
The Turkish city that lives for breakfast - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180715-the-turkish-city-that-lives-for-breakfast
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roadbeats
If you consider visiting Van, I recommend you to take train. This route is
still not popular enough among tourists because eastern Turkey had gone
through violent conflicts. As long as you don’t get yourself in trouble
intentionally, you’ll be safe though. I traveled Eastern Turkey by hitchhiking
last year with my wife, and felt really safe and welcomed. People are very
friendly, food is great, the nature is like Switzerland. I’m sure that this
area will be too touristic to visit in the future, so I recommend you see
there before it gets hit by tourism.

If you want to do a full trip in Turkey, this is my route recommendation:
İstanbul -> flight -> Cappadocia -> Bus or hitchhike -> Urfa -> Mardin ->
Hasankeyf -> Van -> Doğubeyazıt —> İran. These towns are all wonderful, and
probably the most different beauties I’ve ever seen. Highly recommended.

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sgift
> As long as you don’t get yourself in trouble intentionally, you’ll be safe
> though.

What do you mean with that part?

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reustle
Stay out of shady bars/clubs, don't go looking for drugs, don't get too
terribly wasted if you get aggressive.

You'd be surprised how many travelers find themselves in trouble because of
some stupid thing.

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codebolt
Getting terribly wasted in general is probably worth avoiding.

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collyw
In certain places yes, in others its kind of expected.

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growlist
Having heard the hype about this famous breakfast I have to admit to being a
little underwhelmed when I experienced it myself, so ymmv. Apart from that my
trip to Eastern Turkey was brilliant and as with others I wholeheartedly
recommend it. So much amazing history and scenery, friendly people, easy
travel. I'd suggest it's safer with at least two of you and I'm not sure I'd
visit Diyarbakir area if I went again now. Van castle is amazing. Kars and Ani
are worth a visit. Take immodium with you. Don't mention the Armenian
genocide.

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skrebbel
> Don't mention the Armenian genocide.

What happens when you do? Do people just stop being nice to you or way more?

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nerdponx
Without any idea of the correct answer, I just know that it's a bad idea.
Don't bring up politics in a foreign country.

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crikli
Or in your native country.

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0xdeadbeefbabe
Or on facebook.

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makmanalp
Just as a note, breakfast in the rest of Turkey is also similarly diverse and
excellent :-) You'll notice that each region has its own small specialty
additions of spices, jams, pastries, eggs, etc. And often different fruits and
vegetables depending on what's seasonally available in the area. It's true
that breakfast in Istanbul doesn't quite compare to breakfast on the beach or
in the mountain with tomatoes and cucumbers picked freshly from the garden,
but still, quite a great breakfast can be had in the city.

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yoran
The kaymak and honey combination must be my favorite breakfast. Once I pop, I
can't stop. Makes me wish I lived in Turkey just for that.

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danielam
Sounds like it overlaps a great deal with Polish breakfasts. Lots of cold
sliced meats, cheeses, vegetables, breads, preserves, etc, with some
variation. A friend from college who grew up in Kansas once visited and
remarked on it. That may have been when I first became acutely aware of the
difference between the typical Polish breakfast and its American counterpart.

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egeozcan
Here are some photos of what to expect:

[https://www.google.de/search?q=serpme+kahvalt%C4%B1&tbm=isch](https://www.google.de/search?q=serpme+kahvalt%C4%B1&tbm=isch)

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Digit-Al
Looks a little bit like a Turkish version of a ploughmans platter.

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sevensor
A restauraunt serving Turkish breakfast recently opened in my town -- I had no
idea it was such a thing. I'll have to find an excuse to try it!

Also, it's interesting seeing cognates in languages I don't know: peynir (I
looked it up) reminded me of paneer (which at least in the U.S. is what we
call the cheese in Indian food), and it turns out the word was (at least
according to wiktionary) borrowed by both languages from Farsi.

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serhadiletir
When the considering current currency value of Turkish liras against $, it's
most delicious and cheap breakfast in the world.

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growlist
I forgot to mention that the extinct volcano at Tatvan should not be missed!
This was one of the highlights of my trip.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemrut_(volcano)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemrut_\(volcano\))

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francopiccolo
Turkish breakfast and more broadly Turkish food is great. You don't need to go
to this particular city to experience that. Though let's celebrate the funny
ways word of mouth has to spread the news.

