Halloween 2023: Solo Travel to Turkey

Another long weekend in the first week of November. Since Middle East is close by (Tunisia was my official location that time), so I picked Turkey. 5 days (Nov 1-5, 2023) may not be enough to fully enjoy this beautiful country, but I picked Istanbul and Cappadocia to tip a toe in the water.

Had few attempts to visit Turkey; I applied for a e-visa once to conduct training for South Sudan customers of FreeBalance. Just like my previous attempts, the training never realized.

This 2023 trip had finally happened.

Istanbul

Turkey for me is at first an interesting intercontinental country; having both European and Asian sides. I came to realize that it is much more amazing! Turkish history, culture and tourism is incredible and a lot, so I started my journey with Istanbul and Cappadocia.

What's amazing for me when I travel to another country is the interconnected transport. Why? Because it made traveling around easier. Istanbul City has Metro - Tram - Tour Bus - Tour Boat connections. It was easy to move around. Hope this connection expands to all other cities; bullet trains will complete sooner than later.

Sultanamet Square 

Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour

Bhosphorus River Cruise

The famous Bosphorus Strait that separates Europe from Asia comes more alive at night with the Dinner Cruises. I booked one and shared a table with a retired farmer from Australia, 2 Indian young adults from London, and another Indian from Mumbai. The dinner comes with entertainment while cruising the "lake" of Turkish traditional dances.

Cappadocia

I took a local flight to Cappadocia and stayed in one of the Cave hotels. My first morning was supposed to be the hot air balloon ride, but it was canceled due to bad weather. I never get a new schedule so I just watched the flights the next morning. 

Hot Air Balloon

Green Tour

In Cappadocia, the Red Tour covers sights like Devrent Valley, Monks Valley, Avanos, Goreme Open Air Museum, & Uchisar Castle. The Green Tour covers Ihlara Valley, Selime Monastery, Pigeon Valley, & Derinkuyu Underground City. Due to limited time, I only joined the latter.

Open Air Museum

The best and never-to-be-missed attraction in Cappadocia, Goreme particularly, is the rock formations where stone karsts were carved in the ancient times to become man caves or houses nowadays. There are a lot of panoramic sites to get a vantage view of this wonder: 1-Love Valley, 2-Pigeon Valley, 3-Atay Panorama, and 4-Cave Hotels' Rooftops.

When I learned that my return flight was canceled, I took the bus that night to be able to arrive in Istanbul the morning after because I have to fly back to Tunis by lunchtime.