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Turkey by Public Transportation and Foot? (1 Viewer)

tim.birdboy

tim.birdboy

Well-known member
How realistic would it be to do a comprehensive birding trip of Turkey entirely by public transportation and foot? I've read that Turkey has excellent public transportation, so I'm curious to know how feasible it would be to pull off a well-rounded birding trip around the country without having to rent a private vehicle. Time frame would probably be along the lines of two weeks. The main areas of interest would be the Goksu Delta, Demirkazık area, Birecik area, Doğubeyazıt area, Pontic Mountains, and possibly areas along the Black Sea coast. Walking distances would not be a problem, as long as it was safe.

Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
Well, I did something like that in 1996 and saw around 275 species so it was definitely possible then. As well as good public transport, Turkey is a good place to get lifts - you probably won't have to ask a lot of the time. Having said that, I think you might be trying to cover a bit too much ground for two weeks, particularly without a car. If you can prioritise it might be best to go for Goksu Delta, Demirkazik and Birecik and then see what else you can fit in.
 
I did it in 1990's. Demirkazik had sparse public transport. I remember sleeping half-night in some very dirty bus station before catching a first bus to Safak family place (great people). Apparently also the best site for snowcock now is reachable by car but hardly by foot.

Goksu delta was also very long distances over salt marshes with scope in heat. Getting to the central part required some obscure bus from Silifke (?) for which I waited ages and ages and then went without me knowing. Not to mention walking with heavy stomach upset, which most visitors to Turkey get. I also slept on some field, full of mosquitoes, but on the positive side friendly herdsmen girl diverted her flock away from me.

Overall, public transport in smaller places is sparse (like three buses per day). Then getting to birds proper require multi-kilometre walks, usually in heat, often uphill and carrying scope. When there are asphalt and dirt roads which you could perfectly drive, it is no fun. Definitely forget any type of tight itinerary. Also, some specilities will be missed. And these buses often go only in mornings and evenings. So if you go from one bird place to another bird place, you need 3 buses plus waiting, and waste really lots of birding time...
 
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Thanks for the replies. You haven't entirely talked me out of it...yet.

Andrew, that's an impressive trip list. How long were you there? What areas did you visit?
 
tim.birdboy said:
Thanks for the replies. You haven't entirely talked me out of it...yet.

Andrew, that's an impressive trip list. How long were you there? What areas did you visit?
Click to expand...

I was there for about 10 weeks and I went around most of the country. Some others I was with came out for two weeks and I think got around 200, just going to Goksu, Birecik and Demirkazik. This was all in spring - what time of year are you planning to go?

It's harder work by public transport and you can't rush too much, but you can still see a lot of birds. If you don't mind getting the odd taxi then that could help quite a bit too.
 
I also journeyed around Turkey using the public transport system with the occasional longish walk and a fair few lifts (on a tractor wing at one stage) in 1985. It was both enjoyable for the most part and incredibly productive with the Turkish people generally being incredibly friendly, helpful and extremely accommodating. I would be surprised if it hadn't actually got easier in recent times, well worth the adventure
 
Turkey is a very feasible country to bird on public transport and the people are generally incredibly (sometimes too!) friendly and helpful, just as Mark has described. However, attempting to cram everything you mentioned in your first post into two weeks is not really a practicable objective.

And, despite that public transport can get you to the main sites you'll end up doing some (very) long walks. Göksu Delta, as mentioned earlier, is just one of the places where you'll get plenty of exercise if you decide to bird Turkey without a hire car.

One word of practical advice if you decide to go ahead with the public transport option. Between main centres, where you have the option of using one of the better bus companies, do so! (I forget their names, but you'll recognise them easily by the fact that their offices are nicer, they usually have a hostess dishing out coffee and snacks on the buses etc., and of course they're more expensive.) You'll spend more, but the drivers for these companies are far better and don't (usually) take unnecessary chances with your life. Unfortunately, between small towns you're "in the lap of the gods". I've never been in an accident personally, at least not in Turkey, but I've seen enough bus and car accidents there to know that it's worth minimising the risks.
 
