Ships, Forest and Lagoon in İnciraltı, then by Cable Car to the Dam

Begin the day at the İnciraltı pier, where Başak Sokağı in Balçova meets the sea. The grey hulls moored at the pier can be picked out from a distance; this is İzmir Müze Gemiler, a first class military museum attached to the Naval Forces Command. The museum was founded under a protocol signed in 2006 between the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and the Southern Sea Area Command, and it opened its doors on 1 July 2007, the day of the Cabotage Festival. At first there were only the frigate and the submarine; a helicopter was added on the deck of the frigate in 2014 and a fast attack boat in 2015. Starting with the largest ship, the frigate TCG Ege, makes the order easier.

Ege entered service in the United States Navy in 1973 as USS Ainsworth, joined the Turkish Navy at a ceremony held in Gölcük in 1994 and completed her duty in 2005. The ship is 134 metres long and, while in service, was run by a crew of 286 people. Once on deck, look at the single barrel gun at the bow and the helicopter platform at the stern; the AB 212 helicopter on the platform was built in Italy in 1977 and used for submarine search and reconnaissance. Some sections inside the frigate were turned into a conference hall and an exhibition area, while the other compartments were kept in their original state. In these sections, which stretch from the combat operations centre to the navigation room, the devices and equipment stay in place and mannequins show how the rooms were used. Do not forget to look for the efe, the dove and the dragon on the ship's emblem; the efe stands for courage, the dove for peace and the dragon for power.

The second ship is the submarine TCG Pirireis, the most eagerly awaited part of the museum. Built in the United States between 1949 and 1951 as USS Tang, the submarine joined the Turkish Navy in 1980 and served until 2004. Its eighty seven metre hull is divided into seven compartments and eighty four people lived inside it. As you squeeze through the narrow passages, think of that many people sharing the same air on patrols of up to fifty days; the hard life of sailors in a confined space is exactly what the museum most wants visitors to feel. The inside of the submarine really is cramped, so carrying your bag in front of you rather than on your back makes the passages easier.

The third ship is the fast attack boat Kasırga; she was built in Germany in 1967, served until 2014 and was towed to the museum the following year. Compared with the frigate, this small and fast forty two and a half metre boat shows how much scale changes at sea. On the platform opposite the ships, İzmir caiques, one of the historic symbols of the Gulf of İzmir, are also on display; be sure to look at them on your way out. The museum guides explain naval traditions, from the origin of the names of the winds to the meaning of the abbreviation in front of ship names, so save your questions for them. Before taking photographs inside the ships, ask the staff about the rules. Check the visiting days and hours on the museum's official channels before you set out. When you leave the pier, walk east along the shore with the sea on your left; the urban forest, the next stop, lies a little more than two kilometres away as the crow flies.

Source: Wikipedia, İzmir Müze Gemiler; Türkiye Müzeleri, İzmir Deniz Müzesi.

The first thing you notice when you enter the urban forest from the shore is how the sound changes; the hum of the road and the city quickly fades among the trees. This area is known as Yenikale Burnu and was a rubble dumping site until 1999. Tree planting began at the end of 2004 and was completed in June 2006, which means the forest around you was grown on top of a dump about twenty years ago. Walking with this in mind, the height of the trees tells you how the city has been able to repair itself. The area covers six hundred and twenty two decares and is regarded as one of İzmir's emblematic green spaces. The forest lies in the Bahçelerarası neighbourhood of Balçova and borders the shore of the Gulf of İzmir directly.

There are more than twenty thousand trees in the forest, and the variety of species is enough to turn the walk into a plant watching session. Rows of poplars and cypresses line both sides of the paths; among them are pine, plane, ash, maple, linden, sweetgum, Judas tree, magnolia and palm. In spring the weeks when the Judas trees and the silk trees flower are the most colourful time in the forest. Walking trails and cycle paths run through the forest, and rest areas are spread along them. At this one hour stop, take an unhurried loop, then sit in the shade and digest the ships you saw in the morning.

