Loco for Lokum: on assignment inTurkey

The End

zoe_smith — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 13:42:00 GMT

After an epic 3-day journey, I have finally made back to Australia, my home for the time being. This will be my final post for a while as I undertake the mammoth task of sifting through my piles of notes and turning them into text worthy of the Rough Guides. Fingers crossed next time I write, I'll be on my way to being published.

I guess nows the time for one final gush about how incredible the whole trip was. Turkey, once just a point on the map that I might one day visit, has now been brought to life and I'm already planning to return next year (a 12 day horse trek through Cappadocia is sounding too good to pass up on!).

As for the travel writing part of the scholarship, well, it's been an educational and enlightening journey, cementing my desires to continue writing and pursue a career in travel writing. I've had the chance to sample what it's like to travel with a focus on finding a story, I've been challenged to write something readable every single day for this blog and, most excitingly, I had the opportunity to research and write for the Rough Guide to Istanbul, a task I am now pouring all my energy into completing.

Finally, I'd like to express an enormous thank you to everyone at the Rough Guides, World Nomads and BikeHike Adventures for putting together this trip and an extra special thanks to Terry Richardson for his advice, mentorship and good company throughout my Rough Guides assignment.

A Love Affair With Istanbul

zoe_smith — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:38:00 GMT

This morning a cool breeze rattles the streets of the city and a splatter of raindrops pound my head as I duck out of my hotel. It is as if the city knows I am leaving her and is protesting my desertion. As if in apology, I give up on my shopping plans and pace the streets instead, the same roads I blundered along on my first day here, seemingly lifetimes ago. Istanbul, once a stranger, has become familiar as an old friend.

I walk through the bazaar where the salesmen see my determined pace and let their cries fall on other ears; through the spice bazaar, where I savour the stenches that will soon be confined to memories; to the square where the pigeons flap around scattered grain and decorate the mosque steps with splatters of white and grey.

I feel a melancholy growing in my gut as I push each scene deep into my memory, knowing someday soon they will leave me. This is what travel is about, I remind myself, each country like taking a new lover, one that will charm you and seduce you and send you packing with just a box of photographs and keepsakes that you can revisit from time to time.

I walk further still, past the Kurdish vagabond brandishing air rifles and a wall of glass bottles for 1TL a round. Past the waiter who looks remarkably like George Clooney and so has taken his name as his own; past the sun-blushed American girls winding scarves clumsily around their heads at the mosque door and the burqa-clad mother beside them whose boisterous toddler keeps reaching to pull the veil from her mouth. I push my feet into the cobbles as if hoping to leave some invisible footprint behind forever.

.
The weather continues its dance - an icy breeze, followed by a warm arch of sunlight and a smatter of raindrops – the city’s last flirtation. I feel simultaneously ready to leave and desperate to stay but there’s one thing I’m sure of - Istanbul and I are not quite finished with each yet. This is one love affair I’m not quite ready to give up on.

View from the hilltops at Eyup

In the old city

Backstreets of the city

Shooting air rifles at the roadside

One of the city's numerous mosques

5 Things I Now Know About Writing a Guide Book

zoe_smith — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:12:00 GMT

1. You can’t always trust the map

Perhaps I’ve never followed my city maps so meticulously before, or perhaps Istanbul is uniquely difficult to map out, but each map here seems to vary, both in accuracy and scale. It’s the amateur travel writers, like myself, that spend 30 minutes pouring over the same 3 cubic cm of map, desperately willing for street names and side streets to match up to those on the ground and innocently believing that a map cannot ever be wrong. Well, I’ve learnt my lesson. Maps can and are often not as accurate as they’d have you believe, and while it’s worth the time cross-referencing and triple-checking your own observations, inevitably you’ll just have to cross it out and draw your own.

2. Hiking shoes are tax-deductible

If they’re not they should be, for I would venture that every potential travel writer, certainly those in the field of Guide Book writing, need to invest in a good pair of hiking boots to assure their feet make it through longer than a week on the job. In short, there’s a lot of walking to be done. It makes sense when you consider every hotel, restaurant, tourist attraction, bar, shop and nightclub has to be visited by said author. On foot. Sure, you might hop on the metro or tram for a few stops, but the reality is, walking is the only way to get everywhere. Add to that the fact that you’re constantly in a hurry and you mount up quite a substantial step count. On the plus point, the exercise contrasts well with the hours spent sitting at a desk typing everything up so I’m not complaining.

