This is dedicated to you, my beloved, thanks for showing me around. So we started between two continents, in a vibrant city next to the beautiful Bosporus – Istanbul. I heard so much about this city, about spice markets and chai shops, colourful clothes and kebabs.

Actually, Istanbul is full of cats. Literally everywhere you find them wandering around. I turned out to be a big cat lover, cause most of them are young and really cute. So before you buy a well bred one from the next shop, you better go to Istanbul and rescue one;) What I love about Istanbul as well is the Ezan – or call to prayer. We had an Airbnb which was located on one of Istanbuls hills, close to the Taksim square, which had a rooftop. After sunset, from all mosques (we started counting, but you’ll never finish spotting new mosques) we could listen to the evening prayer, echoing and repeating from all sides. Wow!, what an experience.

What is even more present than mosques and Turkish cats are Turkish flags. You see them everywhere: on balconies, on boats, on cars, on restaurants and in empty landscapes. It’s crazy. Especially for a German, cause we only raise our flag while there is a European Championship. So you’ll never forget being in Turkey while being in Turkey cause you constantly get reminded by the red flag with the white half-moon and a star. 

Typical for Turkey, moreover, is a circular bread, crusted with sesame, which is called Simit. It’s really delicious and goes well with drinking a chai (black tea), which everybody is drinking here everywhere, all day long. So basically, you wake up, go to a coffee shop close to the Bosporus, drink your chai and eat your Simit and just chill mate! If that’s not enough to feel like life is great, Istanbul has a lot of culture and history to offer.

KONYA

After enjoying this colourful city for a while, we were traveling from Istanbul to the coast and got of in Konya, where we visited the tomb of Dschalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī and his beloved friend Schams-e Tabrizi. There’s nothing else to see in this city, but that’s enough for your soul and mind anyway. I’ve been very touched by the poems of Rumi for a long time now, and being able to be at the place where he lived and taught is quite moving. His grave is so beautiful, full of colours and feels really majestic.

In the evening we were able to see the last bit of Sama, the traditional Sufi dance of a Mevelevi ceremony. If you don’t know it, go look it up, cause it’s magical watching those man spin around themselves, again, and again, and again… From Konya you can easily go to Cappadocia, which is probably the most famous, Instagram hyped, tourist place in Turkey. But it’s easier going by car and we really wanted to cool ourselves down at the sea, since it was incredibly hot. So we continued our way of traveling from Istanbul to the coast.

We took a bus from Konya to Alanya, a city by the sea very close to Antalya. We had this fancy Airbnb which was full of cockroaches, cucarachas in Spanish, which is a far nicer word for this very nasty animal. Moreover, there were too many German speaking people down there, like you really had to look what you said aloud, but one should do that anyway, cause what you say is what you are, right?

ÇIRALI

And then we found paradise. I mean, driving west down the coast is already stunning. I feel like it’s a must-do for any T1-driving couple. But finding an oasis of tranquility, overwhelming beauty and empty beaches is a highlight. The very secret and heartwarming place is called Çıralı (something like “Jeeraly”). Basically, it’s a really quiet place with no big hotels or shopping malls, but a lot of magic and mystery in the air. There are a lot of camping places and bungalows and cheap restaurants.

At the same beach further down, an ancient hidden village is placed, called Olympos. Next to it there’s a village too. And on the other side of the valley, called Yanartas, there are ever-burning fires coming out of the rocky ground – nature is amazing, isn’t it? I’m pretty sure it’s from one of those Olympos guys of the past having fire competitions. To describe it in more depth and sincerity:

Green, impressive mountains are touching the sea with their feet. Their coat of forest and rocks encase their formations in a gentle way. Their silhouettes at night remember of camel stools and the plain in between them feels like the palm of Pacha Mamas hand holding the humans and their constructions. I guess he stopped counting how often I said “Wow, this is so so beautiful!” (and that means something, I gotta tell you).

And at night, there was no light pollution to stop the stars and the milky way from shining. Have you ever took a swim at night? It feels like you’re stepping out from time and space into a reality which consists of you, the black field and many lights at the end of many tunnels. I guess, there’s nothing left to say, except Elhamdullilah – thank you, universe, for this experience.