by the history (both cities are situated in the area of the two rivers - Euphrates & Tigris), we had a tour around the city with one local, which provided us with the information about the history, and at the end of the they, one Kurdish family invited us for a dinner and sleepover. It was such an experience to see family living together in one house, with only few rooms and almost no furniture (just one small TV), and yet, with no need of anything. Why can't everyone be like them?

 With the idea of visiting one of the most beautiful historical sites in Turkey, Nemrut Dağı, we traveled to the city of Adıyaman, where we were told, that unfortunately there are no other tourist to go, so the price would reach really high quit, which we could not afford. So, with our dreams in ruins, we left Adıyaman and our next city of interest was Gaziantep, where our friend Misia worked as an volunteer for the school. We had some great night adventures in the city (including the story of weed-dealer search, which was, actually, successful!), and again, in the morning was the time to move on, so we set course for Hatay.

 As in the nightmare of every hitchhiker, we were stuck in the middle of nowhere deep in the night, but with a luck, we caught car heading straight to Antakya, where our friend, Hasan, kept waiting for us. Antakya is really special place, as the three of the most influential religions are meeting in one place (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).You can see Jewish synagogue, christian church and Muslim mosque next to each other. Beside that, Antakya is really beautiful city with a rich history (including march of Caesars' army through the Titus tunnel), and with close-by area with the tree, which, by biblical text, Moses planted by sticking a stick into the ground.

 With not much time left due to date of my flight, we had to pass Adana and go straight to Mersin, where we spent quite a lot of time, including camping by the seaside. The following day we spent on the road, reaching our last destination - Side. Side has been the most important city in the region throughout the history way before Antalya was even founded. That is the reason, why is it so rich with the historical sites including ancient theater, temple, hospital & the other monuments. Our host family had a business with the animals, so for a day, we had a pet monkey... and even tough it was really fun to play with it, it is animal which you should not try to tame. As the last day of our journey, we decided to spend it on the beach, by swimming, sunbathing, and you know... generally by doing nothing.

 As the time came, we set course for Antalya, from where we caught a bus to Bursa - which meant the only thing...the end of our incredible journey & return to the real life. As for me, leaving Turkey for good and starting another chapter of my life. I would like to thank everyone who took a part in our journey, especially to Patrycja - my travel mate, to Muzaffer - from Fındıklı, Hakan & Çağlar from Van, Sedat from Nusaybin, Yakup & Yusuf from Şanlıurfa, Misia from Italy =), Hasan from Antakya, The Gelikçi family from Mersin, and most of all, to Evren - who made this trip possible! Thank you Evren.