Visiting Izmit: Holiday Dawn

“A fair portion of the world is imprinted on my hazy memories. It’s gratifying to have them renewed.” – Old Sean

Back to Turkey

Finally.

When I took my current job in Saudi Arabia, I was told some supremely misleading things regarding my vacation time. Namely, that I would have some.

That promise turned out to be a sham, with time off only offered after completing a full year contract. I had never intended to stay in Saudi Arabia for that long. This made my expected vacation time a somewhat sunk cost.

But I was promised time off during the Eid holiday. And with that time finally arrived, I immediately fled Saudi Arabia as the month of Ramadan shifted to Eid.

I took my leave to the north, returning to my old love, Turkey. Within four hours of work ending, I landed in Istanbul and breathed put a tiny gasp of relief.

It was time for my holiday.

Rental Rolls

Unfortunately, upon landing, not everything was as smooth as envisioned.

My foremost issue was a lack of WiFi or a working eSIM. Unbeknownst to me, Turkey has a strange law regarding the use of international phones. To prevent the mass import of foreign products and compel locals to buy Turkish brands, foreign phones must be registered on the Turkish network to operate after 120 days. This is wildly expensive.

While I certainly haven’t been in Turkey for 120 days, I was here 120 days ago. So my phone qualified and promptly locked me out of mobile networks. For the entire trip, I would be reliant on WiFi.

This made the arrival situation somewhat tricky. I had to borrow a mobile hotspot to contact my car rental agency, which quickly arrived with a white Dacia Sandero.

I promptly hopped into the car and started driving, heading out into the countryside for a brief breather. With offline maps on my phone for the entire western region of Turkey, I was able to navigate even without internet.

A Meal in the Mountains

I drove out into the countryside, navigating narrow roads until sweeping green hills brought me to a cottage restaurant.

Birds trilled I the background and a low lake glimmers in the distance. The blue visages of Greek Evil Eye decorations and colored pinecone hung from the walls. The location, which was a gorgeous bit of property, was called Meşe Yaprağı Restaurant & Cafe. There, I ordered a hefty plate of chicken and connected to local WiFi to check into my Airbnb.

Unfortunately, such a check in would never happen. My host continuously asked for extra cash on arrival, for reasons unknown to me. I continued to message back and forth, but nothing was resolved.

Quickly growing tired of the conversation, I declined and sought out other accommodations. But once again, luck wasn’t with me. I had no wish to go deeper into Istanbul to find a place to stay and the restaurant was closing.

Devoid of other options, I drove away, seeking out a new cafe where I could borrow WiFi.

This turned out to be an open air walking mall (Viaport Asia Outlet Shopping) with a few carnival options and a couple of decent cafes. I sat down and started seeking out a place to spend the night.

I eventually sprung upon a place outside of Istanbul, in the coastal town to the east, otherwise known as Izmit, part of the Gölcük metropolis.

The host seemed far more accommodating, so I calmly started my eastward drive.

A Night of Chatter

My night in Izmit was far better than I had initially hoped.

Once I was invited inside, I met a trio of Turkish people. They were extremely hospitable. Within the hour, I had been given plenty of tea, a fair amount of delicious pasta, several invites out to locals bars and a couple of small neighborhood walks.

I also obtained numerous directions for local attractions and travel advice for navigating Turkey. Before heading to bed for the night, we watched a truly atrocious Michael Bay movie starring Ryan Reynolds called 6 Underground.

The action was explosive, the plot was uneven, the pacing was bewildering, the characters were bipolar and the end result was more cathartic than purposeful.

Still, it was a fun evening. I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, collecting what sleep I could for the next stage of my journey.

Gone Sunrise

The following morning I woke up early to get back on the road. I snacked on some leftover pasta and went down to my vehicle.

I’m off to Izmir next. The entire purpose of my visit to Turkey is to explore The Lycian Way, an expansive trail filled with Hellenistic, Roman, Ottoman, Christian, Turkish, Lycian and Byzantine structures in the southern portion of the country.

But that will have to wait slightly. First, I was due to meet an old, old friend.

I’ll explain more deeply in a later post, but for now, I’m off to ping a ghost from my memories in Izmir.

Until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written April 5th, 2024

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