90 Days in Turkey Spring 2022 (1 Viewer)

[frwjd]

Greetings all

Wendy and I left the UK in Dippy III, our 2008 Rapido 7099F, on 7th November 2021 and have driven via the Balkans to Turkey where we arrived a week ago on February 7th 2022.

We have learned so much from this forum and there aren't a lot of Turkey travel posts about so I thought I'd create a post for the mutual benefit of anyone interested in coming this way and getting out of Schengen for 90 days. Like France, Turkey also offers a 12 month visa but I haven't properly investigated either yet.

We have a FB page Travels on a State Pension that covers the whole trip. Typically I post a brief note in the mornings which outlines our plans for the day and Wendy posts a warts and all rerview of our day every evening. If there's any interest and you don't do FB I could copy and paste those on here. We are certainly not seasoned camper travellers and, with a combined age of 137, we aren't the quickest at learning new tricks.

People travelling from the UK do not currently need a visa to visit Turkey for periods of 90 days or less.
Covid rules and regulations change almost daily so you should always check the current rules. In our case we have been fully jabbed with the third vaccination on 31/10/2021 and we had completed the obligatory Passenger Locator Forms.

We crossed from Greece into Turkey at Ipsala and the whole procedure lasted 35 minutes.
Window 1 - we were waved straight through
Window 2 - we showed our passports and they wanted to look inside the van, he just stood outside and peered through the open door! We were asked how much alcohol and tobacco we had and if we were carrying anything illegal. He asked to see all the alcohol I had mentioned and while I was away from the door retreiving it he asked Wendy for suitcases as he wanted to look inside those. She opened the wardrobe door and he just shrugged and walked away. We were asked to get out of the van and had our photographs taken from a camera on a fixed pole. We are both quite small but still had to crouch down for the lens
Window 3 - We had to show our V5 and insurance green card.
Window 4 - we had all our covid related stuff ready to hand over but they didn't ask. They pointed in the direction of a large buiding 50 yards away and said GO then comeback! The building turned out to house their vehicle xray equipment, they took our documents waved us through to the xray and asked us to leave the vehicle and take with us "cat and dogs". Duly x-rayed we parked up and returned to window 4 as requested where an officer just shouted GO at us so off we toddled.

In general the roads have been excellent, better than the UK, but there are still places where a good road peters out into a dirt track before reverting to tarmac again. The driving has been easy enough, other drivers are more polite than the Balkan countries. A word of warning though for all countries South of Slovenia, they take left hand bends with at least two wheels on the wrong side of the road and don't hurry to get out of the way when they see another vehicle coming towards them!

Garages are plentiful and modern with diesel between 80p and 88p per litre while LPG pumps charge around 43p per litre.
We plan to spend most of our time off-grid but there are far fewer places at the side of the road to overnight in. They are careful to ensure any rain can easily drain away from the road so there are often gullies running the length on each side. Stopping places on major routes are few and far between too.

When parking for the night we are very discreet, no camping and all blinds up and ensure our spot isn't obstructing anyone. We've stayed by a beach and on a quayside and the police haven't been interested in us at all. Officially so called "wild" camping is illegal in Turkey.
Their carriageways seem to be a little wider than ours.
The people are incredibly friendly!

That's it for now and I'm not sure which is the best way to report our travels and/or answer any questions you may have.
I don't want to clog the board up with all our daily posts unless there is a demand for it and you can follow our trip on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TravelsonaStatePension

We are also very keen to hear from others who have visited Turkey, all hints, tips and suggestions of places to visit are welcome!

 

[Tombola]

Great informative post, thanks.
as for posting on here, please do !, its info like this lots of folk need, and there are many similar threads detailing daily adventures, e.g. mousy has another running here.
Broken Link Removed

 

[ivorantony]

Great informative post, thanks.
as for posting on here, please do !, its info like this lots of folk need, and there are many similar threads detailing daily adventures, e.g. mousy has another running here.
Broken Link Removed

I second that, it would be of great interest to many on this forum,

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[whingyraindrop]

Great, interesting post, thank you.
I’m certain there will be lots of interest in your adventures.

