Eskisehir Heritage Heroes Video

Eskisehir is a city I return to on a regular basis, and I consider it my home city in Turkey, over the last decade or so it has undergone a huge amount of change and positive development. Every time we return there is something new, improved or restored mostly due to the vision of one man Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen. This video by heritage heroes recognises his achievements in this role. The Mayor has said he wants Eskisehir to be a role model for other Anatolian Cities, something he has undoubtedly achieved, every time you tell another Turk you are from Eskisehir they immediately all most always comment on how beautiful and successful the city is …. ah Eskişehir cok guzel demi?

More about Eskisehir


Eskisehir

Sivrihisar

Yazilikaya Platform/Midas City

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Kabak Valley/Beach

Kabak beach is situated at the bottom of the beautiful Kabak Valley in Faralya, near Olu Deniz on the Turkish Mediterranean, almost completely untouched by commercial tourism partly due to its isolated position and partly because of a moratorium on development in this part of Mugla province. With its small encampment of beach bums, hippies, students and potheads it bears an uncanny and slightly comical resemblance to the beach in Leonardo DiCaprios film of the same name.

The beach is reachable from Kabak Koy (village) which is the last stop on the dolmus that runs between Olu Deniz and Faralya where you will find a café rather helpfully named last stop café, From the village you have to climb down a footpath to the beach it is approximately 600m and quite rough in places, there is a track that 4x4's go up and down and they will take you down for an extortionate 20 TL. The trek is well worth it because the views are stunning and at the bottom you will find the beautiful and relatively deserted kabak beach.

On the actual beach there are no facilities at all apart from a man under an umbrella selling chilled water. Just behind the beach in the valley are several camp-sites with food, drink and accommodation as required.

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Gocek Island

We loved the small secluded beach at Gocek Island(Göcek Ada) enclosed on both side by pine covered slopes and a beautiful clear blue water bay to swim in, it was very peaceful without the pumping dance music you often get at beach resorts like Antalya.

The beach is accessible by a service that runs from Gocek for 10 Turkish lira, the loungers are another 10 TL for the whole day. They have all the normal facilities ie: A bar, changing area, showers, toilets, light snakes and a camping area.



Gocek Ada website

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Gocek

Göcek is a small but pleasant port that resides between Dalaman and Fethiye. The main draw is tourism that revolves around the yachting industry and the marina is stuffed full of expensive yachts and power cruisers. As a result of the money this brings some of the local prices are slightly inflated, but its an nice opportunity to see how the other half lives. The shops and boutiques are of a higher quality than the normal tit-tat you would expect in a tourist destination and there is a good selection of restaurants offering both traditional Turkish dishes and western and continental meals. We particularly enjoyed eating at the Kebab Hospital Antep Sofrasi which served some of the best pide we have ever tasted at reasonable prices. Boat trips are available from the harbour including the 12 island boat tour.

Gocek has a reputation for being relaxed and is really just a nice place to chill out enjoy the food and wine and mooch around the marina drooling at the boats. It is also well known as a destination for celebrity spotting, apparently including Prince Charles. There is a beach along the eastern side of the marina but sadly this has been bought up by the Swissotel complex that reside there and is a private beach with a thirty five Euro entry fee, as you can imagine this has caused more than a little consternation among the locals who now have to travel to the nearby Gocek Island (10 TL by boat) to use the beach there. Inlice beach is a ten minute drive away on the other side of the mountain although the taxi fare is an extortionate 35 Turkish Lira better to pay the 2 Turkish lira and travel with the Dolmus.

Whilst in Göcek we stayed at the Tufan Pansiyon which was run by a very friendly family, we paid 20TL each for a very basic en-suite double with a balcony view over the harbour. Breakfast was available for an extra 5TL

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Travelling by Dolmus in Turkey

The humble Dolmuş (pronounced Dol-moosh) sometimes referred to as a shared taxi is the cheapest way to travel in Turkey, Dolmus buses vary from city to city sometimes a small minibus sometimes a converted transit van. They normally stick to a set route although I have known them to go off route to drop you off closer to you destination in Istanbul. Dolmuş stops are indicated by a blue bus stop style sign with a large white “D” on it in some areas in other areas there are no marked stops, however Dolmus buses will stop and pick up or drop off anywhere along their set route you just have to hail them like a taxi.

The sign in the front window of the Dolmuş usually indicates the route of the bus saying both the departure and destination point. It is generally accepted that the Dolmus never runs on time, and in fact the name Dolmuş translates as a taxi that doesn't start until its full (stuffed full) with passengers.

Once you have hailed the Dolmus take a seat and pass your money to the passengers in front who will pass it forward to the driver, the dolmus is cheap so use small coins and notes it will only irritate the driver if you pay with a 100 Turkish lira note, anyway its difficult to drive a bus, talk on a mobile and change up 100 TL for a 3 TL fare all at the same time.

The Dolmuş will almost certainly be crowded and the style of driving might be a little different then your used to, this can be particularly unnerving if you find yourself hurtling down mountain roads full of hairpin bends and sheer cliff drops to the sea whilst the driver chats a way to his brother on his mobile or has a conversation with someone at the back of the bus seeming to pay no attention to the road at all.

