Container port in Istanbul

Arrived 5:45am, local time. (3:45am UK time). Deeply regretted the decision at the time. Landed in Asian airport, took a tram to a ferry port, and a ferry across the Bosphorus. Ferry was fascinating. Container port, in the middle of a city. Went past a lot full of new cars, freshly off a boat. Felt crazy to have all of this so close to a major city.

Dropped bags at hostel, then walked towards the historical centre. Saw a local mosque. There was a man outside who explained, in broken but functional English, the function of each part of the mosque. It was lovely to see a quiet mosque and understand what a serene place it can be – later we saw people trying to reflect in the Blue Mosque, but there were large, noisy crowds outside of prayer times.

Walked past Galataport, which was quite a sight. I was intrigued by the absurdity of having two identical raising barriers and some bollards. We were walking through what appeared to have been an affluent area in/since 19th century (just outside Galataport) and spotted a cafe (what is the Turkish term?) Had Turkish coffee in the courtyard. I accepted the sugar when offered, believing it to be customary. Didn’t particularly like it with sugar. No
matter: we probably won’t be drinking much Turkish coffee — we just wanted to try it made in Türkiye.

Wandered on. Grabbed sesame roll (10TL) and walnut stuffed roll (15TL) from a street vendor. So, so good. Very simple stalls.

Crossed Galata bridge. The restaurants looked identical, with menus showing photos and shocking prices. In the underpass after Galata bridge, we were pressure-sold halva. Unsure if it was actually a pressure-sale tactic, or just politeness. [Note: In Pazar, we had a similar experience of being encouraged to try everything, and that really didn’t feel like a sales tactic, but rather them being proud of their produce. Unsure.] We bought a kilo of halva to have while hiking, and it was the most incredible pressure sale I have ever experienced.

Visited the new mosque. Beautiful building, but not at all crowded. My favourite for that reason.

Diabetes tea, Slimming tea and Love tea

Walked through the Egyptian market. A different tea for each ailment, including love. Quite something. Meandered through shopping districts down narrow alleys and eventually into the grand bazaar. Beautiful building and fun to visit. Slight disappointment though. I was somehow expecting something quirkier. Wandered towards what I though was Aya Sophia. Turned out to be Little Aya Sophia, so we needed a little more walking.

Lunch at a little cafe. Very friendly owner, who seemed to want to give us a good time. Two types of cheese Borek, with two. He brought us some fresh watermelon juice, which was excess of what he made for another customer.

Both assumed we would be charged for it, but it was genuinely ‘on the house.’ Given we had seen no prices, and we were still in fairly central Istanbul, we feared the worst, but was not expensive at all. Had been very hungry, and this lunch was an incredible way to sort that out.

Aya Sophia/Hagia Sophia was very crowded. Delighful mix of Byzantine/Orthodox Christian and Islamic. Huge building. I enjoyed the seraphim on the ceiling — apparently, when converted to a mosque, Christian icons were covered up, but not destroyed. They were then uncovered when it became a museum, giving us access to some truly spectacular Byzantine art. Asked someone to take a photo for us, and they were from Magdalen, the year above.

Chatted for a while – we had a few mutual friends – then went our ways. Very weird.

Blue Mosque had a consistent vision and a little less gold. Very full. Tiles were incredible. Not sure I liked it as much, partly as I was very tired by this stage. Back to hostel (by tram) for a nap.

Wandered the local area, looking for food. Very different to the historical centre. Smart, modern young. Hot desks & bars. Then realised we were a couple of streets from a university campus.

Went to an all-day breakfast bar for a mix of Turkish meze. Interesting communication but eventually gave the person serving a carte blanche. Did not regret it – would not have chosen the green beans, but they were a real treat. [Note: We later found tins of green beans made up that way in supermarkets — seems a common item.]

Walked to and through Beyoglu, the part of the city that Victoria had recommended for its nightlife. Bought some groceries from a Migros, ready for the Kaçkar. Grabbed some baklava in a dessert bar dating to 1946.

Metro to Istanbul Airport

Alarm 6:45. Walked to Taksim to get bus. Bought some fresh sesame rolls filled with white and yellow cheese. Taksim underpass will forever haunt my dreams. Struggled to get to the right side of it. Running across a square, trying to find steps down. Columns of buses arriving, none of them right.

Eventually, got on a bus that would take us halfway there. It didn’t. It terminated a lot earlier than we expected. We then saw the bus we originally wanted driving pass. Sprinted for it. That turned into a long sprint. Haven’t run like that in a while. Felt awful for quite a bit afterwards. Both Julia and I are runners, but neither of us ever wish to compete in 500m bag-sprint again.

Spent quite a while wandering around a suburb, trying to find the metro stop. It was wrong on Google Maps, but we had a nice walk. Tram had a lot of pictures of Erdogan in.

The new airport was huge and spectacular. We were scanned on our way in, before actual security. Felt like a “Mega Project” — the living wall in the underground station was quite something and that was before you ascended about five floors to ground level (may be an exaggeration, but don’t actually know where the ground level was – it is so landscaped).

Flight was rather luxurious. Got a sandwich, and some Ayran, and they just gave you coffee when you asked for it. Interesting how much money is put into internal flights.

Cheese shop in Pazar

Rize airport was huge and incredibly empty. Smoothest transfer I’ve ever experienced.

Walked out of the airport, there were three coaches waiting. We gave a location and they showed us to the second one. Everyone had to show ID. Travelled for maybe ten minutes, then got off, with directions to where the next connection was. Very friendly minibus drivers took our bags, and pointed at the departure time, written in dust on the back of the vehicle.
Pressure sold sour cherries, and a cucumber. Far too many sour cherries, but they were inexpensive and nice.

Went to a cheese shop. Incredibly friendly shop keepers made it clear we could try anything. Got two types of cheese and some olives. And a honeycomb. So, so good. We were told which cheeses wouldn’t need refrigeration.

Borek for lunch. Cheese was out, so we tried meat. Meat was excellent. Wonderful fine mince, with plenty of seasoning. Two friendly women, who when they realised we needed to get a bus, boxed it up for us.

All the bus prices were shown on an official document. We noticed the same thing in the street vendors in Istanbul. I wonder if it is an official measure to standardise pricing/avoid haggling. Great music on the bus – have noted down to listen later.

Ayder is very strange. Tourist town, for Arab and Turkish tourists. Lots of tourist infrastructure and activities. Loads of accommodation and restaurants.

At the campsite, some Kuwaiti tourists arrived and thought we were the owners. Some very confused conversation where we both tried to book with the other person. A slightly eccentric old woman arrived and sorted us out.

