The two devastating earthquakes that struck south eastern Turkey in the early hours of Monday and again around midday, 6 February 2023 continue to effect the people of Gaziantep. However the city is once again welcoming visitors. Tourism dollars go some way to normalising life but there is still a lot to be done. If…
(This post was originally published before the earthquakes that struck in south east Turkey. Recovery is on ongoing, and if you want to help please read my Turkey Earthquake 2023 post.) In this post I introduce Gaziantep in south eastern Turkey and give everything you need to have a brilliant time. I’ve divided this guide…
I’ve often said Istanbul isn’t so much a metropolis as a series of small interconnected villages and a recent set of coincidences I experienced has really confirmed this belief. One day I was looking for a Whatsapp chat I’d had with someone at an animal shelter on this side of Istanbul ages ago. By chance…
Kim Hewett and I met in Newtown, a suburb in Sydney, Australia where we both lived for many years. We danced around each other for a long time but both of us had significant others and the timing was never right. However a few weeks after I returned from my first trip to Europe and…
It’s still dark when I arrive and make my way slowly up a steep path on Mount Nemrut. Although I can hear voices it feels like I am an intrepid explorer on the edge of an enormous discovery. Once I reach the top I stop to catch my breath. All I can see are murky,…
Read on to find out what happened on my Eastern Turkey tour with 52 students who sang, danced and ate the whole time. There was very little sleep to be had! …We were headed for Harran, a small town famous for its beehive shaped houses made from dried mud. Disappointingly, when we arrived I saw…
Back in 2004 I worked at Erciyes University in central Turkey. When some of the final year students approached me to be a chaperone on a four day three night trip touring Eastern Turkey I jumped at the chance. This is an excerpt from a longer complete story. “As instructed, we arrived at the faculty…
For many people, Turkey stops in Istanbul. Drawn here by the chance for adventure, work schedules and low wages mean a lot of foreigners don’t get an opportunity to see much of the country. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Eastern Turkey several times, first with my now husband, and later…