May-June 2024

​

Gorgeous but over-touristed.​​​​​

​​

The sailboat rocks under the full moon as I try to sleep on the deck. It's after midnight, and still roasting hot. I jump into the black Mediterranean, close my eyes, and let the water drown out the heat, the noise, and the sweat. I climb back onto the boat, lay down on the deck, and the hot breezes dry me in moments. It's a blissfully sleepless night in June as we sail the southwest coast of Turkiye.​

​

*****

​

When Turkiye was Turkey, it was an exotic land, fabled among travelers, as a metaphorical bridge out of the familiar confines of Europe and into the enticing lands of the Middle East and Asia.

Nowadays, however, Turkiye is one of the world's most visited countries, and while it's quite beautiful, it's no longer exotic, authentic or even really that traveler-friendly. Now it's tourist-friendly.

​

Suhei and I came with high hopes, but found that everything is just about tourism. We only traveled in western Turkiye, so I can't speak for the entire nation, but we were surprised how expensive it has become, how modern it now is, and how many tourists were in every village, town and city. Every place you try to visit has admission fees, guides, tours, and free pamplets. Souvenir shops are everywhere. Restaurants in every town seem to be overpriced fast food.

​

Despite this mass tourism approach, we were also surprised to find absolutely no one spoke English. I don't expect anyone to speak English - I certainly don't speak Turkish - but for all the tourism in Turkiye, and the vast amounts of locals that earn a living from it, I was left in wonder how locals can work with tourists without speaking the global language. In nearly every other mass tourism country - Mexico, for instance - there seems to always be some locals that speak some English. In our three weeks in Turkiye, we didn't meet anyone that spoke English besides our Airbnb host in Istanbul. As such, it was difficult to connect with the locals.

​

Furthermore, we were extremely disappointed to see how many people smoke in Turkiye. Nearly every man and plenty of women smoke continuously. Young people, teenagers, old people... everyone smokes. Inside, outside, at gas stations, bus stations, on the beach, footpaths, and every other place. In a world that's been consistently moving away from cigarettes, it's a shame to see a country where nearly every teenager is already addicted.

 

Gripes aside, we still had a blast. We spent some time in Istanbul, then took an overnight bus to Cappadocia for a few days before heading down to Antalya and then sailing the coast up to Fethiye on an organized trip. The waters of the Mediterranean were, and are, absolutely majestic.