Rob and Cher's Ramblings: Turkey - Land of Many Surprises

Turkey, Land of Many Surprises - November 2019
Chapter 2 – Turkey

Our geography of Turkey improved dramatically, but we barely scratched the surface

Visiting Turkey had been on our bucket list for a while, mainly because others had recommended it and having just been in Israel it seemed to good an opportunity to miss.

As it turns out we were not disappointed. We saw so much, and Turkey is such an interesting country. English speakers are not as prevalent, but by and large we got by with language issues. It seemed to us that on average Turks are obsessed with cleanliness and by and large washrooms were very clean and modern - no complaints there. The cost of living was significantly cheaper than Israel, which was nice.

We did 8-9 days of touring in Turkey . Our tour company moved us around from hotel to hotel and each day we were connected to a different tour group. This worked fine, but we did miss having a single group to travel and make friends with.

Turkey- Wednesday, Nov 6^th (Tel Aviv, Istanbul)

Departed Tel Aviv airport after farewells to Ed, Andrea, Dirk, Helen, Jim and Sharon. Then we were on our way compliments of Turkish Airlines who did a good job of welcoming us to Turkey.
Arrival at the brand spanking new Istanbul Airport was quite something.

The new Istanbul airport is massive

It is massive. We were determined to walk to get in our daily exercise and, my goodness, did we walk. Our ride into our hotel was finally arranged after a bit of a mix up with a confusing array of drivers.
After Israel and Jordan our first impression was that things were very clean, crisp and well organized. Our driver took us via the waterfront, and it was very attractive. Our hotel quaintly named the Momento Golden Horn is a bit of a hole in the wall, although we are a few steps from Karkoy Square which is a busy hub of activity. As it turns out we face directly onto an outdoor version of Home Depot with a wide variety of hardware goods on sale at a large number of outdoor stalls. I think we are staying in an area off the track of five-star western hotels and it definitely feels like we are rubbing shoulders with the locals.
The man at reception was very charming but he was in high pressure sales mode as he try to sell us on a dinner at a seafood restaurant and “no problem, I will arrange for them to pick you up”. Or “what about a dinner cruise on the Bosphorus to see all the sights from the water”. I had picked up a bug and was feeling queasy and all I wanted was to drag myself into bed, so that ended that conversation.

Golden Momento Hotel - a gem in the rough

Our friendly receptionist then gave us a very serious warning that “Turkey is a country filled with terrorists and it is not safe to venture out of the hotel unaccompanied”. The bell boy standing by couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and his eyes got wider and wider. Then the receptionist broke out in a big grin and assured us that “Turkey is the safest country in the world and apart from the odd pick pocket we have nothing to fear”. Our bell boy relaxed as he enjoyed the joke too.
We seemed to be the only guests in the hotel, but we cannot figure out why. Our room is very comfortable, and we cannot think of anything that we don’t like.
We got cleaned up and ventured out to find an ATM. We had been warned that ATMs at the airport charge an 8% commission so had waited before drawing some Turkish Liras. We also wanted to see what we could find food wise. We found an ATM that spoke English and then ended up at a cute little restaurant that offered soup, meatballs, a Turkish specialty, and salad. We ate all in, including a drink, for $10 (Cdn). So far, we have found prices here significantly cheaper than Israel and Jordan. Back to the hotel to do a bunch of backed up laundry. Like all hotels there was no plug for our sink - our universal hotel complaint so far. There was no choice but for Cher to strip down and do it all in the shower. Laundry Ooh La la. Our room has become a gigantic wash line. We hope the hotel staff will cut us some slack. So far so good.
Turkey- Thursday November 7^th (Istanbul – Sultanahmet Area)
We were scheduled for an early morning pick up so we were in the dining room on the eighth floor at 7am when the dining room opened.