Pitched tent and ate the rest of the borek.
Three Kuwaiti men invited us for tea. Their wives and children were cooking elsewhere. Great tea. They invited us for dinner, and we accepted, but said we needed to go into town to buy fuel. First shop we tried sold butane-propane cylinders, a box of tea, and the shopkeeper just handed us his lighter.

Cheese shop in Pazar
Got back to the campsite and were given dinner by the Kuwaiti families. They gave us a table and chairs, and a rice and meat dish, with a tomato and potato sauce, and some ayran. We were encouraged to eat with our hands but quickly regressed to sporks. Men and sons were seated on a rug, women and daughters sat on a picnic bench. One girl spoke excellent English and gave a fair few eye rolls at the older generation’s attempts. Made exceptionally welcome.

Amphitheatre, which we guess is for caCle trading, but really don’t
know

Up at 5am; leave 6:45. A lot of faff. Hiked until 8. Bought Turkish coffee, made on a wood fire. Then had sütla (rice pudding), which was so good.

Just a man and a woman, in a half-built resort town. Very strange. The man talked through the route, and made us a map. Told us there were 15cm of snow on the passes. Scared.

Passed a large amphitheatre on the way out of town. Assume was for cattle trading, but don’t know.

10am – walked into Yukari Kavron. Had coffee with man and wife, with their son (‘big baby’) acting as a translator on the phone. Drove us to the end of town.

Up into the Kaçkar. Very misty. Poor visibility – in a cloud the entire day. Meant to be beautiful, but was just cloudy.

Cow with large ears – it flapped them in a parIcularly
fantasIc way

Struggled to follow the path much of the way. A lot of wandering. A few remarks about not being able to tell this difference between this and Scotland (terrain and plants were very similar to Scottish highlands, and the cows with large ears added to the similarity). No midges – very thankful.

Found the lake we were aiming for. Debated pressing on, but took us so long to find the path that it didn’t seem safe to atempt the pass.

Waking up to a frozen tent

Rock pitched on a slab. Liquid butane burns nicely, but did make a large fireball at one point. Too cold to burn the vapour. In tent early and to sleep.

Bridge at edge of Davali – Kaçkar is famous for these singlearch
stone bridges.

Woke up at a relaxed 6am, as we were expecting there to be loads of clouds. Perfectly clear sky. Some snow banks opposite. Tent was ice-covered, as were shoes and the sleeping mats. Found the path easily and followed it over the pass at ~3250m. Descended alpine meadows, and could soon see Davali, a yaylalar (summer pasture village).

Walked through Davali, including over a lovely old bridge. Saw a few women working, but none said hello. Went to far end of village to have lunch. Asked two women for water, which they happily gave. Brief and polite exchange. Made lunch, then had a bit of halva and then a fairly incredible amount of honeycomb with stale enriched bread.

Two women, who gave us water to cook with

A man, Ismail, came out of a house, walked along the road and said hello to us. He brought us two pastries, which turned out to be walnut. We chatted for a bit, via Google translate, and then he invited us to his house for tea.

Ismail’s entire family was there, and two neighbours. We were made very welcome, and it felt that outsiders coming was a genuine occasion. A meat dish was put on the table (lung), which we managed to decline politely. There were a lot of fresh bread and more walnut pastries. Every time we finished a cup of tea, it was immediately topped up.

Going on a walk with FahreSn, Ulia and Elvin

Apparently, they were there for two months of the year. They thought forty people came through the village each year. They were producing butter and cheese for export, feeding the cows on the alpine pastures.

Plenty of jokes were made, via Google Translate. One recurring theme was a neighbour saying Julia had a lovely nose. Was it surgical? The neighbour wanted a nose job. Did Julia think she had a nice nose What brand of suncream did we use? We didn’t use any. A quick selfie a little later showed that perhaps we should have.

Also, plenty of jokes about our route through the Kaçkar being convoluted. We had many offers to stay the night there, but thought we should press on to see more of the Kaçkar.

They then offered to drive us to Sirakonaklar; we said we were happy to walk. They offered again, and we accepted. Very glad we did. They introduced us to Fahrexn, who offered to host us for the night! (And a heard protection dog came and ran alongside the car for a bit on the way down – they are fearsome.)

Fahrexn was building his pansyon when we arrived. He has plans to introduce tourism to the town. Apparently, tour companies are phoning him and asking when he will be open; he thinks he will be finished in a month, and open next year. The valley was very peaceful. We were offered coffee, not because it is traditional, but because his daughter, Elvin, prefers it to tea. After coffee, we went for a walk back up the valley, to some of the land inherited from his father. We saw abandoned terraces, with wonderful pear trees on. A bear evidently
thought the pears were good too, and had leC evidence of their approval. We were told this was traditionally an Armenian village, and some graves were pointed out.

Why there were so many unfarmed terraces became tragically evident.

Fahrexn’s wife, Ulia (?) was a mechanical engineer, but spoke little English so we interacted with her less. Elvin spoke excellent English, and we discussed literature for a while. She was a huge fan of Tolkein, but not of the  village.

They had lived in many places, and only moved back to Fahrexn’s ancestral village three years before. Elvin was at college in Ankara, but back for the holiday. She commented that the people in the village weren’t nice.

Ulia had returned from the walk early. A bit after we got back, she toasted some breads on a stove. A little later, dinner was served. A yoghurt soup as a starter. Rice cooked separately, then yoghurt mixed with rice, then combined. Excellent soup, served with two types of bread. Then peppers stuffed with rice and mince , and a side of yoghurt and the most incredible stewed potatoes ever. I assume the potatoes were cooked with the mince. My potato was purple!

Fahrexn spoke with us for a bit after dinner, but soon realised we were exhausted. He’s running for local office, and isn’t a fan of Erdogan. He was a huge fan of Ataturk, and we had our photo taken in front of Ataturk the next day. He made a comment about Ataturk being a man of his time. Sleeping quarters turned out to be sofa beds in their living room!

FahreSn asked for a photo together, which we later found on
Facebook. He was delighted young people were exploring the
Kaçkar

A fairly simple route, and an uneventful day. After a fantastic breakfast, we said goodbye to Fahrexn and didn’t see people after that. We were told we would be the only people in the mountains, something that turned out to be not quite true (we met three presumably Germans the next day).

Climbed a road to a higher village, then followed a river up to a col. Noticed plenty of droppings and got concerned about bears. Changed a cup and spork for a while un8l we were out of that valley.

