First Visit to Asia

Today a smaller group of us woke up and took a minibus from campus to Sarryier, the town at the base of the mountain.  We walked around for a few minutes looking for the docks where we could catch a ferry across the Bosphorus to Asia. Found it surprisingly quickly, and hopped on the ferry and settled in. Having grown up on the Emerald Coast, I’m used to seeing green water. But the color of the Bosphorus is a deep green that’s so different than the water of the Gulf and Bays back home. And there are random patches of the darkest, bluest blue in the middle of the deep green waters. Very beautiful.

The views of small coastal villages from the ferry were incredible.

Once we arrived in Anadolu Kavagi we hiked up the mountain to Yoros Castle.

Not having mastered enough Turkish to read all the signs around town yet, we weren’t entirely sure where to go. Thankfully, the friendly neighborhood stray dog greeted us as we got off the ferry and, as if he knew exactly where we wanted to go, led us on the right roads up the mountain to the castle. 

 (We named him Benji)

Yoros Castle was built on this location by the Greeks, and then used by the Byzantines for defense purposes because of it’s prime location at the mouth of the Boshporus, which channels all maritime traffic between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and Russia. 

We couldn’t go inside because there was some archaeological digging going on, but we did find a well established path leading out from a hole in the barbed-wire fence which led us to some areas with even more spectacular views.  

(View through a hole in one of the outer walls)

We had lunch at a seaside restaurant after the hike back down the mountain. The 9 of us split 2 orders of the freshest calamari we had ever tasted, and I had a salmon, tomato, and pepper kabob that was delicious. This is how they explained the catch of the day.

After lunch we walked around the small town for a little bit before catching the ferry back to Sariyer, and then a bus back to the university.  Gonna try and get some reading and work done for classes on Tuesday before we head to the Prince’s Islands in the Sea of Marmara tomorrow!