On the morning of my flight to Turkey I woke up feeling like I couldn’t go through with the trip. I had separated from my partner of 10 years just a few months earlier. A family member had passed away the week before. Work, which had been filled with excitement, growth and opportunity, felt like it was changing. Canceling my flight to Istanbul seemed like a good idea. Tears were close as I waited in the rain and got into the back of an Uber to Toronto’s airport. After boarding was complete, I questioned why I had even gotten on the plane.
When we touched down, the usual anticipation of being in a new place never came. I had arrived, and I felt broken and incapable of picking up the pieces. It took 24 hours, a few Turkish meals, and meeting the first of many welcoming locals before I started to feel okay. By the time my sister arrived to meet me in Istanbul the next day, I began to feel excited. And by the end of my Turkey Encompassed trip, I’d become convinced that Turkey is the best destination for the broken-hearted.
Here’s why.
Sunsets
There is nothing quite like a Turkish sunset when you’re single to remind you that life is beautiful, regardless of your Facebook relationship status.
Turkey is sure not short on magnificent displays by the sun. My sunset highlights? In Istanbul, crossing the Galata Bridge – fishermen lined up, ferries crossing back and forth, the sky lit up pastel pink, and cats rubbing up against your ankles. And, of course, at a rooftop patio with a glass of wine, followed the next night at the highest edge of an ancient theatre in Kaş.
The best sunset of all those I captured was when walking the cottony pools at Pammukale. Steam was rising from the natural hot springs. Families were sitting taking it all in, soaking their feet. Paragliders were drifting over the ancient ruins and down the limestone formations. In October when I was there, sunset is early in the day. This works really well to have candlelit group dinners on outdoor patios and still be in bed before midnight.
CHECK OUT INTREPID’S RANGE OF SMALL GROUP ADVENTURES IN TURKEY
Çay
Don’t believe anyone who tells you they love Turkish coffee. They can’t possibly have taste buds. What is wonderful in Turkey is black tea, or in Turkish – çay.
Çay is wonderful. Iconic glass cups in the shape of an hourglass are served to you handle-less and piping hot. The cup of çay sits on a tiny white saucer with blue or red designs. I mostly ignored the sugar, but there are always two cubes individually wrapped in paper if that is more to your taste.
Regardless, çay goes with everything. Sip it slowly on a lazy Istanbul morning while kittens run around your table. Drink çay following lunch. Use çay to warm you up on a cold Beypazzari afternoon as you wait for your hotel key. Following dinner, two cups of çay are appropriate. While the rain falls heavily in Antalya, drink çay. Add another two or three cups over a late night game of Backgammon.
Çay is made in a double boiler, where you take 1/3 condensed black tea, and then you add 2/3 hot water to make it drinkable.
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Cats
You’re not a crazy cat lady if the cats come to you, right? Turkey, but especially Istanbul and Selçuk, have more outdoor cats roaming the city streets than what I have seen in any other country to date.
From a cardboard box of tiny kittens that curiously ventured out to climb over me while I was drinking çay, to an old tom cat with battle scars protecting his corner of the street – there are cats everywhere. They seemingly belong to no-one but also everyone at the same time. To feed them, bowls of water and food can be seen outside – everywhere from wine bars to the broken columns of Ephesus.
It is particularly delightful to sit down outside to a delicious plate of deep fried anchovies, and throw the tails to the cats waiting expectantly around your feet.
Turkish baths
If you’ve heard of the famous Turkish baths and felt uneasy over the idea of a stranger scrubbing and massaging you down as you’re naked in a room full of other naked strangers – fair enough, but don’t be. One of my favourite experiences in Turkey was visiting the Kiliç Ali Pasa Hamami. The cost is around 200 Turkish Lyra and the day here is split: women in the morning with female attendants, men in the evening with male attendants.
Your experience starts in a peaceful, open room. Built in 1580, the ceiling is a giant dome, and the dusty pink stones have held it up for centuries. This main foyer is lined on three sides with white lounges and green pillows. First, you sip sorbet before being led to change into a towel and sandals, removing all your clothing except your underwear. Lead by an attendant, you enter their huge sauna, a domed room lined with heated grey marble. They start you off with a healthy dousing of hot water head to toe, and then you lie down on a heated marble hexagon big enough to fit at least 10 people. Your left to sweat for 20 minutes or so, staring up at the white domed ceiling.
Your attendant eventually comes back, and leads you into an alcove surrounding the hexagon. There’s more hot water, and this time, soap. She scrubs you head to toe with a glove rough enough to peel the dead layers of skin off. Then she uses a thin cloth case that’s been soaked in soapy water, fills it with air, and squeezes it quickly above you to cover you in layers of warm, soft, delightful foam. This is followed by a back and shoulder massage and yet more bubbles. She shampoos your hair and rinses you off completely. Finally, she leads you out of the sauna, into a much colder side room and wraps you up in a series of Turkish bath towels.
The bath is over (sadly you’re only supposed to have one every 3-4 weeks). Time to drink some çay.
Pammukale
I’m not usually one to get excited at visiting “the most photographed site” in a country. This always means elbowing your way through hundreds of tourists to get a photo. Maybe for a few minutes you’ll get an uninterrupted view of the jaw-dropping place you’re all here to see.
But when it comes to Pammukale, arrive with a plan and you’ll be fine. My advice is to go late in the day, a few hours before sunset. When you arrive, there will still be the typical 50 passenger coach buses lining the parking lot, and thousands of people wandering around. With thousands of selfie sticks. You’ve been warned. The Cleopatra Pools are worth the second ticket purchase and this is the best place to start. Give yourself at least an hour here. There are lockers for a small fee and change rooms to put on your swimsuit (don’t forget to bring your own towel).
The water is heated naturally from the never-ending thermal springs of mineral-rich water that continuously flow out of the pool and down the hill to create the massive white limestone formations you can see photos. Natural minerals in the water cause bubbles to form on your skin, which you can shake off every few minutes and watch float to the surface. Really, it’s like you’re swimming in a giant glass of San Pellegrino. Since it requires some foresight into bringing bathers and towels, the pool was virtually empty when I was there.
Once you dry off and change, head down the cottony white formations. By now it’s twilight, and the rocks are lighting up in a warm golden glow, eventually turning pink and back to white once the sun has completely set.
In my case our Local Leader, Süleyman, called our driver and he met us at the bottom of the hill so we didn’t need to hike back up to the parking lot. Believe the hype about Pammukale. It’s the best.
VISIT PAMMUKALE ON INTREPID’S 15-DAY TURKEY ENCOMPASSED TOUR
Gözleme
Turkish “pancakes” or “gözleme” as they’re known locally, makes for the most delightful lunch. And it’s carb-heavy enough to keep you full until dinner.
It starts with balls of floured dough, rolled out onto a large round surface until paper thin. Next, you can choose a variety of ingredients – cheese, spinach or Swiss chard, maybe onions, and if you’re lucky, a bit of mince meat.
The round dough and ingredients are folded over each other until the giant circular dough becomes a manageable rectangle the size of a plate. Typically basted in oil or butter, the gözleme is slapped onto a metal dome over a wood fire. It is fried and flipped until the dough has cooked, and finally removed from the heat once the cheese has melted completely.
Gözleme is served cut into manageable pieces, and ideally eaten with your fingers. I love it with a healthy sprinkle of dried red chilis and an ice-cold Efes beer.
When your heart is broken, you should fill your body with carbs. Duh.
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