From Ankara to Çeşme we had two choices: an overnight train to Izmir then a short bus ride, or a direct ten-hour bus. We’d looked at the overnight train but decided against it when we discovered that the sleeper compartments were sold out. So, bus it was.
We took a taxi from Allan and Arabella’s to the main Ankara bus station Ankara Şehirlerarası Terminal İşletmesi or AŞTI, which is absolutely enormous: over a hundred platforms on two levels. Eventually we found ours, and Greg left the bags with Karen while he went off to get some cash, breakfast, coffee, and sandwiches for the journey. All of this proved simple except the coffee – there was a coffee shop right by our gate (even with “coffee shop” in its name) that had no coffee, and getting two coffee made at a restaurant around the corner took over ten minutes. Fortunately, we had time, so everything worked out OK.
The bus was modern and very comfortable, a Mercedes cruiser with three wide seats per row, two one side of the aisle and one the other. When Greg booked the tickets the web site stated specifically that only one large bag per passenger was included, but that it was possible to add extra bags to your trip. Both statements turned out to be lies. It turned out the only way add an extra bag was to buy an an extra ticket, so we ended up buying four seats. But when we went to board, it turned out the staff didn’t care how many bags you had, so we would have been fine with two. Fortunately bus tickets in Türkiye are quite cheap, but it was still annoying.
Central Turkiye is generally rolling to flat, and ranges from completely arid to somewhat green. We got to see a lot of views like this over the ten hours, at least until we got closer to the coast. There were quite a few stops along the way, which was handy as one thing the cruiser lacked was a toilet. On the other hand, the bus had a staff of three, one of whom went down the aisle with a trolley two or three times during our trip, distributing soft drinks and cookies.
The main bus stop in Çeşme (pronounced chesh-meh) is quite close to the ferry terminal, and catching a ferry was our main reason for visiting. Greg managed to book us a hotel between the two, so walks with our luggage were short. Once we’d settled into the hotel we headed to the main shopping street in the old part of the city.
Çeşme is a beach and resort town very popular with Turks. Even on a Monday night the downtown was hopping.
We managed to find a table at the ÇARK balik (seafood) restaurant, where we had a delightful meal under the watchful eyes of Mustafa Kamal Atatürk.
Walking back to the hotel we passed Çeşme Castle, which looked lovely in the nights.
Our ferry out of Çeşme was leaving in the evening, so we had the day to explore. On the way out of the hotel Karen spotted this prickly pear cactus she quite liked, so here’s another in our series of pictures of Karen taking pictures of plants.
We first walked up past the Çeşme marina and docks, partly for the view and partly to confirm where we needed to board the ferry. This is a view of Çeşme Castle viewed from across the harbour.
If you look at any tourist guide to Çeşme it will tell you the two top things to visit are the Castle and the Museum. Conveniently, these are exactly the same thing.
The Castle features these Ottoman-era gravestones…
… stone cannon balls…
… a lovely courtyard garden…
… and several other rooms of coins, glassware, and other archeological finds. It also includes an exhibit about the 1770 Naval Battle of Çeşme during the Russo-Turkish war.
A panoramic view of the Çeşme harbour from the top of the castle. Our ferry came in just left of where you see the cruise ship.
And a selfie with a similar view.
From the Castle we walked to the near side of the harbour for ice cream. On our way we encountered Atatürk, and also Atatürk. Seriously, that guy is everywhere.
Turkish ice cream has a unique gummy consistency, designed to make it less messy in the heat. The key ingredients are salep and occasionally mastic, about which more in the next diary entry. This can make it feel a bit heavy, but it’s still cold and delicious, which makes a small serving refreshing on a hot day.
After ice cream we headed back to the hotel, collected our bags, and walked to the docks to catch our ferry to Chios.
