13 DAYS in TÜRKIYE! 🇹🇷 (we love this country!)

13 DAYS in TÜRKIYE! 🇹🇷 (we love this country!)

We almost didn’t make it through Turkey. What started as a lighthearted exploration of Istanbul’s rich history and delicious cuisine quickly escalated from a heavy duty scrub down at a traditional bathhouse. I’m very much in heaven. To a stressful but unforgettable van life adventure along Turkey’s stunning Mediterranean coast. And finally, a stop in the must visit Cappadocia, where we scaled canyon cliffs and took to the skies on our first ever hot air balloon ride. Here we go. Now here is past Wyatt and Reyka with that obligatory introduction shot, having no idea what Turkey has in store for them. Welcome to Istanbul, Turkey guys. Good morning. Today we’re going to be visiting the top tourist sites, giving our first impressions, and maybe trying some Turkish food. We don’t really know what to expect, so we’re pretty pumped to explore it and we’re taking you along with us. Let’s go, let’s go. Reyka has a friend. Hi. I am loving the vibes of Istanbul so far. It is alive. Gorgeous weather. We are so lucky today. A lot of noises, colors, cobblestone streets. It’s a vibe. This is just one of the thousands of restaurants we’re passing that are Turkish restaurants. And they are smelling so good. I think we might have to eat sooner than we originally planned. That stuff smells so good. Need some more Turkish cash and they have ATMs like right on the side of the street. Yeah. So they do offer card options, but you have to pay like two extra dollars in fees, so cash is the move. Look at that money. Lira. Lira. The Turkish lira. Pretty cool. All, right. Should we put that away? Yeah let’s put it away. Our first official stop of the day is the Basilica Cistern. Let’s go get tickets. Thank you. Welcome to the Basilica Cistern. I am super excited about this stop specifically. So we didn’t know this, but a cistern is basically an ancient water tank. Think the granddaddy of modern water towers. This one was built in the 500s, over 1500 years ago by a Byzantine emperor to supply his palace with water. This place is so big and it’s kind of scary to think that we’re trusting Byzantine architecture to hold up, like, full on buses and cars above us. There are literally streets right up there. Oh, the lights keep changing too. The lights keep changing, yeah. It’s 138 by 65 meters, huge. Should we touch the water? It’s probably been there for ages. Yeah it probably has. Do you want to touch the water? I mean, I’m tempted. It’s literally right there. It’s cold. It’s cold. Interesting part about this cistern are the two Medusa heads that are on the bottom of a couple columns here in the cistern, this one is sideways, and then there’s one that’s like, upside down. And there’s speculation to where they came from. Nobody really knows exactly why, but they’re pretty sure it’s probably from the recycling with the Roman structures. That’s got to hurt, having this whole column on the side of your head, right? Well, it’s stone. Oh, Reyka’s turn to stone. Down here you really feel Istanbul’s layered history pressing in. It’s the only city on two continents, the former capital of three empires, and still one of the biggest cities on Earth. And just as you get used to the cool, damp silence, you’re thrown back into the chaos above. Kind of bright outside, eh? It’s so bright out now because we were just in the darkness for 15, 20 minutes. Straight up dungeon. I want a kitty. We can’t travel with a kitty, though. But I want a kitty though. They’re so cute. Look at it there’s another one. There’s a third one. I feel like Turkey might, or at least Istanbul might have the most cats. They’re everywhere. I think we’ve seen at least 20 so far today. So back in the day, Istanbul was actually called Constantinople, and it was a very Eastern Orthodox Christian city. But then during the Ottoman Empire, there was a religious shift to Islam. So now there’s just such an interesting mix in architecture and overall vibes because of the shift in religious beliefs. You got mosques and then you’ve got, like, some Roman architecture. It’s crazy. You got Byzantine, and then you got, I don’t know, McDonald’s, a lot of stuff. Call to prayer time. Call to prayer. Literally, it goes off all the time. And the first one is at 5am and wakes us up every morning. Turkey might just be the most patriotic country I’ve ever seen. We’ve seen dozens of flags, and it’s only been like an hour. It’s crazy. They’re on, like, every single building, and they’re huge, flowing. Turkey has a strong sense of national pride. It’s kind of cool to see. Want to know what’s bizarre? Us going to the Grand Bazaar next. They definitely call it the Grand Bazaar for a reason. It is huge. It covers 61 streets and has over 4,000 shops selling spices, jewelry, clothes, all the things, textiles. This is definitely one of the most beautiful bazaars I’ve ever seen. It’s kind of cool because it has that old feel, but then it also has newer stores. So, like, it’s also nice because we haven’t had anyone, like, yell at us to come to their shop. Usually bazaars, people are like ahhhh. But this one’s really peaceful and beautiful. Basically since arriving, we’ve seen the Turkish eye everywhere. In Turkish, it’s the Nazar Boncuğu. It’s said to be sort of a protection against the evil eye. And it’s given commonly as a gift for, like, newborns or weddings. And people have it everywhere. I love how perfectly circular it is, too. It has, like, the white and then the blue iris and then the black pupil. We found this shop selling Turkish sweets, and we are going to get lokum, also known as Turkish Delight, which I feel like we’ve all had at some point in our lives. There’s so many flavors. This is what? Snickers. Snickers. Snickers lokum. Wow. Thank you. 200. Thank you so much. Thank you. I’m a total Snickers fan, so I’m gonna try the Snickers one. Look at it. There’s a legit Snickers inside the Turkish Delight, and it’s rolled in nuts. More like Snickers Delight. Snickers Delight. Nice. There’s too much in my mouth. It’s overwhelming. That’s what she said. Super, super sweet. There’s definitely Snickers inside there because it tastes like Snickers. Gummy and crunchy at the same time. So interesting. I really like it, actually. I didn’t think I was going to, but I do. Lokum. We’re loco for Lokum. This is blueberry. Tastes like blueberry cheesecake. That’s so good. Everywhere you look, you see something awesome. There’s these guys in this small cove. I don’t know how they’re fitting together making tea. Should we get some tea? They’re really efficient with their space. Behind me, I just got some freshly made tea. Tea is, like, a staple here. I didn’t know Turkey was that big on tea. Yeah, strong, strong. I don’t know what kind of tea, but it’s very good, actually. Now we’re in the old antique market. It’s a little bit more narrow, a lot more jewelry. That’s got to be one of the chillest, bizarre experiences I have ever, like, had. Because while it was a little overwhelming with the amount of people there, I wasn’t hassled as much. And I could just really enjoy and get what I want and not get what I don’t want. Yeah, you have to feel this. Wow. That’s soft right? Yeah. Digging the vibes just walking around Istanbul. Like all the buildings are really pretty. It feels like Europe but then a little bit more Muslim influence. And there’s so many fun shops. It’s just a great place to, to walk around. Now we’re at the Egyptian bazaar. Let’s go check it out. Nice. So the Ottoman Empire back in the day controlled so much land including Egypt and obviously Istanbul. So this bazaar was actually financed through the Ottoman province of Egypt. And that’s why it’s called the Egyptian bazaar. Maybe if we have the love tea, we’ll fall even deeper in love. I can try? What is it? Mango. Mango. Without sugar. No sugar mango. We can try. Chewy Oo. They have like kiwi and coconut and mango. That’s pretty good. I like dried fruit. That was really good samples too. That was fun. I love walking through markets that people have been like walking through and buying stuff for hundreds of of years. Because Turkey stands at the crossroads between Asia and Europe. It was a major part of the Silk Road. So it’s super cool to see these bazaars because