Route to Kaçkar Dağı was tricky at points

At the col, our map told us to go west, straight over a peak. While it looked possible, there was no path there, and a very clear path around the peak. We opted for that. Navigation became uncertain at 8mes, but we made it to a beautiful valley with a lake. Lots of flat. Going on a walk with Fahreen, Ulia and Elvin Fahreen asked for a photo together, which we later found on Facebook. He was delighted young people were exploring the Kaçkar ground, and entirely empty. Over 2000m of elevation gain today, but on easy terrain. Little of note, other than the maps here are inaccurate.

Gentle descent to Yaylalar

A 4:45 alarm is not something I wish to make integral part of my life, but meant we had porridge and left a little after sunrise. A fairly simple path took us over two passes and one Boulder field. The issues started when we discovered that there is not one path up Kaçkar. Cairn trails split and reformed; others just fizzled out after taking you the wrong way. Also, it’s quite hard to distinguish a pile of three grey rocks against a background of grey rocks. Incredible summit. Best of my life so far.

Panoramic views. Great weather for it; we could see over to the Caucasus mountains and presumably Elbrus. Hike down was faster, but not easy terrain. We got back to our camp, six hours after setting off, very ready for lunch. Boiled water for our meals, and to drink, and packed up the tent.

Both very tired and neither relished what we understood to be a 16km hike, starting at 13:30.

The first descent was slow going, but once we reached the main base camp, the path was very easy walking. We made good time. And reached Yaylalar by 17:00. Rugged hillside, reminiscent of Scotland.

Dropped from 2900m at campsite to 1900m at pansyon. Lots of evidence that mules are used here. Got to Pansyon, and discovered that the dolmus did not run on Sundays, but we could pay for a small car as a taxi. This quickly turned into our first experience of negotating, but one where we had no choice and they suspected that.

Offered a taxi for 2500TL. We did some serious talking for a while. We made a counteroffer of paying in euros. They immediately offered 2000TL. We asked to check the time. He phoned his taxi driver again and confirmed.

The second call, I noticed someone walking out of a shop opposite, answering a phone. Based on the gaps both were making while walking, and who turned up to drive us, negotiation through an intermediary was with a man around the corner!

Price for accommodation without food: 1000TL. We asked for price with food: also 1000TL.

We were promised a breakfast bag in the morning. None appeared; fascinating. People were very friendly, but it was very obviously their off-season. [Note: having seen their Instagram recently, it appears most of their business is heli-skiing.]

Given some salad vegetables to have for our dinner, but as we were the only guests, they weren’t cooking that evening. Bulgar and a lot of eggs supplemented this to make an excellent meal.

View from the citadel, including the Twin Minaret Mustafa, centre right

When we met our driver at 6am, it turned out to be Ismail, the dolmus driver, in the dolmus.

Quite the taxi! However, almost everything in Yusefeli was shut, and we believe he wasn’t just extorting us. The drive to Yusefeli was slow. The mountain road was of decent quality, but twisty. At one point, the ‘taxi’ stopped to pick up another passenger. Regardless, Ismail took us to the bus terminal, and introduced us to our driver for the next segment.

Yusefeli was a strange town. We couldn’t see the old city, which was in a river valley over a hill, but everything we could see looked five years old or less? Lots of new accommodation, to go with the new roads. We wondered if it was copper mining in the area, but weren’t certain. We asked for suggestions of a place to eat, and were suggested a place on a ridge above the roads. Walking there, some bored but seemingly friendly firefighters, heckled us, asking us where we were from. We walked a few metres further, and bus roared past, hooting at us. The food place was only serving soup but had meat soup and vegetable soup. We both opted for vegetable soup and what soup it was! It was served with bread, with turned out to be a loaf of bread, cut up and placed on the table. With time to kill, we sat in the adjacent establishment, and drank both the best and the cheapest ai of the trip so far. 5TL per cup!

We were still hungry, so grabbed some yogurt and stuffed vine leaves for the bus. A wise choice.

The bus ride was uneventful, but the scenery was fantastic. Some wonderful folds in the rock, and a lot of tunnels. Serious megaproject vibes with the number of tunnels, and half- built bridges.

Erzurum is a strange city. Plenty of 14th-century Seljuk architecture, and then just a lot of new, slightly crazy, builds. Also, plenty of .ai providers, which look more like a bar than a cafe in the UK. Very male-dominated, with a few exceptions.

We wandered around the old buildings, grabbing bits of lunch as we went. Tea is more affordable here than Istanbul, ranging between 10TL and 20TL per cup. Twice Julia was not given a spoon. On one occasion, the waiter picked up the menu from in front of Julia and handed it to me.

Went up what was apparently the oldest minaret in Türkiye. View over the city was incredible. The twin minaret mustafa was a lovely space. It had been restored quite a bit, several times. Wandered the town, ring to find something for dinner. Having overdosed on pastry earlier in the day, we weren’t too keen on anything with much bread. Got laughed at a couple of times. Julia grabbed a 20TL ice-cream, which was more elaborate than any other icecream I’ve ever seen, with 4/5 flavours.

Eventually went to a popular dinner restaurant. Waiter almost handed the first menu to Julia, but then to me. Laughed at Julia’s dimples. A table of four men took turns staring at Julia. The food was incredible. They brought out three accompanying salads, and then we got some dinner and some koCe, and some grilled tomatoes. We started the meal not particularly hungry, and ended it wanting more. Were offered the local pastry and accepted. Birds nest in a lot of syrup with a bit of walnut in the centre. Lovely with a cup of tea.

Towels in hotel were fluffy, but not all of them clean. In a 30-room hotel, spanning about six floors, only four were occupied. Lots of things Türkiye seems to be built over capacity, from empty restaurants to empty tourist towns and along empty tunnels.

Pack horses pass us on the way to camp 1

Hotel breakfast was a nice example of a Turkish breakfast. Some fresh bread, with cheese, olives, cucumber and tomato. Unfortunately, the bread wasn’t fresh. Hotel owners got some fresh bread halfway through and then sat eating borek at an adjacent table.

Grabbed a coffee before leaving Erzurum. Much lighter roast than we’ve been having.

Taxi was interesting. 220TL to get to the airport 15-20 minutes away. We suspected we were getting scammed, but it wasn’t a bad price and we had no idea what a good price was.

We arrived at bus station. Found the bus going to Agri, and were instructed to wait. The bus then drove off. Ten minutes later, another one arrived, and we were summoned. Bus departed the terminal 10-15 minutes early. There’s a live bird in a footwell.

Travelled for about 40 minutes, then everyone got off for a 20-minute break at a weird service station. Bus was washed down. Ayran was 5TL.

Landscape is very empty and rugged. Lots of stubble fields. Not many people.

