Karaisalı is a village in the mountains north of the Cilician Plains, with a population of 1200 in 2022.

The main highway through the Taurus mountains goes via Pozantı then descends to the plains - sights along it are described on that page. But early 20th century engineers chose a different route for the railway, and that heroic construction project has created the sights described here.

The Berlin to Baghdad railway: imagine the Orient Express with fewer feather boas and more sinister monocles. Such was the grand project begun in 1903. From the Ottoman point of view it offered better control of their fragmenting empire to the east, and better ties with mainland Europe's strongest economy. For Germany it promised access to the oilfields of the Persian Gulf, with ample fuel supplies unimpeded by those verdammten Briten, who had a stranglehold on the sea routes from Aden through Suez to Gibraltar. And the Ottomans were teetering on collapse, whereupon surely all their territories would become client states of Germany, to be ruled by a Kaiser instead of a Sultan.

Railways from Europe already reached Constantinople / Istanbul, and with a ferry link Ankara and Konya. Continuing across the flat Anatolian plateau was technically easy but one challenge was geographical - how to pass the mountains beyond - and the other was geopolitical - how to dodge obstruction by rival Great Powers. Russia to the north had already grabbed parts of Eastern Anatolia and was out for more. Britain was set to reap vast riches from its own Gulf oil interests and decried any German construction as "a gun pointed at India". The railway therefore followed traditional trading routes as far as the "Cilician Gates" near Pozantı. Now for the tricky bit.

Traditional routes then struggled over the Gülek Pass at 1000 m then made a sharp descent towards the Med coast down the Gökoluk River canyon. This was completely impractical for a railway, even by Alpine techniques. But there had long been a secondary route, along the Çakıt Valley. Heroic engineering would be needed here, vaulting over valleys whenever it wasn't in tunnels. And how do you build a railway in rugged terrain with no roads, sometimes not even donkey trails, to bring in your workforce and materials? Engineers from the American Rockies to Indochina were grappling with the same problem, to which the answer is simple: in order to build a railway, first you have to build a railway.

This was accomplished by carving out a hiking trail up to work camps, followed by a temporary narrow-gauge railway or "contractors' way" for the heavy haulage. Now you can set about the tunnelling and bridging and (best of all) dynamite-blasting that makes possible the "permanent way", the standard-gauge definitive track. It's these preliminary works as much as the final railway that defines the landscape of this area. The line succeeded in reaching the coast to join the existing Adana-Mersin railway, but completion eastwards to Iraq came long after the First World War, when Germany and Ottoman Turkey were defeated.

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Map of Karaisalı

This area is short of accommodation and is usually visited as a side trip touring from Konya, Cappadocia or Ankara to the north, or as a day-trip from Adana, Tarsus or Mersin to the south.

The main highway D750, now flanked by motorway O-21, runs from Ankara to Pozantı then crests Gülek Pass and descends to the coast. A side road links Pozantı to Belemedik then dead-ends. Karaisalı must be approached from the south, either via 33-02 from Bucak or 01-75 from Salbaş. These are well-paved but twisty rural roads.

Trains are disrupted long-term by, guess what, major engineering projects, and those from Ankara and Konya are suspended. Erciyes Express leaves Kayseri daily at 07:30 to reach Pozantı around midday, then lumbers on south for another 90 min to Adana. The northbound train leaves Adana at 16:30 to reach Pozantı at 18:00 and Kayseri at 23:00. You might ride this for a scenic tour. It makes several stops but is not practical transport to the intermediate places, either because of the timing or the distance from stations to sights and visitor amenities. Southbound from Pozantı the local stops are Belemedik, Hacıkırı (for Kıralana) and Karaisalıbucağı (nominally for Karaisalı, but it's 18 km away).

Adana city bus 188 runs every two hours to Karaisalı, but doesn't go anywhere near the sites of interest.

You need your own vehicle. Take your time, the roads are narrow and twisty.

• 37.255835.05931 Karaisalı is drab modern low-rise. You'd only stop to refuel yourself or the car.

• 37.233535.0152 Kapıkaya Canyon is usually entered from its southern downstream end, above Kapıkaya village 6 km southwest of Karaisalı. This gorge of the Çakıt River was occasionally used as an alternative route to Gülek Pass, and a 7 km trail has been etched into the canyon walls. The river in spate is a white-water torrent. In places the trail is close to the river, made tricky by landslips, and since 2022 you have to ford the river then cross back. Midway there's a waterfall and a rope bridge crossing.

• 37.279234.99823 Yerköprü is a picnic area at the northern upstream end of the canyon, also accessible by road from Karaisalı. The name means "land bridge" as the river disappears under the rock to reappear 250 m downstream.

• 37.243434.976784 Varda Viaduct is the most dramatic product of the railway project. Construction began in 1906 and it opened in 1916, with a length of 172 m and height of 98 m. It's the one James Bond falls off roughly twice a week, whenever Skyfall is repeated on TV. Don't stray onto the railway (though everyone does), it's still active.

• 37.35361134.9091675 Belemedik is nowadays only inhabited by a few score elderly folk, but during the construction it became a large temporary town. Many workers were Commonwealth and French prisoners of war. The extensive ruins include residential buildings, a hospital, limekilns and similar industrial plant. On the slopes to the west is a large cemetery. The town's name is said to derive from bilemedik, "we couldn't guess", the workers' shrugging response to any cock-up or calamity. The village can be reached by road from Pozantı then it gives out to steep dirt tracks.

• Tunnel 20 at the south end of the village is a compulsory photo stop, where the line passes a grove of plane trees before plunging into the hillside, particularly photogenic in autumn. Tunnels 14-19 are shorter stretches north of the village.

• 37.301134.92756 German Road (Alman Yolu or Taşdurmaz - "[even] the stone doesn't balance") twists and turns southeast to Kıralan / Hacıkırı, just north of the Varda Bridge. Before this preliminary trail was laid, they couldn't even survey the railway route let alone hack it out. It's now a hiking trail (with no water supply) littered at intervals with rusty abandoned equipment. Mountain bikers and motorcyclists are known to do the trail, but much of it is loose scree, with barely a single tyre-width where landslips have eroded it, and a breakneck drop to the river below.

The main villages have well-stocked grocery stores.

Seasonal vending shacks near the main sites of interest offer light meals such as gözleme pancakes.

Belemedik Restoran, Anıt Ağaç, Belemedik (south end of village), ☏ +90 322 581 3027. Daily 08:00-23:00. Municipality-run restaurant near the ruins. Good menu selection. (updated May 2025)

Nothing in Karaisalı itself.

• 37.345134.91111 Belemedik Bungalov Evleri, ☏ +90 530 234 4001. Well-maintained mountain bungalows run by Pozantı Municipality. B&B double 5000 TL. (updated May 2025)
• 37.354434.91672 Belemedik Butik Otel, Küme Evleri 166, ☏ +90 531 869 0140. Friendly efficient place on a hillside above the canyon, also Municipality-owned. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated May 2025)

Beware road traffic, safeguard valuables, and use sun protection.

The railway has only a sparse passenger service but is active with freight, so don't stray too close.

As of May 2025, Karaisalı and its approach roads have 4G from Türk Telekom, but only a poor patchy signal from Turkcell and Vodafone. 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

• Tarsus is the next large town south, where roads and railways diverge west to Mersin for the Med coast or east to Adana the regional capital.
• Konya northwest has many Seljuk monuments and the mausoleum of Sufi poet Rumi.
• Niğde to the north is the start of Cappadocia, but the best of the weird scenery is around Göreme.