 

[dazandandrea]

Ive sent your link to Andrea, i dont use facebook.
I went to Turkey , must be 38 years ago, went with my parents in their VW T2 .
France, Germany, Austria, Yougoslavi, Bulgaria then into Turkey at Ederni? Then drove onto Istanbul.
The plan was to drive East as far as possible then back.
Unfortunately my dad got knocked over and sustained serious head injuries in Istanbul after we had just visited a military museum.
He spent 2 weeks in the American naval hospital and my Brother who had just turned 18 had to drive mom and me back home , dad was air lifed home with swiss air.
Look forward to seeing your trip .

 

[Tombola]

john and mandy have just done a turkey video on youtube

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[grasscutter]

Thanks for your post. Really interesting and food for thought.

 

[jumar]

john and mandy have just done a turkey video on youtube

Was it their Christmas Special....

 

[TinaLes]

I have been following "Overlanding Sophia", & "Tread The Globe" on You tube for the past few months, very comprehensive coverage in all things Turkey, Fabulous wild camps, friendly people, & some lovely food, but the weather through December/January & recently has been horrendous, torrential rain, even an earth quake, night time temps down to minus 2, daytime sometimes only reaching 6C.
I hope it improves for you very soon.

Yes there is also Bodgit John & Mandy, with their forthcoming book on Van Meals, its not ready yet, but seeing some of Johns meal preferences, it should be called "Eat your way to an early Coronary"

Happy travels to the OP, keep us posted on your travels.I will look forward to viewing it on ere as we dont do FB, or any social media, other than Fun.
LES

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[canopus]

Istanbul is a must see city, the Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazaar), the palaces, mosques, the Bosphorus, the fish restaurants of Kumkapi.
If you get down as far as Muğla region, there are some stunning seaside places, there is Ephesus one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, Köyceğiz where there is a stunning lake which connects to the sea near the town of Dalyan which is opposite the ancient ruins of Kaunos. Enjoy.

Tesekkur ederim

 

[WESTY66]

Great informative post, you can post away on here all you like for me as I don’t do FB, it will make good reading for someone who has around 5 years till I can retire so maybe I can learn a few things in that time! Drive safe look forward to your next post

 

[P Bentley]

Groovy, sounds like you are having great fun.
I will be keeping an eye on the updates and the info about wild camping is very interesting.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[GoldenVision]

Yes please!

The more practical info the better as we are planning a trip in the not too distant future.

Great Post!

 

[Drum Major]

Keep posting we love to see other funsters travels

 

[vzac]

Also tread the glob

john and mandy have just done a turkey video on youtube

E, and overlanding sophia

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[WESTY66]

Also tread the glob

E, and overlanding sophia

I subscribe to both and are very good for showing what’s out there.

 

[Skez]

Incorporating 90 days in Turkey on our 9 month trip, departing UK tomorrow.

Thanks for your very timely and informative post!

 

[busby]

I have been following "Overlanding Sophia", & "Tread The Globe" on You tube for the past few months, very comprehensive coverage in all things Turkey, Fabulous wild camps, friendly people, & some lovely food, but the weather through December/January & recently has been horrendous, torrential rain, even an earth quake, night time temps down to minus 2, daytime sometimes only reaching 6C.
I hope it improves for you very soon.

Yes there is also Bodgit John & Mandy, with their forthcoming book on Van Meals, its not ready yet, but seeing some of Johns meal preferences, it should be called "Eat your way to an early Coronary"

Happy travels to the OP, keep us posted on your travels.I will look forward to viewing it on ere as we dont do FB, or any social media, other than Fun.
LES

Tread the Globe has been great..Good insight into motorhoming in Turkey..BUSBY.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[weekenders]

I have been following the couple Marianne & Chris on tread the globe in Turkey, although they are in uk now and about to ship their camper Trudy to USA, they will fly out to meet it

 

[frwjd]

Apologies for my tardy reply to you all and many thanks for your encouragement.
I'll copy and paste our FB posts from Turkey a few days at a time until we catch up

Day 93
Monday 7th February
Good morning!
As we were parked on the small village square overnight we set our alarm for 07:30 and we're on the road by 07:45, a new world record!
We didn't want to disrupt village life so thought we'd best get off. So 3/4 of an hour later we're half way to Turkey
We've stopped for breakfast, a wash and anything else that may be required
13C and the odd shower forecast today. Have a great day!

