Travel diary, part 1: choosing a destination

Once we realized that we had a seven-day break for the bayram, and that everyone we know will be either feasting on roast lamb with their extended families or escaping from Ankara, it seemed pretty obvious that we should seize what may be one of our only opportunities to explore other regions of this beautiful country.

Therein lay the problem. Turkey is a huge country, filled with a range of historical marvels and natural beauty. If you only get a couple of vacations, where should you go?

Here was my list of top destinations when I arrived in Turkey:

1. Istanbul, because--well, duh.

2. Cappadocia, a region three or four hours' drive south of here. The rock formations here are insane, and the history of how people used these caves and underground cities throughout history is fascinating.

3. Izmir, a city on the west coast that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in Turkey. It's also very near Efes (Ephesus) which has some of the best preserved Greek and Roman buildings in Turkey.

4. Çanakkale, a city in northwest Turkey where the British and Anzac troops stormed Gallipoli during World War I, and were demolished by the Ottomans. In many places the barracks and trenches have been preserved. It's also near Troy, the ancient city of literary and equine fame.

5. Antalya, the beach town on the Mediterranean that everyone recommends visiting. I like beaches.

Since I began teaching, my students have eagerly adopted the role of travel agent for their homeland. Everyone has been telling me the best places to visit, when to go, what to eat, etc. One class even sat down and made a list of fifteen places in Turkey that I must see before I leave.

A recurring theme through these travel discussions is the unparalleled beauty of the Black Sea. I keep hearing that this is absolutely the loveliest part of Turkey, especially in comparison to dry, brown Ankara. It's so beautiful that my pre-intermediate level students can't even put together sentences describing the scenery, but instead blurt out detached words like "green," and "hilly," and "green green green!" accompanied by dramatic hand gestures tracing the mountainous skyline.

This somehow sold us on the Black Sea. After a bit of research, we decided to head north and east for the bayram, to explore the towns of the northern coast. Our primary destination is Trabzon, a port city founded in the 7th century BC and, if my students are correct, home to some spectacular scenery.


Turkey is a huge country, much bigger than I seem to think it is. Trabzon didn't look that far on a map, but it's 462 miles away, about the equivalent of St. Louis to Jackson, Mississippi. It's a twelve hour bus ride from Ankara. Unfortunately my sense of distance has been compressed by a few years on Taiwan, where a three hour train ride to Taipei is "too far for just a weekend trip." In twelve hours you could drive around the island and end up back where you started. And that's counting stopping for the restroom and meals. So I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to do for twelve hours on a bus. Hopefully I'll think of something.