Hatay/Antakya/Antioch

Position: 36°12’41″N 36°10’25″E Cordoned off by the police, the crowd hung back behind makeshift barricades at our hotel’s entrance. A big red and gold tour bus was the focus of most people’s attention, including the cops. That allowed us to …

Brown Signs

(Click on the map to enlarge it) Position: 36°54’08.0″N 36°44’44.3″E Brakes screeching, smoke and dust billowing from under her rear tyres, Clio, our trusty Renault, juddered to a halt. Coaxing her into reverse we pulled back for another view of …

English Practice

Position: 36°12’29″N 36°10’06″E Tourism in eastern Turkey dropped off sharply 10 years ago. The conflict in Syria, the rise and fall of ISIS, and long-standing internal struggles between the Kurds and the Turkish government meant Southeastern Anatolia was broadly off …

Of Marginal Value

The real joys of travel are found in the margins. No matter where you’re headed, a national park, an ancient monument, a museum displaying the pedestrian origins of civilisation, the things you take away are the things that engage you …

Pigeons

Position: 37°08’54″N 38°47’20″E Hiking down Rose Canyon just outside Göreme took us along its arroyo’s tortured course to an open plain five kilometres distant. In a heavy rainstorm it would be deadly. Water must cascade over the huge boulders then …

Carol’s Gang

Position: 36°49’11″N 28°18’25″E Wild boars aren’t the first animals one thinks of as pets. In Europe they’re more comestible than companion. Turkey, however, is 99% Muslim and pork simply isn’t on the menu. (One wonders how ex-pat Germans survive – …