What I Learned from Getting Lost in Samandağ
okay, so i just landed in samandağ, this little coastal town in southern turkey, and honestly? i had no idea what to expect. the numbers i saw earlier (323779, 1792115763) might as well have been my boarding pass and seat number, but what really caught my attention was the weather: 12.95°c, feels like 12.65°c, 90% humidity. yeah, it's chilly, but the air feels thick with salt and stories. i just checked and it's like walking through a cloud that smells like the sea right now, hope you like that kind of thing.
i'm here as a *street artist, trying to find walls that haven't been claimed yet, and samandağ is full of them. the old stone houses near the harbor have these peeling pastel colors that scream "paint me." i heard from a guy at the local bakkal (corner shop) that the best spot is near the ancient roman bridge-apparently, it's got the best light at sunset. someone told me that if you paint there, you'll get a free coffee from the cafe across the street. i'm not sure if that's true, but i'm gonna find out.
if you get bored, antakya and iskenderun are just a short drive away. antakya's got that famous mosaic museum, and iskenderun? well, i heard the seafood there is wild. like, you point at the fish and they grill it right there. messy, but delicious.
"don't trust the guy selling postcards near the mosque," a local whispered to me. "he'll tell you the bridge is haunted, but it's just his cousin jumping out from behind the stones."
anyway, here's the map so you don't end up like me, wandering in circles:
and because i'm a sucker for good visuals, here are some shots i found that kinda capture the vibe:
i'm gonna go hunt for that bridge now. if you're ever in samandağ, don't miss the sunset at the harbor*. it's like the sky is on fire, and the fishermen don't even look up. they've seen it all before.
for more on the area, check out samandağ on TripAdvisor or local tips on Yelp. and if you're into ancient ruins, antakya's mosaic museum is a must.
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