If you use the Dolmuş to get around as opposed to taxis you will save money. For example a Taxi drive from Olu Deniz to Hisaronu will cost about 20TL where as the dolmus will be just 3TL.


When riding the dolmus remember to do what it says on the bumper sticker “Panik Yapma” don't panic......


I found this rather comical video guide to catching the dolmus check it out it covers everything.

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Poisonous creepy crawlies and snakes in Turkey

People often ask me about this, are there any poisonous snakes in Turkey? Or do you have to worry about scorpions; it always makes me laugh as I get a mental image of some hapless British tourist with a knotted handkerchief on his head, lobster red suntan and union jack boxer shorts trying not to spill his beer whilst grappling with a giant man eating scorpion at the hotel bar like an outtake from Clash of the Titans. The short answer is yes Turkey does have some poisonous inhabitants but the chance of you coming across any of them is so negligible as to be almost nonexistent. I have travelled around Turkey and visited many times and have managed to spot a poisonous snake on just one occasion, which means I see more poisonous snakes in my hometown in the south of England (Adders) then I do in Turkey. Admittedly the one snake I saw in Turkey was a horned viper, considered to be the most dangerous snake found in Europe, which my mother in law almost trod on when we were visiting a Phrygian grave site near the Yazilikaya platform in Eskisehir province, but said horned viper turned tail and crawled in the opposite direction as fast as possible.

Most of the spiders in Turkey are again small and harmless; I have never seen a spider in Turkey that is even the quarter of the size of the domestic house spiders we get in England, that frequently attack you when you are sleeping. Of course a poke around the internet turned up a list of scary contenders including the world famous black widow, to read it click here: Venomous spiders of Turkey. I think it’s worth bearing in mind I have an extended Turkish family and many Turkish friends and have never heard a single story involving a spider bite.

Again I have never seen a Scorpion in Turkey, never heard of anyone who knows someone I know getting bitten by a scorpion in Turkey and don’t really think it’s something the average tourist needs to worry about. However Turkey does have some scorpions the scariest of which is Androctonus crassicauda which apparently translates as fat tailed man killer, how cute! Mostly they inhabit south east Turkey towards Syria and Iraq. If you want to freak yourself out more read this report by the Turkish parasite periodical:Scorpionism in the Sanliurfa Provinces of Turkey.

My advice is to ignore all that unnecessary scaremongering and chill out, the most irritating insect you are going to experience in Turkey are the mosquitoes......

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Ihlara Valley, Cappadocia, Turkey

The Ihlara valley is a stunning gorge cut in the volcanic rock of the Cappadocian plateau by a small river that runs through the centre. The valley is both breathtakingly beautiful and historically fascinating. Inhabited by monks from the 4th to the 14th centuries the valley is littered with ancient rock cut Byzantium churches and hermit holes. If you like walking and are interested in nature and history then The Ihlara valley is a must to add to your itinerary, the main route meanders along the
lightly wooded valley floor next to the river bed, as you make your way along there are signs on either side pointing to different rock cut churches you can explore, most of which are cut into the face of the valley side and are a bit of scrabble to reach. Many of the churches have frescoes some in very good condition some defaced, the churches vary greatly in condition there are over 60 in the valley, the most popular ones are:

Direkli Kilise (Column church)
Agacalti Kilise (Under tree church)
Yilanli Kilise (Snake church)
Named after a fresco featuring a snake with three heads.
Sümbüllü Kilise (Hyacinth church) Part of a monastry complex with a living area, named after the hyacinths outside.
Pürenli seki Kilise (Pine needle terrace church)
Kokar Kilise (Smelly church)
Karagedik Kilise (Black collar church)
Kirk damalti Kilise ( Forty sons in law church)
Features a fresco of St George slaying the dragon, in this case represented by a three headed snake.
Ala Kilise (Mottled church)
Kemerli Kilise (Archway Church)
Egritas Kilise (Crooked stone church)

The valley is 14km long and runs from Ihlara village to Selime village, if you are coming by car the Belisirma village in the middle of the valley has a car park and a tourist information centre. Also there are some tea houses serving light refreshments on wooden platforms that sit in the middle of the river offering a nice place to relax and watch the wildlife during your visit. The valley also supports some cottage industries and whilst there we saw some local boys harvesting the walnut trees, there are also pistachio trees and vineyards.

Getting There

From Goreme or Urgup it will take just over two hours or forty five minutes from Aksaray, like most of these attractions in Cappadocia the most popular way to visit is with an organised day trip, however for those of you feeling a little more adventurous it can be found by following the signposts from the main roads between Nevsehir and Aksaray or Nevsehir and Nidge. Remember to buy a map of the area before coming to Cappadocia as the local tourist maps are not to scale and can be a little confusing, and it is difficult to find standard maps outside of major cities in Turkey.
When we visited the Ihlara valley we got up early drove along the Nevsehir to Aksaray road so we could stop at the Agzikkarahan Caravanseri which was rather irritatingly closed, then took the road to Ihlara valley stopped for luch and spent about three and a half hours exploring the valley. After this we continued to visit the underground cities at Derinkuyu then Kaymakli which too us on a round trip back to our hotel at Urgup arriving back at sunset.

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Around Ihlara Valley

Derinkuyu underground city

Goreme

Kaymakli underground city

Pasabagi

Urgup


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