The use of the forest has changed in important ways in recent years, and it is good to know this before you go. In the area, used for many years as a picnic ground, barbecues were banned at the request of visitors too, and municipal police checks were increased. Security measures were also strengthened; the area cannot be entered after midnight. With the renewal work started by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, interlocking paving is being laid on the earth floors of the picnic areas, and worn out gazebos, fountains and children's play sets are being replaced. New benches, seating areas and toilets are also part of the work; if work is still going on in some sections, walk around them. Turn the food you brought with you into a cold lunch and leave your rubbish in the containers.

Every year in May the forest hosts the İzmir Youth Festival, held in the week of 19 May; the area is crowded that week, so choose another week if you want a quiet walk. A car park, a district bus terminal and a caravan park lie next to the forest, so it is also an easy meeting point for those arriving by car. For those travelling with children, the play areas offer the most relaxed break on the route. For photographs, the long avenues formed by the rows of poplars and cypresses give lovely lines of shadow even in midday light. For the next stop head for the western edge of the forest; the forest runs straight into the lagoon where the birds live, and within a few minutes you reach the edge of the reeds.

Source: Wikipedia, İnciraltı Kent Ormanı; Karar, İnciraltı Kent Ormanı yenileniyor.

The Çakalburnu Lagoon is an area of shallow water and reeds caught between the gulf and the land, to the west of the İnciraltı Urban Forest. It is also called by its old name, the Çakalburnu Dalyanı, a name that recalls that the traditional fish trap fishing common across the Mediterranean basin was once practised here too. The lagoon is a first degree conservation site and has been declared a sensitive area under strict protection by the ministry. One hundred and twenty one bird species have been recorded here; having such a rich list inside the city is a piece of luck peculiar to İzmir. The job at this stop is not walking but stopping and looking.

On the shore path, choose a spot that looks over the reeds and the water and wait quietly. The first birds you see will most likely be flamingos; they can be observed in the lagoon in every season of the year and feed among the glassworts and reeds. If you look carefully you will also see Dalmatian and great white pelicans, cormorants, herons and coots. In the summer months black winged stilts, yellow legged gulls and spur winged lapwings stand out. In winter, water birds such as teals, spoonbills, coots and redshanks fill the lagoon. For small, quick birds such as the kingfisher, watch the branches and stakes along the shore.

So as not to frighten the birds, do not approach the waterline, do not talk loudly and keep your dog on a lead. A pair of binoculars changes the experience of this stop; if you have none, make do with the zoom on your phone, but do not walk towards the birds. The light is soft in the morning and late afternoon, and reaching the lagoon in the afternoon on this route gives lovely frames of birds reflected in the water. The spring and autumn months, when migrating birds stop over, are the liveliest times. If you do not know the names of the birds, a bird guide or an identification app turns these forty five minutes into a small lesson.

The lagoon also has a difficult side that should not be ignored. A decline in bird numbers has been observed in recent years, and sea lettuce, linked to pollution in the gulf, can now cover the surface of the lagoon not only in summer but also in winter. A marine scientist from Dokuz Eylül University explains that the birds used to go to Halkapınar until the 1990s and turned to Çakalburnu once that area became polluted. If you happen to come on a day when the water looks bright green, what you are seeing is this very problem. That is why the time you spend here is a small visit of respect; leave without leaving anything behind and without taking anything away. After the lagoon the route leaves the shore; take a bus or a taxi to the lower cable car station in the centre of Balçova.

Source: Wikipedia, Çakalburnu Lagünü; Türkgün, Çakalburnu Lagünü; DHA, deniz marulu uyarısı.

The lower station of the cable car is on Yeşiloğlu Hill in Balçova; the line climbs from here to the summit of Dededağı. The story of this cable car begins in 1970: the mayor of Balçova at the time was inspired by a cable car he saw in Braşov in Romania, studied the one in Bursa and in 1972 signed a contract with a company based in Germany. The line entered service on 24 March 1974 and became the second oldest cable car in Turkey after Bursa. It was closed in 2008 on safety grounds, its foundations were laid again in 2013, and the renewed facility reopened on 31 July 2015. Today it is run by İZULAŞ, a company of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.

