We are making this last trip through this beautiful country with great pleasure. We previously crossed Turkey from February to April, from north to south and from east to west. Now we have to travel across the country to go to the dentist in Alanya (GJ) and then to Mersin, to take the boat to Haifa. Along the way we have Milady fitted with new tires, we fly in a hot air balloon above Cappadocia and we camp at the Tuz Gölü salt lake. Furthermore, we mainly cover a lot of kilometers in a short time.
The trip we made through Turkey after the summer of 2023 (light green, dark green is the trip before the summer).
The border with Georgia
We previously mentioned that we had to take out new car insurance at the border. Finally we can drive further to Arpaçay in search of a SIM card. With the help of Mr. Google, we manage to load enough GB onto the SIM card. We can’t refuse the cup of tea 😉We eventually find a quiet place to spend the night near a river near Akçalar.
Erzurum
We previously visited the city of Erzurum in April, now we mainly want to rest and have Milady Landy fitted with new tires. We stay in a hotel in the volcanic Palandöken Mountains, which serves as a ski resort in winter.
We had the BF Goodrich ATs replaced with Hankook MT2s. The performance is comparable and the price is much better. The BF Goodrich ATs were also not available in Erzurum.
We go up the mountain with the ski lift to watch the sunset, which is beautiful every time.
On the way to Cappadocia
[freely adapted from Sonja’s story on Polar Steps]
We plan to drive from Erzurum to Cappadocia in 2 days. On the way we visit the Girlevik waterfall. We discovered this waterfall by chance, which has a height of 30 meters and is divided into many branches.
A Turkish woman is baking bread by the side of the road. It is around lunch time and we decide to order something here. The flat bread is filled with cheese and herbs and tastes delicious with a cup of tea! Of course Meredit wants to take a picture with Sonja 😉.
When we are 260 km further and mention the laptop in our conversation, Gert Jan looks at me guiltily. No!!! The laptop is still in the hotel room in Palandöken. So there is no other option than to drive all the way back. It’s quiet in Milady! About 20 km before we get there, a passing car points to our front wheel. To make matters worse, the tire’s valve turns out to be broken, causing it to deflate. Just put the spare wheel on and got it to the garage just in time for the repair.
From this moment on everything goes well again. At dinner we are surprised by a live performance. Early in the morning we leave again for Cappadocia and after a long day of driving, we arrive in Ürgüp at 5 p.m., where we meet Pinar. She booked a hot air balloon ride for us! Tomorrow is finally the day. Everything will be fine!!!
Cappadocia
Hot Air Balloon Flight in Göreme
[freely adapted from Sonja’s story on Polar Steps]
Earlier in early April we booked a hot air balloon flight in Göreme and waited more than a week to experience it. Unfortunately, this was impossible due to the bad weather conditions. Now we are back in Göreme and book another balloon flight. Get up early to be picked up at the bus station in Göreme at 5:00 am to get to the balloon take-off point on time. Upon arrival we see that our balloon is being prepared and at 5.40 am we, together with 26 other paddlers, get into the large basket at the bottom of the balloon. Even though we have been looking forward to it very much, Sonja finds it quite exciting now that the time has come. We ascend slowly and yes, it’s fun! How beautiful to see the enchanting landscape of Cappadocia from the air.
Our pilot lets the balloon rise and descend again. We fly almost between the rocks and experience the peace and quiet. It gives a special feeling to just float here. The sunrise is fantastic and makes you feel very quiet. What a wonderful feeling! After an hour we start landing. It’s unbelievable how the pilot manages to land the balloon silently on the trailer with which the balloon is transported. A fine example of helmsmanship! After a glass of non-alcoholic champagne we are taken back to Milady.
Caravanserai of Sarihan
We both need to recover from this special experience and rest for the first few hours😉. Later in the afternoon we will visit the Caravanserai of Sarihan, a beautiful building made of yellow-colored stones that was built in 1249. The Cappadocian caravanserais are built with volcanic rock and designed with high walls to protect travelers from bandits while traveling along the Silk Road . The Sarıhan caravanserai has a small mosque above the main entrance rather than in the center of the courtyard.
We drink a cup of tea here and drive back in search of an overnight stay in the wild. We find this place near Nevşehir with a view of the peculiar, rugged landscape of Cappadocia. We decide to stay here for a few nights.
Lots of hot air balloons
We are woken up two mornings in a row at 5:45 am by the sound of the hot air balloons. What a beautiful sight it is to see so many balloons flying. Right above our Milady, one also passes by every now and then. We can almost touch the people 😉.
Tuz Gölü
We decide to drive towards Tuz Gölü, the largest salt lake in Turkey. We have been here before in March but there was no salt to be seen. We are very curious about what the lake is like now.
We arrive around lunchtime at Tuz Gölü, the second largest lake in Turkey with a length of 80 km and a width of 50 km, at 905 meters above sea level. In places where the water has evaporated during the summer, a 30 cm layer of salt remains. So we can now spend the night on the lake, a special experience. Salt all around us.
When Gert Jan prepares a delicious eggplant dish in the Dutch Oven in the evening, we can enjoy a beautiful sunset.
After some chatting by the fire, we go to sleep in this peaceful environment.
We start the next day relaxed with breakfast on the edge of the salt lake. Quietly reading our book is disturbed by a swarm of flies. Because more and more flies are coming, we decide to look for another place on the other side of the lake. We find an overnight stay in the ‘steppe landscape’ with a view of the lake.
What a peace, until we get a visit from Fatma and Selin. They drive up in an old, dilapidated Renault and start a whole story in Turkish. With our limited Turkish vocabulary and hand and foot work, we find out that mother and son fled from Iskenderun after the earthquake. Fatma has lost her husband and 4 children, their house is no longer there and they try to survive together. Very sad! How close misery comes at such a moment! Fatma and Selim ask us for water and bread. We don’t have bread, but luckily we still have cheese, olives, toast, juice, a lentil stew and water to share. Fatma and Selim are completely happy and we often hear ‘Maşallah’. This means something like ‘what God willed’.
We are silent about it. Gert Jan gives them some lira for gasoline and then we say goodbye. This encounter will stay with us forever.
Alanya
In Alanya I, Gert Jan, have an appointment with the dentist on Monday. In March I had implants placed and that job now has to be completed with new crowns.
Syedra
Because we arrive a little earlier, we look for a spot at the bottom of the old city of Syedra, in the parking lot. We park there for 2 nights.
When we walk around the old town, we see that a lot of work is being done to restore this place. Daria, an architect from Istanbul, comes for a chat and talks about her contribution to this project.
New crowns for Gert Jan
Now that the implants have bonded properly, the new crowns can be made.
Preparations will be made on Monday and the new crowns will be placed on Thursday. A big job, but doable…
Major maintenance for Milady
Milady Landy also needs some attention. It has been more than 10,000 km since the oil was changed and there is some rattling here and there.
Garage Çinar 4×4 in Alanya has served us well before, so with confidence we have the car serviced here.
After two days of tinkering and doing odd jobs, Milady is ready to continue traveling. New oil and filters, the handbrake drum has been cleaned and fitted with new brake linings, all doors have been adjusted and repaired. The front wishbones have been fitted with new rubbers and the valves have been adjusted. And here and there Milady just received some love and attention. The bill is quite expensive by Turkish standards (TL 15,000 = € 550), but then a lot of work has been done.
Mehmet Çinar shows me that the engine’s turbo is no longer working optimally, I will have to pay attention to that later.
Mersin
Tomorrow we go to Mersin, where Milady will take the boat to Haifa.