Bus comes with tea trolley, which was fantastic. Got to Agri, a city a local on the bus had hardly recommended to us. “It’s a boring city.” We managed to buy a bus ticket. One person only speaking Turkish. Someone trying to translate. Took the money. Had to be asked to give us a ticket.

Found a cafe that looked good a mile away. Walked there. Quite a bit of staring. Incredible cafe, run by three women and a man. Very modern vibes. Lovely airy room. Cheap but big menu. Julia given a menu before me. Ordered menemen. We’re being asked questions about how we wanted it, but just asked them to give us whatever is good. Incredible menemen. Lots of tomatoes, with a slightly hot,
long thin pepper. Some onion. Plenty of oil. Eggs beautifully scrambled through. Lots of fresh bread. Had with fresh orange juice.

When it got to dessert, we were invited to go to the counter. Opted for cypress cake and cherry and tahini baklava. Cypress cake was syrupy nuBy cake, with a set milk, with a layer of cream topped with coconut. Incredible. Cherry and tahini baklava is as the name suggests.

Went to Migros to get snacks for Ararat, and moisturiser to reconstruct my face.
Went to another caf. for more tea, and ended up having a sütla. as well. Huge place, with plenty of staff, all set on ignoring every attempt at making eye contact. Huge place. Men’s toilets were a mixture of squat and sit, intriguingly.

Walked back to Otogar. Lots of young men kept harassing us, asking us where we were going.

We waited outside. Some serious staring. We waited further away. Bus was pleasant, but no snacks and dropped us off outside the out-of-town Otogar, which we didn’t realise existed.

Decided to walk the couple of kilometres to the hotel. Walked past someone going through a garden with a torch. A few houses later, two VW vans were parked outside a house, and someone was climbing over the fence. Could hear shuffling in the street ahead. Julia could see it was children playing, so we
continued. The children flocked to us and introduced themselves. Asked if we wanted water.

Ran off to a shop to get us water, even after we declined. Started chanting money. Only at one point did they surround us. Probably innocent, but we kept a very brisk walk. Lots of people staring as we went through the city itself. Vigilant bordering on paranoid. Always checking who was behind us; never walking through a group. This is the most unsafe on a street I’ve ever felt.

At one point two men seemed to be following us, and closing in on us. Sped up, but weren’t losing them. Went around a group and seemed to lose them.
Walked into the hotel, where we were welcomed by part of the Ararat climbing company, but we were still in flight or flight. Very jumpy. Eventually realised we needed to get more food, but didn’t want to go outside. After eating a tiny bit of bread and some honey, ran to a Migros and got breadsticks, cucumbers and Ayran. Shop staff are closing up, but amused by us and very friendly. Good dinner that night.

Hot water tap took a long time to come. Julia had a cold shower because hot water wouldn’t come out at all. I dried socks with a hair dryer.

View over Iran in evening

Up for 6:30 breakfast. Classic Turkish breakfast of bread, cheese, cucumber, tomato and olives, with an egg and optional Nutella.

Drove for about an hour to get to trail head at 2200m. Three hour hike, including chunky breaks, to 3350m. Very slow pace, and easy walking. We’re very acclimatised, but a lot of people aren’t. Group doesn’t seem fast. Mostly European, apart from three Australian women.

Camp one is rocky, dusty and desolate. You can quite easily see camp two above us and sometimes the summit. ChaBed with two British brothers. Lots of sitting about and chatting, drinking tea. Dinner had starter of excellent soup, with orzo-like pasta in. Offered extra soup, which we accepted. Went for vegetarian food, which was beans with Bulgar, and side salad. Main option was what looked like lamb and potato stew, with Bulgar and side salad. Good food.

Sunset was spectacular. Almost as if we were above it. Can see Iran and maybe Armenia from here. During the hike, we heard a noise and were told it was a Turkish military drone.

On the bus journey here, we had seen two large military vehicles going down a parallel road. We are clearly close to an unfriendly border. From 2015 to 2021, Mt Ararat was closed due to military operations. If you look at a map, Ararat clearly juts out, and it’s no secret Armenia would like it.

Never been on a solitary peak before, and it’s quite something. You can see where you came from and where you’re going. Very international vibes. Lots of pack horses (not mules). We think this schedule might be too slow for us, but it was cheaper and well set up. Turned out to have the best camp one accommodation by quite some way. To bed early.

Awake at 7, for an 8am breakfast. Best Turkish breakfast we’ve had so far. Boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, three types of cheese, freshly cooked sausage, Nutella, two types of jam.

Hike up was uneventful. About three hours up, an hour at camp two, two hours down. A group of Russians were basically ditched by their guide, and slowed down two women in our group. Our guide just left them behind. Unimpressed, particularly after one person was left behind on the first day.

Camp two is a bit of a dump. All three toilets were blocked with waste (being subzero doesn’t help, apparently); only two had functioning doors. Views were good though. Could feel a difference as we approached camp two, starting to get tougher.

Not given lunch, but there was a snack selection out when we returned. Ate a lot of biscuits, nuts and watermelon.

Chatted with a British man and a Turkish man for a while. There are lots of dogs here. I don’t know what the status of their ownership is. Some of them follow the pack horses up and down. A couple of puppies have their ears cut off. We’ve heard this is to stop them getting boxer’s ears, but it’s just a bit alarming.

Another good breakfast, easy hike to camp two.

Two guides with us this time. There was also a man at camp one, we think doing the food, clearly with two Ararat. Apparently, the owners are brothers and he’s the son of one of them.

He emphasised it’s a family business, particularly in answering how much he was paid. He’s at college doing computer science, but in a different city and fuel is expensive so he only goes for the exams. Not quite sure how much studying he’s doing at that moment. Also, a couple of teenage boys hanging around the camp, maybe helping with food? No women seen at all as part of this operation. Horses constantly have their ears back. Saw someone throw a rock at them to get them to move.

Had dinner at five. Stomach immediately felt wrong and needed to go to toilet again. Continued to feel completely unsettled for 18 hours. The two guides don’t speak English. We’re getting translation through an Iranian-born member of the group, who now lives in the Netherlands. The guides are Kurdish, and speaking a dialect of Kurdish our “translator” can understand but not speak.

Offered the chance to split into fast and slow groups, but only Julia and I want to go faster. We were told strict silence from 7 pm, but I had been going to bed at 8:30 pm, so lay there awake for a while. Breathing does feel different there. Snoring started at 7:30 pm.

Woken by Julia moving about at 8:30 pm. She was really quite unwell.

Summit photo. Weird visual effect where the mountain cast a shadow over a cloud

Awake 00:30, or maybe 00:45. Not quite sure
why everyone else needs to get up so early. Has been slightly too hot during the night, and stomach wasn’t cooperating.