Day 93
We're off to Turkey today! I'm woken at 7.20 am by engines outside, dogs barking and men chatting. I peek out of the bathroom blind to see that the Taverna is already busy doing breakfasts.
The sky is a sulky grey colour with no sign of sun to be seen around the quickly filling car park.
We drag our clothes on and leave before we can be blocked in. We'd already decided to do this when making our plans last night, we'll stop and breakfast en route.
By 7.45 we're on the hunt for a safe place to stop, however everywhere close by is just grassy verges, so too soft and boggy. We continue onto the motorway and through the first Toll at 8.07am.
The ground looks like it has a slight covering of snow, but it's actually salt and grit ready for the icy weather.
The road runs between steep, rocky hills on each side and I see several caves high up, while to my right, the rocky aspect turns into a completely flat but almost vertical field!
A tractor is busy ploughing it, it's tyre's clinging desperately to the steep incline! I drag my eyes away from him to see we have an Army truck ahead of us with a Police car as escort.
We turn off the main road and start to climb upwards, finding a quiet little layby above the town. This will do nicely for breakfast, and a wash and brush up!
An Army truck passes while we eat, followed by a couple of low loaders with diggers on their backs. There's a quiet droning from 2 light aircraft ..then nothing. Total quiet!
Ablutions finished, we start down the hill to find a bin...easily done here in Greece! Five minutes later I jump out of DippyIII with the rubbish bag and get attacked by a ferocious cockerel!
He's no match for me...I've beaten a full grown goose before!! I scramble back inside with inches to spare and sit back down as if nothing's wrong!
Off we go again smiling at the Sat Nav's latest message...."At the end of the road, turn right. Head for ..Turkey!
We do!
We stop at the services to empty the loo and are quickly back on the motorway...being passed by another 3 Army vehicles then another 2!
Finally we reach the border and see the massive queues of lorry's on both sides of the road. One of the drivers hops out of his cab and waves to us to bypass them to the booth with a big red X above it
We do and an official comes over to take our passports into an office. We hold our breath until he comes back, returns them to us and waves us on.
We cross slowly over an enormous bridge that divides Greece and Turkey. The River below seems quite narrow but the adjoining fields are flooded extensively.
An armed guard in the centre of the bridge, in full combat gear with just his eyes showing, beckons us forward.
As we pass him, I can't help myself and wave to him ..a big beaming grin on my face!
He smiles back..I know he does, because despite his face being concealed...his eyes crinkled at me, and he lifted his finger from the trigger of his machine gun and waggled it at me!
It's 11.20am
The first window needs our passports and the vehicle insurance, all ready and waiting for her due to John's expert research!
While we wait, the people ahead of us (on foot) are waving? Suddenly, we see that behind the masks are the 2 lovely UK people we met on the last site! Hi David and Christina!
We're waved through and pass signs for XRay, Duty Free etc and reach the next window, where a man comes and asks us to open the habitation door.
We do and he stands outside it asking how much cigarettes and tobacco, how much alcohol etc.
John gives him a rundown...2 bottle's of wine, half a bottle of ouzo, no cigarettes.
He's not convinced and we invite him in to look but he refuses, tells us to bring it and show him at the door. So we do.
Then he asks me for our bags for clothes, our suitcases. I explain we have none..."So where clothes?" I shrug...."In the wardrobe!"
He shakes his head ..and leaves! Crazy English lady keeps her clothes in a wardrobe!!
We're waved through to another booth and have to give our passports, documents and have our photos taken.... don't smile!
Next...Dippy needs to be X-rayed...probably to find the non existent suitcases!
It's bitterly cold and there's a howling gale as we leave DippyIII to the tender mercies of the x-ray machine, however....there's also a really cute tiny puppy pretending to kill a garden broom ten times bigger than him, so we laugh at that instead!
Given the all clear, we head back, show the paperwork again and are told ok all done! It's 11.55am. It's taken 35 minutes in total, not at all bad!
At no point have we been asked for our CV documents.
All personnel have worn masks, so have we.
We're through...and off! The land is flat no matter which way you look, we've left the mountains behind us!
There are wide expanses of industrial buildings to both sides of us and we have to slow down as a dog strolls leisurely across all 4 lanes of traffic. His entire attitude is one of "you can all wait, I OWN this place!"
We pass the remains of lots of snow drifts against hedgerows and under trees, where the sun hasn't had a chance to melt it. The skie's are leaden and occasionally a shaft of sunlight will force its way through like a searchlight beam. I take some photos but have no idea whether they'll be any good.
As we drop down the hill we see our first Minaret, with a small mosque to the side of it and in the distance a large bridge across more flooded fields.
Eventually we see the Sea of Marmara in the distance and start to drop down towards the town. The streets are narrow, and packed with people and traffic.
John squeezes through impossible gaps in his efforts to reach the beach roads, where we hope to find a place for the night. Suddenly, the sea is alongside us!
We pass lots of closed up holiday homes and some of the gated communities. Few shops are still open but we earmark the supermarket.
As were slowly making our way, a Police car pulls slowly level with us, blue light flashing ..then pulls just as slowly ahead.
Having spotted a couple of possibilities, we go back for shopping and then continue through the town towards the quiet area near the sea front.
A large white car has been hovering along our route...it has a blue flashing light and a yellow flashing light...were not sure what it is!
A crowd of students are chatting animatedly along the sea front and we drift past them and park up. Looks promising!
A quick walk around and we decided to move on ..then the white car with the blue and yellow lights drifts past us again, this time we can see the blue police uniforms they're wearing!
They don't stop, but we slowly pull away and route ourselves further out if town.
We're now parked up with the sea on our right and a grove of trees on our left, passersby looking at DippyIII but just curious. Several stray dogs up and down the pavement....and dinner nearly ready.
Fingers crossed we get to stay here in peace, we'll worry about tomorrow... tomorrow.

