Exploring Turkey By Car

I just got back from an amazing day (27th of October, 2024) of exploring Ekincik Turkey by car with a guide. From a restaurant with the best bread EVER to visiting a local’s house and seeing their life to a rope swing waterfall pond. I’m going to say everything about this trip in this post.

We left at 8:20 am and I am not a morning person but it was worth it. We met our guide, Al (his nickname), outside the van and introduced ourselves. Because it was morning and cold, we first headed to the mineral baths. They are so warm and amazing! We bathed for about ten minutes then got out and dried off.

We next drove for a little while before we arrived at a beautiful forest. Al taught us about the trees there and the oil they make from it then we walked for like, two minutes until we arrived at a wire fence surrounding an orange grove. Al went and got us fresh pomegranates from the tree and gave us each a quarter of it. Because we liked them so much he got us several for us to take home to the boat.

We then drove two minutes to a small shop where we sat and had tea. There were a lot of guys smoking and playing dominos so I admit this wasn’t the best part but the tea (as Turkish tea always is) was amazing. 

Next, we drove to visit the turtle sanctuary where we donated and saw turtles (I’m now going to make my parents get me a baby turtle for a pet) they were keeping to rehabilitate. We learned a bit about the organization, got a flier, and took some photos on the beach.

After the turtles, we took a long drive (but not too long) to the lunch spot. Ordinarily, this length of drive would be boring for me but I actually enjoyed it. There were lots of signs with pictures of pools and swings and the scenery was beautiful because we were up in the hills. When we arrived it looked like a scene out of a fairy tale. 

The restaurant is built beside and on a river, with a swing bridge, and diving platform. The seating is comfortable and on the ground with lots of pillows. There was this adorable cat that came to sit with us and we all stroked and played with it.

The bread is: OUT OF THIS WORLD. It’s (at least some of it, I think there were two types) the most amazing bread I have ever had. It made it to second place on the list of best foods I’ve ever had. Only beaten by the unbeatable Moroccan Soup (A.M.A.Z.I.N.G). The restaurant itself is also so beautiful and amazing. We dived in the river (it was COLD, though we were there late in the year) and explored the section of the restaurant with tables LITERALLY on the water. (Not like above, literally sitting in ankle-high water). 

Some of the river is deep and calm, some of it is roaring with rapids, there is a little waterfall section, and a very shallow section with tiny ripples. The restaurant is decorated beautifully and in the most serene location. There are no words to describe this place, honestly, there are no words to describe this trip. 

After lunch, we weren’t done. We took a drive through the hills to a house where a lady and her husband lived. They were friends with Al and we got to see their house and the fields, see the cows, goats, chickens. Once we had finished a tour of their house we sat down outside at a table where the lady had set out tea, oranges, pomegranates, and grapes. It was amazing. I recommend having cash because she had a tip box and we didn’t have enough cash (we gave her some of course) to give her as much as we should. 

Her farmhouse is beautiful and the trees and Mom fed the goats with our orange peels. Her tea was marvelous and we were talking about how amazing the farmhouse visit was on the drive to the next place: a waterfall. 

We arrived and hiked for a few minutes to reach this swimming hole with a waterfall, and rope swing, and it was amazing. The water was, yes, cold, but not as bad as the river at the restaurant. We went on the swing (be where the pool is shallow where the swing is so your feet hit the bottom when you land), dived off the rocks, swam around then took the hike back to the car. 

Finally, we went to another little cafe area where we got ice creams, more Turkish tea (it’s so good), and some Turkish delight. Trust me, Turkish delight in Turkey is much better than any you have tasted before.

Finally, we drove home and the drive was much longer than it felt. We said goodbye and I went to take a shower while the boys jumped in and Mom started dinner.

This was one of the best days of my life: You will love it if you go.

Book with LandS and visit immediately!

--Sage Sedivec