Wine, Ruins, Carpets and a Village

I prefer traveling alone, with family, or with a friend. Tours are not my thing. There always seems to be a diva who ruins the trip or certain Americans who cannot seem to understand that traveling involves trying new things and tasting new food. However, one of my friends wanted to take a tour using Backroads, just having come from one of their tours in the Azores. She was effusive in her praise and wanted to take the tour in Türkiye with me.

Since Bangkok called to ask why I hadn’t scheduled my trip, it was time to make plans. I do not want to go alone, and I thought this might be a way to find a reputable tour organization. Even though I know a lot about Türkey, the details of this trip were places I had either not seen in years or never seen at all. A lot of water time was scheduled, which drew me in as a water person. If I was going to test a tour group, I was confident that it would be glaring in my own country if they did not know what they were doing.

My friend’s recommendation sealed the deal. Here are the specific details. It was pricey, and I hesitated to book, but my friend assured me it would be well worth it.

That was an understatement.

For a week, I only had to hike, laugh, kayak, swim, boat, and enjoy good food with new friends. Our leaders meticulously coordinated everything we did. Their attitude and direction made the trip more like a friend group exploration rather than a group of people who didn’t want to be together.

There were no divas, no problems that weren’t easily solved, and the group came together throughout the trip. But the meticulous planning behind the scenes made this trip so memorable.

So what does this mean?

These leaders were extremely positive, knowledgeable about the area, and helpful. They had done this tour multiple times, and it showed. Each day, there were multiple levels of hikes depending on your physical abilities or what you wanted to do that day. Because of prior health issues, I am very much out of shape. I needed hiking at my level, not that of a mountain goat. A leader helped me that first day, making sure I went at my own pace.

Breakfast was at a ridiculously huge buffet at an upscale hotel. We would prepare snacks for our hike, get water or whatever we needed, load on a boat, and head across the water to our hiking area.

Our luggage was handled by Backroads every step of the way. I did not roll my suitcase anywhere for an entire week. We had easy instructions for every day of the hiking or other adventure varieties offered, what we needed for each trip, and where we needed to be. We learned about the local culture, issues, and history along the hike. At the end of every hike for lunch or dinner, the food was ALWAYS ready and waiting, the local food hot and delicious. Even at restaurants, we were met with appetizers and drinks waiting for us to order our dinner.

Every day was seamless. Having run my own company, I cannot imagine the work it took behind the scenes to make this happen so smoothly.

On the last day, we had a very easy walk through several villages. We toured a small village mosque and were allowed to ask questions directly of the imam. Our next stop was a small boutique winery for a wine tasting, where we met the owner and again had a relaxing time to ask questions. (Yes, I always have a lot of questions.)

We toured the ruins on a different day with a culture guide who explained their historical significance and answered our questions. In addition to the Backroads staff, there was always a local guide from the area with us, whether for hiking, kayaking, boating, or exploring the ruins. Sometimes, there was more than one guide for different purposes, which made a huge difference.

We ended our final walk in a village carpet cooperative, where we were shown carpets from the entire country, not just the region we were in. We were again provided with a home-cooked lunch and a simple carpet demonstration. The owner of the carpet cooperative sat with us, and I had a great conversation about their family business and the area.

From my exposure to all things Türkiye for the past thirty-plus years, the carpet demonstration was typical for a tour. But this one hour was the only thing I found typical.

Will I take another Backroads trip? Yes. I’m already making plans for one near Bangkok next year. Can you call Thailand for me and tell them I’m coming?