Put on all my layers, and went to breakfast but didn’t trust/couldn’t face much food. Left 02:00 promptly. For first hour (couple of
hours) each step hurt my abdomen, but the
pace was so slow it was step-wait-step. First
scree, then boulders, then rock through snow.
Then the amount of rock we were on decreased and it was only snow.

Sunrise was beautiful. Started to get light about 5:00.

On the ice cap

As we approached the top, it gave way to ice. We stopped to put crampons on. The sun on the ice was a wonderful light.

Summit was fun, but generally a flurry of photo taking. Views over Armenia and Iran were wonderful. Could see so far. We were up with the clouds. The view over the world is the
reason people keep going higher, I guess.
At camp 2, preparing for summit
Groups heading up the mountain
Cold on way up; way down not so bad. The
windchill was ferocious. Didn’t leave any
skin uncovered. Liner gloves and ski
miBens. Double socks. For a while, I was
too hot and took outer gloves off and
unzipped jacket, but that was changed as
we approached the summit.
Julia very unwell at the summit, but got
better coming down.

Returned to camp two, where we rested
for 90 minutes. Hardly a great place to be.
Two hour hike to camp one, where we ate
a little, and napped. Julia still looks awful, but has consumed enough water.

I wondered if I was ill with altitude sickness, but it got better as we ascended, so I think it
really was food poisoning.

On the ice cap Woke up at 6:20 am, but got up at 8 am, for what we thought was an 8:30 am breakfast. Turns out it was a 7:30 am breakfast for an 8:30 am leave. Perhaps we shouldn’t have sorted
Instagram for so long.

Hike down was uneventful, other than seeing an Australian woman, who sadly injured her ankle on the first day, ride down on a horse. If I had injured myself on the first day, I’d want to leave in style too. Given watermelon on the trailhead. Fed the skins to our horses, who seemed appreciative.

Packed ten people into a nine-person minibus. I was in a row with two huge Dutch men, who looked like rugby players, a guide and a load of baggage. Taken on a detour to avoid a short section of road. Unclear why.

Maybe roadworks. Anyway, taken around some half-built building sites, and general wasteland. Very arid here. Lovely views of Ararat; looks very cool. Turns out, after the largest disagreement Julia and I have had on this trip, Ağrı Dağı is the Turkish, and Ararat is the Armenian word. Two Kurdish guides took us up

Got given the same hotel room again. Tested the hot water immediately. Still not working. Went down to complain. They insisted the hot water works, then gave us the room next door. Hot water works, but smells of cigarette smoke. Washed clothes in sink.

Doğubeyazıt is nicer by day. Quite a lot less threatening. Because our trousers were drying, we had the incredible idea of how to be dressed to get lunch: I was in shorts, Julia was in shorts, with a headscarf tied around her waist. Never have we been stared at more. One woman, with three children, did a full turn-around as we went by. Went to bakery. Started with a lamb and pepper pide. Preferred the pepper to the lamb, but it was good. I opted for a cheese borek while Julia went potato pidesi. Borek appears to be a breakfast dish; not nearly so fresh. Nice, but I think I’ve had enough of lunchtime borek. Potato pidesi was fresh
out of the oven, but not nearly so nicely spiced as in Erzurum. Had Ayran with it. I’m getting a taste for the stuff. I had a potato pidesi. So good.

Cow’s head outside butchers. Big cow. The clothes stores were quite something. Decided to go back to hotel to change. Headed out for baklava. Went down an essentially half-built street. Some services were being changed, so the entire street was dug up. Quite something.

Went to a baklava place Julia had found, where they sold it per kilo. Ended up worth 380g. A little expensive, but so good and had some left over. Local speciality was similar to Erzurum: birds nest in a syrupy roll, but this time filled with a lot of pistachios. Much beBer. Found baklava could be made: some were rolled, while others were trays.

Saw an outdoor shop opposite, which stocked good-looking gear, but it was closed. We really need to treat our boots. Walked around the market. Lovely fruit and vegetables, and also plenty of dried fruit and seeds.

Went to a hamam. This wasn’t a beautifully tiled tourist attraction. It was the ground floor of an apartment block. Very much set up for only one gender at a time. Women were shown to a second set of changing rooms, which were apparently a storage cupboard. There was a large marble floor, but not walled, room, with basins around the walls and a large slab in the middle. Off this were a swimming pool, a sauna and a steam room, as well as a massage room with a glass wall into the pool. Men went into the steam room; never have been in a room so steamy. Couldn’t see the face of the person diagonally opposite.

Then washed body in a sink, and went to pool. After pool, an attendant beckoned me to have a scrub. First a rough glove was used for a very thorough exfoliation. Then taken to the wall where the abundant washed me down. Then came the soap. Whole body (minus trunks area) was thoroughly sponged, with a minor element of massage.

Apparently, I was groaning as he did my back. Then a wash down again, with a hair wash included. I’ve never felt so clean. Absolutely incredible. There seemed to be no order to this hamam. People just did what they pleased. Quite a different experience to that in the guidebook.

Cucumber and salt as a rehydration strategy. Left early and went to the Migros to get dinner. Tomatoes, hummus, mini breadsticks, wraps. Finished with a bit of spare baklava. Quite tired still, so early night.

Picnic stop, overlooking military training ground

Got up and had breakfast, then found out the palace was at 15:00. Shocked. Looked into Noah’s ark, but what we read said you could only see it from ~500m away. Wrote diaries for a while.

Decided to walk to Ishak Pasha Palace. Went down the crazy street again. Looked at the outdoor shop again, but it was closed. Carried on walking, and then was heckled by a man on a first story window. He was saying he would come and open the shop for us. He, and a group of friends, let us in. We asked for shoe cream, but there was none.

Picnic stop, overlooking military training ground Carried on walking. According to Google maps, we should be passing a nature reserve soon. All we could see was apartment blocks behind barbed wire. Realised it was a military base. Then passed the training ground on the right. There were some pleasant  picnic shelters with a view of the training ground, so we had a baklava break, and took some nice photos.

Carried on walking, and passed what looked like a nice cafe in an orchard, so stopped for some coffee. Good view of Ararat. Carried on walking, and realised the entire road was made of orchard cafes. LiBle beach huts as well as sea8ng. Passed the national park. First place we’ve seen with wheelchair access. All the lights smashed. Large visitor centre, which looked empty.

A tractor went past, with a man and woman inside. They indicated we could get in. Stopped the tractor. We were uncertain, but I got in. Then the tractor started again. Julia ran alongside for a while, but eventually gave up. I jumped out of the tractor. Turns out gexng out of a moving vehicle isn’t too difficult if it’s a slowly moving tractor.

