Back in October for our long Republic Day weekend I had the pleasure of traveling with my good friends, Valantis and Sinem, and their two sons, Kayra and Nicholas. We headed three hours east from İzmir to the province of Uşak with the primary target of seeing Ulubey Canyon. You may be surprised to learn that Ulubey is the second longest canyon in the world at 45 kilometers; the longest one is of course the Grand Canyon, located in Arizona in the U.S. (a place I did visit about fifteen years ago).
We set our sight on Ulubey Canyon, and then selected a number of other sites along the way or in the surrounding area to make good use of our gas and time. On the drive out to the city of Uşak, where we stayed at a hotel for two nights, we first stopped at the ruins of ancient Sardis (also known as Sart). It was capital of the ancient kingdom known as Lydia, and is also considered to be the place where modern currency began (coinage).
We continued on to Uşak and checked into our hotel for the night. We stayed at the Ramada by Wyndham located in the center of town. Traveling with children, we ate dinner both nights in the hotel restaurant and were quite satisfied with the offerings and food. There was a separate lounge/bar where us adults could gather to chat and have a drink once the kids had gone to bed.
The next day, after breakfast at the hotel, we set off for a full day of adventures beginning with our first stop at Ulubey Canyon. There we walked along the rim, traveled a small ways into the canyon for picture-taking, and even stood on the glass platform that hangs over one part of the canyon. We explored the shops located along the rim of the canyon before heading off to our next destination. I would like to, someday, visit the canyon again and camp on the valley floor, along the river, that you see in the picture above. It was a peaceful place and it was nice to see colored autumn leaves in the canyon.
From the canyon, yet still along it, we visited next the ancient Greek city of Blaundus. For a brief review of its history and why it is considered the Stonehenge of Anatolia, check out this article from the Daily Sabah. These ancient ruins feel different from the others I have visited to-date. I recommend this short video clip to get a sense of the site. It feels older and more rustic, though that is not the case. It was constructed during the Hellenistic period–so between 300 and 30 BCE. We spent time walking around the site and feeling its energy. Here we paused to eat the snacks we’d swiped from the breakfast buffet to get us through to dinner.
After Blaundus we attempted to find the ancient city of Pepuza/Pepouza, to no avail. I’m not sure if we were walking right beneath it and didn’t see it, or if the location was wrong. Nonetheless, we enjoyed an hour or so by ourselves in beautiful nature–please scroll up and see the featured image on this post–it was truly breath-taking, the intersection of green, yellow, blue, and white. The collection of water, rock, and sky, along with the unique bridge construction over the river. I hiked the surrounding area hunting for the Pepuza ruins, but could not see or find them. Instead we enjoyed time beside the river, beneath the softly falling yellow leaves.
Last stop for the day was a bit further down the road–the Cilandiras/Clandras bridge, a bridge made as long as 2,500 years ago. I am not able to locate much information about it online other than it was from the Phrygia period, an ancient kingdom in Anatolia. It had very much a fairytale-land feel to it and the surrounding area. Green and full of vegetation.
Before we left town on Sunday we visited the Uşak Archaeological Museum which was most impressive. Signs were in both Turkish and English, and as usual I learned about more sites in the region that are worthy of a visit. That’s the “problem” with touring in Turkey–you cross two or three things off your “to-see” list, and then add a few more that you didn’t even know existed. So it goes!
I will leave you with this last picture of the sun setting over the farmlands that surround Uşak. I have to say that for a moment, as I enjoyed this view over the horizon, I felt a little as if I were in Kansas or Iowa. It had a strangely familiar feel to it.
I love the feeling of expansiveness that an open vista provides. It was one of the things I loved most about my time in Mongolia; Turkey has plenty of them to offer as well. I love a quiet moment in nature, or even rural countryside such as this, when I feel the magnitude of the universe and the smallness of me within it. In those seconds, I feel at peace.