 

[frwjd]

Day 94
Tuesday 8th February
Good morning!
As we are three hours ahead of UK time it won't get light here until 0845 so we're up a little too early.
Turkey greeted us the same as most countries on this trip, with a very loud thunderstorm from 3am to 4:30am!
We're moving a little further south to the Gallipoli peninsula.
Jobs for the day are a data sim card and motorway toll pass.
Have a good day

Day 94
We spent our last night in Sarkoy worrying about whether we might get moved on in the early hours of the morning. Our sleep wasn't helped by the massive storm that went on for a couple of hours, most of it directly over our heads!
We'd set an alarm for 7.30 but woke just before - which was too early, as it wasn't light enough for safe driving on roads that tend to have big potholes. It was still completely dark outside and the roads were awash - and it was still pouring down!
We'd previously agreed to leave straight away and stop at the nearest layby for breakfast but the darkness helped us make the decision to have at least a quick cuppa first.
Flashing blue lights came slowly towards us down the road and we held our breath until they went past! The cups and kettle were quickly stowed away and we were off into the pouring rain!
By 7.45 we were climbing steadily higher and consequently, the rain turned to snow! We groaned as it started to settle, then, to make things worse - the road deteriorated badly!
The potholes were the backbreaking ones that threatened to do some severe damage to either Dippy - or us - and John needed all his skill to weave around them. Even so - some were unavoidable and we drove on with gritted teeth. We both commented "It's like being in Italy!"
As we go through the small village of Yenikoy I have to laugh at one of the yellow warning signs! It has an Umbrella with raindrops coming down on it and on the same sign is a cow! Of course, those of you who know me will know that I'm now envisaging a cow standing in the rain holding an umbrella over it's head, calmly chewing the cud!
John slows to let 2 Transit van type vehicles overtake, which they did - then immediately drove along on the wrong side of the road - which has less potholes! Makes an awful lot of sense to us - so we do too!
The vans stop intermittently to collect people who are standing outside their houses - we assume it's some sort of worker collecting scheme. Very sensible!
The road bends sharply to the left, where there's an absolute litter of beaten up, small boats next to a very muddy river in full flood. Just ahead of us we can see we're coming up to the access for the motorway.
The motorway is a lot smoother and the snow has now turned to sleet and then down to rain - but still very heavy. There are dozens of signs for hotels and restaurants, but all of them look deserted and neglected.
The Sat Nav takes us into a town too small for Dippy to negotiate so we have to get back onto the motorway again - and are now seeing signs for Gallipoli and for the ferry crossing from Eceabat.
The next series of signs we pass shows a toll card - we don't have one, so John stops at the garage to try and buy one. However, he's told that he can only get them at places such as a Post Office or a Bank! So we need to re-route again!
The next town is very busy but the array of decent shops explains why. The volume of traffic is on a similar level with Thessaloniki town centre - but everyone is much better mannered about their driving!
Having found the Post Office, John queues for about 20 minutes, only to be told that they don't sell them - he must go to a Bank. We gave up and drove outside the town to have breakfast - toast and coffee on a closed down petrol station forecourt at 11am!
