Steve and Lilias Hill in Turkey

MMM Article October 2006

Steve and Lilias Hill

Steve and Lilias spent 10 weeks touring Turkey between October and December 2005, travelling as far east as the border with Syria. This article, with images, was published in the Motorhome Motorcaravan Monthly in October 2006.

This was our second trip to Turkey. Having had a taste of 'Turkish delight' for three weeks, two years ago, we were eager to visit again. This second trip was also a bit late in the year, but we hoped we had left enough good weather to see the sights inland before heading for the south coast and the warmer climate. We found that Turkey remains a land of contrasts — east and west, rich and poor, old and new, all mingled together; donkey carts, smoking buses and Mercedes cars all on the same street; the goatherd miles from anywhere with a mobile phone; televisions in run-down mud brick houses; and many other examples.

The people could not be more friendly and welcoming: in what other country would the man in the toll booth welcome you to his area, ask where you are from and wish you a happy trip? It is a country in which you feel unthreatened, much more so than Spain or France. You need to visit with an open mind and be prepared for people wanting to help, wanting to sell you things (although a simple 'no thank you' is enough for them to desist) and basically being very curious about you and your vehicle, especially out of season.

We entered from Greece. It was an easy crossing with the paperwork done in very little time and only a quick look into the van, so they did not see the large supply of European wine. We drove almost directly to Ankara using the motorways: they are 'toll', but very cheap compared with those in Europe and a must for going round the big cities if you want to make any headway at all. It took us three days of leisurely driving to reach Ankara, where the campsite ended up being a park with toilets and water.

This was fine - except that there were no buses to town that we knew about. So the next day, armed with no map and a lot of optimism, we drove into Ankara. Imagine going into Birmingham with no map and thousands of mad drivers! This proved to be not a mistake exactly but one of those experiences you would rather not repeat. We had plenty of help when we asked directions. They even try the English way: look you in the eye and speak very slowly. This does not help you to understand the language at all. We tried heading for the Citadel, which was a big mistake, as it is on top of a hill with roads getting smaller and the cars more numerous, to the stage where we decided to come down and give that a miss as the van was beginning to look overlarge for the width of the streets!

Instead, we headed for the Ataturk memorial (the Anit Kabir). Well, eventually we did, after misreading a sign and driving about 5 km out of town towards a zoo named after Ataturk: most things are named after him here in Turkey. Visiting the Anit Kabir turned out to be a good move. Not only could we park on a road outside, but it was an extremely interesting place with views over the city and more history of Turkey in the twentieth century than you could absorb in one visit. Ankara has more to offer than our one day permitted, but we were not keen on driving into the town again and wanted to move inland while it was still warm enough.

Our next stop was Hattusas at Bo azkale, one of the main and largest Hittite and Phrygian centres in Turkey. This is an interesting area in a beautiful part of Anatolia. If you have the energy, then park at the entrance and take the 5 km walk around the ruins. If not, then drive around the one-way system and park at the various points of interest. It might seem as if there is not a lot there, but let your imagination think back over those thousands of years and imagine from the remains what was there and it begins to feel quite different. The cost was only £1.50.

From here we travelled across the Anatolian Plateau to Cappadocia, the beautiful area of fantastic natural rock formations and cave houses. The staff of the tourist office in Urgüp are very helpful and will give you a map of the town and local area with all the points of interest marked. We opted to stay on Kaya Camping, surrounded by valleys and a short walk to the Goreme Open Air Museum (cost £5.20). If you like churches and frescos you can pay the extra £2.15 to visit the best ones. From the campsite, watch for the early morning hot-air balloons, or take a walk in the valleys at this time when they are at their most peaceful.

After four days exploring here and visiting the Saturday market (an addiction of mine), we headed, via the scenic route to Derinkuyu, to visit the largest underground city. This has seven floors and, unless you have a good book, it might be worth having a guide: their price can be bargained.

The next planned stop was Osmaniye in the south near the Syrian border. On the way, by luck, we saw an impressive castle called Yilankale, an old fort perched on top of a hill where we were free to roam around looking at the views over the valley.

Once in Osmaniye, our first stop was to be the tourist office: as usual it was not well signposted. After we had made a few tries at asking directions, eventually one chap, who spoke a little English, seemed to understand me and said he would take me to the tourist office. I found myself presented at the Turkish Airlines office, with another very helpful person who spoke even less English! He never realized what I wanted but proudly produced a leaflet about the area saying he would take us to the right road, guiding us through the town.

The upshot of all this was that I returned to a very irate Steve with a strange Turk in tow, who proceeded to guide us out of town, taking the time to criticise Steve's driving, saying it was not Turkish enough and the horn should be used more!

However, it led to us visiting a small set of impressive ruins called Kastabala (entrance free), with a castle from the crusades, and temples and an amphitheatre from ancient times. This was followed by a drive into the beautiful Karatepe National Park where we stayed on the edge of a lake, almost for longer than we wanted as it rained during the night and the track up to the road became a little muddy. It took us three tries to get over the mud patch to the road!

After the park, we went to Antakya (Antioch) on the Syrian border, where the tourist office was closed. More by luck than planning, we ended up at Cevlik, a small holiday village where we were greeted by the mayor (in normal clothes and shopping bags in his hands!) and offered coffee prior to a visit to the extensive ruins (entrance 80p), impressive rock tombs, and a tunnel to an ancient harbour.

