An Overnight Stay in Mersin
One of my absolute favorite destinations from my time in Turkey– MERSIN!! The port city of Mersin captured my attention fast. It is visually stunning and packed full of people. This city is an economic hub for Turkey, and has been nicknamed “The Pearl of the Mediterranean.” We spent one night in Mersin, and stacked both days we were there!
We arrived in Mersin on Friday afternoon. We stopped in the city center at a delightful Korean restaurant named Seoul Cafe on our way to Kızkalesi, a small beach town. We enjoyed delicious Korean food and some scrumptious coffee before we hopped back on the road.
After this we left the city center and went on an adventure in some caves! The first set of caves we adventured in are called Heaven and Hell (Cennet Cehennem Mağarası). These caves are formed by two large sinkholes that were carved out by a river. They are significant sites in Greek mythology, but also simply stunning locations. Climbing down in the Heaven Cave was one of my favorite adventures in Mersin. The views from the bottom looking out of the sinkhole were absolutely amazing!
We also made a pit stop at the local Asthma Cave, which, true to its name, is a cave rumored to rid people of asthma. Unfortunately I don’t have a firsthand account of that cave- I got a little claustrophobic and decided to wait for the others at the top. But have no fear- my brave friend Becca went down and reported that the cave was fantastic.
Following the cave escapades, we proceeded to the coast of Mersin and checked into our hotel for the night. The view from our balcony was immaculate, as you can see by my stunned face looking at the castle. We grabbed some dinner that night by the sea. The highlight of my night, though, was absolutely the Turkish ice cream we ate. This ice cream is called Kahramanmaraş dondurması (kah-rah-mahn-mah-rahsh dohn-door-mah-sih) after the region of Turkey where this treat originates. The vendors who sell this often do tricks as they serve up your ice cream, which provides quite a laugh.
We crashed at our hotel that night and woke up to a nice breakfast the next morning. We ate overlooking the Mediterranean (!!) and then went and changed into our swimsuits. The managers of the hotel kindly offered to keep our bags while we enjoyed our day at the beach.
The beach was SO MUCH FUN. I splashed around in the Mediterranean Sea and enjoyed soaking up the sun. The water was the most beautiful shade of turquoise.
We also decided to adventure out to the castle shortly off the coast. We got a fairly cheap boat ride out to the island and got to explore the castle ruins. Local legend has it that this castle was built by a king, who was told by a fortune teller that his daughter would be bit by a snake and die. The king built the castle on an island with no snakes, but unfortunately a snake snuck in the basket his daughter brought to the island. The snake bit her and she died.
Fortunately no snakes were spotted on the island that day, but we did enjoy some beautiful views of the mainland!
Overall, Mersin was one of my favorite destinations in Turkey. The food was delicious, and the views were absolutely to die for. I highly recommend visiting this Mediterranean beach town on your next trip to Turkey.
To our friends in the West, keep looking East!
Sydney Sawyer
Sydney Sawyer is a joy all-around! Although she grew up moving all over the states, she claims Huntsville, Alabama as home. She left Rocket City to study accounting at Mississippi College, which consists of lots of running, studying, and goofing off with her friends. Although Syd has only taken two accounting classes, she’s often given the label “beloved resident accountant and human calculator.” Some of Syd’s favorite things include hiking moderately-sized mountains, reading an obscene number of books, and blaring music in her car that is lovingly referred to as “Ethel.” Being Syd’s friend comes along with watching lots of documentaries, eating fajitas every other night, and giggling over the silliest of things. To know her is to love her!