When we set off, we can soon see the bridge across to Troia in the distance but as we approach it's becoming increasingly obvious that there's no traffic on it! Could be something to do with the gale force winds!
We follow the coast road - grey skies, grey sea, grey road, grey mud, it all blends into one as we find ourselves approaching flashing lights, warning signs and barriers barricading the access to the tunnels under the mountain. We're unsure if they're due to the weather conditions or repair work.
At 1pm we arrive at the ferry terminal - by accident, as we don't speak Turkish and are following the line of traffic! We're directed by an official to get behind a large lorry, who suddenly decides he's not waiting and leaves, so suddenly we're at the head of the queue.
John checks his map, and decides to head up the coast a couple of miles to where the next ferry is - it has a shorter distance to sail so is quicker. The road conditions are horrendous though and to cap it all, when we get there they turn us away and tell us to go back to the one we just left!
We retrace our steps and arrive in time to drive on behind a tour bus, cost 125TL (£6.75p) and saved us a trip of 600 miles!
Having reached dry land again, we have a short journey through town, which again was very busy but calm drivers/driving and by 3pm are on our way to Troy.
We climb upwards again, and the still pouring rain turns again to sleet and then snow with such poor visibility away from the road that it's impossible to visualise what the scenery is like. Google weather says it's like this for the whole day!
We pass a replica of the Wooden Horse outside a restaurant as we start seeing the brown heritage signs again and follow them for the Troy Museum, and site. Ahead of us we see - blue flashing lights - again! A Police car is parked at the access to the Museum site and we drive past him and take the avenue to the Payment kiosk and entrance.
Having noted where we need to go we make a decision that it's plain and simply too wet to do this today! It won't be enjoyable.
So - next stop Camping Troia, which is only a couple of hundred yards away.
As I go in search of Reception, a Tour Guide is bustling 5 or 6 people out of a Jeep and into Reception/Souvenir Shop. He looks at me and shouts into the howling gale - "You camp? Go park!" waving at the driveway next door. "Electric in wall!"
I direct John in and splash my way to the shop, where the Tour Guide is dialling a number on his phone. "You talk my partner, he handle camping, I do guiding, she (waving a hand at the lady behind the counter) no have English" he hands me the phone and rushes off.
"The partner" gives me a deal of 15 Euros per night for pitch, electric, water and toilets/showers and chemi loo emptying. He will collect the money in the morning. Not bad.
I've just got the kettle boiled and 2 coffee cups ready to go when the non-English speaking shop lady taps on the door. She smiles up at me from under her umbrella and gabbles something obviously important for her to have braved the elements - but I don't understand.
I look helpless and shrug - palms upwards and hands spread at my sides in the universal gesture of "I'm sorry, I don't understand." She smiles, splashes her foot in the ever deepening rainwater and waves at the higher ground - up a level.
John braves the rain to unplug us, I grab the boiling kettle and the cups and shove them into the sink and we're off, wheels scrabbling in the mud!
The next level has slightly more gravel than grass, so we hope that come tomorrow - we haven't sunk. It's now 9.34pm here in Turkey and it's STILL raining!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[frwjd]

