Intrepid traveling

In the wake of the death of an single American woman traveler in Istanbul, more people than just my mother were worried about my rash and quick decision to travel to Turkey. Guided by not much more than a cheap plane ticket and loose (or as I like to put it, developing) plans, I went for it anyway.

The one, the only, the Turkish breakfast

Ten days in and typing this blog post from Istanbul, I am absolutely certain that it was a great decision to travel here. Even better was making the decision to arrive in Turkey with nothing more planned than having a place to stay for the first few nights. A day in to having arrived in Istanbul, I met up with a few friends that are living in Turkey to discuss what options I have for traveling within the country... and at the end of the night thoughts of Southeast Turkey were pulsating through my mind.

To give a bit of background to Turkey, it has played quite a large role in history throughout the past thousands of years, harboring both Homer's Troy, Mt. Ararat, where it is said that Noah's ark landed, and may significant sights in between. It has also housed several different empires (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman) throughout the ages. To say the least, Turkey offers a wide array of cities and historical sites to visit.. too much for a two week trip.

So I had to focus on one area, and Southeast Anatolia was it. I want to mention that it was near the Syrian/Iraqi boarder just to displace concerns of its proximity to these places because all of the cities that I visited were still hours away from any news-worthy happenings and completely safe. What came from my travels instead was wonderful friendships, a new appreciation for kindness of strangers, and insights into a new (for me) country.

Whirling Dervishes

Here was my itinerary (I promise to expand on it in later blog posts):
Istanbul -> Diyarbakir -> Mardin -> Sanliurfa -> Konya -> Goreme -> Istanbul

Morning Balloons over Cappadocia