Türkiye Trip Summary 2023

We had a great week in Türkiye and Kuşadasi was the perfect home base for adventures.

We started right off with an airport adventure.  We flew to from Vienna to Istanbul, went through immigration, and caught our connecting flight to Kuşadasi.  

We were the last two passengers waiting for our bags but they didn't show up.  Someone from the airport had to take us from the domestic arrivals to the international arrivals terminal where our bags were waiting because they hadn't gone through customs in Istanbul.  At least we had our bags.

Throughout the week we took a number of day trips.  Our first was to Şirince which is known as Türkiye's Tuscany.

On we visited the House of the Virgin Mary and toured Ephesus.  My first visit to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Another day, we went with Mesut to Izmir for the day.  

On the way back we stopped by a traditional carpet factory.  Unfortunately, none of them were magic flying carpets.

Our trip to Pamukkale was fantastic.  

Especially the paragliding.  

I'm still not comfortable at all with heights but this was absolutely brilliant.  I'm so ready to do it again.

One of the best things about visiting Türkiye is the food.  

Lots of meat, plus Turkish Delight, baklava, and copious amounts of tea and Turkish coffee.

While in Türkiye, I wanted to visit a hamam for a Turkish bath but we never managed to fit it into our schedule.  However, we did find time for a traditional shave and wax.

There was a lot to see and do in Kuşadasi.  Thanks to Atlas Obscura we found a few off the beaten path sights nearby such the train museum, Cave of the Seven Sleepers and the Cave of Zeus.

I can see coming back here again for another visit.  Highly recommended.

Kuşadasi, Türkiye

Kuşadasi is a beach resort on the west coast of Türkiye, about 95 km (59 miles) south of Izmir.  With a population of almost 114.000 people it is the 117th biggest city in the country.  However, during the tourist season, which kicks off in about another week, the population reaches almost 2 million people.

Big cruises ships arrive daily with many tourists opting for a tour of Ephesus.  Others come to enjoy the 25 km (15,5 miles) miles of beach along the Aegean.

Kuşadasi is old and many of the locals refer to the town as Ada.  The earliest settlements in the area date back to around 3000 BC.  Over the centuries it has been part of the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire.  In 1413, it became part of the Ottoman Empire.  After WWI, it was controlled by Greece until it became part of Türkiye in 1922.  In 1923, the local Greek population was exchanged for Turks as part of the population exchange under the Lausanne Treaty.

Güvercinada, "Pigeon Island" is an island connected to the city by a 350 metre (1.150 foot) causeway.

The island has a castle which was built back in the 1770s.  In 2020 the castle became a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Near the harbour is the Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai that was built from 1615 - 1618.  It was a safe place for merchants to stay with their goods and later as a customshouse.  In 1968 it opened as a hotel and in 2022 the last hotel owner ceased operations.

Kale Kapisi, the Castel Gate, was part of the city walls built in the 17th century.  The upper floor was once used as a police station but there is now some kind of micro miniature art centre.

The Kaleiçi Mosque is the old town mosque, in the middle of the bazaar area that was built back in 1618.

The clock tower was built in 1996.

The Ibramaki Art Gallery originally opened as a hospital at the end of the 19th century.  In 2009, the local municipality restored the building and turned it into a gallery.

The old cemetery has graves from the 1700-1800's.

More than 400 homes of the Tepe neighbourhood are being revitalised under the city's "Let's Colour" programme with homes pained in various shades of pink, yellow, blue, orange, green and purple.

At the port, there are daily 1,5 hour ferries between Kuşadasi and the Greek island Samos.  We wanted to check it out but the ferries only run from April to October.

About 30 km (19 miles) south of the city is the Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park.  There are dense forests, hiking trails, and beach, plus wild boars running around.

It was still just a wee bit too cold to lie out on the sand but it felt good to at least be at the beach.

Near the national park is the Cave of Zeus.  

There is a 10 metre (33 feet) deep pool that is off limits to swim in.  Legend has it that this is where Zeus would take refuge whenever his brother Poseidon would whip up a deadly storm.

Another story goes that Zeus would slip away here, from Mount Olympus and his wife Hera, to swim with local girls.

Yedi Uyurlar Mağarası is the Cave of the Seven Sleepers.  The story is that in 250 AD, the Roman Emperor ordered everyone to perform a sacrifice to dedicate themselves to the empire and to the Roman gods, or be executed.  Seven Christians refused and hid in the cave.  Romans found the young men asleep in the cave and sealed them in.  

