Dispatches - 12 October 2025 - Flying through Turkey

In this dispatch

- Weekly Dispatch

- Latest YouTube Videos

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Weekly Dispatch

Well, I apologized, then I went and did it again. I missed the dispatch and posts last week. I really need to get better about that. Just a consequence of my rapid pace through Turkey. It seems like I blink and it's Thursday, then blink again and it's Monday. I'm enjoying Turkey, but the schedule I've put myself on is demanding. Fortunately, I've at least settled into a rhythm: travel day, two days in a city (or three if I need to do laundry), travel day, repeat. Fortunately, my long travel days are over for the next few weeks, so I can (and should) use that time to rest and catch up on admin tasks, like writing, editing videos, and making preparations for the next stretch.

It really is hard to believe that I have been in Turkey a month already. In that month, I have: arrived in Izmir, flown to Diyarbakir before taking a bus to Mardin, toured Mardin, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Elazig, Harput, Kayseri, Sivas, Konya, and Afyonkarahisar, had many interviews with the police, and learned a ton about Islam, the first three caliphates, and their interaction with the Seljuk and Byzantine empires. Naturally, I've also watched a bullfight or two. The European season ends tonight, so that will be a thing of the past for the next few months. At least I get to celebrate the Dia de Hispanidad with Borja Jimenez performing in Jaen on Canal Sur while I sit in Afyon.

Now to the details on the past two weeks.

I left Sanliurfa only to be stuck on the highway. A tractor trailer wrecked out and was laying perpendicular across the road, blocking all traffic going towards Diyarbakir. That usually wouldn't have been an ordeal, but my final destination wasn't Diyarbakir; it was Elazig. I had to change busses. After an hour and a half, we got moving again, but I missed the bus. Lucky for me, there was one more that night.

I didn't spend much time in Elazig. I only had one full day there, which after Sanliurfa was grating. I resolved then that I would change the schedule to avoid these whirlwind city tours. The one day I had in Elazig, I didn't even spend there. I walked the ninety minutes up the hill to Harput, the original city in the area. Harput has been occupied for centuries upon centuries. When the Byzantines arrived, they deemed the city indefensible because it lacked city walls. True enough, but it was on a hill overlooking the entire area. That non-interest translated to empire after empire, leaving Harput more or less alone as the caliphates and empires traded territory. That didn't mean there wasn't cultural impact; the Ottomans established a large bath house there (which, today, is a museum). But as is the case with time, it marched on, and in the 1800s, Elazig was established down the hill, and the people of Harput migrated to the new city. Now, Harput is just a local tourist spot, and even that is a stretch. It is a desolate town, especially with the temperature cooling. It has a distinct ghost town feel, as there are shops, restaurants, and mosques, but they are mostly empty and sit next to roads to nowhere and crumbling houses left behind.

Next up was Kayseri, which is about the exact opposite of Harput and Elazig. Kayseri has maintained its historical heritage, going to great lengths to preserve and/or repurpose the remains of empires past. Its madrasas, once Islamic education institutions, are now local cafes and shops, military bunkers now house Red Crescent missions, and almost every historical building or general thing has a plague in Turkish and English explaining it. Sanliurfa was a great place to learn about Islam's roots; Kayseri was a great place to see the collision of Byzantine, Seljuk, Christian, and Islamic life. Seljuk tombs dot the city with carparks built around them, the old Armenian church now houses a public library, and the castle walls are restored and stand resolute around the old city. Just outside of the old city, new and old meet with large supermarkets and Starbucks' next to traditional markets and local food stands. And, off in the distance, is the new part of the city, with its huge malls and outlet stores. It was one of my favourite cities to visit in Turkey so far, from an educational, religious, and personal perspective.

As with all cities that attract tourists, there were old men trying to peddle their wares. I met two carpet salesmen who were quite persistent. One was the typical hassler. He would see me, try every trick, reason, and excuse to get me into his shop, and then walk away irritated when I wouldn't come. You have to remember, saying "no" in Turkish is considered rude, so you have to do this whole dance. I run into guys like this one in almost every city; he was just the most persistent. The second guy was named Ahmet, and he played the long game. He saw me, and talked to me about the tomb I was seeing and the nearby church. Then, he invited me to tea, but did not try to sell me anything. He insisted we meet for tea the next day. We did, and he took me around town a bit. I had things to see and do, so I excused myself for a siesta after several hours. He wanted to meet up again the next day for tea and to show me his shop. I agreed, but didn't go. I felt bad for lying to him, but I wasn't going to buy anything from him, and I really didn't want to waste any more time. Not that Ahmet was a bad guy; he wasn't. He was genuinely interesting and excited to share his city with a foreigner. We talked a lot of history, which he liked. At the end of the day, Ahmet was just an old man with not much else to do. He was retired, his sons were off at university, and now all he has is a carpet shop (which he doesn't even need, because he did well for himself in his other ventures). I was an exciting, brief reprieve from mundane goings on for him. None of that is meant to degrade or insult him. I truly was a great guy.

Next up was Konya. To get there, we had to drive through Göreme, where I had visited a year and a half before. During my visit, there was hardly anyone around. It was January and cold, so tourism was at its low point. Not this time. Göreme is a small town, but that didn't keep a traffic jam from forming as tour bus, transport bus, and cars filled the streets alongside hordes of tourists visiting Cappadocia. While it would be cool to visit Göreme when it was bustling, I was glad to have the experience I did. There were just far too many people there.

Konya was by far the most modern city so far in Turkey. As an example, its public transport system was actually on Google Maps (and mostly accurate). That hadn't been the case at all since I landed in Turkey, so it was a very nice luxury. A tram took me from the bus station to the centre of town, and my hotel was across the street from all of the main sites. Funny, though, was that everything seemed to be under renovation or restoration at once. It became a running joke in my GoPro recordings (stay tuned!). I appreciate the preservation efforts; just not that there is apparently a renovation season that happened to occur during my visit. Still, I toured some beautiful mosques, walked through bazaars and markets (some still old fashioned, others brought into modernity), and found some good, local places to eat food. I also found Beyti, a special type of kebab that is absolutely delicious, so that was exciting (I had it twice!).

In Konya, I began to wonder about this trip through Turkey. While interesting, it seemed like all I had done in terms of Islamic history was read a book (which has been great) and go to mosques. I couldn't see the collision with Christianity, I hadn't visited Ottoman palaces or Seljuk homes, and I felt like I was missing out. Then, I thought about Spain. There was hardly any evidence of the Córdoba Emirate left. There are no grand mosques, only a handful of castles (which were repurposed for Christian use after the Reconquista, and no memorials or remembrances of the former occupier of the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Christianity and Spain had won out, and the Islamic empire which once occupied the peninsula was left to history. The same was true in Turkey. The caliphates had ruled in Turkey for nearly 1300 years when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. After that, Turkey secularized, Westernized, and moved on. Even the language is different now. But even before, as empires changed hands, so did power over architecture and preservation efforts. The grand mosques of old remain, but even then, many of the Ulu Camis (literally, "grand mosque") are tucked away in neighbourhoods away from modern or later monstrosities, diminishing (if not erasing) their importance in the community. Still, I have learned a lot, especially about the history of Islam, so the journey has been worth it.

Looking ahead, I've got about two more weeks of exploring Turkey as I make my way to Erdine. After that, I'm going to settle in Istanbul for two weeks to relax, recuperate, read, and write. I've got plenty of admin tasks to do, and I'm already thinking of the coffee shop I'm going to spend a lot of time in doing it. Plus, I won't be done reading the Qur'an by then, so I can park myself in quiet neighbourhood mosques to read and digest Islam's Revelation. (Don't worry, friends; I'm not converting. Far from it. I'm just learning.)

Just on the details of long-term travel, I know some people would be interested in the budget situation. I'm off the tourism path out here. I've stayed in one hostel (in Mardin), and it was the only one in the city. Since then, there have only been hotels. My budget has been stretched, but not quite broken, as a result. While it has been nice to have my own room to edit videos (I've really caught up), I do miss staying in shared rooms with other people. What has been a budget-breaker, though, is taxis. Public transport in many Turkish cities exists, but finding their details is a quest all on its own. I've started to get the hang of it, but for the first several cities, I was burning through budget on taxi fare to and from the bus station. In addition, bus fares aren't expensive, but they are also frequent. I'm averaging a 15 USD expense every few days (30 USD, in some cases). I have no idea how that is affecting the budget. Those are all paid with card, and I'll figure it out later. That probably surprises most people, as I am such a stickler for the budget, but that's just the decision I've made.

So that's the catch-up from the last two weeks. Down and dirty, but that's the gist! If you haven't checked out the YouTube channel, all of my Camino de Santiago vlogs are up, so go check them out!

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