There is much to discover in Turkiye if you drive through the country instead of flying from one city to another. — Mazda/dpa
Few vacationers travel to Turkiye for a road trip. Most tourists fly to Bodrum or Antalya for a sunny holiday or to splurge in Istanbul. Yet, Turkiye holds plenty of adventures for all those who love a good road trip along spectacular unspoilt routes.
Try the following, if you dare.
1. D.915, hairpin bends for thrill-seekers
Muster up some courage, if you decide to take the D.915 road in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast.
Built by the Russians in 1916, the route is notorious as the “most dangerous road in the world” to be tackled only by seasoned drivers or daredevils, says the Dangerousroads.org website.
This narrow, tarmac road starts off gently and winds through tea plantations in the coastal mountains. The bends become even sharper further inland and the gaps in the tarmac larger.
The tarmac ends behind a tea room in Caykara full of locals agog at all those arriving who are nuts enough to tackle the route. The nearby highlight is the Derebasi Turns or the 13 photogenic hairpin bends that wind their way up to the Soganli Pass at an altitude of 2,035m. This is the only link to Bayburt on the other side of the mountains.
Some bends are exposed, while others seem to be carved deep into the rock. You climb more than 300m in altitude in just 5km with gradients of up to 17% that are terrifyingly narrow.
And as if the treacherous, unsecured route with 29 hairpin bends – 16 of which lead down the other side of the pass – wasn’t adventurous enough, drivers have to grapple with all four seasons in just one day. No wonder the D.915 is closed on average six months a year.
Yet the open road has a surprising almost alpine plateau at the top of the pass on the way to Bayburt – for those who persevere.
2. Stone Road from Kemaliye near the Euphrates River
The next adventure lies 300km south-west along the Kemaliyes Stone Road down to the wild Euphrates River. A track winds its way through a gorge that is many hundred metres deep and often so narrow that the sun only shines on the bottom for a few minutes a day. No fewer than 38 unlit tunnels in 9km await drivers. Many are so narrow you can barely fit a hand between the mirror and the stone.
Every few metres, large gaps open up to give you breathtaking views of the gorge and the river. Resist the temptation to stop as oncoming traffic can be dangerous. You are best off driving at a snail’s pace which lets you enjoy the view safely too.
The history of the road linking up to central Anatolia is just as galvanising. Faced with authorities who thought the road was too complicated and expensive to build, in 1870 the locals grabbed picks and shovels themselves, says a local innkeeper.
Impressed by their labour, the state stepped in and “Stone Road finally opened in 2002 – after merely 132 years”, he says.
Goreme in Cappadocia is where you will find these chimneys, some of which are 20m high. — THOMAS GEIGER/dpa
3. Cappadocia route and photos, motifs
Venture to Goreme in arid Cappadocia. The erosion of 30-million-year-old volcanic ash has created a fairytale landscape full of cones or chimneys, some of which are over 20m high.
The soft rock has served as cave dwellings and houses for people down through the millennia. The two mountains at the entrance to Uchisar could be mistaken for ancient Turkish twin towers. You can even find “hotel rooms” in caves.
A “cave suite” comes with air conditioning and plush carpets. This underground world is full of beautiful churches and entire cities where Christians once took refuge from Arabs.
Nowadays, hot air balloons with tourists aboard dot the skies at sunrise, creating the most famous photo motif in Cappadocia. – dpa
