“Scent Village” Population: under 2,000
Other name: Gümüstepe
Market day: Monday
Nine km southwest of the Çekirge suburb of Bursa is the small hillside village of Misiköy which is doing its best to copy the success of Cumalıkızık in attracting the big breakfast crowd.
While not quite as olde-worlde as Cumalıkızık, not least because it lacks the latter’s splendid cobblestones, Misi has the great advantage of having been built on the banks of a wide, fast-flowing river and it’s here that the huge Misi Restaurant and Çay Bahçesi can be found, their tables jam-packed over summer weekends.
Otherwise this is a village to take a quick stroll around admiring the colourful old Ottoman houses, some of them newly restored in the rather Toytown style that doesn’t find favour with everyone, others still awaiting their turn.
Sleeping
As yet there are no hotels or pensions in Misiköy so the best place from which to visit is probably Çekirge. If the Cumalıkızık model is anything to go by though a pension should be opening any day soon.
Transport info
There is a bus service from Bursa to Misiköy although I failed to find out its number. A return taxi ride from Çekirge with waiting time shouldn’t work out too expensive, especially if there’s a group of you.
