Travelling to Turkey is always a pleasure and what if I had found the most perfect travel agency to organize an experience of a lifetime for an extraordinary region of this planet!. Yes, this is my impression of Bellaturca travels who had organized a private customized tour of SouthEastern Anatolia including some of the most reverred sites of Mesopatamia!. From my first contact with Turker, there was a true professional response and compiling of the whole itinerary. I must have written so many E-mails, recommended a number of changes, all of which were generously and patiently handled by Turker. And thanks to this effort, everything worked seamlessly through the entire tour. I couldn't have imagined travelling and organizing all of what I did in SE Anatolia on my own. It does require knowledge, local know-how, hotels, food culture etc, which this company certainly has.
Turker did the planning, but Barish, the guide gave shape and soul to the whole journey. I couldn't have ever asked for a better guide!. I felt as if Bellaturca understood me very well and provided me the most fabulous guide :-). Barish is very flexible, conversant, has immense knowledge of the region, very open view of this world and very interested in cultural exchange as well. As an Indian, I had tonnes of enjoyable cultural conversations with him. Barish became my hero and helped me a lot in navigating through the search for vegetarian food which is a great challenge in this part of Turkey, especially at the time of Ramazan when I travelled. I believe, this comes from his inherent hospitality and helping attitude and certainly as a guide, he wasn't obliged to do so. I am very grateful to you!
I felt very safe travelling through SE Turkey and have no qualms recommending this region to any intrepid traveller. Yes, check situations, but do not let unwanted news or biased views stop you from visiting this precious part of Turkey. I visited Gaziantep, Adiyaman and Nemrut Dag, Halfeti, Sanliurfa, GöbekliTepe and Mardin. As a travller, I love challenging myself on my presumed knowledge or awareness of our planet, cultural contexts and geography, and this region certainly does that in full force!. I was absorbing a lot everday/moment and felt enriched in the end. so fulfilling was this experience!!!
Last, but not the least, thanks to the coy Mustafa who drove 1000s of Kms smoothly and smiling all through (despite fasting for Ramazan).
Overall, I vote for this travel company and will surely find my way back to Turkey's other exciting regions through Bellaturca travels.
Best wishes and blessing to you all!