Exotic Destinations > Travel Tales > Mysterious Turkey

Mysterious Turkey

By Stephen Harris

I’d been curious about Turkey for a long time. It seemed both remote and close, mysterious yet approachable. It was tempting, but I wasn’t sure… What tipped the balance for me was the number of my friends who had already been there, who all said “Just go — you’ll love it.” My wife and I went, and sure enough, we did love it. We spent two golden weeks there. Turkey did more than fulfill our expectations; it went beyond them, and turned out to be unforgettable.

First, about the “people side” of our experience: The Turks are friendly; everyone who has been there talks about that. Our guide was first rate: knowledgeable, experienced, caring, and with a good sense of humor. Our bus driver kept us all feeling safe on the roads, all of the time. We even had a “bus driver’s assistant,” who pampered us with apple tea (a Turkish favourite) and other goodies. You couldn’t ask for a better team; I still miss them.

What about the country? Turkey is like no other place. It’s often described as a “crossroads” between Europe and Asia, and that’s very appropriate. It doesn’t feel European or Asian; it feels like Turkey.

Istanbul is one of the world’s great cities. More than 2,500 years old, it’s drenched in history. As Constantinople, it was the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, then became the capital of the entire Empire when Rome fell. Then it was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the world center of Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity, the capital of the Ottoman Empire… How can any one city have been the centre of so many things? In Turkey you see the legacy of all these civilizations, plus even older ones.

Turkey has major seas on three of its four sides, offering beauty as well as swimming and boating. The Mediterranean is on the south, the Black Sea on the north, and the Aegean Sea on the west. (Throw a stone — you can almost hit Greek islands.) Istanbul is divided by the Bosporus, a strait that cuts the city into its European and Asia parts. Then there’s the Dardanelles (formerly the Hellespont) — the long strait leading out to the Aegean. Lord Byron swam it 200 years ago.

The Aegean Sea is one of the cradles of civilization, and the site of so much described in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Visit the ruins of Troy — yes, Troy was in Turkey, not Greece. They even provide a huge (3-story high) wooden horse you can climb up into. Oh, and by the way, Alexander the Great cut the Gordian knot in Turkey.

While you’re thinking classical thoughts, be aware that Turkey offers some of the best Roman and Greek archeological sites. In particular, everyone wants to visit the site of the city of Ephesus, considered by many to have the greatest Greco-Roman ruins after Rome and Pompey. Walk down its marble roads, with chariot ruts in them. See the standing facade of the library. Go to the 25,000-seat amphitheatre, where St. Paul spoke. Its acoustics are so good they give symphony orchestra concerts there today.

That’s just a few highlights from the Greek and Roman classical side of things. You can also visit the Shrine of Mary, in the area where she apparently spent her final years, and from which she is regarded as having ascended into Heaven. Turkey has breathtakingly beautiful mosques, some of the finest in the world. For a change of pace, you can see whirling dervishes, and experience the mystical side of Islam. Istanbul has the Hagia Sophia church, not just one of the world’s great religious buildings, but one of the world’s great buildings, period. Visit the Gallipoli World War I battlefield, with its moving memorials. It goes on, and on…

Beyond that, Turkey’s scenery is attractive, and the country has great food — it’s a paradise for fruit and vegetable lovers especially.

The people, the sights, the experiences — they linger in the mind. The whole country has a way of staying with you. So now I, too, say to my friends: “Just go — you’ll love it.”