Travel tips for Turkey: How to get around?



The best, of course, is to have your own vehi¬cle. The coastal highway is paved, as are most inland routes to relatively significant towns, and six of the cross-mountain drives (off Samsun, Fatsa, Ordu, Giresun, Trabzon and Hopa). Minor mountain roads, including those in Artvin side-valleys, the (Çaykara-Uzungöl road, the Tirebolu-Torul and Ikiz¬dere-Ispir passes are unpaved. They require skilful driving and may become impassable after heavy rains. Almost every village in the region, though, is usually reachable by regu¬lar passenger car.
Rental vehicles are available from Avis alone in Samsun (Lise Caddesi 24, 361¬33288) and Trabzon (Lobby of Hotel Usta, 031-23740). Their daily summer rates for passenger cars range from $60 to $100, unlimited mileage. Jeeps are offered, but scarce. A private taxi can easily be engaged from Samsun, Trabzon, Artvin or elsewhere for a daily rate of about $20 plus expenses, driverincluded.
Buses and "dolmus" minibuses operate as frequently as every ten minutes on the coastal strip and stop anywhere for a passenger. Inland routes are less frequently served, but in general even remotest villages will have a
daily "servis" or two. As a rule: take scheduled bus from one provincial capital to another; "dolmuş" between provincial capital and district town: and vaguely sche¬duled "servis" minibus between district town and village. Reckon about 75 cents per hour of driving.
MAPS
RV Verlag's 1/800,000 map of Eastern Turkey is, despite its many misprints and inaccuracies, the only good road map of this part of the country that is commercially available. It is hard to come across in Tur¬key. The official 1/1,000,000 road map of the Highway Administration is also quite impossible to locate. Privately published highway maps sold in the country are as a rule outrageously had.
The set of 67 provincial maps published by Ozgul Yayinevi in Isparta is extremely use¬ful. The maps are poorly drawn but quite accurate, and indicate all villages and vil¬lage roads. The only sure way to get the set is to contact the publisher at PK 38 Isparta (327-13317). Otherwise. the map for each province can be obtained at most stationery shops and bookstores within the province.