After buying your ticket, watch the cabins moving for a while. There are twenty cabins on the line, each for eight people, and the facility can carry one thousand two hundred passengers an hour. The inclined length of the line is a little over eight hundred and ten metres, and the difference in height between the two stations is more than three hundred and fifty metres. The ride takes about three minutes; do not take your eyes off the window during this short time. As you rise, the İnciraltı shore you walked in the morning, the green patch of the urban forest and the shining water of the lagoon open out behind you like a map. Try to sit on the side facing north, where the widest view of the gulf lies.

The upper station stands four hundred and eighteen metres above sea level and is surrounded by a wooded picnic area. First go to the edge overlooking the gulf and read from above the route you have followed since morning: the pier, the forest, the lagoon and beyond them the whole waterfront of the city. Then turn south; the dam can be seen from Dededağı, and from this point the lake of Balçova Dam, the last stop of the day, appears to you in the middle of the forest. This view is the best way to understand where the path you are about to walk is heading. There are picnic areas and short walking paths up top; take a break in the picnic area and top up your water and snacks.

The cable car is closed on Mondays for weekly maintenance and can stop service every year for periodic maintenance lasting several months. During this maintenance the hauling rope, the motor and the safety systems are overhauled from scratch, so be sure to check on the official website whether it is open before you go. Opening hours and ticket prices can also change, so get the current information from the same place; knowing that the İzmirim Kart can be used for payment makes things easier. Services may stop on windy days, so have a backup plan if the weather turns. The facility is accessible to disabled visitors and young children ride free. After coming down, walk from the cable car station towards the thermal facilities; the path to the dam starts behind them.

Source: Wikipedia, Balçova Teleferiği; Karar, teleferik bakım sonrası yeniden açıldı.

The last stop of the day is the reservoir hidden in the forest behind Balçova. Balçova Dam was built on the Ilıca stream between 1970 and 1980 to supply drinking water. The rockfill body of the dam rises seventy three metres above the stream bed, and at normal water level the lake covers an area of about thirty five hectares. The lake you saw from above from the cable car is now the place you will reach on foot. The reason to give this stop two hours is the path itself.

The walk follows an earth track that starts behind the thermal hotel, and the walking trails around the dam have become a favourite address for people of İzmir who want to escape into nature at weekends. The track runs among pine trees; the smell of resin and their shade make the walk bearable even in summer. As you walk along the earth track, turn round from time to time to look at the city; the gulf appears between the trees. Walkers greeting one another on the trail is a well loved custom of this path; do not forget to say hello yourself. At the end of the path, where the trees open out, the reservoir appears before you, and some of the tiredness of the day eases there.

Sit on a stone at the edge of the lake and look at the colour of the water. The rockfill body of the dam closes one end of the lake, while the slopes around it are completely covered with forest. This is one of İzmir's sources of drinking water; in rainy years the lake fills so much that excess water has to be released. So treat the lake as a water source rather than a place to swim or picnic; do not think of going into the water, and leave without leaving anything behind. The best light for photographs comes at the end of the afternoon; as the sun gets lower, the shadows of the pines stretch over the water.

For those who want a longer walk, there is the Behzat Tepe trail in the same area. Climbing the hill, seven hundred and forty metres high, and coming back down takes about three hours, and from the summit the reservoir and the city are seen from a bird's eye view. This trail is too long for the day of this route; we suggest you set aside a separate morning for it. In the summer months do not do the dam walk in the midday heat; autumn and winter mornings are the most pleasant times for this path. Take sturdy shoes, enough water and a hat; the track is steep in places and also has sections without shade. Make sure you come down before dark, as walking the earth track in the dusk becomes difficult. On the way back you can walk past the thermal facilities to the centre of Balçova and return to the city by metro or bus.

Source: Wikipedia, Balçova Barajı; DHA, Behzat Tepe ve Balçova Barajı yürüyüş parkurları.