We enjoyed a magnificent breakfast view

I think the only staff member there nearly fainted. Maybe no one had ever been there at opening time before. After some time, a few more staff arrived. By the time we left our very nice breakfast only one other guest had put in an appearance reinforcing our impression that there are not many people staying here. We had a good laugh at the two young female servers. They spent most of their time preening in front of the mirror and doing each others hair.
It turns out that our hotel is one street back from the waterfront and the breakfast room view is magnificent looking out over the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and the Marmoro Sea. Five-star view for a three-star price. Thank you, Lord.
Our pickup arrived more or less on time in a small bus and we were then taken to rendezvous point where we were regrouped into an English and Spanish group.
Our tour guide for the day was Yahya (phonetic), a man of about 50. His English took a bit of getting used to but by the end of the day we were understanding him just fine.
We were in the Sultanahmet area, which includes a whole bunch of things worth seeing within walking distance.
First stop was the Hippodrome originated from Roman/Byzantine days.

Istanbul Hippodrome

There’s not much of it left above ground, but it is easy to see the area where the horse races were. Yahya pointed out that he would not be showing us a coliseum in Istanbul because the Byzantines were Christian and a much gentler society than their Roman founders. Interesting, but shouldn’t be surprising, I guess.
Next up was the Blue Mosque. It is the most visited mosque in Turkey but not necessarily the most beautiful- that is a matter of opinion according to Yahya. It is a very grand mosque and sadly is distinguished from many of the other mosques in Istanbul in that it wasn’t originally a mosque but a church. Even the magnificent Christian Byzantine Empire eventually fell after 1000 years, a message we in the west could take note of. Church steeples in the west could yet do double duty as mosque minarets. Please Lord may the Kingdom of God be the only kingdom that prevails in the hearts of all Muslims everywhere. It was interesting to see that the dome of the mosque rests on massive pillars, allowing for a large uninterrupted open space in the middle of the structure.

These large pillars we found in the
Blue Mosque. The technique
was borrowed from the designers
of the Haggia Sophia

Haggia Sophia - once a church,
then a mosque, now a museum

Haggia Sophia - Christian ceramics once plastered
over by the Muslims, now uncovered

Haggia Sophia - Christian ceramics at
top and Muslim prayer stall at bottom

Haggia Sophia - everythng about it is on a grand scale
This was a technique learnt from the Christian builders of the Haggia Sophia which was up next.
The Haggia Sophia was built as a church in around 535AD and is still standing today even after two significant earthquakes. Go beat that any aspiring architects. With the fall of Byzantium in 1453 to the Muslims, the church became repurposed as a mosque with new minarets being added for the five times daily calls to prayer. In 1935 Kamal Attaturk the founder of modern-day secular Turkey, repurposed it one more time to be a museum, which it is to this day. They have uncovered some of the original Christian artwork which had been painted over by the Turkish Ottoman conquerors. So now the building is a monument to its 900-year Christian and its 500 year Muslim history.
Next was a trip to the Grand Bazaar.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar - one of many entrances

One of a multitude of Turkish
Delight stores

Grand Bazaar - you name it, they've got it - somewhere in there

My goodness Turkey seems to do things in a big way. It is one of the largest outdoor markets in the world consisting of an enormous mass of stalls selling pretty much everything you can imagine. Yahya conned us by taking us to a Turkish delight store before entering the Bazaar and taking us in for free samples. Needless to say, we bought souvenir packs to take home. Imagine our gall when we got into the Bazaar and could have bought the same thing for half the price. Our contribution to Yahya’s retirement fund.
Next up was lunch.

Lunch stop with Hector & Monica

We sat with the only other North Americans on our tour, Monica and Hector, a young couple, now US citizens but originally from Mexico. The rest of our group were mainly from India or Pakistan we think.
After lunch we briefly visited a couple of Sultan’s tombs and then headed for the Topkapi Palace. This is situated on the most militarily strategic view over the whole area. The Sultan who conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 1453 did not want to destroy what the Byzantines had built but eventually he was persuaded that it needed to be site of the Sultan’s Palace. So, he tore down the Byzantine buildings and built the current Topkapi Palace which was occupied until 1922 when the Ottoman Empire ceased to be.

Inner entrance to Topkapi Palace

Topkapi - lovely gardens

Topkapi Palace Mosaic work

Topkapi - the palace overlooks the strategic
entrance to the Bosphorus Strait.
By then we were dog tired and ready to go home.

