02/08/2006
Turkey Country
Middle East
» Turkey
I went twice to Turkey. The first trip was in 1986 and took 7 weeks. At that time, the mosque of Dogubayazit was on the cover of the Lonely Planet guide, so I definitely wanted to see that. I went from Istanbul over Cappadocia to Eastern Turkey (Trabzon - Kars - Dogubayazit - Van - Diyarbakir - Nemrut Dagi) and then along the coast (Alanya - Kas - Fethiye - Selcuk - Efese - Pamukkale -Afrodisias) and back to Istanbul. OK, 1986 was a long time ago, but I'm trying hard to get updates through the LP Thorn tree section and through "Wegwijzer travelinfo", an independent organisation for travellers in Bruges, Belgium.
Comments [1]
There is a tourist office where you can get a free map of the city, as well as info on how to get to the center.
Arriving at the international airport, you first have to take a free bus to the nearby airport for local flights. these buses used to leave every 10 minutes, but recent reports say they are running very infrequently nowadays, giving local taxidrivers the chance to earn 4 US$ in transferring you. Otherwise you might walk the 5 minutes if you don't have too much luggage. 
Getting to Cappadocia from Istanbul is pretty straightforward. I took a nightbus twice. The bus was not full, so you did have some space to sleep. Make sure you have a sweater or sleeping bag at hand. It might be hot when you leave, but at night it can get cold, especially if they put the AC on.
From Istanbul you can get dropped at any destination in Cappadocia, even the smallest village like Uchisar is OK. 
Kayseri is the economical capital of Cappadocia, but only few tourists visit it, and if they do, it's usually just as a transit town.
If you are waiting for your next connection further East, there are some more or less interesting sights to be seen. People are also extremely hospitable, although it's sometimes difficult to make a distinction between the friendly people and the carpet sellers who will undoubtedly approach you. 
There are regular buses from Kayseri to Sivas, the trip takes a bit less then 3 hours.
In Sivas you will have to wait a bit for the connection to Divrigi, as buses are not so frequent (Divrigi is at the end of a dead end road). The trip is only 170 km, but it still took almost 4 hours. At the time (1986), the last 70 km where a dirt track. 
You could come overland. In 2 days (or less if you include a nightbus), you can make the trip from Istanbul. This costs a bit less then 30 US$.
There are regular plains from Istanbul.
There's also a ferry making regular stops on the way once a week.