3. You’ll need a second suitcase

Despite typically being an eco-conscious traveler, my backpack has now doubled in size thanks to the ridiculous amount of business cards, leaflets, brochures, timetables, maps, notebooks and god knows what else that I seem to have acquired on route. Thankfully I only have 4 areas I’m updating; otherwise a more thorough organisational system would be needed (at the moment zip-lock bags will suffice). I’ll be soothing my conscious a little by sticking this lot in the recycling bin once I’ve finished the write up.

4. The Four Seasons was not made for travelers like me

In retrospect, I should have probably taken to the website instead, being as my presence in the hotel foyer was such an underwhelming event to the staff, who seemed to take great pleasure in smirking down at me from behind the glittering reception counter and refusing blankly to bother giving me so much as a brochure. In defence of ridiculously priced hotels, the Çirağan Palace hotel just down the road, which - being literally a palace – is vastly more fancy and probably pricier, gave me a guided tour and free run of the grounds without so much as a passing snigger at my scuffed hikers and sweat stained t-shirt. Not that either of these will be within my budget during the next few decades, but if they ever are, I know which one I’ll be checking into.

5. You Never Stop Working

Whether this will enhance or hinder my travel experiences is yet to be known, but one thing’s for sure: I will never again be able to travel oblivious to details. Even in one short week my brain has rewired itself to hunt out ATMS, public toilets, opening times and bus numbers. I can’t take public transport without checking the timetable and alternate destinations nor visit a restaurant without considering the price range, décor and benefits of the location. Anything and everything has become potential writing material and my brain simply won’t shut off. For someone who, thanks to a incurable tendency for getting lost in my own little world, often trips over her own feet or walks into lampposts, this new found observation for my surroundings has been quite revelationary. Turns out there’s a hell of a lot going on in the world if you bother to actually pay attention!

Yes, souvenir shopping is classed as work...

VIDEO BLOG: On Assignment for Rough Guides in Galata, Istanbul

zoe_smith — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:06:00 GMT

Going Solo in Edirne

zoe_smith — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:23:00 GMT

235km from Istanbul, the quiet town of Edirne seems to get overlooked by the majority of tourists but still holds a few notable attractions in its beautiful mosques and cluster of easy-to-meander shopping streets. It was here, after a semi-stressful navigation of Istanbul’s typically disorganized bus station and a couple of hours dozing off against a window of blurring greenery, that I began my first solo assignment for Rough Guides. Now, with little more than two days ‘experience’, a few jumbled words of Turkish and a fistful of scribbled place names in my notebook, I was understandably a little daunted at the task lying ahead of me.

It was already midday when I arrived and my list of things to do was rapidly increasing every time I turned a corner. Thankfully Edirne is small enough to walk through at a rapid pace and I soon found myself gliding seamlessly between hotel rooms of widely varying standards, stunningly beautiful mosques and quaint cafes. I visited so many hotels that my mind became a flurry of logoed carpets, parquet flooring and bath-shower combos, each one being quickly transcribed into page after page of furiously scrawled observations in my notebook. I spread my maps against walls, benches and forearms, haphazard arrows darting from place to place as I marked each new find and scrubbed out places that had seemingly disappeared or turned into something new. It was almost 5pm when I realized I hadn’t yet stopped for lunch.

Finally, I checked into a tiny box room for a measly 30TL, with a sweat-dampened shirt and throbbing feet, and passed out amidst piles of business cards and pamphlets. Such is the life of a travel writer, or so it seems.

My second day in Edirne was notably more relaxed, partly due to my blitzing of all possible tourist attractions on the first day and partly due to the fact that, having now realized that I am up to the task, I had begun to relax and enjoy the job, as apposed to panicking about getting everything done. In fact, having realized that I am actually pretty good at dashing frantically between locations and finding interest in the most humdrum information, I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. There is a strange satisfaction in being allowed the chance to poke around each hotel and restaurant in town, and review places as you see fit. My travel finally seems to have a purpose and I couldn’t be happier for it.

Edirne's famous fruit-shaped soaps

In the courtyard of the incredible Selimiye Mosque

A Real City Break - Cycling the Prince’s Islands.

zoe_smith — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 02:38:00 GMT

A mere hour by sea-bus from the city swell lie the Prince’s Islands, a collection of nine small islands offering welcome relief from the city chaos. We spent our second day on the largest island, Büyükada, aboard rented bicycles, cruising up and down the Marmara coastline and scrambling up and down steps to hunt out beach resorts.

A blur of phaeton (brightly painted horse-drawn carriages), vendors wielding flowered headbands and burger-flipping cafes make up the main drag around the harbor – like much of Europe’s coastline the resort teeters between charmingly quaint and unashamedly touristic. Thankfully though, there’s a little more to than shoulder-to-shoulder sun loungers and ice cream booths (although both are indeed plentiful). Büyükada today may be more of a playground for rich city dwellers to weekend but the island has a vastly more interesting history, having played host to a number of exiled Byzantine empresses (including my namesake, the Empress Zoë), as well as Leon Trotsky, who wrote his History of the Russian Revolution from his Büyükadan mansion.

