As of December 2023

Food

In Turkey we found supermarkets like those in Europe and even Migros branches with alcohol. But there are also street vendors with fresh fruits and vegetables and small shops with only local products, so we bought our second-best honey ever.

Water

We mainly got water from gas stations, and consistently with decent pressure. Especially in Turkey there are drinking water points on the streets, which are signposted and are also actively used.

Diesel

Diesel was plentiful at every gas station we visited and was sold at a standard price.

Money

The currency, the Turkish Lira (TRY), is easy to obtain and freely convertible. We got the cash we needed from an ATM because we didn’t need that much because we could pay with our credit card almost everywhere.

Overnight places

We have always used wild camps throughout Turkey. We only saw one campsite and it was closed. Wild Camping works well and we weren’t bothered anywhere.

All our overnight places:

Internet

We always had a great network on our entire route through Turkey. Since we had to update Adobe, we used up a full 70GB in a short period of time. We were able to easily purchase the SIM card from Turkcell and buying 50GB of data at once was no problem.

Streets

We had the impression that the Turks were constantly working on the roads but couldn’t keep up with the traffic. We were impressed by the many directional roads in the plains and the bridges and tunnels in the mountains. Sometimes we also came across roads that definitely needed to be renovated. The many speed bumps are quite annoying, and unfortunately, they are not always well marked!

Regulations for heavy motor vehicles

We have not found any different regulations to Europe. The many cardboard police cars on the side of the road were fun.

Customs formalities

Entry

We entered Çeşme by ferry. First, we had to have Globi scanned. We were then able to enter as individuals, quickly and easily. Afterwards we had to go to customs and import Globi. The paperwork took quite a long time, but the control was very short and painless. Afterwards, however, we had to wait over an hour until the officers finished their lunch break so we could drive out. There is a free canteen for truck drivers.

Handling time: 2 hours

Exit

We left at Esendere. The crossing is being operated jointly with Iran. The departure was very pleasant because a Turkish customs officer helped us get through customs quickly, basically acting as a truck driver with right of way.

Handling time: 1 hour

Our personal highlights

  1. Ephesus, Excavations, N37° 56.824′ E27° 20.479′
  2. Dogu Anadolu Bölgesi, beautiful mountain pass, N37° 20.105′ E43° 19.754′
  3. Mamure Kalesi, restored castle, N36° 04.918′ E32° 53.742′
  4. Cesme, Coastal town, N38° 19.363′ E26° 18.179′
  5. Coast road, scenic route, N36° 15.013′ E30° 06.520′
  6. Cennet ve Cehennem, Entrance to Hades, N36° 04.926′ E32° 38.686′

Our statistics

Average daily expenses for 2 people in CHF:

Food                                          4.67
Alcohol                                     1.30
HH non-food                             0.00
Clothes                                      1.11
Excursions                                6.32
Restaurant                                 0.36
Accommodation, campsite       0.00
Transport, road customs           0.00
Internet/phone                           1.72
Fees                                           0.19
Personal care                             0.00
1 liter diesel                              1.26

The excursions are relatively high because we visited many historical sites.