CappadociaJune 12, 2025
The Forgotten Roads of Cappadocia's Eastern Valleys
Beyond the hot air balloons and tourist caves lies a labyrinth of rose-red valleys where shepherds still follow routes carved by Hittite feet thousands of years ago.
Independent travel journals · Turkey
Turkey Through a Traveller's Eyes
resatcicek is a personal collection of carefully documented travel routes across Turkey — from coastal villages to highland plateaus — written without sponsorship or agenda. Every journal entry is a first-hand account, helping curious travellers find paths that guidebooks rarely reach.
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"I am not a tour operator, a travel agency, or a sponsored blogger. I am simply a person who walks the old roads of Turkey and writes down what I find."
My name is Reşat Çiçek. For over two decades I have been walking, cycling, and driving routes across Anatolia, the Aegean coast, Cappadocia, the Black Sea highlands, and the far eastern provinces — places that rarely appear in mainstream travel guides but hold centuries of stories, craftsmanship, and living culture.
This site — resatcicek — is a personal archive. Every route documented here I have walked or driven myself. Every village noted, every tea house mentioned, every viewpoint marked on a map — I have sat there, eaten there, listened there. Nothing is generated, sponsored, or borrowed from another source.
This project earns no revenue and sells no services. It exists because Turkey's hidden paths deserve to be known — and because the best way to keep a place alive in memory is to write it down carefully, honestly, and with love.
— Reşat ÇiçekIndependent Traveller & Route Documentarian
Routes Worth Walking
Three Routes to Start With
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Cultural Trek
Afyonkarahisar & Eskişehir4–5 Days
The Phrygian Valley Loop
Wind through ancient Phrygian rock tombs, forgotten plateau villages, and juniper forests that have barely changed since the Iron Age.
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Coastal Hike
Antalya & Muğla Coast6–8 Days
Ancient Lycian Clifftop Trail
Follow waymarked paths above turquoise coves, past Lycian sarcophagi perched on sea cliffs, through ghost towns swallowed by wild thyme.
Read the route
Overland Route
Nevşehir & Kayseri3–4 Days
Cappadocia Off-Road Circuit
Dip into rose valleys at dawn, navigate volcanic ash roads between cave churches, and camp beneath fairy chimneys far from the tour buses.
Read the route
All routes researched and walked personally by resatcicek — no sponsored paths, no tourist shortcuts.
Our Philosophy
Why These Routes?
01
Off the Beaten Path
Every route in resatcicek leads away from the tour-bus crowds. These are shepherd's tracks, forgotten Roman roads, and coastal cliff walks known only to the villagers who grew up beside them — places that don't appear in any travel agency brochure.
02
Local Culture First
Routes are shaped by the people who live them. You'll stop in a tea garden run by the same family for three generations, visit a weaver's workshop in a village of forty, and follow festival routes that have wound through the same mountain valleys for centuries.
03
No Commercialism
There are no affiliate links, no sponsored "hidden gems", and no commission-driven recommendations here. resatcicek is funded by readers, not advertisers. If a place is mentioned, it's because it earns its place on the map — full stop.
"The best routes are the ones nobody thought to write down."
— resatcicek, Cappadocia Trail, 2023
60+
Routes
12
Regions
0
Sponsors
Explore by Geography
Turkey's Five Route Territories
Every region of Turkey tells a different story. Click a highlighted area to explore its documented routes and discover where your next journey begins.
Select a region on the map
Click any highlighted territory to discover documented routes, trail highlights, and travel notes for that region.
5
Regions
61
Total Routes
3 days
Avg. Duration
Region Legend
From the Journal
Latest Route Notes
First-hand accounts from paths less mapped. Written in the field, published as honest as possible.
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The Voice Behind the Routes
Reşat Çiçek
Şuhut, Afyonkarahisar — Turkey
Rooted in Anatolia,
Drawn to Every Corner
My name is Reşat Çiçek, and I was born and raised in Şuhut — a quiet town in Afyonkarahisar province, where the plateau stretches wide and the sky feels impossibly close. Growing up surrounded by Phrygian rock formations, Seljuk caravanserais, and centuries-old thermal traditions gave me a curiosity about Turkey's landscape that I have never been able to shake.
For years I explored Turkish geography and history not as a tourist, but as someone trying to understand the land beneath his feet — tracing ancient trade routes, camping beside forgotten ruins, and talking to local shepherds who know paths that appear on no map. I kept detailed personal notes: distances, landmarks, warnings, seasonal conditions, the best hour of light on a particular valley.
resatcicek is where those notes finally live. Every route published here is one I have walked, driven, or cycled myself. There is no sponsorship, no tourism board brief, no algorithm to please. Everything is shared freely — because Turkey's hidden paths deserve to be found.
"A road only becomes a route when someone shares it."
12+
Years Exploring
80+
Routes Documented
41
Provinces Visited
RESAT ÇİÇEK
Discover Turkey's hidden paths, one route at a time. Independent travel writing, cultural exploration, and curated journeys through Anatolia's most extraordinary landscapes.
Owner: RESAT ÇİÇEK
Address: Bozan Köyü İç Yolu 33B, 03810 Şuhut/Afyon, Turkey
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +90 500 123 45 67
© 2026 RESAT ÇİÇEK. All rights reserved.
Independent travel writing from the heart of Anatolia.