For those, like myself, less interested in sun lounging, the west coast of the islands makes a beautiful bike route atop the forested cliffs with breathtaking views of the Marmara sea and thanks to the islands motor-free policy, visitors can enjoy the freedom of cycling or hiking with few interruptions (although the possibility of being mowed down by a reckless phaeton remains ever present).

We spent the day visiting hotels and restaurants, scouting out numerous beach resorts and pedaling furiously to catch the ferry back to the city. I had a chance to test out my own skills at question asking and note taking, as well as giving my legs a workout on the numerable hills. With beautiful views, great weather and a plethora of information sourced for the guidebook, today was a pretty successful day. Tiring as it may be, I could get used to this job.

Cycling the Marmara Coastline

The view from the ferry home

Phaetons line up along the streets

Assignment Day 1: Writing for the Rough Guides

zoe_smith — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:59:00 GMT

The Land Walls, Istanbul

After meeting with my mentor Terry at the decidedly non-Turkish (but conveniently easy to find) Starbucks and discussing my upcoming assignments over chai latte, we headed out to a lesser-trodden area of town for my first foray into ‘the life of a travel writer’.

There couldn’t have been a more fitting place to start exploring the city than the city’s boundaries, some six and a half kilometers of crumbling yet once-impenetrable double-layer stonewalls. The Byzantine remains left today still trace the outline of the city and offer not only a fascinating insight into what was once an innovative and successful defensive structure but also a tranquil walking route through territories less explored by the masses.

Almost as fascinating as the towering stones are the outer city neighborhoods they lead you through – a mass of slum dwellings and gypsy quarters fast being buried by government-commissioned flat blocks but retaining all the life and charm of the inner city areas. These are the streets where baskets are swung down from balconies to collect goods. Where smokey clusters of men clog the doorways to dimly lit taverns and young kids on rusty bicycles still ponder quizzically the presence of the white travelers wandering through their streets. It’s a world away from the tout-littered streets of Sultanahmet or the glittery blur of the Grand Bazaar.

Of course, there was also work to be done – a reworking of the walking route and area maps, taking into account the changes and reconstruction efforts that now rendered parts of the old guide inaccurate. There was a tower to scale and new pathways to discover and beer to be drunk in local haunts that few tourists would enter without prior guidebook assurance. We walked for the best part of the day until my heels were sore and sweat pooled in the crook of my neck, so that by the end of my first day on assignment I was exhausted and collapsed into bed, my head swimming with information.

Walking the final flight of steps to the top of the tower

The view from the tower

Terry marks the main gateways on the map

Inside the locked part of the walls

A local's guide to Turkey: an interview with Turan Kirac

zoe_smith — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:32:00 GMT

What better way to get an inside view on Turkey, than to ask someone who makes a living guiding people through the country? Meet our BikeHike tour guide, Turan, a professional tour guide born and bred in the Aladaglar range of the Taurus Mountains. With years of experience guiding a vast range of tours (from multi-sport and trekking to historical heritage and tailor-made tours), Turan has a wealth of expertise in Turkey’s culture and history, fluency in English and a special interest in native birds and flora. If you’re heading to Turkey and need a guide, be sure to get in touch – kiracturan@gmail.com - or else check out Turan’s video interview for some advice on getting off the beaten track in Turkey, what foods to try and some facts you didn’t know!

Touring vs. Independent Travel: a few lessons I learnt along the way

zoe_smith — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:07:00 GMT

Before winning this competition I admit that I’d never been on a tour in my life. Sure, I’ve done the occasional two-day camping tour or hired a local guide to take me around, but I’d never even considered booking on an all-inclusive package tour, no matter how much the itinerary appealed to me. Traveling alone has always appealed to me for a number of reasons:

1. I enjoy the freedom of independent travel and having an ever-evolving itinerary - the simplicity of discovering an area by getting lost in it and leaving myself open to opportunity.

2. I travel on a budget not just because I prefer to stretch out my travels and my money but because I’m concerned with where my money goes. If I travel independently, I can control exactly where and to whom I give my money and ensure that I am helping local businesses.

3. I have an instinctive dislike for package tours and the whole idea of being thrown together with a bunch of people and checking off lists of things to do and places to see. For me, this has always been the difference between travel and tourism (although the two are, of course, irremediably linked).

