Middle EastTurkey

Road trip…..Turkish style!!!!!!

By August 17, 2017 No Comments
Trojan Horse in Canakkale
Cumalıkızık Street

A street in Cumalıkızık, where the Ottoman Empire began its rise to power.

On Tuesday, I wrote all about the ancient city of Troy and today I want to tell you about the rest of our three-night road trip in northwest Turkey.

We started off by taking our rental car, which we rented from royaldrive.pl across the Marmara Sea from Istanbul and driving to Cumalıkızık just outside of Bursa. This small little village is tucked away in the hillside and is the birthplace to the Ottoman Empire. The village is of course very old and the houses are made with mud bricks and wood frame, but with roof fixed with the best tips from sites like http://www.palmbeachroofingexpert.com/.

Canakkale fort

Canakkale fort garding the entrance to the Dardanelles with Ataturk’s statue in front.

Due to the significance of this village it has become a World Heritage Site, but I did not get that feeling while we were walking around. Don’t get me wrong, it was very cool walking around, but there was a lack of information and structure to regulate this site. If it was in America it would have a fencing system around it, set hours of operation, and an entrance fee of $15-20. Here in Turkey you just walk into the village and start looking around. There are vendors all over as you walk up and down the ancient streets. To me it felt more real this way.

Athena temple in Assos

Watching the sunset from Athena’s Temple in Assos.

We finished out the day by driving five hours to Canakkale and when we arrived after 7pm I was wiped out. I told Melek I just needed 15 minutes rest to gather myself so we could go out. Well it turns out we both took an hour nap and finally got out around 8:30pm. Most of our exploring was the next morning, but we did get a bite and saw the Trojan Horse used in the film Troy. Brad Pitt gave it to the city after filming finished and they have displayed it on the waterfront since then.

In the morning we toured the fort and learned how since this city is at the entrance to the Dardanelles, which is part of the passageway between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, it has been fortified as early as the 12th century. We also learned how an officer in the Ottoman Empire defended the area against the British and French navy during WW1. This officer was Ataturk and became the father of modern Turkey.

nar konak hotel

Our wonderful hotel. If you are nearby you have to stay here!!!!

We spent the afternoon at Troy, but I wrote all about that on Tuesday, and finished in Assos, where we stayed in Nar Konak. First, let me tell you about our hotel. It is three old houses refurbished together to form one beautiful building with 5-7 rooms. It sits on top of a rock outcropping and has a gorgeous garden. Juan and Gizem (Argentinean and Turkish) were our host and our stay could not have been nicer. In fact, we stayed an extra night, because we loved it so much!!!!!

Now let me tell you about Assos. This tiny port town is divided into two parts. The first part is the old Roman port city and climbs up the hill a ways. The historical remains are pretty cool and the refurbished port is nice to walk around, but the second part of the village was our favorite. It was up the hill and on the back side to hide from pirates after the Romans left. There could not have been more than 10 streets and we walked all around.

Olive Oil Museum in Adatepe

We visited the Olive Oil Museum in one of the coastal cities near Assos.

During the day we drove 25 km to the east along the coast and up into the Edremit Mountains visiting 6-9 villages along the way. The mountain drive was peaceful and we enjoyed a lite snack in Adatepi. I think this was a wonderful way to spend a day.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: