About Turkey Information - 1

Turkey has recently experienced a boom in its tourism industry and many holidaymakers from the west who once went to the Greek Islands now favour the Turkish Mediterranean shores.

Beaches, boat trips, scenic ruins and natural countryside are just some of the attractions; good food, low budget accommodation and generous hospitality follow closely behind. The country has a high rural population and travelling around remote villages is like stepping back in time: farming methods rely on the wooden plough and the hand scythe, and many of the old traditions and crafts such as carpet making and weaving are still a way of life. In tourist centres and major cities the atmosphere is more Western and the regular cry of the müezzin is one of the few reminders that Turkey is an Islamic country with a 99 per cent Moslem faith.

This blog is divided into ten interconnecting routes which cover the chief places of interest as well as lesser known attractions. Each route is subdivided into stages; each stage can usually be covered in the day, and ends in a place where overnight accommodation is availlable. It requires at least 6 weeks to get around the entire country. Most visitors on a short holiday break limit their travel to the beaches andd classical ruins along the south coast but an increasing number of people are also exploring the central and eastern areas as they lowly become more developed.

The Weather and Seasons

Turkey has four distinct seasons dispelling the common myth that it is a land of sun and sand 52 weeks of the year. Winters are as long and bleak as in any other part of Europe, and in the central and t eastern regions entire villages are cut off by snow for up to 3 months of the year, which limits winter-time travel for the visitor to the east.

The coasts remain snow-free and the warmest winters are along the Mediterranean where the temperature rarely drops below 6'C (43' F).
In spring the weather is variable and there is often a deal of rain interspersed with warm sunny days. The countryside passes through a brief spell of being lush and green before the long hot summer droughts set in.
Sun screen protection is essential for visitors travelling to Turkey in the summer and care should be taken to avoid dehydration as temperatures can reach up to 45'C (113•F). Along the coast, evenings are often uncomfortably hot and humid. The air is cooler inland on the high altitude plateaux and a long-sleeved shirt or light jackets are recommended for the evenings. In early autumn it is still warm enough to swim on the south coast. In October the Mediterranean Sea has an average temperature of 25'C (7TF).

The Terrain

Turkey is composed of a number of high plateaux surrounded by mountain ranges. The Black Sea Coast Mountains known as the Pontic Alps drop steeply into the sea leaving a very narrow coastal strip. The Mediterranean coast is dominated by the Taurus Mountains which swing inland and meet up with. The Pontic Alps to form the mountainous eastern region. The two coasts offer contrastingly different landscapes, the Black Sea coast is covered with verdant forest, the south coast has typically Mediterranean vegetation with olives, oleander and dry herb shrubs.
As the major mountain ranges have an east-west orientation, travel from the north to the south is difficult. A number of passes cross the mountains but most roads keep to the plateaux or follow the coasts. Off the main roads rough tracks, suitable for jeeps, lead to the more remote villages. Unfortunately there are no maps showing tracks or paths but the countryside is ideal walking terrain and the only hazards to look out for are the occasional guard dog or snake.
Agriculture is as varied as the landscape with banana plantations in the deep sheltered bays along the eastern Mediterranean shore, vast fields of cotton in the rich alluvial plains surrounding Adana and Mersin, endless fields of cereal crops on the central plateau, and abundant olive groves along the Aegean The land in the east is poor and degraded and is only suitable for grazing sheep and goats.