Before you start thinking this is all negative, remember that these opinions were formed before I went on tour with BikeHike Adventures. Now, I can’t thank Trish and everyone at BikeHike Adventures enough for making this trip part of my prize and it truly surpassed my expectations, from the myriad of activities I got to try and the variety of wonderful people I got to spend time with. But has it changed my mind about tours? Not exactly, but I have definitely expanded my viewpoint and concluded that there are some definite plus points to traveling on a tour. For example:

1. The size and support system of a tour group allows you to try things you wouldn’t normally try - I’ve always been pretty adventurous but I still wouldn’t have gone to a Hamam alone nor would I have been able to afford an activity such as hot air ballooning if I’d been paying for it alone.

2. Having a full itinerary may be exhausting and a bit too quick paced for my liking but the truth is, you get an incredible amount done. I admit I am a rarity in choosing a lifestyle that leaves ample room for travel, country hopping and job swapping, so I understand that with only 2 weeks holiday, cramming a lot in is pretty important. Conversely, on a longer trip, it’s easy to become quite lazy about visiting and seeing everything and I’m definitely guilty of not doing anything for a few weeks and calling it ‘cultural immersion’, which isn’t always a good thing.

3. Picking the right tour company can make a huge difference to the negative impacts of package tourism. BikeHike Adventures definitely considers how to make their tours sustainable and promote positive interactions with locals and it showed through in the itinerary - we ate at a family home one evening, used local guides and local companies and all interactions with locals seemed respectful and mutually beneficial (I still have nightmares of a floating island tour in Peru where the locals were, much to my horror, literally made to sing and dance for us).

There are numerous other things I learnt during my BikeHike Adventure experience too - I’ve learnt that trampling through mountain paths and scrambling up canyons are some of life’s small pleasures. And that horseback is still my favorite means of accomplishing an adrenaline kick. I’ve learnt that whilst mountain biking holds an appeal for me, hauling my bike up dicey precipices to get to the roads is, for me, not always worth the rewards. And yes, I’ve learnt that while bobbing in a kayak might be a lot of fun for the majority, my rowing skills are more akin to doggy paddle and should be saved for gently rippling bays and excursions of under one hour. I’ve learnt that I actually enjoy being part of a group, although I definitely need my time on my own and that having a guide can actually be extraordinarily beneficial outside of the tourist areas (you’d have thought I’d know that one already, but I’m stubborn and like to think I can do everything myself). Oh, and I’ve learnt that I have a natural talent for playing wooden spoon castanets… but not quite as good as Awnhee though!

Back to Istanbul

zoe_smith — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:42:00 GMT

Returning to Istanbul, I feel that odd sense of transition as if it is the end of a long trip. In reality I’ve been away from the city little more than 10 days, but it feels like so long since I have left that I felt sure life must have moved on without me, but somehow everything remains just as I left it. The carpet sellers are still engaging sales tactics worthy of medals; the traffic continues to speed around shell-shocked pedestrians with reckless abandon; the potholed streets still seem to rise out of the ground and grasp you by the foot as you hobble by. At the roadside the young boys in their red and gold waistcoats are still twirling and tossing strips of gluey ice cream around their heads; the scent of slow-cooked meat still seeps out into the streets and over-enthusiastic waiters are predictably pouncing on each hungry-looking passerby.

This is my last day of enjoying the city without a purpose, of wandering aimlessly and discarding time. Tomorrow my assignment begins, a week of updating the new Rough Guide to Istanbul, first under the guidance of the author Terry Richardson, and then alone. I’m a little nervous but mainly excited. Part of me is too exhausted from the tour to panic over any last minute details and I’m thankful for this.

I can’t wait to figure out the nuts and bolts of compiling a guidebook and to trundle exhausted through unknown streets in search of the kind of place that will make travelers remember why they came here in the first place. I’m even looking forward to mashing together my few words of Turkish, pigeon English and desperate mime in an effort to source information. Or agonizing over descriptions in the hope of de-mystifying a little of the chaos that is Istanbul. But most of all, I can’t stop the thought in the back of my head, that maybe, just maybe, this might not be the last time I get to do this. Because for me – a lunatic note-taker and indiscriminate lover of travel with a childlike fascination for anything out of the ordinary - there surely couldn’t be a more perfect job.

Gay Pride in Istanbul – The LGBTT Parade Hits Taksim Square!

zoe_smith — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:12:00 GMT

Despite its increasingly liberal-minded youth and rapid adoption of western ways, issues of sexuality and gender still remain somewhat taboo within Turkey. That said, being the only Muslim country where homosexuality is not illegal, Turkey plays host to a vibrant gay scene (albeit limited to certain areas) and this, the annual LGBTT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transsexual, transgender) march is surely proof of its prominence.

