Kastamonu to osmancik Amasya
Kastamonu to Amasya was about 3+ hours, we did a stop midway at Osmancik for a fast teabreak.
We stopped at the “bridge” Osmancik and came down for a look. The bridge was Koyunbaba Bridge a stone arch brick crossing Kizilirmak River. It was the longest stone arch bridge built in Anatolia during Ottoman rule around the year 1489.
The centuries old bridge looked new as it had went through several rounds of restoration through the years. We searched around the place near the bridge but did not find a nice cafe for coffee! So had to proceed towards Amasya with no tea/coffee.
Amasya
We reached Amasya in the early afternoon and foundthat it was a vibrant, touristy town. It had a “modern people in a historical town” ambience. The road by the river was “car-packed”, luckily we were able to find a parking space (paid).
In the ancient time, Amasya was a fortified city high on the cliffs above Yeşilırmak River. It had a long history as the wealthy provincial capital producing kings and prices, artists, scientist, poets and thinkers.
In the valley besides the river stood till today many Ottoman-period wooden houses and on the cliffs overhead were tombs of Pontus Kings carved into the rock.
On our first day in Amasya we had our coffee break at Arabcia Coffee house. From there we had a nice view of the Rock tombs and the castle on the top of the cliff flying the turkey flag. We couldn’t wait for the next day to come for our hike up to the tombs!
When the night fell, the lights came up and the entire valley took on a magical look. It was an awesome sight to see the lighted houses, lighted tombs and lighted castle on top of the cliff.
The next day we were on our way up to visit the tombs. The entry tickets was 25tlr per person. The air was cool and great for an uphill hike.
On the way up to the rock tombs we were treated with a beautiful top view of the valley. Who would have thought of this “bonus” sight.
This was the third time we visited rock tombs of kings on our trip. The tombs in Amasya were more simple in terms of its facade design. But they were neverthless as gigantic. The tomb builders were absolutely amazing.
After the hike to the King Tombs, we had two options for the next visit destination. We could either drive uphill to the castle that was on top of the cliff above the rock tombs. Or we could drive to cafe “Ali Kaya” which was on the cliff facing the rock tombs on the opposite of the river.
We chose the cafe! and drove up to “Ali Kaya”. The cafe had huge windows that offered the most fantastic view of the Amasya town. It was definitely a good decision to be at the cafe, we had a wonderful coffee break with a lovely view!
From the cafe we saw the town, the river, the tombs and the castle. Absolutely stunning and mesmerising!
Though Amasya town was full of Ottoman-Period wooden houses all these houses were well maintained. They were turned into hotels, restaurant, cafes and shops for tourist. It was pretty pleasant strolling the streets on both side of the river.
When dinner time came, we went into an “award winning” restaurant and ordered its “award winning” dish. On the dish were “puff” looking little pies. Unfortunately after tasting it we found it had more doughy than anything else. We did not really like them, not our “cup of tea”, so sad….
After dinner we went to Cafe On for coffee and tea again. We did not actually need another round of coffee/tea for the day but we felt that Cafe On was a must-go place. The attraction of the cafe was its roses that was in full bloom!
Our stay in Amasya
Our stay was Bayezid Hans Konak, a hotel in a lovely Ottoman-Period Wooden house. It was beautifully furnished and room though was tight was lovely. The cost for our double room for two nights was Euro200 which included breakfast.
Breakfast the next day was in its lovely dining room. The breakfast was not as sumptuous as the room!