Another vote for yes. Had ten days back in Sept 1998 (I think), flew to Dalaman in the south. Birded around Fethiye, Birecik, a biggish lake somewhere in the middle (took a day to walk around), some mountains in two different places for raptors and stuff, and wound up back around Dalyan area for a few days birding. A bit of hitching, mostly bus though. Great.

I'm sure 2 weeks would enable more to be done, but that would be a lot of driving by car anyway. Getting public transport you can do the long distances at night sometimes too. Comprehensive? - not sure. Certainly you could get a lot done...
 
Much thanks to everyone for their replies. It's encouraging to hear the positive experiences.

Just in case I haven't sufficiently proven my cluelessness, I have a couple more questions:

1. What's the best site guide? Seems like Dave Gosney's series is popular; is it terribly out-of-date? Guy's book is also on my wishlist.

2. For you long-term travelers, what did you do for accommodations?

Thanks again.
 
1. Gosney is the best, but some spots are outdated. For example Sultan marshes were usually dry and birdless. Check trip reports at eurobirding.com and update your info.

2. I once slept in sleeping bag randomly in the field, and once in cheap hotels found by asking around. This is another problem - car allows you to store your stuff in the back, otherwise you should look for hotels, perhaps avoid most expensive or noisy, centrally located ones, haggle a price, drop your bag, go towards the birding spot, return back to the hotel - all eats the birding time away.

Overall, last time in Turkey I cursed myself that car was likely cheaper in terms of bucks per species, considering how much time everything takes there. Plus heat etc.

best,
 
Think I'm in the short term traveller category, but anyway, stayed in cheap hotels a couple of times (Birecik, and by that lake whose name eludes me, although it had Greater Sandplover (?) and Spur-winged Lapwing etc), camped out a couple more, hitched through one or two nights, public transport on another at least, and got invited into someone's house for two nights.

There's always going to be cheap hotels, just whether they're ideally placed or not ...
 
dantheman said:
Think I'm in the short term traveller category, but anyway, stayed in cheap hotels a couple of times (Birecik, and by that lake whose name eludes me, although it had Greater Sandplover (?) and Spur-winged Lapwing etc), camped out a couple more, hitched through one or two nights, public transport on another at least, and got invited into someone's house for two nights.

There's always going to be cheap hotels, just whether they're ideally placed or not ...
Click to expand...

Was the lake Kulu Golu? Another good spot in central Turkey anyway - and easy to do without a car (just stay in the town and walk around the lake).

I mostly used to just turn up in towns and somebody would swiftly find me and take me to a hotel. I suspect that's not necessarily the best way to do it but I generally didn't pay very much for anywhere I stayed. Some of them were a little bit less than five star though.
 
I was in Turkey last September , although i stayed around the Bodrum area due to a family holiday i found it difficult to get about due to not knowing the transport in the country perhaps being paronoid about safety which is understandable , but the people where very friendly and willing to help which made my stay better .
What i struggled with was what seemed to be boundrys in the mountains with wall after wall blocking me walking to areas i wanted to visit but i still got to see some lovely birds , transport in Turkey is unbelivable with everybody being in a rush and the roads i see was something else , no way i was going to drive over there but buses normaly drop you of pretty much where you wanted so not to bad , 10 out of 10 for birding though great country and im going back this October .
 
A couple of the major coach companies here are http://www.pamukkale.com.tr/index.html and http://www.kamilkoc.com.tr/ both have online reservations and prices so you should be able to plan a visit.

These will get you between the major towns and then you can get the local dolmus (bus) to the smaller village areas from the Otogars (bus stations)

With something like google maps and the above coach companies you should be able to plan a visit covering the areas you mentioned.

If you are planning on visiting the Dalyan area visit this site http://www.dalyanbirding.com/ which will highlight the local areas and what can be seen around here.

Have a great time and look forward to reading your trip report.
 
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