it kind of gives us a look into that kind of trade side of Turkey that’s been here for thousands of years. Thousands of years. Super cool. Also check out this cool like spiraling staircase. I’m sure back in the day someone maybe stands up there and like yell stuff. Calls to prayer. Who knows? I don’t know. Oh, there’s a plaque. Let’s read it. Yep, it was a prayer, prayer corner. There you go. Yep and that was the Egyptian Spice bazaar. Pretty dang cool. Now I think we’re going to a bridge which is right over there. The Galatia Bridge. Nice. So there’s a lot of similarities between like Turkey and Greece. And in Greece you see in Santorini those Blue Domed churches. And here they’re like Blue Domed mosques that look sort of similar. Reminds me of Santorini in Greece, which makes sense because that’s only like 100 miles from here. Alrighty. We made it to the Galata Bridge on top of the Bosphorus Strait which connects the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Yeah, it’s gorgeous. They call it the Golden Horn. And wow, the views are so great. They really are. And you can like smell the fish in the air. There’s mosques everywhere you look. There’s like minarets everywhere. Yeah over there is the Yeni Cami or the New Mosque. They call it. Yeah. Do you see all the jellyfish down in the water. Oh my word yeah Right? That’s kind of scary. Don’t fall in there. Alrighty, sun’s going down and we will see you tomorrow in 3, 2, 1. And just like that, it’s the next day. Isn’t that crazy how time can just, you can just change it? Yeah. in a vlog? It is early morning here we are up at 8:15 to go see the Blue Mosque. Hagia Sophia. All the classics. Yeah, we’re hitting all the the highlights. Yeah, let’s go. It better be blue Putting her hijab on. Hi kitty. That kitty’s name is Sultan. Yesterday this place was absolutely packed with tourists. We came at like 3pm and now it’s. There’s probably only 20 of us. I love that we have it all to ourselves. Yeah, we got to start waking up early more often. This is so cool. Yeah. It really allows us to appreciate the whole building and the scope of how big it is. The architecture is so beautiful with like a classic style versus like a more decadent, decorative and elaborate style. They got the domes, but then they got the intricate carvings inside. So cool. Yeah. It’s also nice seeing it in a different light. Yesterday it was like midday and today it’s kind of cloudy. So I don’t know. It looks different with like all the different domes and arches and stuff. Yeah. This is absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. I think mosques are far and away my favorite like religious worship center. I guess just the domes. I love the domes. And then the geometric tiles. It’s just so, so nuts. So gorgeous. Look at that. I feel like that might be the longest chandelier ever. It starts up there, ends right there. I was definitely not expecting these low bearing lights to be here. And it’s so cool. Very different from the other mosques we’ve seen. Europe has some of the most clean streets in the world. I think not the cleanest just because they have those sweepers all the time just like spraying water. It’s like a. What is that? It’s like a scrubber. Like who else scrubs their streets? I know. I feel like the US could take notes. Yeah, we got some dirty streets over there. All right ma’am where are you from? Usa. Thank you. Thank you. Going through security. So we got the balcony tickets, which means that we get to climb all the way up. So in 532 to 537 AD the Emperor Justinian the first constructed the Hagia Sophia. And it was actually originally a cathedral, one of the largest in the world. And then later on the Sultan Mehmed II. In 1453, after the Ottoman Empire came in, they converted it into a mosque, adding minarets and different Islamic elements. And then later, it actually then became just simply a museum because there was a more secular president named Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. And then it transitioned back to becoming more of an Islamic mosque. It’s just crazy how many different, like, changes it’s been through. Just realized my shirt’s been backwards all day. Classic. That’s fine. I was wondering why it was fitting weird. One thing that I really thought was interesting is that the minarets were added after. And, I mean, obviously the mosque came later, but it’s so apparent because the minarets look so different from the rest of the what originally was a cathedral. And, inside, like, you can tell how old it is just because the yellow, like, original painting is, like, flaking off. And I love when people don’t or when places don’t preserve it, because then you can kind of tell what it originally was and get a sense for the age with how it’s flaking off. So all around is Istanbul. There’s these Turkish ice cream stands where these guys make Turkish ice cream. And they kind of do this funny little, like, I don’t know, it’s like a game game thing with their customers where they, like, take the ice cream away and stuff. One chocolate. Okay. Small, medium, or large? Small. What? Oh, no. It’s so sticky. They’re so fast. Oh, no. Three, four, five. That scared me. I knew it. Thank you. Did you guys see that? That was so funny. I was overwhelmed. I’m like, when am I actually going to get the ice cream? I thought he was going to spill it on you on accident. Turkish ice cream is famously way more sticky than regular ice cream due to its two ingredients of, Salep, which is powdered wild orchid tubers, and Mastic, which is a tree resin. So we can put some, like, pictures of those two things right there. Yeah. Dondurma. Dondurma. Oh, it’s melting. Yeah it is. Delicious. Good. So good. Creamy, cold, chocolatey, perfect consistency. I’m a big fan. Oh, oh, oh. Nice save. Nice save. This is. It’s 9:00 am and we’re having ice cream for breakfast. Oh, wow. Why is that so good? It’s, like, melting. It’s quality ice cream that is, like, so rich and creamy. That’s way better than I was expecting, actually. You’re taking ice cream I want some. Wyatt stop. It’s overflowing. This is, like, four pomegranates worth of juice. Good deal. 200 lira. I want to try. Ooh, tart. Very tart. Sweet, delicious. Nice. Tart. Want to go to Asia now? Sure, let’s go to Asia. Who says that casually? But it’s true. We are. Yeah time to go take a ferry to the Asia side of Turkey. One thing I love about Istanbul is I feel like every neighborhood and part of the city that we visited is different in little ways. The best part about this is the ferries work with the public transit system, so we can use our transit cards we got earlier. Oh, so nice. We’ve been so lucky with the weather. True. So Istanbul, as we mentioned yesterday, is divided by the Bosphorus Strait. And so that means that there’s a bunch of different sections of the city sort of separated by water. But thankfully, they have this ferry system that is super cheap. And you can use your city card if you get the metro from the airport here. And it only costs 88 cents, which is crazy. So 88 cents, essentially for just, like a cruise around Istanbul. To Asia. To Asia, Yeah. So we’re gonna go to a different side. 88 cents for this view. I’ll take it. Yeah. I mean, I’m the highlight of your view, but. Oh my. Istanbul is pretty cool too. So nice. The wind is perfect with the sunshine. The sea breeze smells amazing. I love it. I love this so much. Probably favorite thing we’ve done so far. It’s crazy because it’s also the cheapest. He’s like, what are you bozos doing? This is my ride. Yeah. He’s like get off my boat. Welcome to Asia, guys. Nice. All right, we are on a hunt for some kumpir. We’ve struck out twice, but I’m really liking this. What’s this area called again? Üsküdar. Very nice. So different. Like, way more low key. I feel like, because we’re out of the main tourist section, a lot more chill, like, more modern city. More modern. Yeah. It feels like Europe, actually. Like, weirdly coming to the Asia side, It feels more like Europe with the cobblestone streets. Yeah. The walking paths. Very cool. Third time’s the charm. We found it. Reyka has a specific potato grin that even I don’t get. I swear, potatoes are my biggest competition, I think, in this relationship. That’s what I’m trying to say. Teşekkürler. Look