Turkey may well be on the right road but it’s clear from today’s participants that sexual and gender discrimination is still very much an issue. It’s the first day of LGBTT Pride week and partakers are still raging about the 2008 murder of Ahmet Yildiz and raising aloft signs scribbled with slogans like: ‘Murderers of Gay and Trans are: State, Religion, Society and Family’. But whilst they may be eager to remind us of their struggles, there is still a sense that they would prefer to focus on how far they have come. Certainly today, Istanbul’s Taksim square is alive with sounds of hope rather than bitterness and there’s little room for negativity or hostility amongst the ever-increasing masses of banner-weilding marchers. Flags doused in the symbolic rainbow stripes of the Pride movement flap in the wind, marching bands thump their kettle drums with spirited abandon and an enormous Pride flag is carried by the squealing crowd down Istikal Caddesi.

Of course, not everyone is impressed by the jovial mood and displays of sexual liberation. Onlookers display a range of expressions from quietly bemused to notably horrified but the over-whelming majority seem unable to stop themselves from being swept up into the party. A party that, of course, everyone is invited to.

This week from the 20th till 26th June is Istanbuls 19th LGBTT Pride Week - a week of demonstrations, workshops, panels, film screenings and, of course, parties, this year centred around the theme of ‘taboo’.

Transexual and Transgender participants pose proudly for the cameras

Flags & banners are raised

Not everyone is thrilled at the display...

...but they're all watching none-the-less

Dawn to Dusk on the Mediterranean

zoe_smith — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:31:00 GMT

After spending the previous evening with Jodi enjoying a delicious dinner of fresh fish and shrimp at the highly recommended Bahce Balik restaurant and downing possibly a little too much wine, we were keen to keep the morning laid-back. Wisely opting out of the second day of kayaking on the tour itinerary, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then wandered up to the Friday bazaar, where an array of food vendors showcased, amongst other things, luminous colored teas and the brightest, plumpest tomatoes I’ve ever seen. And of course, there was Turkish Delight (or Lokum as it’s known in Turkish), as ubiquitous to Turkey as the red bus is to London. The time had come to tuck in and I didn’t hold back, filling a box with as many flavors as I could find and reviewing them as follows:

Pomegranate – Weird

Orange – Nice enough

Lemon – Yum!

Mint – Like accidentally swallowing a mouthful of toothpaste

Watermelon – Tastes like watermelon

Rose – Simple, yet perfect

Vanilla – Deliciously sweet

Strawberry – Sickly yet strangely satisfying

Banana – Downright bizarre

Tea Selections at the local bazaar

A vendor at the bazaar

Jacked up on sugar, we hopped on a bus to the neighboring town of Kalkan, a 30 minute drive from Kaş, where we strolled aimlessly around the cobblestone streets, gorged on Italian pizza, gushed over embroidered scarves and mistook a police station for the bus station (much to the officers’ bemusement).

Me and Jodi, chilling out in Kalkan

Kalkan

Kalkan beach

Back in Kaş, we soon headed out again, this time for our tour group’s farewell dinner, a wine-fuelled affair at the popular local restaurant Mama’s Kitchen where I indulged in the house special – a decadent baked pastry filled with layers of meat and spinach. Adjourning to a terrace bar for some cocktail drinking and dancing, the night quickly descended into madness as a group gathered on the dance floor for perhaps the most random DJ set of all time featuring traditional Turkish pop music, some 80’s power ballads, the entire Shakira back catalog and the kind of tracks that would feature on a compilation CD entitled ‘Disco Hits You Hoped You’d Never Dance to Again’. But dance we did, until the sun was long gone and everyone had left, one by one, leaving just me and Awnhee acting like a pair of giggling schoolgirls who’d been allowed to stay up late. Must be something in the Mediterranean air!

How I Learnt Not to Kayak – A Sojourn on the Mediterranean

zoe_smith — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:42:00 GMT

After a long drive from the Taurus Mountains and a short but sweet stopover at the Dogan Hotel in Antalya, we finally reached the bobbing turquoise waves of the Mediterranean, coupled with, thankfully, a sticky shot of sunshine. We spent the afternoon lounging on a charter boat, diving into the crystal clear ocean, dancing outrageously to a mixture of Turkish pop and Michael Jackson and mastering the art of wooden spoon castanets, before piling back into our trusty tour bus and finishing the last leg of our journey to Kaş.

Antalya

Swimming in the Mediterranean

A bubbly fishing-village-come-tourist-haunt, Kaş has a laid back ambiance enforced somewhat by the crippling cobblestone hills that soar up into the surrounding mountains. Characterized by its streets of quirky handicraft shops, pebble beaches and abundance of seafood restaurants, the town makes a perfect backdrop for unwinding and recouping after a long journey.

