Five Day Five City Tour

After six years in Istanbul I have to admit my wander-list for Turkey is looking a bit forlorn.

Although I  have tried hard to explore every nook and cranny (or at least every ‘souq and alley’) of Istanbul there are many places outside the city that I somehow never get around to exploring. I have yet to climb Nemrut at sunset, gaze up at Sumela monastery or even try a real Van breakfast. It never feels like the right time and so I always end up putting it off until some wistful date in the future.

One day as I sat with one of my best friends in Turkey (another passionate traveler) lamenting that I still had not visited most of the places I had wanted to he advised me to ‘just do it.’ There will never be a perfect time. As Moloko so sagely advised ‘the time is now’.

I agreed and excitedly started making plans for a tour of the East of Turkey frequently pestering my friend for advice, since he is a tour guide and an all-round treasure trove of information.

As we talked and planned the details I realised that it would be much more fun to go with a larger group. After all, some things are better shared, and on that list I would definitely include overly-indulgent meals, beautiful scenery and Raki nights.

On a practical level using guides and sharing transport costs would also mean we could go between places faster and in a more economic fashion. It didn’t take us long to tailor the perfect itinerary for our whirlwind tour of the South East and thus our ‘Five day five city tour’ was borne.

Much of what made the final itinerary are places I have read about and or wanted to visit for a long time. Van has always been high on my list plus we figured it would be nice to begin in a relaxing place where we could get to know each other over one of those famously decadent breakfasts. Every morsel, necessary sustenance for climbing up to the ancient citadel of course!

We both figured Mardin, with its ancient honey-colored buildings and meandering lanes was unmissable. With more knowledge of the area, my now partner in crime had plenty of additional suggestions such as detouring to the ancienty city of Dara and wine tasting!

To my surprise one place he strongly advised visiting was Şanlıurfa. Although I had heard of it, I had no idea it held such historical sites. After some research I was keen to fit it in and top it off with a traditional Urfa music night.

For me all trips are incomplete without at least one spectacular sunset. I knew Mount Nemrut with its spectacular Ancient heads would be the perfect place to watch the sun go down together – not to mention that the climb (although not overly-challenging) would help burn off a few calories if we get too enthusiastic about their local desserts and spicier kebabs.

I am probably most excited about visiting a small village called Halfeti. Three years ago I came across an article about a rare black rose that typically blooms there in July. I have felt compelled to visit and check out this Gothic beauty ever since. For people less fascinated with an unusually shaded rose (totally understandable!) Halfeti also happens to be steeped in history and the best place to take a boat trip along the Euphrates.

Five days of sight-seeing definitely whets the appetite so it’s fitting we will ending our Anatolian adventure in Gaziantep – a definite contender for the nations food capital.

The tour will be run from the 4th to the 8th of July. For more information and a more detailed itinerary find our event on Facebook.

All images courtesy of the organizer.