South Eastern Turkey

5th and 6th Erasmus Experience

It sounds crazy, really it does, when i tell someone i'v been with Erasmus 6 times, it is a bit difficult but depends from which university you come from. I had the luck to go to a private university in my hometown of Targu Mures, Romania. So going with Erasmus was not so hard as for other friends of mine.

They always say you have 12 months for studies and 12 months for placement. Well i'v been above and beyond trying to make the best of this oportunities.

But all good things come to an end, and this is my end, the end of a perfect adventure, the end of my 20's and the end of stop messing around and do something with my life. At least is what my parents always say to me lol.

The 5th and 6th erasmus experience happend to be by luck in Turkey, again. Coming home from Portugal my relationship with Muhammet was going on the right track, so we bought made a decision to try to get in another erasmus in Turkey, so we can be together again.

Said and done, in no time i get in contact with my university and i got there accept from them, i still had 6 months left for my master studies, perfect time to catch another erasmus experience. Because my university has the best relation and agreements with turkish universities it was not hard for me to find a university in Turkey to accept me.

5 years ago i was in Diyarbakir with Erasmus, but this time i did not want to go back there just because i guess we all know how the situation is now, fighting and bombing and all types of mess in which you don't want to get. So i remembered about this university in the city of Elazig called Firat University. Nice thing about this is that in International Office at Firat was a romanian ex erasmus student working, so in no time i got in touch with her and Voila i was in for another 6 months abroad.

Elazig, here i come

Just a short intro about this city, Elazig is situated in the south eastern Turkey, is not a big city and not so many touristic atractions to tell you in fact. It is a bit more conservative city that Istanbul or Trabzon, of course you cannot compare a touristic city with a traditional one. But i like to say about Elazig that is the place where the real culture and traditions go hand in hand.

the view outside my Ramada Hotel in Elazig

Getting there

To arrive in Elazig you need to catch a conection flight to Istanbul first. All companies in Turkey operate throw Istanbul. Elazig Airport is a small airport operating flights to everywhere in the world throw Istanbul or Ankara conection.

The main turkish airlines i recommend are Pegasus Airline, Atlas Global which is my fave with super low prices and Onur Air. Never Turkish Airlines because is extremely expensive.

I didn't came straight to Elazig from Romania, because first i went to Trabzon spend all last summer there and from there i came to Elazig by bus, 12h road trip, exhausted.

No but seriously traveling around Turkey by bus it can be so bad, the ride between the cities is extremely long and the buses they stop every half an hour.

Anyways around 70-80 euros it can be a flight from Bucharest to Elazig one way. And with bus from Trabzon to Elazig i pay all the time 60 tl.

The company i like to travel Trabzon Elazig is Star Diyarbakir, is the best one with service in the bus, wifi, tv and air conditioning. Super nice.

Firat University

The university has the 2nd biggest campus in Turkey, It's extremely big and you need to go around by bus from one faculty to another. It has like 20 departments and faculties, from medicine to engineering to sports and everything you into. Banks, restaurants, shops and cantins all inside the campus, plus accomodation for students.

one of the 2 entrance in the Campus

So last summer 2015 i arrived in Trabzon and i was starting my Erasmus studies in Elazig around 28 september for a period of 6 months. When i arrived in Elazig i found out there are another 8 romanian students who will be joining me for this ride.

In Firat the accomodation is provided inside the campus as i said, in apartments for girls and for boys, not mixt. So i was suppose to sit with another 3 girls in one apartment. The best thing about this, is that you don't need to pay the rent, just the bills which they never more than 70 tl. So free accomodation is a plus.

The apartments are equiped with everything, furniture, internet, basically all. One apartment has 3 rooms with double beds all.

And overall life in Elazig is super cheap, because there is not so many places to visit you don't have on what to spend the money on.

So as i said i came first semester for studies, when i met my coordinator for the business department, we get along so good and actually he let me stay home and work from there on a project. Classes was not mandatory which was awesome for me, i had the chance to sit more in Trabzon and come from time to time to Elazig. And now seriously i was not so excited to share the apartment with a bunch of girls.

Important thing when you come in Turkey as a student you may need a resident permit in case you will stay over 3 months. In this case you need, go to imigration office and apply for this residence, with a bunch of papers and the tax of 420 tl ( 130 euros).

Take a bite

For those who love the turkish cuisine, Elazig is the best place to enjoy a delicious authentic shaorma ( tavuk doner) for a cheapest price. In campus there are a bunch of cantins were as students can get a free lunch based on a student card. In the cantins lunch consists in soup, main course and sometimes fruits or yogurt or the classical ayran.

There is also the option of not having the student card and then you need to pay 2tl per meal.

Going around

Elazig is not a touristic city and that's a fact. It may seem a bit of a shock first time you arrive here, in the summer weather can exceed 45 degrees and to tell you the truth is not my fave city. They have a shopping mall called Park 23 which is not big, basic with few fast food places and some local clothing shops like Collezione or De facto, Koton etc. And a small cinema in which all the movies are turkish dublaj.