String of restaurants underneath
the Galata Bridge

After a couple of hours of feet up we ventured out again to find some dinner at the amazing string of restaurants below the Galata Bridge, which was a couple of hundred yards from our hotel. Now we’re ready to hit the hay. Tomorrow is day two of Istanbul.

Turkey- Friday, Nov 8^th (Istanbul – Spice Market, Boshporus Cruise, Beylerbeyi Palace
8.30am start this morning so we actually got to sleep in a few minutes longer. We almost felt like we we on holiday. Thank you, Lord, for the small blessings too.
Our first visit of the day was the spice market which turned out to be a massive affair. Our tour guide, Anna, did the same trick with us today as we were caught with yesterday by Yahya. She took us to one store to be given free samples and the run down “as all the stores are much the same”. We took the free samples and ran. We were on the hunt for other things and we only had 40 minutes of free time and Anna warned us not to be late.
We were still in last minute negotiations with a shopkeeper when our time was up but there was no separating Cher from her quarry once in sight, so we pushed through and got to our rendezvous point two minutes late to find our group had gone. We ran and found them just before boarding the bus. Thank you, Lord. Anna, clearly had no time for people keeping the group late.
Next up was a boat ride on the Bosphorus to see the European and Asian sides of Istanbul from the water.

Mosques abound

Forts on the European side saved
Istanbul from Asian invaders
on numerous occasions

Mosques are measured by the numbers of minarets

It was very beautiful, and one realizes very quickly why two successive empires (Byzantine and Ottoman) have founded their capitals here. It connects two continents and controls access to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Some interesting facts:

There are a lot of palaces. Each Sultan seemed to feel obliged to leave at least one behind.

Mosques abound and not just common and garden ones. We saw the largest one in Turkey, which was just completed a year ago. It has six minarets (minarets matter) and accommodates 65000 people for Friday prayers.

Lord, please show up there every Friday in dreams and visions and reveal yourself to them in ways that will be convincing that Jesus is the only Way.

Our tour guide told us yesterday that young people in Turkey are rejecting Islam in favor of atheism. This is what is happening in Iran where we are witnessing the fastest growing church in the world. Bring it on Lord Jesus.

The Bosphorus is 32 kms long. Oil tankers in and out of the Black Sea, presumably bringing oil from Russia, are only permitted one-way traffic to avoid accidents. They go up to the Black Sea in the mornings and out to the Marmora Sea in the afternoons. We saw them all lining up waiting their turns.

We passed some up-market neighborhoods. The cheap houses on the European side ($3-10 million) are just a warmup for those on the Asian side where they go for as high a $200 million. It makes North America look cheap.

Istanbul - population of 18 million - 11 from the Asian side and 7 from the European side.
About three million folk cross the Bosphorus from Asia to the European side every day (cars, trains, trams, tunnels, bridges and ferries) for work.

We were taken back to the same restaurant today, for lunch, as yesterday which was a disappointment. We sat with a mother son combo from Dominican Republic and managed a rather broken conversation.
One of the things we have loved about Turkey so far is the outdoor restaurants and eating areas.

Outdoor eating - a way of life

Hookah pipes - everywhere to be found

Comfortable armchairs and couches give things a very relaxed atmosphere. Combine that with people sipping tea or smoking a hookah pipe and life looks very laid back and relaxed.
Next up was a trip to the palace of one of the final Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. He was deposed by one of his sons in 1878 and sent into exile but then allowed to return to his palace in 1903 to see out his days with his harem and other close family. He died 6 years later. Tough way to end things. The palace was grand.
We ended our day’s tour with a steep ride to the highest point in Istanbul to take photos where of course a restaurant was handily able to ply us with their wares. This solved a problem for us as we were able to have a quick early snack for supper as we were needing to have an early night as we have a 6am start tomorrow.
On the way back to our hotel I had an interesting conversation with Anna our tour guide. She is no fan of their current president and was very outspoken to this effect. Most of his support comes from rural voters who are more easily manipulated it seems.
An Indian gentleman, Ravindra, traveling on his own, discovered he had lost the gifts he had bought earlier in the day and thought he might have left them at the restaurant. We promised we would pray he would find them. He texted us later, to say he did find them and was very grateful to us for having prayed. Thank you, Lord.
Early to bed. We visit the battlefields at Gallipoli tomorrow where British Empire forces (Australians and New Zealanders) took a bad beating. Onward and upward.

