BY AYESHA BİLAL (PSYC/III)
ayesha@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Look No Further
Growing up, I had a lot of opportunities to experience the outdoors in its most raw and authentic form, and I thank the stars for being able to have those exciting memories. My uncle and most of the maternal side of my family have always been thrill-seekers and love a good old adventure. So from a young age I came to embrace camping outdoors, hiking long hours up cliffs and hills, spending half the day on the road in the back of a car heading somewhere and exploring our way around from city to city. The passion for such experiences has stayed with me to this day, and it is the best kind of thrill I can seek for myself; therefore any opportunity I find to make my time off worthwhile and do something I’ll remember for a long time, I take. I’m also aware I’m not alone in this desire, and that many others of my age around me have the same longing but not enough motivation or information to get started, or maybe are hindered by some other factor. Regardless, let the biggest motivation be the fact that right now most of us are at the time in our lives where we have the least responsibility and the most independence we will ever have. Finding a compatible travel partner is all it takes to get hooked, and you’ll find that a single memorable travel experience is the “taste of blood” that will make you constantly want to experience and see more of the world.
Luckily for the readers of this column, living in Turkey means that there is absolutely no shortage of places to see and things to do. And if most of you are thinking of money as the obstacle, then you’re simply not looking large enough. Turkey has an abundance of beautiful spots that are not mainstream tourist attractions. They may not be attractive beaches and fancy resorts, but if traveling has a meaning beyond that for you, there is a lot to be seen. To exemplify this, I would like to start with a short and spontaneous trip I took last year, over a weekend in the middle of the semester. I had gotten exhausted and bored by mundane student life and just wanted a small getaway, so along with a friend I took to the Internet to explore the options available to us on our limited budget. Soon we found ourselves making our way to the small Black Sea coastal town of Akçakoca, where we enjoyed long hikes up beautiful cliffs and had delicious fish at extremely cheap prices.
A couple of weeks after that, we traveled to the Cappadocian town of Ürgüp, where we also hiked (for nearly two hours to see an awe-inspiring church built into the mountain), had the local wine and explored the marvelous stone infrastructure of the city. Then a couple of weeks later we went to yet another incredibly beautiful town: the Black Sea village of Amasra, which I have been to more than once and consider one of my favorite places in Turkey. And a few weekends after that, we were in the nearby village of Safranbolu for a day trip spent trekking through valleys and street bazaars. You get the point: we took a number of short biweekly trips like these, and sure, most of the places we went to wouldn’t be considered top tourist attractions, but we managed to finance each of these excursions around or under our budget of 200 Turkish liras.
Another thing I learned is that no place in Turkey can be looked upon without awe. Breathtaking beauty, exciting history and every imaginable activity are available for someone who seeks adventure. The country can accurately be called a traveler’s paradise, home to something exciting and special on every inch of its land. Those of you who, like me, consider history a very attractive factor when choosing a travel destination, will find something attention-grabbing no matter where you go. Within Ankara province itself, those fortunate enough to have a car or know someone who has a car can take an hour’s drive to the incredible town of Gordion, where history is right before your eyes in the form of large mounds and ancient cities still being excavated. It’s a great idea for a day trip that will get you away from the routine of university life for a few hours. Or, you can get together with a friend or a group of friends and head over to Lake Eymir or Karagöl and have a picnic or a bike ride. Traveling doesn’t necessarily have to involve hotels and planes and suitcases; sometimes exploring the places around you can be just as exciting. The most important thing to remember, though, is that that no matter where you go, there is culture, history and beauty to be discovered, and that any place can be made into an adventure if that’s what you’re looking for.
Now I wouldn’t say that this is always enough for me; small towns have their own quaint and peaceful charms, but every now and then (as someone who grew up next to the ocean and can’t stay away from it too long) I do long for the sunny shores and warm, clear waters of the southwestern coasts of Turkey. Even those types of tourist attractions need not cost you your entire month’s budget, however. In the next article, I will describe to you in more detail how I managed an extremely budget-conscious trip to a beautiful town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Till then, here is hoping everyone is having a great start to the semester and has already started marking the calendar with dates for heading off somewhere.