With our remaining time in Turkey (after parents left) we decided to go somewhat off the tourist track. This lead us to Tokat for famed Tokat kebab (which is written up in our Lonely Planet guide book as the best in Turkey). The kebab is grilled eggplant (which is one of Andrea's favorite foods) with garlic, peppers, and beef. Although, the kebab was really good it would not have been worth a detour. Thankfully, we were headed to a town near it anyway. The other realization being in Tokat is that once off the tourist circuit limited people speak English and budget accommodation is EXTREMELY difficult to find. However, the positive is that everyone is much more interested in us and only a half our before our bus was to leave for our next destination we were invited by a very friendly Turkish man for tea. Due to our up coming departure we had to refuse but the thoughtfulness was felt anyway.

Upon arriving in Amasya, the trend of Turkish friendliness continued. Staying in the town for 2 days resulted in numerous high school and university students stopping and practicing their English with us (which was much better than our limited 5 Turkish words that we know by heart). Other than lengthy conversational interruptions by the younger Turks, many adults would stop us and attempt to ask us where we were from (sometimes in English but most times in Turkish) or merely use the only English they knew, hello.

Amasya became our base for a few days due to the discovery of cheap accommodation in a run down hotel (spending ~$20 USD/night) and for its scenic position. Old, restored, Ottoman houses line the river which divides the otherwise modern city. And overlooking the city, amongst the rivers cliffs, are the rock cut out tombs of ancient Pontic kings. Sitting on benches at the rivers edge made for a scenic location to spend numerous hours reading. As mentioned the town is overall very modern, which is why we got a kick out of the frequent spottings of horse drawn carts, loaded with either produce or people, trotting through the streets. It wasn't unusual to spot Trackers doing the same thing in this town of over 74,000 people.

October 3rd - 7th
Istanbul

October 8th
City of Selcuk & Ruins of Ephesus with a detour to Virgin Mary's house

October 9th
Hierapolis (Ruins from Roman City) and Pumakkale (Cotton Castle)

October 10th - 15th
Oludeniz, Lycian Way Hike, Olympos Ruins and Chimaera

October 17th - 21st
Cappadocia region

October 21st - 24th
Tokat and Amasya

October 25th - 26th
Amasya and Ankara

Turkey Country Summary