at this. It’s huge. I am so excited about this dish. It’s kumpir, which is a classic Turkish street food. Basically, it’s a potato with a bunch of great stuff on it. It was like the subway of baked potatoes. You could choose what was on top. Russian salad, red cabbage, mayo, ketchup, mushrooms, pickles, corn, and a ton of butter. I’m so excited. Creamy, delicious, warm, buttery, soft. So good. I could eat this whole thing. That’s so good. Like, whereas in the US we put cheese and sour cream and, like, maybe some bacon bits. It’s just full of a ton more stuff. And the inside is mixed to be like mashed potatoes. That’s really good. Yum. The outside is really crispy too. It is done. And it has fulfilled my expectations. I am very satisfied. Teşekkürler. Very good. Thank you. Can’t get over how much Istanbul feels like a blend of Europe and more Middle Eastern culture. You got some potato in your teeth. You can feel it can you? Look at that falafel. Wait okay. See that? That’s fresh. That’s some of the freshest falafel I think I’ve ever had. Wow. This is phenomenal. Teşekkürler Gotta have some tea with it. Served in the classic, hourglass shape. Digging Uks- What’s this area called again? Üsküdar. Üsküdar. Jeez, Reyka’s had to remind me that 14 times. Very good. Good. Yeah. It was only a 235 lira, so, like, $6 for two wraps and a tea come on. Cheaper than the potato. Now we are at this little pier area right along the straight. You can walk, and there’s little installations and beautiful views of course. One of the biggest landmarks here in Üsküdar is the Maiden’s Tower. I guess it’s not in it. It’s, like, off of it. As you can see, it’s a little island. And that island served as a strategic outpost through, like, tons of different conquests and reigns as far back as the, Romans. And it’s just crazy. And now it has a little, tower. And there’s a museum in there, and you can take a tour all the way over there. We’re just kind of walking along, but it’s pretty cool. Now that we’re done with Üsküdar, time to show you our Airbnb. And we’re here. Let’s go inside. So, as you can see, our Airbnb, which is only $41 a night, is, like, in this little alleyway. We open that door, then we, you’ll see, we go up a ton of stairs. Push. Oops pull. I counted it and there are over, I think, 90 steps up to our Airbnb. There’s no elevator. Classic Europe. Yeah, it’s always tough, too, because it’s at the end the of the day. And we have already done a ton of walking, so it’s just building those calves. Reyka’s still not even at the top. And we got these ladder stairs. I don’t know what these are. These ones are. We got a bunch more ladder up to our door. Time for a tour. Come on in. After we showered and chilled for a little bit, it’s time to show you around. So first off is the kitchen. We have all the essentials in here. A bunch of cupboard space, sink, fridge. And that’s pretty much it for the kitchen. Oh, and a nice seating area by the window. The highlight’s definitely the view, though, right? Like, check that out. Isn’t it insane? Definitely. Then we move into the bedroom. Careful, there’s a little bit of a step. And the bedroom has tons of storage space. Right to my right. And to my front, a tv, a heater and air conditioner, and also a mirror. That’s why Wyatt’s waving. Another big step. Then you got your classic bathroom with a shower room. It is a shower room, so the shower is not a different entity to the bathroom. The whole thing becomes a shower when you need a shower. Classic. Classic. But the terrace is the best part. All that exploring made us pretty hungry. And in Istanbul, as you’ll see, there is good food and drinks pretty much everywhere. Good morning from Istanbul, Turkey. Today we’re going to be trying some of the top Turkish traditional dishes. And we’re starting out today with Turkish coffee. Let’s go. That is what we’re getting. Should I get the small? Or medium? Definitely the small. It’s afternoon. Yeah, it’s already like 2pm. Yep. Could just get wired, though. No. Can I get one Turkish coffee? Small, medium? Medium. Thank you. Welcome sir. Teşekkürler. Okay. Okay. Have a good day. Wow. This looks so good. I am so stoked that this is the start of this food tour. This is Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee is one of the oldest styles of coffee in the entire world, dating back to the 16th century. And it is actually not filtered, so they just pour everything in there. And the coffee grounds naturally settle to the bottom. So the coffee grounds are usually super fine. And it’s made with a cezve or an ibrik, which is like a special pot. We’ll put a picture. And it’s just super, strongly associated with Turkish culture. Yeah. So much so that UNESCO actually recognizes it as, like, a cultural experience. First impression smells super strong, and it’s known for being very strong. It tastes like espresso. So it has that strong flavor, but it’s not as bitter or strong as espresso. And then you can kind of. I can kind of feel the grittiness. Like, I taste the grounds in there, very thick, which is crazy for just being like, coffee, without milk. No milk. Traditionally not served with milk, so I didn’t get milk, even though I love milk and coffee. Dates back to the Ottoman Empire, which is, like, so old. Yeah. Great first start. Oh, my gosh. The bottom’s, like, covered in ground. It’s like brown sludge. And then on the last sip, you have to be super careful because, like, I wanted to get all the liquid out, but then I got a bunch of grounds. It’s good, though. It’s good. Next up is Food Palace Anatolia Restaurant, and they have a ton of traditional Turkish dishes. Let’s go try it. Hello. Hello welcome. Hi. Wow. Where are you from? USA. Classic restaurant with the huge menu. I know. Just look at all those pages. How are we gonna decide? We have a lot of dishes to try, so watch out. Should we start with a meze? Okay. Cheers. Cheers. This is just sparkling water. Dang. Wow. Beautiful. Look at that bread. That’s crazy. Lavash. I’m so hungry. Now we’re going to try meze, which are Turkish appetizers normally eaten before the main course. We got a ton of different ones. We got a little sampler tray with lavash, which is a huge, poofy bread. Delicious. With little sesame seeds on top, it looks like. We also got ezme salad. Super traditional dolma or grape leaves, carrot tartare, saksuka, Hayham, beetroot tartare, American saltazi I think it’s pronounced, and baba ganoush. Yeah. A few other things to note. This lavash came inflated, like, super hot and, like, slowly deflated, which is super interesting. And then also, meze comes from the Persian word maze, which means tasty or flavorful. So we’ll see if these live up to the Persian hype. Yeah, very Ottoman culture along with Mediterranean culture. So it’s kind of a mix of both. Which one should I try first? Maybe I’ll try the ezme salad and the carrot tartare. Let’s try a mix. If I’m not mistaken, I think all of these dishes are cold. Very fresh, delicious. Has quite a punch. Particularly the ezme salad. Very tomatoey, kind of like, an acidic flavor. It’s amazing. And the bread is just so delicious. So warm. Dang. So it’s a contrast. They have warm bread and cold with the cold appetizer. Which one’s the baba ganoush? I think it’s the green one. This one? I think so. Just from the name. How can I not go with baba ganoush, you know what I’m saying? Has a consistency of like a macaroni salad. A little bit of an onion taste there. There’s a lot of spices in that yellow sauce. It’s so good. It’s so, like. It reminds me of pita, but thinner. So this is dolma, which is like grape leaves wrapped around rice, right? Mm. Different from, dolmades that they have in Greece, which are like, kind of the same thing. They’re grape leaves wrapped around rice. These ones are a lot more seasoned. I kind of like these ones better. I’m going to go crazy here. Try everything in one bite. I feel like Turkish people are either gonna love this or be like, man, what are you doing? Too much flavor? Just the right amount. I don’t taste any meze here that I don’t like. We should have that every single day until we leave Turkey. Thank you. You’re welcome. Beautiful. You’re welcome. The next thing we’re going to try here is Mercimek Çorbası or lentil soup. It has the consistency of