My Turkish friends always raved about Çeşme.
“Çeşme is better than Bodrum.”
“The sea in Çeşme is beautiful.”
“After you go to Çeşme, you’ll never want to go anywhere else in Turkey.”
After exploring the Samsun city center, I hopped on the train and headed to Amazon Island (Amazon Adası). This large “island” made of land reclaimed from the Black Sea sits on the outskirts of the city. It has been used as a public park since it opened in 2012. If you like cheesy, this place is for you.
Samsun isn’t very impressive as a city. It’s short on star attractions and there’s not much reason for tourists to visit, but it does have a few points of interest if you find yourself passing through.
Samsun for me was a lot of wasted time. For a large city with such a long history, the sites were mostly uninteresting and uninspiring. I felt my full day there was too much, and a half day would have served it well enough.
Most people who have seen Midnight Express get a Hollywood version of Turkey’s justice and corrections system in the 1970s, showing it to be extremely brutal and inhumane. The Black Sea city of Sinop gives visitors the opportunity to go inside an actual Turkish prison to judge for themselves – however, without the prisoners.
The Black Sea city of Sinop is probably most famous for being the birthplace of ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic. A statue of him holding his lantern and standing next to his dog is located at the entrance of the peninsula.
Sinop was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Pontus (Πόντος), a Hellenized dynasty of Persian descent ruling over ethnic Greek subjects. Bits and pieces are left today from that great empire, which lasted from 281 BC to 63 BC.
The seaside in Sinop is a pleasant place to pass the time away. During my visit to the city, I enjoyed the south side of the peninsula around the harbor.
