Turkey

Turkey

I’ve been to Turkey twice. Travelling on public transport and staying in budget Pansions. As with all my travels, never staying anywhere for more than 2 nights. Unlike Morocco, India and Greece however, the buses in Turkey are clean, well maintained and run on time. As a result, I’ve been able to cover some considerable distances and visit some wonderful places. Who wouldn’t want to go to a place called Safranbolu or a region like Cappadocia? Or walk down a Pine covered valley where the ancient Lycian city of Olimpos is shrouded in undergrowth and reveals itself bit by bit, eventually leading you to a beautiful beach overlooked by the ruins of a Crusader Castle…and have it to yourself? Maybe not everyone but it ticks all the boxes for me.

I always try to travel in the early Spring or Autumn so that I don’t need to book any accommodation in advance and can change my plans at any time. My hope was to try and get as far East as possible but poor transport links in the East and Politics combined to make that difficult…now it’s impossible.

I feel really saddened by what’s happening in Turkey now as I really believed that it had the capacity to stabilise relations between East and West and act as a bridge between those two, very different cultures…a third way. On both my visits, the topic of Turkey joining the EU, was everywhere…and almost everyone I spoke to thought it would be a good thing. How quickly things change…and not just in Turkey.