Dear Smartours: I truly enjoyed the Treasures of Türkiye tour from May 4, 2022, through May 16, 2022, and I look forward to my next trip to Türkiye. All the hotels were fantastic as was the tour director (Aran) and the driver (Mehmet). Although I have a degree in history, I learned much and Aran brought Türkiye to life. The depth of Aran’s knowledge was evident when we started our tour at St. Sophia and he provided the history behind what led to building St. Sophia. The entire first day was the same: everywhere we went, Aran explained the history, answered our various questions, and the joy he had in sharing his knowledge was evident. After our first day on tour, I knew we were lucky to have Aran as our guide. Aran was patient, knowledgeable, humorous, and he was clearly proud to be Turkish. Even when things did not go according to plan or were challenging, Aran continued teaching, thinking on his feet, dealing with the challenges with humor, and making the best out of difficult situations. The two best examples of Aran’s professionalism and thinking on his feet: the House of Virgin Mary and crossing the Dardanelles. We arrived at the House of Virgin Mary concurrently with a group on pilgrimage. Aran worked with the situation and he was able to timely get our group through the home. We were scheduled to take a ferry across the Dardanelles; however, some of the tour group expressed concerns about crossing by ferry; therefore, he agreed to cross on the new bridge. However, the individuals who expressed concerns about a ferry crossing changed their minds and Aran quicky revised the schedule, again. Although the balloon ride at Cappadocia is not an “official” part of the tour, I am glad Smartours provided time to complete the balloon ride. It was one of the highlights of the trip. I look forward to my next trip to Türkiye and I hope to have Aran lead my next tour of Türkiye. Andrew