The turkish restaurants are indeed a bunch, more of them in the center, which is a long straight street with shops right and left. Now if u like to go shopping as me and buy original thigs, Elazig is Not the place to be, meaning is hard to find something to wear or i don't know, is hard for me haha.

turkish traditional dish, Tavuk Sis

Hazar Lake

Now touristic speaking Elazig has to offer 3 important sights: the Hazar Lake, The Keban Baraj and the Harput Castle.

The Hazar Lake is situated a bit outside Elazig like 20 min with car, is the deepest lake in Turkey, they say around 130 meters deep, and very dangerous to swim in. It is indeed super big lake with nice hangouts, beaches and restaurants during the summer. What is special about this lake is the reflection of blue and green colours on the lake during specific hours of the day.

There is also Hazar Mountain which is close to Elazig and in the winter is an important sky center.

The Hazar Lake

Harput Castle

It is around 5 km from my university, is situated in the Harput village on the top of the hill. The village itself is very old and rustic, with a lot of restaurants and small gift shops. The main attraction is an old castle, with is ruins almost intact. It is a very dominant construction from 3rd Century, which was occupied one by one by armenians and arabs.

The legend about it says that used to live there an Armenian priest which was not very loved by the turks so around 11th century, the entire village and the priest got killed during the Armenian genocide. Now this story about the armenian genocide is a fact, but the turkish they do not recognize it as that, so super important once in Turkey never mention about the armenians to them, they kinda have this hate relations.

Last time i visited this castle was i guess October last year and inside the castle they were making some arheological digging, who knows what may lie underneath.

No entrance fee in the castle, but a bit of a hike until up. Good luck!

the castle

Keban Baraj

The baraj is a bit far from Elazig, meaning like 30-40 minutes by small bus. It is the 2nd most important and biggest baraj in Turkey. Now i don't know many things about water power and stuff but i can say it's looking impresive outside as well as inside. It is hard to get inside the baraj nowadays because of all this bombing happening in Turkey, but i did went inside thanks to our proffesors from Firat University.

It is a must to visit once in Elazig or surroundings.

the baraj

the control room inside the baraj

And by the way around the Baraj there are amazing fish places where you can enjoy the most amazing fish you every tryed, fresh and fine. I promise you that!

best fish ever

Activities in Elazig

With not so many touristic sights there are not so many activities as well to do in Elazig. But i selected a few which are on my daily activities.

Shop in the bazar

They have a grand bazar in the city center of Elazig, it's called grand but is not so big actually. But you can find nice things from fruits and vegetables to fish and spices and also clothing and all type of things. And the fun part about it, that you can always negociate the price.

plenty of spices

one of my fave, himalaya salt

Turkish Hamam

Another amazing activity which for sure you cannot find in Europe or other cities outside Turkey, is to spend a full day at the turkish hamam. For those who don't know hamam is a turkish old bath which is still used nowadays.

I choose to go always in the Ramada Hotel, because they have the best service and 5 start treatment. A full day at the Ramada spa is around 100 tl, wich features hamam, steam room, sauna, pool and gym.

Among other activities i do, in Firat University there is a great staff at the Erasmus Office which they make sure we always have all that we need and they keep us entartained with trips and evey thursday we enjoy having breakfast together, the staff and the erasmus students.

The 6th time

Currently i am still in Elazig completing my 6th and last Erasmus placement for a period of 7 months. I will finish in september. I am doing my internship at the Erasmus office. I do need to come here daily from 9 to 5 but is kinda relax not so many things to do especially during the summer. But i do get to live alone in the apartment which is a blast.

Myself and the staff of the Erasmus office plus the Rector of Firat University

Few tips :

1. Be aware that turkish celebrate Ramadan which is a muslin feast in which they do no eat or drink anything from sunset to sunrise. You do need to be more aware during this month which happens to be this year from 5th June until 2nd July, you need to respect the people who choose to feast and be more preserved about eating or drinking in public.
2. There is no dresscode in Elazig which you must obey, But try to not to dress to provocative, meaning no short pants or to sexy shirts. Women here are among those who cover themselves entirely.
3. Always negociate the price, everywhere you go they price is a not a stable table, and be carefull because for foreigners they tend to ask a higher price.
4. Nobody in Elazig speaks english, except one or 2 students which you can find with super basic english.
5. Try to visit Elazig surroundings, there are plenty of bigger and nicer cities close to Elazig, for example Malatya or Gaziantep.
6. Until now there was no problems with terorists or something like this, but there was bomb alerts so always be carefull traveling this side of the country
7. Try local food and for sure you will fell in love with it. I recommend "tavuk sis" at the mall Park 23.
8. As a student you can travel by bus for the price of 1, 25 tl one way.

As a student of course i always get the question why did you choose to go study in that city, Elazig? Sincerely is rather to live better and afford everything in Elazig that spend all in one month in Istanbul, because life in Istanbul is so much more expensive then other cities.

Plus if you are in search for more traditional experience, this side of Turkey is the place to be, my fave city in Turkey will always remain Diyarbakir, but Firat University is one of the top major schools in the country so if you go for prestige this is the place to be !

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