One day a farmer opened the cave and found the men asleep.  When they awoke, they pooled their money to buy food but when they tried to pay they discovered their money was over 150 years old.  The cave, located outside of Ephesus was excited in the 1920s and found a number of Christian games from the 5th and 6th centuries.  

The Çamlik Railway Museum is home to one of the largest largest collection of steam locomotives, with more than 30, from 1891 to 1951.  The outdoor museum isn't well known but thanks to Atlas Obscura we went to have a look at it was well worth the visit.

We really enjoyed our week in Kuşadasi.  It's definitely worth a visit with lots of places to explore.  I wish the weather would have been just a little warmer but I'm quite glad that we managed to visit before all of the tourists rush in.

Here's a short Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour, Türkiye

On Wednesday we had a tour to Pamukkale and Hierapolis.  It's still a couple of weeks before the tourist season really starts so we got lucky that our group tour ended up just being the two of us so we basically had a private tour.

We were met by our guide Umut and our driver Ali who drove us, from Kuşadasi, on the 200 km (125 miles) to Pamukkale which took about 2,5 hours.

Pamukkale, in southwestern Türkiye, means "cotton castle" and it is famous for the carbonate mineral residue from thermal springs which at a distance looks like snow covered mountains.

The Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was founded in 2nd century BC.  In 133 BC, Hierapolis became part of the Roman Empire but it and it was destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD.  The Apostle Philip lived the last years of his life here and he was crucified here in 80 AD.  

There are lots of Greek ruins, a necropolis, theatre, temples, and a museum that are all easy to explore by walking around.

In 1988, Hierapolis and Pamukkale was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are 17 hot springs in the area and they range in temperature from 35℃ to 100℃ (95℉ - 212℉).  The most famous one is Cleopatra's Pool.  It's said that the waters have curative properties and you get to swim around ancient ruins.  

I'm still not sure why it's called Cleopatra's pool because she never swam here.  The plan was originally to go swimming but Kája was fighting a bit of a cold so we decided to skip the swim here.  Although we did wade out a bit in one of the springs overlooking the valley.

The big draw here is still the travertine terrace formations formed from mineral-rich waters cascading down the mountain side for hundreds of years.

Here's a Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves

One of the cool things to do here is go paragliding.  I am still not a fan of heights but for some reason I had it in my head that I needed to do it.  I have no idea why but I did it.  It was brilliant!!

It was a tandem run and my pilot Gökhan was great.  Here's a bit of the video he took with my iPhone.

Me and Gökhan

İzmir, Türkiye

İzmir is home to almost 3 million people making it the 3rd largest city in Türkiye.  It's an old city with more than 3000 years of recorded history but the area had been settled since the Neolithic period over 8000 years ago.

It's almost 100 km from Kusadasi which takes a little over an hour by car.
Prior to 1930, the city was known by its Greek name Smyrna (Σμύρνη).

Konak Pier is a seaside pier that was converted to a modern shopping, dining, and cinema complex.

Konak Square, designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same architect that designed the Eiffel Tour in Paris, is home to a few of the city's landmarks.

Konak Mosque, also known as Yali Mosque, was built in 1755.  It's known for its distinctive octagonal shape.  It was last renovated in 1964.

The clock tower was built in 1901 to honour the 25th anniversary of Abdülhamid II, becoming Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The First Bullet Monument is dedicated to the 1919 memory of a journalist and martyrs.

The city's first government office was located in the square but was demolished in 1869-1872.  They burned down in 1970 and were rebuilt according to the original plans.

The Izmir Archaeology Museum was established in 1924 on the site of an abandoned church.  It opened to the public in 1927.

The Izmir Ethnography Museum is currently closed for renovation.  The stone building dates back to 1831 when it was originally built as part of a hospital.

The 19th-century Church St Polycarp is the city's oldest functioning Christian church.  I understand the the church walls are adorned with frescoes but unfortunately the church was closed so we missed out getting to see them.

The Asansör is a public level street elevator that was built in 1907.  Prior to the elevator, residents needed to walk a long way and climb 155 stairs to reach the upper part of the town.  There are cafés at the top with nice views of the coastline.

The Hisar Mosque is one of the biggest in the city centre.  Construction began in 1592 and opened in 1598.

Izmir had a sizeable Greek population until 1923 where there was a population exchange between Greece and Türkiye.

In 1923, following a seven-month conference, the Lausanne treaty was signed that recognised new Turkish state following the end of the Ottoman Empire after WWI.  The treaty provided for the protection of the Christian minority in Türkiye and the Muslim minority in Greece.  I had never heard of the forced population exchange before but here's a short video I found about it on YouTube.

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