Day 95
Wednesday 9th February
Good morning!
The rain stopped sometime before midnight and we woke to another bright and beautiful sunny day with the temperature forecast to be a cool 9C but no rain!
Yesterday we crossed the Dardanelles Strait and entered Asia.
Plans for the day include a walk to and around the archaeological site of Troy and we still need to find and buy a data SIM card and HGS payment sticker for the motorway.
Have a good day, what's your weather like?
The snaps are from our stay at Sarkoy.

Archaeological Site of Troy

Troy, with its 4,000 years of history, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The first excavations at the site were undertaken by the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. In ...

whc.unesco.org

Day 95
We woke this morning to silence - which was a big improvement on the noise last night while we tried to sleep!
The local dogs were in full swing - barking, howling, snarling and snapping as they fought each other! It was Mayhem! A bit like the East End when, as a kid, someone strange came on your "patch" and you told them to "Get down your own end!"
It was getting light by the time it quietened down enough to sleep - and then the alarm clock went off and we had to get up. The owner of this site had said he'd be here at 9am and we could pay him then, so we didn't want to be tardy.
By the time we were washed, dressed and had breakfast a couple of cars had come and gone and a German couple in a camper had parked up at some point on the boggy pitch we'd moved off of yesterday.
We popped into the site shop and had a look for a map of Turkey for John, but no luck. Next stop Troy!
It was only about 10 mins up the road so no need to batten the hatches down and unhook Dippy for a drive. The weather was a vast improvement on the last day and a half - beautiful sunshine and a gentle but persistent chilly wind. The walk would do us good! We don't get as much physical exercise as we should now we're travelling!
We passed a couple of Bar/Restaurants that were open and a couple that obviously weren't and made a note to ourselves to have a look at menus for tonight when we came back.
The next stretch was past open fields on my right and in the distance you could see a mass of houses from the next town. A couple of dogs were basking in the sunshine, stretched out on the pavement, but they hurried to the side as we approached.
We wandered onto the site and approached the payment booths, hooking our masks onto our faces as we did. I was juggling my phone (getting the CV app up on my screen) and the passports, and the GoPro on it's stick.
We were slightly hindered by an enormous dog who was lying at full stretch underneath the kiosk window, causing John to have to straddle him to talk to the attendant. The passports were duly handed over and a quick look at our faces taken to confirm that it was us!
At this point we were handed 2 mobile phones with attached headsets to listen to the recording of what we were seeing on the walk around. John needed his hands free to wave his card at the machine - so handed them both to me along with the returned passports..
The dog at this point decided to move as we were blocking his bit of sun so heaved himself up from beneath our feet with an enormous HUFF of a sigh and wandered off!
We negotiated the turnstiles and moved along the path a little to sort out the tangle of headphone wires, turn on the Go Pro and put my phone and the passports back safely in my backpack.
Except that - I found I was holding John's passport but there was no sign of my own one! Panic!! John was sure he'd been given them both back, whereas I'd been too busy juggling things to remember for sure what he'd handed me. I must have dropped them!
I searched my pockets, (4 in my fleece, 2 in my sweatshirt, 4 in my jeans) - 3 times! I looked around the path and backtracked to the turnstiles but nothing in sight!
The kiosk assistant had popped out of the rear of the building to feed the dogs, who had now been joined by 4 cute puppies! She saw me approaching and looked up, asking (in Turkish) what was wrong. I told her but she didn't understand me. so I resorted to pantomiming the patting of my pockets and the out-turned hands of "I've lost...."
She waved me through the Exit turnstile ensuring me "Free Pass" and signing that she'd meet me round the front, so off I went to search the ground where the dog had been laying. Nothing! She let me through the turnstile again and I re-joined John, empty handed.
I ran through the pictures in my head of how things had played out at the kiosk, but I could see John's passport and not mine - so, back to the kiosk. I tried to explain - again - and this time she realised it was the Passport I was missing! "Passport - Guarantee! Guarantee!" she pointed at the headphones in my hand - she was holding my Passport to Ransom in case I didn't bring her headphones and mobile back!
I repacked everything with a sigh of relief and we started the tour. It was good, however, I'd have preferred to sit and listen to the commentary separately as I found it too distracting trying to listen to the tape, look at the ruins AND take photos too, especially as I'm still learning with the GoPro and how it works.
The ruins themselves were interesting enough but something was lacking, in comparison to other archaeological sites we've visited.
John and I had split up and I was wandering around looking for him when a young man approached me with a big smile. "We have the same camera!" I laughed and said "I'm still learning, I'm finding it very difficult!" He assured me that I was right - it IS difficult to get the hang of it but practise will help. He was from South Korea and was here on a 3 month trip.
Having caught up with John, we wandered back along the road and had a coffee then returned briefly to Dippy before walking across the road to the Troia Museum.
This Museum is very modern and is huge! Very well laid out and lots of historical information boards in English, which was very helpful. There is a lift, but you can also use the ramps rather than stairs to access the other floors. The ramps are a lovely, easy gradient to use if you have elderly knees - like mine!
The information boards start at the beginning of Troia as a small port some 5,000 years ago and bring it up to the time of Gallipoli.
The city itself has been built and re-built several times over thousands of years and holds evidence of foreign trade, particularly in the different styles of pottery that have been found.
As always in museums, it's the small statuettes that catch my interest. No matter how naive the depiction, the artist had a real person's features in mind when they made that statue, that frieze, that mask. I wonder who it was? Their mother, father, son, daughter, lover, friend. It was someone real. Someone who lived at that time.
Awesome!

