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If the Turkish
Republic is a banquet
for the visitor, 101 Must-See
Places in Turkey is the
richly descriptive menu.
This 336-page pocket-sized guidebook
by Saffet Emre Tonguç and Fatih
Türkmenoglu,
full of fine color photographs and
engaging, knowledgeable text, is the
first real "insider's guide" to the
country.
The first guidebooks to Turkey were
written by foreigners,
from Ernest Mamboury a century ago,
to the dozens of guides in a dozen
languages that fill bookshop shelves
today.
There was a good reason for this:
Turks weren't tourists,
even in their own country, until the
late 1980s. Some of the few Turks interested
in touring their country actually used
guidebooks written by foreigners.
That was then, and 101
Must-See Places in Turkey is
now. Lead writer Saffet Emre Tonguç was
named "Best Tour Guide in
Turkey" in
November 2007, and he's a travel writer
for Hürriyet, Turkey's
largest newspaper, so
he knows the country and what people
want to see.
The original edition was written and
published in Turkish, for Turkish
travelers,
which is what makes the English edition
so special: this is not the quick once-over
for a two-week trip, but a book to
keep on the shelf or in the car and
use over and over, wherever you are
in Turkey.
Of course, 101 Must-See
Places in Turkey includes
all the top, most-visited sights,
but its real strength is in the
rest, the places you'll want to
explore on your second, third and
later visits to this fascinating
country.
Besides the places and things to see
and do, the guide includes tips on
where to stay, where to eat, and what to
eat to take advantage of the varied
cuisine of this large and gastronomically
varied land.
As my friend and former Lonely
Planet Turkey co-author Pat
Yale puts it,
"They know the Turkish
poets, novelists and film-makers who
have left their mark on the different
localities; they know the local dishes
that can add spice to a visit; they
know the anecdotes that bring a smile
to the lips of the reader. In short,
they get under the skin of Turkey in
a way that is hard for even the most
experienced foreign guidebook writer."
If you're on your second or later
trip around Turkey, you may not be
able to have the "Best Tour Guide in
Turkey" with you, but you can have
the next-best thing: the best of his
advice and travel guidance.
101 Must-See Places in
Turkey, by Saffet
Emre Tonguç and Fatih
Türkmenoglu. Istanbul: Boyut,
October 2007, 336pp. ISBN: 978-975-23-0450-5
Here's where
to buy the book in Istanbul.
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