But first things first. Adventure trumps relaxation on a BikeHike tour and we were soon launching into the water from Kaş harbor and paddling the Mediterranean in a rainbow of brightly colored Kayaks.

Kaş

Now, not being one at ease in rippling waves and unsteady vessels, I was less than enthusiastic about folding myself into a kayak for a 4 hour paddle. Truth is, I can’t think of a better way to ensure disaster than sending me out to sea strapped into a bobbing plastic tube and the only great surprise was that everyone (including poor Kate, who was stuck in the tandem kayak with me) survived not only intact, but unharmed. Of course it wasn’t all smooth sailing - steering a kayak, it turns out, is not a skill that comes naturally to me, my body was clearly not designed to sit still for more than 10 minutes and it turns out it is possible to get a nasty bout of sea sickness in a kayak. By the time we pulled up on Limanagzi Beach for lunch, I had decided that, beautiful as the scenery was, my Kayaking experience was best not prolonged.

Sadly, my choice to ride back in the rescue boat did little to sooth my nausea, with waves so choppy that the 2-hour voyage was more akin to riding a bucking bronco and left my thighs with the burn of a hardcore spin class.

But make no mistake, kayaking may not be top of my list of ‘things to do again in a hurry', but I still had a lot of fun trying.

Our guide, Turan, showing off the latest kayaking fashion

9 Turkish Dishes for the Traveler Menu

zoe_smith — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:49:00 GMT

I’m probably not alone in the misconception that Turkish food is made up primarily of variations on the trusty kebab but there is far more to Turkish food than meat on a skewer. You’d be forgiven for overlooking this fact, however, judging by the kebab-heavy menus littering tourist hotspots.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll find Turkish food to be fresh, seasonal and discounting the abundance of meat, healthy. A surprising variety of fragrant soups grace the appetizer menu, often coupled with varied mezes – from home-made Hummus, Tzatziki and Chakchouka, to Greek-style salads, stuffed vines and olives dripping with oil, always coupled with giant slabs of puffy Turkish bread.

For the first timer, here are ten traditional dishes to get you started, but be prepared - Turkish food always has a few surprises up its sleeve.

1. Kofte (Turkish meatballs)

These lightly cooked balls of meat (typically beef) are traditionally served with a tomato and yoghurt sauce, although entrepreneurial hawkers often couple them with a western-style portion of French fries. Whatever they come served with, there’s little chance of a meat-eater avoiding this staple on their travels.

2. Kiymali Pide (Turkish pizza)

A twist on the classic pizza, the Turkish version employs a slab of long Turkish bread, either layered or stuffed with some variety of tomato, cheese, vegetables and beef.

3. Yoghurt soup & Yufka

Yoghurt features heavily in Turkish cuisine, from dips and salad dressings to hot sauces, but most unique is its inclusion in a soup. A sour and unique tasting delicacy the soup is a favorite amongst locals and even better coupled with Turkish bread or Yufka – a paper-thin unleavened bread cooked like a pancake on an iron plate.

4. Aside

A deliciously-odd dough-like desert made from grape syrup, flour and butter and typically topped with walnuts, the Aside is perhaps an acquired taste, but undeniably moorish for those with a sweet-tooth.

5. Manti (Turkish Ravioli)

A dish of meat-stuffed miniature raviolis traditionally topped with a tomato and yoghurt sauce, this dish couldn’t be more different to its Italian counterpart with a rich yet sour taste, but this lighter pasta dish makes a welcome change after gorging on the meat-heavy restaurant fare.

6. Testi kebab

A traditional Anatolian dish, the Testi kebab’s unique selling point is the specially made clay pot in which it is slow cooked. Diners are equipped with a small steel rod in order to tap open the sealed pot and unveil their dinner (complete with shards of pottery if you’re unlucky).

7. Imam Bayildi (stuffed aubergine)

A hit with vegetarians (although watch out for the alternative version cooked with mince meat), the Imam bayildi is an onion and tomato stuffed aubergine (eggplant), and is found either gracing the Meze menu or as a main course served with rice or cous cous.

8. Lokum (Turkish Delight)

A trip to Turkey wouldn’t be complete without tucking into the country’s most famed candies – Turkish Delight. A sweet, gelatinous candy flavored with rose-water and dusted with powdered sugar, the varieties available throughout Turkey run from the simple to the decadent, often stuffed with pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts.