like a split pea soup. It’s made with lentils, onions, carrot, potatoes, and simple spices like cumin and paprika. And it’s blended together and that gives it this sort of hearty. It’s very thick. It’s so warm. So filling. Feels nutritious too. Like, it’ll give me a lot of energy for the rest of the day. Great aroma, too. It’s like the perfect way to start a Turkish dish or meal. I guess. Now it’s time to try pide or Turkish. Turkish pizza. It’s basically a canoe shaped flatbread made in an oven, and normally it’s traditionally made with minced meat, but we got the vegetarian version, so Wyatt could have some as well. Thank you. There’s also a Turkish pizza called Lahmacun, but that one’s more thin and crispy, while this one’s thicker and more like pizza like flatbread like Are you gonna dip it in the sauce? Sure. It’s like a marinara sauce, it looks like. Looks like it. Probably not. Spicy. Tastes like your everyday flatbread. Cheesy, bunch of veggies on top. The bread is really flaky and really good. I like it. The sauce adds to it. It kind of creates a spiciness to it, so I kind of like it more with the sauce. Time to try Manti, which are small Turkish dumplings filled with ground meat and on the bottom is yogurt, and then on top is a butter infused with chili flakes. Delicious. Its origins actually trace back to the Central Asian nomadic tribes and the Silk Road, eventually moving westward and spreading westward with the Seljuk Turks to what it is known today. It’s very creamy, very soft as well. You can bite right into it. The meat is cooked perfectly. You definitely taste the chili flakes, I would say, the most. And a little bit of the yogurt. I’m a big fan. Best food is here. Best food? Wow. Sizzling. The final dish at this restaurant is chicken guvec. Guvec is a very traditional Turkish dish that has roots from the Ottoman Empire. Like most of these dishes. Guvec is a stew that is famously cooked in a clay pot like the one here. And that clay pot locks in the moisture. So the meat and vegetables really get this tender melt in your mouth consistency. You can either have it with beef, lamb, or, in my case, chicken. And then there’s peppers and onions and tomatoes and a bunch of good veggies in there as well. Look at this. Wow. This chicken looks cooked to perfection and it smells delicious. Wow. The chicken definitely just breaks apart as soon as I bite into it. So soft, so tender. I don’t think I’ve had that tender of chicken in a really long time, if at all. The juices are savory and delicious. It’s warm, comfort food. I feel like you could have had that in and of itself. But we got so much other food over here. We gotta try all the food. Yeah. If you think we’re letting this food go to waste just because we’re full, you’re very sadly mistaken. Taking it all to go. Wow. Teşekkürler, thank you. Handmade baklava, not factory. Handmade Baklava. No way. As you can see, we’re getting absolutely spoiled here. We have some fresh, hot pomegranate tea served in this awesome, colorful cup and bowl. And then some handmade baklava. Not in a factory. He was very specific about that. Baklava, famous all over the world. But if you weren’t sure what it is, it is layered dough, which is very crispy, sort of think croissant, and then full of walnut or pistachio with a little bit of sweet filling and then topped with syrup. Wow, look at the layers on that. So much better than the mass produced stuff. Like you can taste every little layer there of the dough, and then you finally reach the nut. That is a journey that you go on. The syrup on top is super. It’s, like, not overly sweet, but it’s just the right amount. I, don’t know. Very rich too. So even this little bit is like the perfect little cherry on the top of this meal. Pomegranate tea. Pomegranates are super common here. We’ve seen pomegranate juice being sold all across the city. They grow really, really well in this climate. Delicious. I think they probably just put, like, pomegranate juice in there with hot water. Tastes amazing. The nuts, you can tell, are so much fresher than the mass produced stuff. The syrup is so good. It’s flaky. Definitely like a croissant. Exactly what Wyatt said. It just, like, flakes right off. As you can see. I’m not a big tea person. Oh, you’re gonna try it. I’m gonna try it because I do like pomegranate juice, and you can’t be in Turkey and not have tea. Tea is super common here. Oh, yeah. I really do think that is just hot water and pomegranate juice. That doesn’t taste bad. It tastes actually really good. This is a big deal, guys. We finally found a tea that Reyka likes. That is actually a pretty big deal. I don’t like tea. Not forgetting that bag. Yeah. Next time. Nice to meet you. Thank you. So full. Yeah, we are super full. So that’s actually where we’re gonna end today. But don’t worry because we got more food to try tomorrow. See you then. Good morning. It’s day two, and we are gonna take a bunch of little things back with us to our Airbnb to try them. Starting with some borek. Let’s go. We just got some Turkish delight or Lokum from Şahzade. And we’re gonna get a Turkish pretzel from this place as well. Just a little stand on the street. Yep. Hello. Yes. Wow. He’s, like, grilling, it up for us. Look at that. And put chocolate in it. All right, let’s eat. Let’s eat. First, we’re going to try Turkish delight, which has roots obviously going back to the Ottoman Empire, of course, and it’s a sultan favorite. It basically is a little gummy dessert with powdered sugar on top. And we got the traditional ones which have rosemary, like, infused in them. Super excited. There were so many flavors at the store, too. So many flavors. Cheers. It’s like a mix of a jelly bean and a marshmallow. It definitely does taste like a marshmallow. Right. I feel like the powdered sugar makes it taste like that, but then it has, like, the consistency of, like, fruit roll ups. And next up is Borek, which smells delicious. Yep. Basically what it is is a savory pastry made from dough called Yufka. And then inside there’s a lot of different things. There can be potatoes, spinach, cheese, minced meat. And I’m pretty sure we got two different types. So we got the minced meat, potato and spinach one and then we got the just cheese one. Just cheese. This looks so good. It looks like a croissant full of cheese. Yeah, looks amazing. Let’s break it apart. See that? Okay, ready? Cheers. Mmm. Wow. It tastes like a cheese sandwich with like a crispy croissant outer layer. Pretty good. Yeah. Oh, minced meat. Tender. You gotta get a piece with minced meat in it. So good. Really good, guys. So it’s called simit in Turkish and it’s basically the Turkish version of bagels or pretzels. And they’re different from pretzels because they’re not boiled before you bake them. And they, they’re actually dipped in grape molasses and water mixed together before baked. So cool. Wow. It’s absolutely covered in sesame seeds too. And it’s kind of. It’s not that like, soft bagel that we have in the US it seems like it has been, cooked like It’s very charred. Not charred, just like golden brown. Wow. Yeah, good with the chocolate. You definitely need something with it. I feel like, like, even if it’s just butter, because it’s very simple by itself, but with the chocolate, it’s perfect. Crispy, delicious. It’s like such a nice sweetness and it’s a little bit crispy, but very, like squishy on the inside. It’s really nice. Perfect crunch to softness ratio. And yeah, you can taste the sesame seeds pretty prominently, which I like. Eating all that delicious food was a pretty hard task, so we decided to reward ourselves with a day at the Hammam, also known as the famous Turkish bathhouse. Good morning, everybody. Today we’re going to be showing you what it’s like to go to a Turkish bath house. We’re super pumped. It’s going to be like a two hour experience. Usually it’s hard to film these places, but they are letting us film them. So you’re going to get some exclusive footage. We’re over the moon. Yeah. Let’s go do something we’ve never done before. Let’s do it It is extremely hot down here. I already feel myself starting to sweat. And we haven’t even gotten to the sauna yet. Alrighty. So we got slippers, shorts and a towel. And now we get to change. Reyka’s in the women’s. I’m in the men’s. There’s no one else here right now, so we can, like, film like crazy, which is super exciting. And here I am. This is quite the outfit, guys. I got my towel to cover my top and these crazy pants. They’re so thin, like, extremely thin. It’s kind of a vibe. Do I look Turkish? Can’t forget the slippers. How do I put this one on? There it goes. Wow. That was quick. This is super comfy. These are like, the thinnest paper shorts ever. And I have a, like, plaid towel. Check out these shoes. They’re so small on my feet. Look at that. These are for like a size 6 and I’m a size 13. Let’s go in the sauna. Are you ready? Yeah. Ready? Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Whoa. Careful. Step one is sauna for 15 minutes and just sweat. We got some included water. Let’s sweat out all those toxins so then they can scrape it off. From all those meze platters we’ve been eating. Sweat all of that out. Gotta stay hydrated while losing all that water. So apparently this water’s also to put on the rocks. So there’s steam. Yep. Also for there, but good to drink too. Good to drink too, I guess. Whoop. Did it burn your hand? Yeah, that really hurt. I’m, okay though. Just gotta splash it on there. This is so nice, guys. I’m not normally a sauna person, but I’m kind of a big fan right now. My skin’s starting to glisten. So the Turkish bathhouse, or the hammam, has its roots within Roman and Byzantine bath culture. But then once the Ottoman Empire and the Seljuk Turks rose to power, they started to infuse it with Islamic, cleaning rituals. And so they would be put next to, like, mosques and religious structures. Yeah. In the Muslim culture, it’s very important to be clean. And so hammams are sort of a fusion between, like, Roman bath culture and Muslim cleanliness culture. They’re all around Istanbul. We had like 50 to choose from, even within, like a 10 minute walk from our Airbnb. So. Yeah, and they’re super popular. Not just for bathing, but it’s like a social thing as well. People do business meetings here. They meet dates. They have dates here. You can meet your love of your life here. It’s crazy. We’re kind of having a date here. We are kind of having a date here. Yeah. You ready to leave? Yeah. Not really, but yes. Oh that was so nice. Here you go. Is it a steam room? Uh huh. Alrighty. Steam room. Steam room. Can’t see. Oh, my word. Thank you. I literally feel like I’m suffocating. I don’t. I don’t know if I like this. Breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. This film’s gonna be hilarious because you can’t see anything. Yeah you can’t see anything at all. My skin is glistening. I’m not sure what’s coming out of me, snot, sweat or steam. So steamy in there. So steamy. So we’ve done two steps done. We’ve done sauna and steam room. And now we have one more, which is the Hamam Scrub Therapy. Hello. Nice to meet you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So she’s getting the third step, the hamam step. Ready? We’re basically going these marble beds and they scrub us down, down crazily. And then they massage us with soap and water. So they’re basically cleaning us and massaging us at the same time. And they have this sort of, like, beautiful room that’s a staple. This one’s really pretty. Gorgeous. Alrighty. We have the camera set up. We’re both gonna lay here, and then they’re gonna come and scrub us down. Let’s do it. Turkish bath house. Experienced Hamam. Let’s go. Oh, man. This is, like, so. So it’s hot. Oh, it’s like a hot granite. I was expecting it to be cold. That’s really nice. Oh, man, it’s so hard. It’s literally a slab of granite. You making a video? Yes. Is it okay? No problem. What’s your name? Usa. Usa. Hello, everybody. So it was pretty difficult to explain exactly what was happening during the Turkish bath. So after the saunas, you come in here and you sort of lay down on this heated marble platform. First step is just to wash us off. So they take this water in this bowl and they just sort of splash it all over us. They’re spraying us with warm water. You want cold water? No. Step two is they take this scratchy towel and they just rub your skin like crazy. It almost feels like they’re trying to rub it off. It’s right on the borderline of painful. And the result is that they just get, like, everything off your skin. And there was definitely a big difference in the amount of dead skin on me and Reyka. I do. Yes, sir. Yes, you do. It’s all black. Guess who produced more dead skin? This guy. I want to show you that. I don’t know if you can see it, but my arm is covered in dead skin. They scrubbed us super hard with, like. It’s a towel. Yeah. Oh, it’s like a hard towel. And so apparently I have a lot more dead skin than Rika. It feels so good, guys. Especially when she drinks the water for me. Yeah. It tickles my feet a little bit. It really does tickle. Next up is the thing that I think is the coolest. They take this specific kind of bag, they fill it with soap, and then they swing it around to make it all bubbly, and then they squeeze it through their hand, which pushes all these bubbles out onto you. It’s super fun. Whoa. Wow. Bubbles everywhere. Look what they do Wyatt. Whoa. The bubbles are, like, inside the bag, and then they just massage that soap into you, like, everywhere. They do your whole body. They do your feet, your hands, your arms, your head, your face. Oh. Wow. Whoa. So many bubbles. And I’m covered in bubbles. He’s covered in bubbles. Want to do a bubble head top? Bubble hat. Couldn’t find his hand. Yeah, it’s covered in bubble. So many bubbles. Do you like it? I really like it. I think I like it better than regular massages. Wow. Are you in heaven? I’m very much in heaven. Turkish heaven. Turkish heaven. They’re washing our hair. This is the Turkish bath house experience. It’s sort of like a full body massage. Just add bubbly soap. And last off, they wash us off. They take that same bowl and just sort of wash everything, making sure they get all the soap off you and all that dead skin. It’s good. It’s like the most personalized bath you’ve ever had. She washes me down. Getting the bubbles off. You look so clean. I look so pleased. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Yes. Thank you. How do you feel? Amazing. And after drying off, the experience is not over yet because we get to go outside and have a relaxing session with some tea and treats. She hair wraps me. Wow. I did a special hair wrap. That was the best, experience ever. I wish it wasn’t over yet. It isn’t over, yet! Oh, okay, good. They have after Turkish bath snacks. Wow. Thank you so much. All right, we’re drinking our, tea, our hibiscus tea and cakes, and literally, this feels like nobody’s here. Like, this is a totally individualized thing. I feel like I’m just, like, the only one being catered to right now. Me and Wyatt. I feel like that has to do with the time of day. We came here around 3pm and the guy on the WhatsApp message said he was like, yeah, it’ll Be totally empty. So, yeah, it’s kind of cool to have it all to ourselves. Nur who gave us the bath is subscribing. Here you go. This is awesome. Hey. