Turkey: Exploring Kırkısrak

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This was my 5th visit to Turkey and my first since 2009. My previous visits were to Istanbul and to the tourist resorts along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. So when a friend invited me to stay at his home in the village of Kırkısrak, I didn’t need to be asked twice!

Kırkısrak has a population of only a few hundred people during the summer months and even less during the cold and snowy winter. It is located in central Turkey, about 27km from the town of Sarız, and 157km from the city of Kayseri.

Most of the houses in the village are modern, but if you walk around the area you can still find some houses built the traditional way out of wood, mud, and stone.

Having spent just over a week in the Kırkısrak – I’ll be back for sure! Here are my top 5 things to see and do.

• Go and explore. The scenery in and around Kırkısrak is absolutely stunning.

• Visit the local people. Without exception, everyone that I met was friendly and welcoming.

• Drink from the streams. The water here is icy cold and is perfectly safe to drink. Whilst out on one of our many walks, we stopped at almost every stream to splash our faces and refill our water bottles.

• Visit ‘Elephant Mountain’. It overlooks my friend’s house, and has an uncanny resemblance to a large grey animal!

• Play in the snow. Yes, it was July when I was in Kırkısrak, but this year there was still a tiny amount of snow left. You will have a long walk and climb to get to it, though. It took us about 5 hours to reach it – those mountains are higher

For a long mountain walk like this, take suitable footwear and enough water: browse walking boots (paid link) or browse daypacks (paid link). My account of drinking from streams reflects this visit; check current local guidance before doing so yourself.

How to get to Kırkısrak?

That’s a very good question. We travelled to Kırkısrak from Kayseri airport by car, the journey takes about 2 hours 15 minutes. I’m told that there is a bus from Kırkısrak to the nearest town, Sarız. Although I did see the bus stop (place where people wait) in the village, I didn’t actually ever see a bus or a bus timetable. I was told the bus stop was put there in the run up to the recent election as a way of gaining votes. If you can get to Sarız though, there are buses from there to Kayseri – and from Kayseri, you can easily get to and from almost anywhere in Turkey.

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