#3) Çanakkale Challenges & Ayvalik Adventures

The Lonely Planet guidebook that I flipped through briefly from the shelf of my Istanbul hostel’s modest book collection made out the trip to Çanakkale to be a breeze - it was as simple as a ferry across the Sea of Marmara to Bandirma and a quick transfer over to a bus to take you the remaining 3 or so hours to the port city of Çanakkale.

Suuuuuuure.

This “short jot” was when I learned not to place all my faith in everything written in a guidebook – after all, the authors have a vested interest in making travel seem exotic, exciting and (most importantly) easy.

Luckily, however, I had the good fortune of meeting a very kind Turkish University student on the ferry and we talked for the whole 2 hours, alternating between broken English and sign language. He informed me (unlike the guidebook) that I had to get on a municipal bus to take me to the bus station that was located multiple miles away on the outskirts of the small city in order to catch the bus to Çanakkale.

Once I was on the bus and served çay (tea – pronounced “chai”) and cookies I figured all was right in the world and I would just hop off at my destination and easily find my hostel right in the center of the city. But, alas, in the darkness of the early evening when my bus pulled up to Çanakkale, I discovered that the bus station here was also located multiple miles from the city’s center. With no other option, I followed my intuition (aka the other passengers) onto a much smaller bus which was about the size of one that a nice hotel would use to shuttle its guests to a nearby airport.

Wide-eyed and confused, I made quick friends with the duo packed next to me – a pair of Iraqi refugees who had pegged me for an American as soon as I stepped foot on the minibus. They were also nice enough to inform me (unlike the guidebook) that this bus would be able to drop me off at the city center. So ultimately I made it to Çanakkale safely with the help of some awesome people, but not without a constant, overarching feeling that I had no idea what the hell I was doing all along the way.  

 The view across the straight from Çanakkale. The sandy-colored building is a castle built during the early years of the Ottoman Empire

The Dardanelles Straight which passes through Çanakkale is the busiest shipping lane in the world - it connects the Aegean & Mediterranean seas to the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus Straight (which runs through Istanbul) to the Black Sea 

After almost two weeks of travel, I’ve come to discover that this is what solo-traveling feels like sometimes – and it’s totally okay. You may not know exactly what you’re doing at any one particular moment, but you will get by just fine if you’re patient, use your intuition, maintain your flexibility, humble yourself, and ultimately draw upon a healthy sense of humor.

But enough about the moral of the story – you want to read about all the adventures I’ve had for the past week! And adventure I found both in Çanakkale along the Dardanelles Straight and in Ayvalik a little farther south on the Aegean coast.

While in Çanakkale I ventured out to the ancient site of Troy – as written about in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. The unearthed ruins weren’t particularly well preserved or imposing, but it was the mythology surrounding the location and the legends of Achilles, Paris, and Agamemnon that made the ancient city all the more magical. The history of archeological excavation was quite fascinating as well as the discoverer of the site was really more of a glorified treasure hunter than a professional archaeologist. Furthermore, I made lots of great friends while in Çanakkale with both travelers and locals alike – definitely memories I will have forever and people I will be keeping in touch with throughout my travels.

Rather than just the ruins of one ancient city, Troy can actually be categorized into 7 separate settlements that were built one on top of the other during various time periods. Troy VI is was is commonly thought to be the settlement that Homer wrote of in the Iliad. Here are the remains of the temple complex with features from multiple periods of settlement.

The alleged remnants of the legendary "Scaean Gate" where Achilles was shot with an arrow through the ankle and died. A huge cache of treasure was found to the left of the ramp by Heinrich Schliemann - the German "archaeologist" who discovered the location of Troy. He was quite the controversial figure. 

The remains of the theater at Troy - because it just wouldn't be a proper Greek ruin without a theater.

The major highlight of Ayvalik (other than the gorgeous beaches) was my trip to Şeytan Sofrasi – the Devil’s Table. Not only did it have an interesting legend associated with it, but I had heard that this was the best place to watch the sunset and after an already busy day of exploring I was determined to make it to the top of the large hill in order to see the spectacle. It turned out to be more of an adventure that I bargained for. I had heard that there were buses available that would bring you to the top for a modest fee, but I couldn’t see to find them so I took the municipal bus to the closest stop and just started walking. It wasn’t a particularly difficult walk, but I was going directly towards the sun and it was still quite hot. After the 45 minute hike I definitely worked up a good sweat and I drew some interesting looks from everyone else who had done the sensible thing and drove themselves up to the top. The view was definitely worth the effort – and then some. I’m not sure my words could do it justice so I’ll just refer you to the pictures below.

The view of Ayvalik (on the right) and Cunda (on the left) from the top of  Şeytan Sofrasi. The area is known for its  production of olive oil and Cunda is a village that was historically Greek so the influence can still be seen in the architecture and food today.

Ayvalik is located on the mainland shore next to an archipelago of islands - here you can see some of those islands. There were boat tours available where you could island hop all day to enjoy the remote beaches and some minor ruins on the outlying islands.

It is said that Şeytan Sofrasi is the most beautiful place to watch the sunset in all of Turkey and I might just have to agree with that statement.

After my adventures in Ayvalik I took a bus to Izmir where I now sit in a café and write this post. Although it is the 3^rd largest city in Turkey, I only spent the day in Izmir. I have so many more things to see and learn still in Turkey – so I’m off again via train to Selçuk to see the remarkably well preserved ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus and then onwards further to see the famed salt terraces of Pamukkale.

Check out the updates on my travel map: Bonderman Itinerary