Rock climbing is the ultimate gateway drug to travelling the world.
Excuse me for quoting myself, but this was the thought going through my head a couple of weeks ago as I found myself spending the Christmas holiday travelling in Turkey. How did we end up in Turkey? Good question. I’m glad you asked.
Unfortunately, the story starts with me busting my ankle and having surgery in June, effectively wiping out any possibility for travel during the summer months. Since Mrs. Narc is a teacher this leaves few other opportunities for travel the remainder of the year, so we set our sights on doing something over Christmas.
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When trying to make a plan, we knew we wanted to travel abroad to a place that offered a good mix of both climbing and sightseeing opportunities1, but picking a destination that made sense financially as well as logistically for what amounted to a 10 day trip was not easy. Thailand was too far and too expensive, flights to Spain were too expensive, Kalymnos was too out of season and Switzerland was not bad airfare-wise but the weather can be iffy in December.
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Then I had a bit of an epiphany: what about Turkey?
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/10648652 w=540]
I recalled the series of great videos put together for The North Face by Camp 4 Collective a few years back. Discounting the fact that the Camp 4 Collective guys could make a trip to the plains of Kansas look amazing, a trip to Turkey looked like it might not be a bad idea. If structured properly the trip could offer a nice mix of both climbing and other sightseeing opportunities given Turkey’s rich cultural history. Once I confirmed that flights were pretty reasonable and that the weather looked to be somewhat decent that time of year I was pretty much set on us going to Turkey, so go to Turkey we did.
Long story short is that while we didn’t climb a ton we had a great trip while spending 5 days in Antalya and 3 days in Istanbul. I would definitely recommend going there if you enjoy travel, adventure and/or climbing. I’ll share some more specifics from the trip in an upcoming post. For now, here are a couple of pictures:
[instagram url=’http://instagr.am/p/TkwCyAsiee/’ size=’large’ addlink=’yes’]
The theatre at Termessos
Geyikbayiri
Looking out from the summit of Tahtali
Blue Mosque
[instagram url=’http://instagr.am/p/TyQiG2MiTt/’ size=’large’ addlink=’yes’]
- Well, to be fair, I was the only one that cared about forcing climbing into the trip ↩
More of this stuff…
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Oh please dont bitch about this post , this guy writes the best climbing blog on the web. Give him a little leeway to write about himself every once and a while.
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I think he was being serious… great post Narc! 🙂
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Easy! Steve is a pal in real life. If he really wanted to give me a hard time he would wait until March when he and I have my annual “day to send 1 problem for the year” out at Devil’s Lake.
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Maybe he’ll have you try his new project. Oh boy…maybe have to extend to 2 days = 1 problem 😀
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If i can’t do a problem in one day, I pretty much don’t do it. Ever.
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I was indeed being serious here. I really enjoy reading posts like these! I save the shit talk for our day at the lake in March, not the internet.
That said, I actually thought we were kidding around when we said you’d done your boulder problem at the lake for the year. If only it was a joke……
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Oh Mr. Narc, wish you told us (everyone on internet that is) that you were going to Turkey – there are those of us who read you from istanbul, you know? 🙂 Glad to hear you had good time!
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Crazy. I still don’t really think anyone reads this site so I tend to forget about such things. However, if you followed me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram you would have known this vital information as I told the whole internet via those mediums. Get with the program! 🙂
I very much enjoyed your city!
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oh boy. I am so behind in social media! will go and like you on facebook now. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
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Really, I’d like to hear a bit more about your trip . . . Part 2?
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Next week
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Great stuff. Have been curious about the culture/climbing combo that a trip to Turkey would offer and it’s been on the list for potential future trips for my family for a while… Look forward to part 2!
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Wow dude awesome pics! Looks like a really fun trip. You have inspired me and my girl to think about an international trip. Looking forward to part 2 of your adventure.
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To be fair, I’d be crazy to expect anything less than a trip with ‘at least a little bit of climbing’ and a round or two of ‘maybe we should climb one more route’
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