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Nice. That was so fun. I want to do that again. Me too. I think I’m the cleanest I’ve ever been. That was so fun. And just like that, a mere hour and a half later, it’s sadly over. This is my first time seeing my skin, and it, like, looks really good. It definitely looks like we’ve, like, been through something. I am absolutely so glad we did that. That’s got to be, like, the best thing that we’ve done in Istanbul so far. Yeah. Having explored the urban side of Turkey in Istanbul, we were eager to see the natural beauty of this country. So we flew to Antalya, rented a van, got groceries, and decided to spend a few days exploring Turkey’s stunning Mediterranean coast, AKA the Turkish Riviera. But before we do any adventuring, we’re going to give you a full tour of our home base for this trip. A 2011 Citroen jumper converted van. Welcome to our tiny home on wheels. The first thing we do before we enter the caravan is put our shoes on this very convenient rack over here. There’s two indoor lights, two outdoor lights, a switch that controls these two measurements for the water tank, and finally a switch that controls the water pump. We have this stove. It is a gas stove, and we control the gas actually in the back. And then we have a couch behind me that actually can be converted into a table space. Then there’s a skylight as well. The kitchen is stocked with a ton of storage space and a fridge and also a sink with running water. Then to my left, there is a bathroom. It was really nice to not have to go outside and pee last night. And then all the way at the back, you have the bed. The bed is snug for me and Wyatt both, but it’s actually fairly big considering we’re in a camper van. So we got this window right here, which has been very nice. Tons of natural light in this van. This is right. Here is an outdoor shower. And here is the black and gray water. So this thing just comes out. And this is full of all our fun stuff. That’s our van. Let’s go explore the Turkish Riviera. Our next plan of attack is to drive an hour and 18 minutes west to Demre, which is this town that has really interesting tombs that are on the side of a cliff. It looks like it’s going to be a great day. We’re trying to get the nice weather. While we got it, we were driving and we actually saw a painted Turkish flag on the side of a mountain. Super cool. Oh, my word. I see the Myra tombs, and they look epic. Let’s go check out Demre’s caves. Yes. It looks so cool. Oh, whoa. So behind me are the Myra Rock tombs, which are gorgeously carved on the side of a cliff. And they were built in the 4th century BC by the Lycian people who ruled this area of Turkey during that time. And Demre was actually called Myra at that time, so that’s why it’s called the Myra Rocks. It’s so pretty. It’s like they’re carved into the cliff face. Apparently that’s because the Lycian people thought that the dead deserved homes of their own. So they’re kind of like little mini cliff houses, but super well preserved. And there’s like, nobody here, as you can see. Nuts. You’re not actually allowed to go in them, but you can, like, walk below them. And that right there is the insanely well preserved Roman amphitheater. Yeah. This theater obviously had plays, announcements, like, from the emperor. Like crazy stuff was happening right here. And it can hold 10,000 people, this amphitheater. Crazy. You don’t often get somewhere this old. That is this big. That’s this well preserved with this few tourists. Unless you’re in southern Turkey and then you have the tombs right near them. I know. Come on. I think the tombs are just as cool. Yeah, true. We somehow joined a third grade field trip with this few tourists. It’s so much bigger from down below. Feel like I could just. Oh, opera. Single. Cool stop, right? Very cool stop. €13 a person. Expensive, but worth it. As soon as we entered Demre, there were so many greenhouses everywhere. And apparently we looked it up, and these greenhouses can plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, melons, and strawberries. It’s literally like the whole city is just covered. Okay, now we have one more stop here in Demre. This is a old church, St. Nick’s Church, otherwise known as Santa Claus. So I never thought I’d see a Santa Claus here in Turkey. Love it. So The Church of St Nicholas was built in the sixth century over the burial site of, the fourth century bishop, St Nicholas. And he was known for his generosity. And he’s actually the figure behind Santa Claus. So he’s literally the og Santa Claus. Who knew that? The origin of Santa Claus is in modern day Turkey. And it’s like such good weather, which does not feel like it should be Santa Claus time right now. Turkish Santa. Yeah. That is a cute dog. Well groomed. Oh, nice. So Patara beach, one of the longest beaches in Turkey, spanning 18 kilometers or 11 miles. That’s a long beach. And you can feel how vast and expansive this sand is. There’s room for everybody. Oh my word. I love it. And the ocean waves, the breeze. Wow. What is that sand doing on your booty? Do, I have sand on there? Yep. Did I get it? You still got a little something there. Pretty cold. Very refreshing though. It’s getting kind of hot. Oh, big wave. Do you see a cat in the sky? Oh, facing the other way. Yeah. With its tail up? Yeah. I was also seeing a duck. Like the tail is the face. Okay, we got clouds, rolling in. So, time to go back. It’s gonna rain, so yeah. So. Yeah, let’s head back. ₺150 2 scoop, small. Okay. Uhhuh. Going to get some ice cream here. Come here, come here. Oh, okay. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay. Yeah. Oh, come here, come here. Never gonna get the ice cream. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Why? Perfect. Never gonna get. This is lovely. Stop, yes? Maybe. Yes. Come here, come here. Test, test. Yes. Okay. No tricks. No tricks. Okay. Touch the cooler. Extra, extra, extra, extra. Yeah. Okay. I’m never gonna get it. Okay, thank you. Oh, we got it. There you go. Bye. Bye. I don’t trust you. Thank you. Thank you. In Turkey, gelato is called dondurma and they do that trick thing that you just saw that was so annoying because I wanted it so bad, but it’s really funny. Pistachio and vanilla. Perfect for this, like, beach, hot turkiye, Southern Riviera day. Let’s go. Good, right? I normally just get chocolate, but. Well, I got pistachio and it’s really good. Alrighty. I didn’t want it. That was gonna be mine, wasn’t it? Is it gonna be? No. And now it’s time to head to the Patara ruins. After Potara beach, we are now at the Patara Ruins, also built by the Lycians like the caves earlier. They look really big, look pretty fun. Let’s check them out. Yay. So the Lytian League was one of the world’s first examples of democracy. I didn’t even realize that one of the first was in Turkey. I know. Right? Crazy. That writing was written 2500 years ago. It looks like modern day Greek. It’s actually its own language. Yeah. You can even see, like, Roman letters. Like, the Q. Look at how straight those lines are. And, like, how well preserved that is. But let’s go check out the assembly hall. Let’s do it. Absolutely. Nuts. It’s so cool to be walking through history, you know? Yeah. The sounds here are awesome. So you have, like, tons of birds chirping, and then there’s a call to prayer in the distance. I object. I don’t know if this was a courtroom, love. Oh, I like the thought, though. Okay, let’s put it to a vote. Who is going to subscribe to Wyatt and Reyka? Raise your hand. Aye. Yay. You killed it. You killed it, too. They’re gonna subscribe. Man, they really like their amphitheaters here, I know. I mean, they were super popular. They were kind of a staple in the Roman Empire, weren’t they? I absolutely love Turkey. Has sort of everything. Has ancient ruins, has food, has hamams, beaches, beaches, mosques. Mosques, man. Like what? What doesn’t it have here? Churches, churches. Santa Claus. Santa Claus. Thoughts on Patara as a whole? Awesome. I mean, they got the beach, they got the ruins, they got the ice cream. The man that teases you. What more can you ask for? What a fun little ancient city. You could say it was pata – radical. Or patar – awesome. Like, pata – radical better stretching a little. Pretty. Pretty funny, I think. After parking on a narrow highway, it was time for the one, the only, Kaputas Beach. Thank you. Have a good day. Nestled between dramatic cliffs at the mouth of a deep canyon, Kaputas was without question the most photogenic place we visited on the Turkish Riviera. I mean, just look at it. If we weren’t still dripping from our swim at Patara beach, we easily could have stayed for hours. Turquoise water crashing against golden sand, framed by those orange rock walls. Pure magic. This is the kind of the kind of place I was expecting when I was thinking Turkish Riviera. That being said, Reyka did have a thought about the entry fee. So we paid 100 lira total to get into the beach. And while it is gorgeous on the ground and it’s not expensive to get in, personally, I would have been totally fine not paying the money and just looking up from afar. Yeah, totally. But it is very pretty, though. Looking for a good rock. Yeah. We left at the perfect time because it just started to pour down. Rain. Yeah, it’s, like, coming down. And with the sun beginning to dip we made a quick grocery store stop. Just parked the van. We’re going to stop here at Migros and