Carried on walking up the hill. Lovely views of green rocks, and apparently some lovely folds. The pavement is atrocious. Uneven pavement, with large holes in it. The double line of unevenly spaced trees makes it impossible to walk in a straight line. SpoBed what looked like an abandoned hotel. Walked up to it. Huge steps, which were basically impossible to climb. Beautiful wooden ceilings, and some nice marble floors. The electricians were only half finished. Walked about. The rooms seemed quite small, and we couldn’t see any communal areas/kitchens. Just small rooms. Heard a door move in the end of the building. Ran outside, and could see which window had opened. Stayed out of sight of the window for a bit, suspecting it was the wind but not certain.

Carried on up the hill. Plenty of rubble from a previous seBlement was visible. When we got to the top, we stopped for lunch with a view of the palace. Went to explore the castle. Just some steps up from the path, and then foot paths through the rubble and the cliffs. Felt very strange, but seemed to be the established way. Could see water pipes, and also basins. Some walls intact, others not. One stone face had been blasted away, with what looked like modern diameter equipment.

Walked over to the mosque by the castle. Interesting range of brick colour. Didn’t look that old. Walked towards the palace, and then went up to the cafe on the neighbouring hill for a limonata. Great view.

Went down to join the main group, as they arrived to tour the palace. Two courtyards and then the harem. First courtyard was guard house, and dungeons. Lead into grain stores in the second courtyard, as well as servant quarters. Second courtyard also had a tomb, and a mosque, as well as state chambers. Harem contained baths, a huge kitchen and many identical rooms, plus a garden. Very pleasant, but Main Quad is 117 years older, and Rad Quad 64 years older. Lovely lighting, but mainly due to the roof being glass.

Minibus back was cramped. Turned off main road and got out. Tried olive off a tree. Would not recommend. Very flour-y. Went to yet another one of the garden-y cafes. Very lively in the evening. We sat on cushions in a wooden hut for a while, while the organisers started the barbecue. Summoned outside for food. Given a plate full of barbecued vegetables. Tomato, peppers, slightly hot pepper, aubergine. Oh, the aubergine. Ate with bread.Then came the meat. First chicken wings, which I declined, but Julia assures were good. Then the beef liver, which I also declined. Then the lamb skewers. Oh, the lamb. Marinated for 36 hours, according to a recipe he continued to refuse to divulge. Then the steak. Oh, the steak. Never had any steak so good. Again, marinated. Again, no intel on the secret method. Then what I think was brisket, but not sure. Normally slow cooked, but marinated and barbecued. Then a small piece of what I think was sirloin. That man knew how to take us on an adventure. I hadn’t expected much from the “celebration meal,” but I was taken on a journey.

He gave a few brief words, saying how things do happen on the mountain, but glad we all made it safely. Two members of the group also said a few words, thanking the group and the guides for a hood time. Then certificates were given out, and photos taken of each one. It appears each hut was owned by a family, like beach huts?

Street in Doğubeyazıt

Could hear people next door getting ready at 6. Everyone else had a 6:30 meet time, in time to catch the 9:25 flight to Istanbul. Julia couldn’t face another basic Turkish breakfast, so we went out. First place was a first storey, huge, brunch bar. When we arrived, we were the only people there, although more arrived later. Another case of overcapacity?

Menemen was thinner than last time, but a larger portion. Good stuff, although I preferred it in Ağrı. The stand-out part of the meal was the Kurdish coffee, made of pistachio instead of coffee. Menegi. Türk Kahvesi Still hungry so went to a bakery for borek. Borek is definitely a breakfast dish, and best warm. Hot potato borek is the thing. Went for an Ayran on the side. Also had the thing with pasta in. A bit like lasagne sheets stuffed with white cheese.

Went back to hotel to write diaries. Were taken to the airport shuttle by our guide, Russel. Turkish airlines run airport shuttles, timed to match the flights, to regional airports. And we can find no mention of these online. You just need to have a local guide of some variety. Shuttle bus seems to be in no rush to get to the airport. Slightly scared. Small airport. Security personnel not in uniform, wandering over to the caf. with a gun clearly in a holster. When we went to go through security, we were pulled aside for carrying… passports. Same security officer as had visited cafe used a system to try to look us up. Thought I was Irish for a while,and didn’t take our hints quickly. Put Julia’s passport number in incorrectly. Both times he checked the photo of us entering the country.

Ankara was a smooth and short layover. Toilets, find next gate and a quick airport picnic. Street in Doğubeyazıt Antalya. It’s hot here. And there are palm trees. Lots of Russians on the flight to Antalya. Tram to decathlon to get gas. Passed a lot of outlet shops. Prices in decathlon seemed the same as the UK. Had to walk a short distance. Pavement was a mess. This is not a city-designed for walking outside of the centre.

Back to tram and into the city centre. Immediate sense of wanting to escape. Lots of people, all there for a big night out. Lots of restaurants with pictures. Lots of UK prices. Lots of gold jewellery shops, which we’d also seen in the east. Gold being inflation-proof? People don’t trust banks? Got to hostel. Oh, it’s a hostel, not a hotel. It may be twice the price of a hotel in eastern Türkiye, but this place knows how to be a hostel. Greeted by one of two staff members. Oli from the UK. His colleague was Russian. I don’t think either spoke Turkish. He attempted to put our boots in the folding shoe rack. They didn’t fit. Asked to put sliders on around the hostel. Shown room, collapsed, then remembered we needed food.

Asked for food recommendations. Oli suggested two places: a fish wrap place and a kebab place. We opted for the fish wrap. Choice of about six different fishes. We both went sea bass. Very chunky salad bar. Two Turkish men grabbed a table out of queue and the front of house had an argument with them for a while. Still hungry, so went to the next place along where price and proximity were available. 30TL chips and sütla. Shower was interesting. We have stayed in some very cheap accommodation, but it has always had a working boiler, not something with a 90s oscillation between scalding and chilling. Plus, Julia’s shower apparently didn’t have a working holder. To sleep.

Sarcophagus grave, in Apollonia. I studied Herodotus at GCSE, but
was devastated to find out this was a different Apollonia to the one I
had wriCen an essay on.

Up at 6:30. LeC 7:10. Julia wanted to leave some stuff in the staff room, but then we realised staff room contained two sleeping staff members. Antalya feels like a place you’re supposed to be asleep at 7:30. Grabbed two potato rolls from a stand. Okay, but lacking filling.

Tram to the Otogar. Walked short distance to borek place. It only did borek. Two trays, sold by weight. Pieces placed on a board, with a side of pickled peppers. This borek also seemed to have the pasta-like sheets in, but was fresh and much better. Tried to go to a sok, but the times were wrong on Google.

