North Africa ‘Plus’ Travel Diary

2011

 

It was a joy to wake up this morning to the sweet chirping of small birds outside the window of our room in Safranbolu, and then to look through the wooden window across the valley to the old houses of this beautiful little town.

Although our accommodation was labelled a ‘hotel’ (specifically “Değirmenci Konak”), in reality we were occupying a room in a beautiful old family house, sharing the building with the extended family that occupied it.  The owners could not have been more welcoming and hospitable, and indeed our (huge buffet) breakfast was a time shared with the family, during which we were shown family photos, offered advice about sightseeing, and told the history of their magnificent house.

After a very relaxing and protracted breakfast, Tim and I set off to explore the old centre of Safranbolu, known as Çarşi, which was reached on a 15 minute walk down a steep hill, across a small bridge, and then up another very steep cobbled stone laneway.  The middle of Çarşi was marked by a mosque and a restored 17th century caravanseri known as Cinci Hani, but for me, the joy of the town was the old Ottoman houses and the labyrinthe of markets near the town centre.  Bizarrely, hundreds of birds flew continuously over the town centre during the time we were there, dive bombing us from time to time, which probably meant that my being hit by droppings on only one occasion was probably a good overall result.

After a final climb to a high hill known as “The Castle” to admire the view of the town and its surrounding valleys, we returned to the Değirmenci Konak on the same steep paths we had used to get to Çarşi.  One interesting event on our return walk occurred when we were joined by a couple of local lads who started talking to us, and offered Tim a great rate on a discount circumcision.  It shows you sometimes must travel a long way to get the best deals, but Tim showed commendable restraint and found that he able to muster the strength to turn down their excellent offer.

Having checked out from our accommodation, we followed the advice of the family we were staying with and drove 15 kilometres east to visit a small village known as Yörük Köyü.  Although not as easy to find as we had hoped, the village was a beautiful settlement of Ottoman-style crumbling houses populated by the dervish Bektaşi sect.  Like Safranbolu, the joy of the visit was walking the quiet, cobble-stoned laneways and looking at the old houses, although we did also accept the invitation of one of the inhabitants to look through their old four storey house.

It was a little after midday before we left Yörük Köyü and started the drive back to Istanbul.  The roads was excellent (like most of the roads we have encountered in Turkey), but the scenery was unspectacular - not bad, but nothing visually exciting, a bit like the pleasant but un-noteworthy drive from Canberra to Campbelltown in Australia.

The traffic became very heavy as we entered Istanbul, perhaps to the expected even on a Sunday afternoon in a city with almost 13 million people.  At one stage, the traffic slowed a frustrating stop-slow-stop-slow pace, but fortunately it sped up a little as we crossed the bridge over the Bosphorus, taking us back into Europe from the past week’s travels in Asia.

Our week in Turkey has been thoroughly enjoyable, both for the sights we have seen and for the hospitable and gracious people we have met.  We have driven about 2700 kilometres and experienced a vast range of landscapes, sights and cultures.

We still have to see Istanbul itself, but that won’t happen for a few weeks yet, after we return from Tunisia, Algeria and Iran.  After the experiences we have enjoyed so far in Turkey, we can hardly wait to explore this gem in Turkey’s crown.

Early tomorrow morning we will leave Turkey to fly to Tunisia.  That will mean we will have walked in three continents in less than 24 hours, not an easy thing to do in many parts of the world.

My only fear is that the internet won’t be as reliable in Tunisia (and Algeria and Iran after that) as we have found it to be in Turkey.  If some of the uploads of the daily diary updates fall a little behind in time, please understand and forgive the constraints under which I might be working :-)

Day 7 - Safranbolu to Istanbul, Turkey

Sunday

19 June 2011

Today’s Bonus Images