9. Kebab

Well, it had to be on the list somewhere. Whether you opt for a Shish (on a skewer), a Doner (in a pita) or an unnamed variation, be warned that in Turkey a ‘kebab’ is a seemingly catch-all term for anything meat-based and may not necessary meet the western expectations of a ‘kebab’. That said, meat-eaters would be hard pressed to find a more foolproof dinner option.

Horse riding, Hiking and Camping in the Taurus Mountains, Cappadocia.

zoe_smith — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:39:00 GMT

Judging by the last few days itinerary, this is where the adventure portion of our BikeHike tour really kicks in. We started our day at the Kirkit horse riding ranch and, immediately drawn to a beautiful bay Arabian called Vanessa, I soon found myself up front with the guide, reining in a fiery horse who I quickly fell in love with. Sadly limited to a walk by the beginners of the group, the ride itself was still an incredible way to experience the mountain paths and rekindle my love affair with all things equine.

With my horse, Vanessa

Leading the way on the horse trek

Back in the van, we trundled up into the Taurus Mountains, stopping along the way for our guide Turan to cast his vote in the general elections (June 12th was election day in Turkey) and pulled up at the foot of the Cimbar Gorge to begin our hike. A three-hour walk, climb and scramble up through the canyon provided a thorough workout for the legs, as well as some breathtakingly epic views. We hoisted ourselves up rocky precipices and stomped up the steep hillside, until finally we were spat out in rolling meadows for a slow descent to our campsite in Sokulupinar, at 2000m above sea level.

The starting point for our hike

Climbing up through the canyon

Me & Carey at the top of the canyon

The next morning, we set off again, this time up another 500m and winding back down the hillside towards the Emli Valley, where our campsite was waiting for us beneath towering mountains. Finally, an hour into our trek, our luck gave out and the rain began to fall, leading us on a shorter path to the campsite where we spent the rest of our day hiding out from the rain and drying our hiking boots around a small campfire.

Turan, relaxing in the meadow

5 Reasons to Visit a Traditional Turkish Bath (Hamam)

zoe_smith — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:27:00 GMT

1. Cleanliness is Godliness

Visiting a bathhouse might seem an odd pastime to a westerner whose hygiene routine probably centres around showering in the comfort of their own home, but a visit to a hamam offers a whole other dimension of cleanliness. From the sauna, to the all-over loofah scrub followed by pails of hot water poured over your body then a soapy massage on hot marble, the entire experience is designed to loosen and wash away layers of dirt and dead skin that you never knew you had. For days after our visit, my skin remained baby soft, silky smooth and visibly glowing with life.

2. Inhibitions will be lost (like it or not)

Modesty is not something generally practiced at the Hamam, with the majority of women stripping to their bikini bottoms or covering up with the aid of the thin towels provided. Westerners seem to fall into two camps – those valiantly embracing the nudity or those shrinking into the corners (no easy feat in a circular room) in swimsuits and bikinis. Fact is, you may not have much of a choice, as I realized when my bath attendant plucked loose the strings of my swimsuit and swiped it down past my navel in one fail swoop. Sometimes there’s no room for argument and you’ve just got to go with the flow.

3. Bubble baths are not just for kids

Lying naked on a slab of hot marble as the bath attendants fill up a pillowcase with soapsuds and swoosh it dramatically from side to side before dumping an enormous cloud of bubbles on your chest is a somewhat bizarre experience. Thankfully, bubbles not only make for a gloriously slippery massage but they are a whole lot of fun. As the attendant pummel loose the knots from your body, the bubbles fizz, pop and slide over your skin. If you close your eyes and imagine that you are not lying naked and soapy on a raised podium in front of a dozen other women, the experience may well be quite relaxing.

4. You’ll sleep like a baby

Turkish baths are not just about scrubbing clean and cleansing the body, they also serve the same purpose as a western spa – relaxation and rejuvenation. From facemasks to wax treatments to hair washing, almost everything is available at a Hamam somewhere. For the majority, an oil massage in addition to the regular bath, offers a post-cleanse rub down to sooth the hardiest of bathers. The only problem is attempting to rouse yourself from your oil-induced stupor and dress yourself afterwards.

5. It’s the only way to socialize

Traditionally Hamams are important social centers for Turks, a meeting place for friends and neighbors where one can not only enjoy the benefits of the bath itself, but also indulge in some gossip. As such, tea is generally served at most Hamams and even the shyest of westerners can’t help but laugh as the Tellaks (the bath attendants) slap and pinch at your naked skin and babble in Turkish and English, demanding to know why you do not have a boyfriend. Far from the quiet sanctuary of a western-style spa, the Hamam is bubbling with as much life as it is soap and, like it or not, you’ll be unable to opt out of participating in the fun.

At the Elis Kapadokya Hamam in Goreme.