get some groceries to cook a little bit of dinner tonight. The rain is still coming down, but it’s letting up a little bit, so. Nice Turkish grocery store. Pretty nice. Lot of broccoli. And then wandered past a peaceful little harbor. There are some nice boats here. Good haul. And then came the quest for a campsite. The first one we tried was closed for the season. Yeah, it’s okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s okay. Thank you. The second, a total fiasco. The second campsite was right in the heart of Kaş. Being crammed between jagged mountain rocks and the sea makes for some breathtaking views, but it’s not exactly ideal when you’re driving a 20 foot long van. Google Maps did us zero favors. It directed us down a one way street, which, surprise, we couldn’t actually drive down. Locals started shouting, waving us off. And suddenly we were inching our way down this sliver of a road parallel to it that barely counted as a street. Wyatt. Cuz there’s no turning back if you go this way. I can’t. I can’t go that way. There’s too many cars. I didn’t think we could make it down. And we were deciding what to do when cars were stacking up behind us. Fine. That’s your only option. Okay. We’re gonna be fine. This is fine. Kaş. This town. Beautiful. Not van friendly. That was so, horrible. We did not want to go through any of that again. So we left Kaş and drove to the next campsite, which was about an hour away. I’m gonna turn all this into dinner tonight. Let’s do it. First thing, open that up. Little salt, little pepper, then some beans. This is what came out of it. How does it stack up? Really good. I was so hungry. I feel like this is what you see when you are on social media and someone’s like, van life. You know, they’re doing a fun meal in a cool place with a view. It’s very exciting. Hello. How are you? Good, good. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah, of course. My name is Arif. Arif. Do you want some blueberry? No, I have. Very good. He just came in. Wyatt’s like, you want some? Picked up the bread, got his own peanut butter. We love our, Turkish friends. They’re so outgoing here. Some of them will escape, but most of them will stay in there, I’m hoping. All right, that’s plenty. I call that. Okay. Okay. Performance. We got popcorn. Good morning. Now time for morning oatmeal. You guys, look what I just found at the campsite. Little chicks and their mama. Absolutely adorable. Oh, wow. I feel like these kind of mornings are what van life’s all about. Going slow, enjoying the views, meeting friends, trying some Turkish coffee. Cok Sartre. How is the bathroom? There were bugs everywhere. I know. A lot, of bugs, right? It was like something straight out of a nightmare. Like, I’m not even joking you. It’s just bugs. I’m definitely gonna miss this view, guys. But it’s time to van life. Loving it. Brushing my teeth on the bed. It’s kind of nice to have the sink right next to the bed, right? It is. And then there’s the trash can right here. Hey, you don’t even have to get out of the bed. Nope. That’s like Prime Rica. That’s like. Yeah, I was gonna say perfect conditions. Shaving outdoors works pretty well. Thank you. Good time? Yeah, all day. Cool. You ready to hit the road again? Let’s do it. Burning daylight. This is going to be the coolest park spot that we’re ever going to have. This is crazy. It’s gorgeous at this. Wow. The blue water, it’s like turquoise, right? Yeah. And then we’re parked right over there. Insane, man. Look at that water. Why is nobody here? Why is nobody here? There’s, like, a fisherman down there and nobody that way. Underrated. Alrighty. Well, I cannot come to a beach and not swim in it, especially when you have a campsite like this. And here is Reyka, and I’m just gonna be sitting and enjoying this amazing view from the bed. It can’t get any better. The ocean is so close. So Google Maps is saying this place is called pebble beach, and it’s really close to the town of Demre, which we went to yesterday. And this has got to be one of Wyatt’s and my favorite spots in the entire trip. And unfortunately, it is the last day we’re here. But we’re just trying to soak it up and take advantage of the amazing day. Water felt so good. I just wish we had more time. Tonight. We’re trying to make it through Antalya, which has a lot of traffic, and it’s about one or two. So we’re gonna hustle now to get through it by, like, four. It is extremely convenient when you can go to the bathroom in such a desolate place like this. Let’s go. All right, here’s the moment of truth. Will Wyatt and the Van make it back up to the road. Let’s see. Can you tell me when the coast is clear? Yep. The bus is gonna pass and then you’re free to go. Okay. Woohoo. Did it. Now I gotta get back in. Nice. We did it. We made it to Antalya. Parking there. Beautiful sunset. I actually have to go smart btmi. But I have to go number two. And the mosque is doubles as a public toilet so that is where I’m going. Perfect. Squatty buddy. Success. Just cleaned up the mats. Just did a big old deep clean. Yep. Man, look at that sunset. That is nuts. Slept great in our last night in the van. Just packing up. We’re gonna take an Uber to the airport. I was honestly quite worried about van life just because there was a lot to think about. But this was a great van to take us on this journey because it was easy, it had everything. And I really didn’t have worry too much other than campsites. But we made was bittersweet to turn in that beautiful van. But you can’t go to Turkey without visiting the famous Cappadocia. Let’s head to Capadia. It’s a region known for its ancient cave civilizations and hot air balloon rides. And we are going to explore it for the next three days. There are two main cities here in Cappadocia. We are in Uchisar and we’re going to be taking the Pigeon Valley hike to Gureme. The other one. Let’s go. Start off with a bang. This is so cool. I’m kind of scared though. I’m gonna come down. So we’ve been talking a lot about these caves that are famous here in Cappadocia. So I wanted to give a little bit of history. These caves are also known as fairy chimneys because they look straight out of a fantasy book. And they were created millions of years by a volcanic eruption that created all this pile up of ash. And then eventually through erosion, it began to harden and shape into these soft rock called tuff. And then later on all of the Christians came and turned them into churches and different civilizations which we’re going to talk a little bit more about later. But this is so cool. What are you doing? Don’t follow us. No, this cat’s following us now. Pretty dang cool trail. Must say. we should go inside. Maybe there’s more art. Yeah, you can. They have these little trails to go up inside the caves. Whoa, look up there, Wyatt. Wow. It’s so big. It’s a whole nother room. Yeah, I could live in here. It’s nice and cool. Wow. You farted in there. Yeah. I should have done it outside though, not in the closed space. Sorry. Boom. Look at these pigeonholes. That’s crazy. So the reason they call this hike the Pigeon Valley hike is because there are many of those fairy chimneys that are full of pigeonholes. And they did that because they loved pigeons being here and kind of, well, pooping because the pigeon droppings were great natural fertilizer for the vineyards here in the area back in the day. So then they would create the pigeonholes to bring the pigeons to then have them. Yet now he needs a rope. If you come to Cappadocia, you have to do Pigeon Valley hike. It’s only like two miles and it’s breathtaking. You just walk straight through a canyon. Flowers, bees, caves, insane rock formations, city views. We finally made it to Gureme after a long but successful hike. So gorgeous. We are currently on our way to the open air museum. Beautiful day for a walk through Gureme. I am really loving the overall atmosphere of Gureme. It has so much more lively aesthetics. You know, like people are walking around more, there’s more to do. It’s so awesome. Thank you. Wow. I love how you’re allowed to just kind of explore these cave systems. Pretty dang cool. Open air museum. Super stunning. Very cool. Pretty epic. It’s so cool to see all of the drawings inside the caves. It helps you to like really visualize what