At this point we headed west along the warm Mediterranean coast, stopping for the night at a guarded lorry park on the edge of Adana. Although the whole coastline from Adana to Silifke is riddled with old castles and ruins, we had seen enough for a while and fancied a few days on the beach, snorkelling in the warm water and some bird watching on the Goksu Delta.

The tourist office staff at Silike were again very helpful, supplying us with maps of the Delta and ruins in the surrounding area. We actually stayed nearby for a week at the smaller town resort of Ta ucu on a pleasant campsite 3 km west of the town. It has plenty of wildlife of its own — chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits all running around, but destined at some point for the restaurant!

We visited the Thursday market. Steve needed a haircut. He hovered outside a barber's for two seconds and found himself in a chair in front of a mirror. He came out looking very different and not a little scared after the cut-throat razor was brought out to shave his neck! We took a scenic and interesting trip from here 30 km into the hills to some ruins called Uzuncaburc, which were really quite spectacular. They include temples, an almost complete North City Gate and, just down the road, the Necropolis with tombs set into either side of the valley. All this for the high price of 80p! Four kilometres down another road is the old city of Olba - with a large aqueduct at a valley entrance, tombs in the valley sides, and a couple of large sarcophagi just sitting on the hillside (free visiting).

After our relaxing week, we started the drive along the Turkish Riviera to Alanya. The only thing this Riviera has in common with the French one is the beauty. The roads are more windy, there is very little traffic, but there are spectacular views. There might be a lack of traffic, but it is not a fast drive as, when you come up behind a lorry, it is usually travelling at about 5 mph, whether up or down hill. It can take a while to pass. However, after a few hours on this road your driving does become more Turkish and you tend to just 'go for it' and pray there is nothing coming around the corner. We discovered some lovely isolated places to spend the night on beaches and clifftops - before visiting Anamur castle, which is quite intact and was used as barracks in the First World War.

We then drove to Alanya, a nice mix of tourist resort and town with a pretty harbour and castle. From Alanya to Side is a built-up, tourist-route, double-lane road with nowhere nice to stay However, we did need to stop so we found a short track to a large beach to spend the night. This was the only place where we were asked to move by the very concerned (for our safety) Polis, who sent us down the road to the petrol station where we spent a noisy night on the edge of the dual carriageway. The silly thing is that, along with Greece, Turkey is the place we worry least about thieves (when not near large cities) and know the Polis and Jandarma are only worried for us as valuable tourists.

We often found places by following our noses, not planning too much, and were always made to feel welcome, with people eager to help us when we looked lost. Would we go again? Without a doubt, and we would like to travel further east, but it was just getting too cold at that time of year so we drove back to Tasucu to catch the ferry to Cyprus.

WHEN TO GO

Unless you like heat, September to November or April to June.

GETTING THERE

The formalities on the border are the same wherever you enter. First you get a visa for three months (these can be extended), which costs £10 sterling, have your passport stamped, then collect a 'car paper' for which you need to have your green card and vehicle registration documents. Your 'car' will be entered onto your passport and you cannot leave the country without your car. A quick customs check: they don't like to pry. Drive to the actual entry post, show the bits of paper and you are through. On exit you hand in your car paper.

CAMPSITES

You can get a map of campsites from any tourist office: this does not give you prices or opening times. Some are open between October and April depending on the area.

WILD CAMPING

No problems, especially out of season when a lot of campsites are closed - we have always felt perfectly safe. We stopped on service areas (park or service alanis), piknik areas, beaches, a lorry park with guards, and once on a petrol station forecourt, which is a common practice. We never wild camped near an open campsite. Water was found in villages, harbours, beaches and on sea fronts. If this was not drinkable we would buy drinking water.

SHOPPING

Markets are good for cheap clothes, fruit and vegetables. Have small change with you. Every town has a market on one day of the week. Food generally is cheap.

Supermarkets are well stocked although things such as fresh milk, tinned meat and cereals are not always easy to find. Anything from a pig is not available. Alcohol is not cheap: a bottle of wine is £3-4 and local brandy about £11 for 70 c1. Beer is £1 a can.

Bank holidays don't seem to mean that shops close: however, the religious festivals do. Then government buildings and most shops close, but there is always somewhere to get bread, other small items, and fuel.

Eating out is not particularly cheap, but very pleasant.

GENERAL

English is spoken, but not as commonly as German.

Tolls are very cheap, averaging about 80 p for over 150 km.

Internet access is usually easy to find for about 45p an hour. There are two 'i's on the keyboard. The one in the position we are used to is not the right one, the one with the dot is correct.

Money - ATMs are everywhere and credit cards are widely accepted.

Fuel - Garages are everywhere and most take Visa. They all seem to sell LPG. Diesel is 90p a litre and unleaded £l.07.

Gas - A local cylinder, gas and regulator cost £25 for 12 kg. They do different sizes. Most towns and even some villages sell gas. We never saw Campingaz, but have been told some marine towns sell it.

We recommend getting as much tourist information as you can before you leave - maybe purchase a detailed book, especially if you are interested in the ruins, as they have very little free information on the spot.