Mazakaland

Far from the main Turkish tourist hotspots lies Mazakaland, a theme park almost right in the middle of Turkey a little over 200 miles from the Syrian border and the city of Aleppo.

The park is roughly laid out in four areas themed around the Far East, Africa, Asia Minor and Ancient Rome. Most of the theming is quite basic, aside from the giant Colosseum fascade which towers over the Southern end of the park and houses a large Gladiator themed dark ride.

Mazakaland is a bit of a showcase for Italian manufacturer EOS Rides, with almost all of the attractions on offer being manufactured by them. EOS are a major shareholder, and also created the park's overall design, logo and mascot. The name "Mazaka" comes from the original name for Kayseri, the city in which the park is based.

The theme park has two rollercoasters: Cheetah Hunt, probably the largest coaster model built by EOS; and Spin Coaster, a spinning coaster predominantly designed for children. Of the two, Cheetah Hunt is definitely much better: Spin Coaster has overhead restraints and is an absolutely brutal headbanger.

There is also a huge multi-level indoor area, featuring shops and restaurants, arcade machines, conference rooms and a large paintball arena. Mazakaland has clearly been built to cope with big crowds, but unfortunately on the day we visited they were little in evidence and we pretty much had the park to ourselves: the indoor venue especially looked empty and cavernous.

Mazakaland runs on a pay-per-ride policy, with tokens loaded onto a prepaid card. However, given the current value of the Turkish Lira, foreign visitors will not find anything to be concerned about, with each ride working out to be very cheap.

Overall, Mazakaland is nicely presented with a good selection of rides for a small theme park, with the notable exception of Spin Coaster!

Attractions

More on Mazakaland

• Trip: Turkey Tour (15 Sep to 22 Sep 2018)