Eastern Turkey
Lands of Contrast
The Eastern stretches of Anatolia are renowned as lands of contrast and contradiction. Criss-crossed by ancient trade roads, these lands and their ancient cities have been called home by countless civilizations and tribes—both settled and nomadic-- and have been the wellsprings of many of the world's leading religions. The geographies of Eastern Anatolia are as diverse as the peoples who have inhabited these unique sites, with semi-deserts touching lush forests, parched earth in some of the regions and torrents of water in others, cold and wild steppes, hot and relentlessly sun-baked wastelands and cities where winter arrives early with bone-chilling cold and snow and leaves late to welcome a Spring that ushers in some of the world's most verdant flora. Here is a land of mountains, plains and deep valleys and gorges and resourceful people who have created unique systems to accord with the harshness of much of the terrain and who have learned to build homes, cities and lives that merge seamlessly with the natural settings.
