Ottoman Turkey

I would've loved to head further east towards Middle Eastern Turkey. However, since I had a flight to catch in a few days, I had to turn back. Not directly though. I decided to take a detour to Safranbolu.

From Kahta, I took the night bus to Ankara, and then switched buses. Safranbolu's bus station is a bit out of the way. But Turkey's buses are awesome in dealing with that – they provide free shuttle service to the town center. I finally had the chance to take one. Not that it was anything special...just a minivan with the bus company logo.

Safranbolu is known for its traditional Ottoman architecture and saffron (hence the name). Not much to do there, except enjoy wandering through the narrow cobblestoned lanes and admiring the houses. You can go into some of these houses, as they have been converted into museums. But why bother paying an admission fee when the hostel I was staying at was a perfectly fine example of an Ottoman home! It was so beautiful, with dark, old wooden ceilings, walls, and floors.
The best part of all was the family running the place. They had this little baby boy, and it was wonderful to listen to both parents take turns singing traditional lullabies while rocking their handmade cradle. So peaceful... Something like that seems so rare these days.

There's this hill in town that provides an excellent view of the area. You can go most of the way up on your own, but to get to the "summit", which is probably only approximately 50m higher, you need to pay 2YTL. OK, it's not much cash, but honestly, what difference can 50m make?! I was happy with the view anyways, so I decided not to pay. But when I returned to the hostel, another traveler told me that for the small fee, I get a complimentary drink up there. Not a bad deal... The following day, I went up there again. Hehe. Did a fair bit of reading on the bench while enjoying the view and a cup of tea.

Safranbolu has GREAT food. Even though the options were limited during the day due to Ramadan, no worries. I commuted to the same place for lunch 2 days in a row. They served this absolutely delicious ravioli-ish thing with sour yogurt. Sounds a bit weird, but let me tell you...it's YUM! And there's this other place a bunch of us from the hostel went out to one night that had tiny freshly made dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). Again, covered with sour yogurt. More YUM.
Of course I tried their famous saffron tea as well...rather tasteless in my opinion. Have had better teas for sure.

So, after my 1 night, 2 days stay in Safranbolu, I boarded another night bus back to Istanbul. My last. I've counted – 5 overnight bus rides in 2 weeks. Sigh.