Walked to the Migros, in the hope of getting superior food. Unconvinced. Both very crashed. Walked to bus terminal. Couldn’t see any public buses. Eventually realised that each route was being served by a private bus company, and the number displayed in the window. Found our bus. Glad to leave Antalya. After some yelling at the driver, we managed to get the bus to stop at the turning to Apollonia. Or at least, somewhere a couple of hundred metres after the turning. The driver was busy on his phone, headphones in. It took a Turkish woman in front of us to actually get him to stop.

Decided we had better things to do than hike along a road in the heat, so tried to hitchhike. First car went past. Second car accepted us. Hitchhiking within two minutes! Got dropped off at a junction that should lead to the path. Passed a pomegranate tree overhanging the road. Borrowed an overhanging pomegranate and happily walked along, eating some of the most incredible fruit I’ve ever had.

Hiked up to the hill of Apollonia. Could see some old walls. Not really on a path. Had lunch of bread and cheese. Hiked over the hill, finding the necropolis, and an old cistern. Necropolis had some lovely graves in. Sarcophagi graves are quite cool.

Exploring Apollonia – in surprisingly good condition. Hiked down to where we expected the path to be. Met a road that it turned off. Guidebook said there would be a well. A guidebook said there would also be a bucket. That’s where the issues set in. No bucket; only a ladder. We decided not to risk it. Very well-signed path. Uneven terrain though. Beautiful limestone landscape, with a deep brown earth and plenty of olive trees. Only issue was the path was hideously uneven with sharp limestone.

Exploring Apollonia – in surprisingly good condiIon

Varied between that and flat, dusty isthmus. Not a great walking area. Got to Aperlai eventually. Lovely Roman town, part of which was sunken. Saw another chunky necropolis. Went down to the water and swam through the ruins. To be perfectly honest, apart from some blocks at the edge, you couldn’t tell you were swimming in ruins. An impressive archway could be seen from the water though.

Crossed the isthmus, buying water at “the purple house.” Walked in and passed a few places catering to yachts. Darkness was failing, and we were expecting the landscape to get worse, so wild camped in a clearing not that far from some of the yacht places.

Poor terrain lead to slow progress

Alarms at 6, but it turned out to be very light anyway. The super moon did make getting to sleep more difficult, especially when we decided to go inner only. Hiked across isthmus and limestone paths for a while. Struggled with directions at several points: Kate’s description of “the White House” and “the charcoal burners” turned out to be quite unhelpful. As was a diversion from the path being marked in red, in contrast to red and white. [Note: the guidebook for the Lycian way was created by Kate Clow, a British writer who has lived in Türkiye for around twenty years, researching and setting up trails]

Got to Ucagiz, where we bought more water, as well as some limonata. We were offered a boat tour for 500TL. Never felt someone was trying to scam me more, and then I realised it was a day-long tour for a whole Åí15.

Aperlai
Poor terrain lead to slow progress
Passed pomegranate trees again going out of town. I failed to resist temptation. Hiking in the heat was difficult, and painful at times. Very little shade for a bit after leaving Ucagiz. Passed a tour boat being maintained on land. It appears they are dragged onto land for the winter. Very shallow bases to the boats. Adana had a similar one capsize in Thailand earlier this year. [Note: A mutual acquaintance from Oxford] Found a lovely cove, with a little island with a Turkish flag on. Decided it was time for a swim and lunch. Water was perfect to swim in. Had a chickpea salad. Two-hour break, and did not want to get up after it.

Hiked on. Heat got worse. Got painful. Got tough just before a village, where I was struggling so much. Straw hasn’t been working which wouldn’t have helped. Julia didn’t want to take shortcuts, even if that meant going over the ridge.

Got to village, and it turned out Kate’s route did not involve climbing a 500m ridge. Set off along what she described as a masterclass in medieval road building or something like it. Saw some lovely calcite deposits. Didn’t see a 10m tall Roman tower anywhere. Route didn’t really match what we were expecting at all. Got to the gorge at Sura, and the trail disappeared. And we didn’t get to see Sura. Not quite sure what they were playing at. Walked along the beach then hitchhiked into Demre. It was the second car that picked us up again and within 2 minutes also.

Dropped bags at pansyon. Passed an old church on the walk there. Big, old house, which appeared to not have been modernised much. Huge room, with two double beds. Marble table and armchairs was a lovely touch. Ceilings. The en-suite wasn’t en-suite, but rather there was an intermediate room with no apparent purpose. Decided to try to walk to Myra. Grabbed a durum first though: 15TL each. Excellent.

Walked past a lot of agricultural product shops, and then the greenhouses started. By the side of the road, there were oranges, pomegranates, limes, olives, avocados and banana trees. Wished I lived here full time.

Passed a Santa Claus restaurant and was slightly confused. I now understand why ancient trade in the area was principally conducted by ship, not by road. Saw an excavation of a very old church. Entry to Myra was 300TL each, and sunset was soon so we decided to come back the next day. View of rock tombs was incredible though.

Headed back into town for dinner. Wandered around and only one place seemed busy. Once we’d sat down, we saw the menu had pictures and translation, and prices to match. At that stage though, it felt too late and it was good enough. Lahmucun and aubergine kebabs – filling meal. Wandered to a nearby pastanessi, where we tried trilee. A nice sponge that has been soaked in milk and cream, and topped with a caramel. Very common in Türkiye; I’m a fan.

Cave tombs in Myra

Up at seven, and straight out to Myra again. Rock tombs were lovely. Carvings very fun.

Misinterpreting the columns, I thought it was quite a bit older than it was. It was actually a Roman amphitheatre, but all the writing was in Greek and it had Greek decoration. Incredibly well-preserved. Really enjoyed the scale of it, and that we had it to ourselves.

Headed to the otogar, and caught a bus along the coast. Had instructed the bus driver where we wanted to get off, and he obliged, dropping us right on the corner. There was a bus stop 100m away, so that was an interesting choice.

Hitched a lift towards Karaoz, but our driver – who was from the area but had lived in the US as well – wasn’t going all the way. We tried to hitch a liC again, but ended up walking much of the way. Then a bus came past. We jumped on, and the driver took us to a roundabout and told us a bus would be there in twenty minutes. We thought his bus (and initially tried to leave our bags!) Didn’t charge us.

Grabbed a 7.5TL soda water from the corner shop, and started to drink it. Then came our ride: a different bus, with a different driver, and not twenty minutes later. Confused, but not questioning, we jumped aboard and made it to Karaoz.