 

[canopus]

The vans you’ve seen collecting people in Turkey are probably the ones known as Dolmuş (pronounced Dolmush). They are Local buses which can be hailed at the roadside. The literal meaning of the word Dolmuş means stuffed which they often are with people. They are a basic and cheap means of travel for many. Don’t be surprised if a passenger gets on with a goat or chicken.

 

[frwjd]

Incorporating 90 days in Turkey on our 9 month trip, departing UK tomorrow.

Thanks for your very timely and informative post!

Do you have an itinerary and/or blog?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[frwjd]

The vans you’ve seen collecting people in Turkey are probably the ones known as Dolmuş (pronounced Dolmush). They are Local buses which can be hailed at the roadside. The literal meaning of the word Dolmuş means stuffed which they often are with people. They are a basic and cheap means of travel for many. Don’t be surprised if a passenger gets on with a goat or chicken.

We see them parked up overnight, it's a brilliant idea and would be ideal in rural UK

 

[Gaston aires]

Great post and Turkey, now Turkyie, is high on our list.
Phil

 

[GoldenVision]

Thanks for a great post! Keep them coming

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[frwjd]

Great post and Turkey, now Turkyie, is high on our list.
Phil

The many different spellings for place names can be confusing, though Turkyie is the correct non English version

 

[dazandandrea]

Fantastic reading , thankyou very much.

 

[Skez]

Yes, links in our signature at the end of our posts, but the blog is at www.wheretwo.co.uk. You can find Links therein to our Instagram, polarsteps YouTube.
Just approaching the French coast at Caen (Ouistreham) as I type!

Do you have an itinerary and/or blog

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}