2002 - Independent Travel

The Third Tour (See Slideshow)
After seeing off the twelve others at the airport in Istanbul, John Blake and I sat with Hakan Kasap, the guide who had just finished with our group and talked about the on-our-own trip we were taking to Eastern Turkey. Hakan, himself, had just made the trip with travel guide friends in a van and was a fount of information. We took notes! We were off for a two-week adventure into new territory for both of us. We were excited to be doing the kind of travel usually associated with those some 40 years younger, and we were ready to show the world (and ourselves) that we could still do it.

Two Turkey lovers didn't need to be sold on the idea (see Part One!), and we expected to enjoy the food, the hospitality, and the sights of Eastern Turkey. We weren't disappointed. Our transportation was all public--buses and vans and taxis--so we were really among the people. Our secret weapon was that John speaks good Turkish, which added lots of color and good information as we traveled along. I could have done it without that aid and have done so in the past, but I would have missed out on a lot of people stuff and some great conversations. Our hotels were mostly in the $18 price range and were all selected with the help of the "Lonely Planet" guidebook. We budgeted $50 each per day for everything and were under budget most all of the time. It was basic travel in terms of comfort and luxury, other than the great luxury of having the time, money, energy, and health to have this great adventure.

We went on a great half circle along the northeastern, eastern and southeastern borders of Turkey with Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Our overnight stays were in Trabzon, Yusufeli, Kars, Dogubayazit, Van, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman, and Antakya. The major highlights were the Sumela Monastery, the scenic mountains around Yusufeli, the remains of Armenian churches and other buildings at Ani outside of Kars, Mt. Ararat, Lake Van, Akdamar Island, Harran--associated with Abraham--and Mt. Nemrut. Our last major stop was Antakya--ancient Antioch of Syria in the Book of Acts--with a great archaeological museum and a side trip to ruins by the seashore. We flew back to Istanbul from Adana.

Memorable experiences are always subjective, but here are some of mine:

I celebrated my 70th birthday in Urfa visiting Harran, and the next day I climbed Mt. Nemrut with a pick-up group from many countries. Sunset on this mystical place with a very large group of people was made even better by the fact that John and I were the only Americans there!

We had a wonderful 45-minute conversation with a young Kurdish businessman in Van who gave us his opinion about the political and ethnic situation, and who encouraged us in our Sister City relationship with Merzifon.

At one point, an out-of-control car hit our bus right under my window. The car then flipped over twice down an embankment. Our bus gave the mother and her three children a ride to a clinic in the nearest town. She sat right behind me and gladly took my bottle of water for her baby. When I offered the children some cookies that I had in my backpack, an eager little hand of a six- or seven-year-old girl took them. John carried the little girl into the clinic.

I shared tea with a group of men in a bus station...their treat...and compared notes on shoes and the fact that the father of the group was also 70. There was a mutual delight in this little international encounter.

We ran into a group of Turkish ladies in very western dress who were traveling together in a big group and who were having a great time. John spoke with them and found that several of them knew of John's parents and their work with the American School in Izmir.

Conclusion: It would take the work of many months of travel to visit all there is to see in Turkey! Thank you for reading these notes about our attempt to experience much of it this year. I hope that you are thinking about having an adventure of your own in Turkey someday soon! (See Slideshow)

Dick Brewer, 2002

"To support and encourage mutual visits by the citizens of both cities"