Had to hike along a track for a while, taking us to pirates cove, which was a popular but not crowded family beach. Turned off this track onto a well-marked trail. Half an hour up this, in the heat of the day, at quite some pace. Broke me a little.

Got to lighthouse. It’s a lighthouse. Quite a nice chain of islands at the base of  the cliffs. Guidebook claimed it had been gas-powered at the 8me of
writing, but a sign said differently. Rather confused what the book claims correctly.

Headed off into the pine forests at a more leisurely rate. Knew we were going to be benighted, but it didn’t matter. Our constant companion was an island to the east, which had naturally white sand and a supply of freshwater, so used to be important.

Got benighted. Found an abandoned campsite. Saw a scorpion. A small one as well. Makes you think twice about where you pitch your tent.

Opted not to wild camp on a beach a bit off the path. Instead went to the first viable campsite in Adrasan.

Quiet but not empty. Proprietor (Russian? No – Scandinavia?) kept referring to her Turkish staff member as ‘my staff,’ offering that he could put up our tent. We declined that and went for a fantastic orzo tomato tuna olive pasta. 500g of orzo between us. Julia made some fairly fantastic Turkish tea, which was a win.

Leisurely alarm time of 7, given our 11pm bedtime. Up and walked into Adrasan for breakfast. As promised, it was a hideous town, completely swamped by a tourist industry. Beach was full of deck chairs; you couldn’t eat in the beach; water was full of row upon row of tour boats. Bought breakfast and some lunch in a shop.

Pestered by dogs all along the beachfront. Eventually, we came to the trailhead and decided we were having breakfast regardless. Two dogs were still with us and tried to join us in the agricultural trailer. Group of Germans (?) walked by and they went to pester them.

Pleasant walk through pine forest. Interesting but not difficult terrain. Had a snack but not lunch. We named the dogs Charlie and Lola. They troubled some goats until a farmer with a gun shouted at them. We met a British couple who also had dogs accompany them, and realised we had got a good deal in our travelling companions. Lola ditched us half of the way in, but Charlie went a bit further. Just Charlie was lovely; Lola was a troublemaker.

Came down into ’the back entrance’ of Olympos. Otherwise known as a hole in the fence. Explored some cliff tombs. Walked down into a row of tombs and had some pomegranate. Explored some mostly unexcavated ruins, including an amphitheatre and bath house. Went to the house with mosaics. Maybe there were mosaics there, but it was mostly forest inside so we couldn’t see.

Then crossed the river to the ‘main’ ruins. From the tree roots at the top of buildings, we assume this used to be in the same condition as the other side of the river: swamped by forest. Now it’s a pleasant dry and bleached look. Fun mushroom-shaped doorways.

Overgrown amphitheatre in Olympos Excavated area of Olympos, with mushroom-shaped arches

Decided to get a campsite for the night. Swam then had shakshuka with bulgar. As sun set, we hiked up to chimera. A whole 28TL entrance fee! Then counting down in one hundred metre increments to coax the tour bus groups up. And then flames coming out of the rocks. About four clusters at the ‘lower flame’. We toasted marshmallows, then boiled water for coffee. Julia roasted more, but I just enjoyed the scenery. Perfect end to a trip.

Woke up, and considered our breakfast options. Every pansyon seemed to have a cafe/restaurant attached, all of which seemed fairly identical. We made some Turkish tea to stall until they would be open. Searched for menemen.

Found some eventually. Price outside was 90TL. An eco- hotel with some delighful gardens. Asked price; proprietor opened menu, saw it wasn’t there and named 110TL. We said it was 90TL outside. He apologised and said we would pay 90TL. And there was unlimited tea. Really quite good tea. Menemen was good. Nice amount of peppers. Tried to get golzeme but failed everywhere. Maybe a lunch thing? Bought some simit and a sachet of tahini and molasses. What a combination. Should have that with toast more often.

Went for a swim in the sea. Heard thunder from a distance, so returned. Hoped the wind changing would give us a five-minute warning for rain. Rain started as we packed up the fly.

Hid under the canopy of a permanent tent. Realised the bus was in five minutes and ran for it. Dolmus seemed to be doing the rounds of the hotels. We took a convoluted route around.

Police car with blue lights was behind us for a while. The driver didn’t seem to notice for a while. He indicated for the police to do past, but they didn’t. Maybe they just do the lights for fun. Rain got horrendous. Inside of windscreen misted up, and the driver and a woman in the front were frantically wiping it, with little effect. I’ve never seen someone drive in so poor visibility. Driver didn’t take us to the normal bus stop, but one down the road with a shelter. Awful rain!

Bus to Antalya was uneventful. At one point it stopped for a (smoking) break. Julia tried to buy borek, but none of the good stuff was available. Borek really is a breakfast food. At otogar, ended up getting some extraordinarily expensive potato borek.

Quite good, but 80TL is far too much for borek. Back to hostel, where we crashed for a bit before trying to get Dibek coffee. We thought it was spiced and with thickener. Turns out it’s just stone ground. Rather confused.

After failing to get Dibek coffee, we walked on to find the final dishes we wanted to try: Gozleme and semolina halva. Found a cafe in a street full of wedding dresses, with sequins.

It had Dibek coffee, but that just refers to it being stone ground. Don’t know what the coffee with cinnamon and other spices and mastic gum is. Ordered Gozleme and Turkish-filled pasta, served with yogurt and melted butter. Incredible, although would have been good with a side salad. Gozleme was nice, but was ultimately a cheesy flatbread. Paid and walked back towards the centre of town, in hope of finding halva. Found a halva place, that was claiming some heritage and had 1938 on the sign. Building it was under didn’t looked 85 years old, but premises can change. The semolina halva we got was pistachio. BoBom half of the tub was ice cream; top was warm pistachio semolina pudding. Absolutely incredible. Slightly too much semolina for the ice cream, but so good.

Wondered if a rose water ice cream would have helped. Anyway: so good.

Still feeling slightly hungry, and had spotted a dessert place just up the road offering Kunefe, which we’d seen advertised a lot but never tried. Birds nest pastry, with plenty of syrup, and filled with a cheese similar to mozzarella. Lovely. Probably my favourite of the baklava so far, with the exception of tahini and cherry. Lovely evening out.

Up. Got to airport. Had to go through entry security and airport security. Caught first flight. Went through transfers and security again. Got to gate, and they were operating random checks. Julia got pulled aside for a really quite thorough check through her bag. And the Roman ruins of Hadrian’s gate, casually watching life go by on a busy street in Antalya weren’t using the swab machine correctly. Reusing single-use swabs. In total went through four layers of security, but none of them seemed to be particularly good.