Turkey’s beautiful side

The news about the latest earthquake in parts of Syria and Turkey, may not be a rare happening, but is quite devastating this time round. A close Turkish friend has been sharing with me details of this calamity that made her also lose some family members. 

The biggest problem seems to be that even with people who are well to do, there are no banks to get money from, most of the shopping centres are gone or will soon be out of merchandise. My friend says we have not yet witnessed World War 3, but this is very close, and seems like Apocalypse in the making.

At this point I want to go back a bit in time, more precisely year 2012 when we made a very long road trip in Turkey. Although, I am far from being a road trip fan, this journey was one of the best experiences that I hold in a special part of my travel memories.

During that year, we were in the Greek island of Rhodes for a family wedding. After that, we had some time on our hand and I decided to grant my husband one of his wishes - going on a long road trip. 

We took a ferry from Rhodes to the Turkish city of Marmaris. And being the first stop, we were fresh and energetic. 

With the help of a travel agent we were directed to our next city, which was Dalyan.  This little city that was known for its abundant fresh water springs and beautiful scenery that combined shore and mountain, captured my heart instantly and remains by far my favourite in all the cities we visited later. 

Trying to fight my condition of motion sickness when in cars or buses, we tried to avoid buses and stick to taxis where I could take the front seat.  This was of  great help. 

After a few days in beautiful Dalyan, we went to the famous town of Fethiye. This was for me just another town, however shopping there was interesting, especially clothing items and beach wear. 

Our next destination was Antalya. This too was a very interesting city with history and a lot to do. By now the weather was getting quite hot. I remember one day it reached 40°C during noon time. 

Another new experience for us was to stay at a small, family-run motel, with a room so small that we had to keep our second suitcase outside the door. 

Still the place was very clean and the owners, so kind that we enjoyed the whole experience. We later on visited Mersin and Kayseri where we met with some relatives. There are many stories to tell, both good and some very challenging, but altogether the breathtaking nature and beautiful roads made it all worth the while.