Hot Air Ballooning Over Cappadocia

zoe_smith — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:48:00 GMT

Hot air balloons have always held a somewhat magical fascination for me. As a child, I remember running across the fields to watch hot air balloons land in the British countryside and marveling at the enormity of the rainbow-colored domes as they collapsed and crumpled on the grass. Even the idea of it – swinging in a basket from a giant balloon – seemed simultaneously preposterous and alluringly unique. It’s the kind of idea that might have featured in Roald Dahl novel – a childish fantasy put into action.

So, odd as it may seem, this is something of a lifetime ambition, hopping into a giant basket and floating up into the sky and I’m giddy with excitement as we clamber into the basket and watch the ground slowly move away from us.

Hot air ballooning is a surprisingly smooth experience, the feeling of being feather light and floating gently above the ground. There are surely few places better suited to the panoramic view than the Cappadocian valleys. These are landscapes that cut through even the groggiest of eyes (thanks to our 3.45am wake up call) and appear like whipped meringue peaks rising beneath us. We spin slowly in the basket, soar over the hilltops and land with a soft thud in a crop field. I wander back to the van with a dizzy excitement fizzing away in my stomach – hot air ballooning, it turns out, is every bit as enchanting as I’d hoped.

Fairies and Fauna - the Mythical World of Cappadocia

zoe_smith — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:46:00 GMT

Cappadocia, Turkey

Carved into the soft volcanic rock like secret hideouts, Cappadocia’s cave hotels have unsurprisingly made a name for themselves amongst tourists visiting the region and ours, the Gamirasu Cave Hotel (http://www.gamirasu.com), is no exception. A labyrinth of haphazard stone stairways and arched-roof rooms sprawling beneath the Ayvali Village, the hotel has an enchanted feel to it, an atmosphere heightened by the orange lanterns that fire up after dusk.

Our hotel is not the only part of the area that feels lifted from the pages of a fairytale. The entire landscape of Cappadocia – the ‘land of horses’ - seems to take on an other-worldly quality, from the rocky peaks and spires stretched like a sea of raised fists or the appropriately dubbed ‘fairy chimneys’ that lend the horizon an eerie silhouette.

Starting with the ‘bike’ portion of our BikeHike adventure, our group set out from Göreme, complete with complimentary BikeHike cycle shirts, camel packs brimming with water and only a slight apprehension for the steep climb ahead.

The BikeHike team

Ready for action

Perhaps we were a little too optimistic, for we quickly entered an area where the terrain was so steep and uneven that we had to carry our bikes with us, trundling through thick undergrowth and rocky pathways as we dragged, pushed and hoisted our bikes along the route.

Thankfully the agony of burning thighs was soothed somewhat by the views awaiting us at the top and all but forgotten as we rolled down undulating hillsides and dusty off-road tracks on the descent.

By the time we made it to lunch, I wasn’t the only one red-faced and sore-legged. Although a few brave souls soldiered on for an extra hour after lunch the majority of us retired to the bus for some chauffeured sightseeing, visiting the famous fairy chimneys in Pasabag (Monks Valley) and exploring the abandoned town of Çavusin, where an entire village of houses were carved into the volcanic rock. In Pasabag we clambered through the caves, ducked through tunnels and attempted to climb inside one of the pinnacles (a feat sadly only managed by Turan, our guide, and Susan).

That evening’s meal was a sober affair, with a table full of flush faced and exhausted travelers. And with a 3.30am wakeup for our hot air balloon flight, no-one seemed to mind as one by one we each slipped off to our rooms and fell into bed.

Fairy Chimneys, Pasabag (Monk's Valley)

The abandoned cave town of Çavusin

Topaki Palace

zoe_smith — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:36:00 GMT

Topkapi palace. Residence of the lavishly dressed Ottoman Sultans and their infamous Harem and resting place of the renowned ‘three spoons’ 186-caret diamond (so called because its original purchase was for the price of a measly 3 wooden spoons), the UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of Istanbul’s biggest tourist draws. But more than anything it’s simply a beautiful place to spend a morning.

Initially constructed in 1459 and kept in pristine condition, the sprawling complex of buildings are elaborately decorated with gold trimmings and intricate tile work and courtyards punctuated with vibrant red flowers. There's enough history contained within these walls to fill a university syllabus - perhaps a little too much for the average sightseer - but there's also a glittering collection of jewels to gawp at in the treasury and a comical display of Ottoman style dresses and odd triangular shaped trousers to marvel at.

In the inner courtyard

Gold trimmings and intricate tile work

Palace gardens

Photos: Istanbul, Turkey

zoe_smith — Wed, 8 Jun 2011 17:51:00 GMT