it was like back in the day. People were laughing at me. People were laughing. They’re going like. Yeah. The selfie stick is kind of obnoxious. The chana masala. Nice. Good. What a great first day in Cappadocia. Yeah. We are about to take the bus up from. Gureme to the other town where we started actually, Uchisar. We did it. After a quick walk from our hotel, we are now at Uchisar Castle. Yeah, it’s the biggest highlight to do in Uchisar. And it looks awesome. It’s like so big and it’s full of caves. Yeah. And then there’s mini caves all around it too. Super cool. Yeah. You can go on top of it. And that’s what we’re about to do right now. Now this is 100% the reason people come to Uchisar Castle. You have 360 degree views of the gorgeous terrain. I mean, come on. Amazing. I feel like I can look out for miles. So the Uchasar Castle is a natural formation of tuff rock, similar to the rock that we saw yesterday. And they basically made a military watchtower out of it during the Byzantine and Seljuk era because it’s just so large and so tall and you get amazing panoramic views of, Ujasar. It’s so cool. Wow. It just keeps getting better the higher we get up. Yeah, true. Look at that view. Boop. You got quite the hole, Wyatt. I’m trying to take a serious shot and he just has a huge hole in his pants. Yeah, you’re covering it. There it is. Overall, Uchisar Castle, huge success. I think out of all the tourist places betwee the museum versus this, I think this is cooler, personally. Yeah, that was my favorite thing we’ve done in Cappadocia so far. So in, Turkey, pomegranate oranges and grapefruits are everywhere. But I got a mix of orange, mandarin, pomegranate, granite in Turkish and, grapefruit. Fuel for our hike through Love Valley. Okay, so we’re hiking to Love Valley and on the way we go through this like canyon gorge thing. Very cool. Very pretty. There’s a turtle. Hey, little guy. This Love Valley hike is absolutely crazy. Literally everywhere you look is an Instagram shot. We finally made it to Love Valley, which I’ll let you guess based on the rock shapes why it’s called that. Call me immature, but this is funny. I mean, how often are you surrounded by phallic rock statues that are thousands of years old? I really thought there was only going to be like three or four or five. But look at all these. They’re literally everywhere. Everywhere. So interesting. And they’re all different shapes and different like sizes. It’s the truth. Yep. Final stop of the day is Taste of Moms to get some Gozleme, which is basically a Turkish crepe. How are you? How are you usa? What’s her name? And she started this restaurant. Yeah. Nice. Three years before start. So we are at Taste of Moms, which is in Gureme. And basically the woman who makes them, this is actually her home and she cooks from the little outside area and then she just brings us Gozleme. It’s so cool. Yeah, it’s kind of like home cooked food here. What we’re gonna eat is Gozleme, which is a, Turkish crepe. And they stretch it out a lot and then they put it on this like round pan. Sort of looks like a fish eye. And yeah, we got potato and she let us film the entire process. It was very fun. Thank you. Thank you. Want a drink? Thank you enjoy. Right on. You can’t really go wrong with bread and potatoes. It’s delicious, warm, total comfort food. Very filling because it’s fully carbs. But I’m really a fan. I don’t think people could design a more reyka dish. I love potatoes and I love bread. Yeah. It’s like the exact combo that you love. It’s perfect. Yeah. He was like, drink. And we were like, i don’t know. We was like, you should try Ayran. Apparently it’s water with yogurt and salt. It seems like it has the consistency of milk a little thicker, and then we’ll see what it tastes like. It’s like cheesy yogurt in liquid form. That is a very interesting flavor. I think it tastes cheesy because they put salt in it too. It’s kind of refreshing, actually. It’s like a thick, refreshing drink, especially for the warmer day. You ready to, go? Yeah, let’s go. Oh, let’s go. This is both of our first hot air balloon ride ever. We’re going with the Royal Balloon Company here in Cappadocia, and they are just inflating the balloons now. It’s crazy. These things are huge. I’m getting kind of nervous because you’re just like, gonna be in a basket, but I think it’s gonna be epic. And the sunrise is just starting and it’s already gorgeous. Yeah, it’s crazy. They have little, like, fans, and then they’re blowing it into the balloon. And then I think that after that, then they, like, put the fire up or something. Exactly. So there you go. This literally looks like a desktop background, but it’s real. The vibrant colors over the more dusty landscape is super cool. Yeah, cool contrast, especially with the morning light. Not only do you have like a hundred different balloons of different colors going up and down, but this way you have the sunset and then you also have the natural landscape. And I feel like we knocked out the best hot air balloon ride in the world on the first one. This is a super long ride. They give you a whole hour, and that gives you plenty of time to film, take photos and enjoy. Yeah. They’re gonna land it on that trailer. That is skill right there. So fun. These guys are the real MVPs. Pulling us down. Truly magnificent. We now are gonna go, do a little champagne post flight celebration at 6:30am hey, cheers. Not only do they have champagne, they also have chocolate covered strawberries. Check that baby out. Thank you. We get a medal for completing our trip. Good job. Cheers. To an amazing trip to Turkey. Thank you so much for joining us. Make sure to subscribe and we’ll see you in the next one. Both the beautiful and the frustrating thing about traveling is that there are always more places to go. We leave Turkey with a confidence that we only scratched the surface of this beautiful country. The kind people, delicious food, stunning sites, and just general good vibes everywhere you go make us really want to return here again soon. Thank you so much for watching this video. Not only do we love making videos like this, but by watching them you are directly supporting our ability to travel more and further. If you enjoyed this one, you’ll also like our video in Oman, a fascinating country. It’s here on the screen right now. Thank you so much for watching and we’ll see you in the next one.

We almost didn’t make it through Türkiye. Though this country is full of beauty, kindness, culture, and history, it also brings with it a fair share of travel difficulty. Join us and watch this wild adventure play out.

This video documents our entire 13 days exploring Türkiye. We thoroughly explore Istanbul’s sites, food, and hamam before making our way to Antalya to drive a van along the breathtaking Mediterranean coast. And finally, we end in Cappadocia in our first ever hot air balloon ride!

It’s a wild video, and we can’t wait to hear what you think. So quit reading this description and go give it a watch! 😘 🇹🇷
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Who are Wyatt and Reyka?!

If you’re new here, hi! 👋

In 2021, we were two college sweethearts from Ohio with degrees in hand and no real plan—so naturally, we booked a six-week trip to Mexico. We ate a disturbing number of tacos, failed spectacularly at surfing, and posted a few videos so our moms wouldn’t worry.

Then we moved to Spain to teach English and spent weekends in places like France and Portugal. Somewhere between missing trains and butchering Spanish, we realized… yeah, we want to do this forever.

Fast forward a few years: dozens of passport stamps, plenty of travel hacks (and mistakes), and somehow we’re still at it—exploring our beautiful globe.

We know how lucky we are, and we don’t take it for granted. Thanks for following along—subscribing to this YouTube channel is the best way to keep up (and make our moms proud). 🥹💛🌎
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro – 13 Days in TÚRKIYE! 🇹🇷
0:45 Istanbul! 🕌
28:48 Turkish Food Tour! 🫓
44:12 The Bath House! 🛁
55:01 Turkish Riviera Van Life 🚐🇹🇷
1:18:42 Cappadocia! 🏔️
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10 DAYS in TÜRKIYE! 🇹🇷 (we love this country!)
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#turkey #türkiye