Turkey- Saturday Nov,9^th (Istanbul, Battlefields of Gallipoli, Cannakale)
Early pick up this morning at 6am in a beautiful 15-seater Mercedes bus- the minibus of choice in Turkey. Whew. This high impact touring couldn’t be described as restful. We have five hours of driving to the Battlefields of Gallipoli.

Allied forces attacked from the east and planned to
control the Dardanelles waterway all the way to Istanbul
We are nine passengers in all. Cher and I are the only ones who are not on a day tour returning to Istanbul tonight. 10 hours of driving plus a four to five hour tour- now that’s high energy touring. We’re on the slow and easy tour.
Of course, at 6 in the morning everyone was in chat mode and it wasn’t long before we were all swapping our names, nationalities and destinations etc. It’s amazing what information people will share when they are semi comatose.
We stopped after 2.5 hours at a very clean roadside stop for the obligatory washroom break and some breakfast and got to know our travel mates a bit better.

Young Australian couple from Melbourne. Him a teacher and her a photographer who claims she makes money at it.
An older couple. Him British/Polish working for the EU in Brussels. Her French, working in London. Strange set up but they seemed nice.

A 40 ish or so Israeli with a very thin plaited pony tail off the side of his head, from Jerusalem, “living in Florida to take a break from Israel”. He has an air about him. I bet he is Mossad. He is traveling with his daughter who is studying cinematography in Tel Aviv, planning to work in Europe.

That’s our cast of characters for the day. All we need now is a body and Hercule Poirot to complete the picture.
Generally, washrooms in Turkey have been clean and well cared for. Easily up to Canadian standards. Though they definitely have a preference for the crouch over a hole in the ground, strain your knees, model, there have always been one or two sit and relax western ones, which I am grateful for.
Our road has been a beautiful double freeway which easily matches anything we have in Canada. Kudos to the Turks. The farmland knocks the spots off anything we saw in Israel or Jordan and the houses along the way are very seldom single dwelling units but rather what looks like small blocks of apartments, maybe four or so. Combined with lovely sea views along the way I’m guessing the countryside would be very attractive in spring.
We have noticed that Turks, so far, are meticulous about picking up litter and constantly cleaning and wiping everything in sight. This suits me just fine.
Our lunch stop was around noon, at a little coastal town of Eceabat. It looked like a ghost town. Apparently, we are in the off season and this place really hums in the good months. We had a free lunch - soup, main course of chicken kebab, fries and a big blob of rice. Same as we’ve been given on the previous two days. Definitely no chance of leaving hungry though.
Our prior knowledge of the history of the Gallipoli fighting was close to zero. We are now world class experts. Amazing how much you can learn in a few short hours.

The two sides faced off eight metres
away from each other- terrifying

Everything about the allied landing was uphill
- including the beach

Camarederie between the combatants was common
- the statue commemorates a Turkish soldier rescuing
a "Johnny" who has fallen between the trenches

About 10,000 New Zealanders
and Australians fell to the enemy
in this campaign

Eceabat was filled with all kinds of patriotic symbols referring to the Gallipoli Campaign. There was a life size model of the closest point of the trench warfare - a mere 8 metres across. Unbelievably graphic and terrifying. Lord thank you that we and our loved ones have been spared this kind of horror. We learnt later in our tour that as the lines became stalemated the opposing sides developed their own camaraderie- the Johnnies and the Mehmeds would throw each other cigarettes, chocolate and exchange good natured jibes.
Eceabat also features a massive flag on the hill overlooking the town. This patriotic symbol was to be found throughout our tour. We also learnt the eventual departure of the British and French forces is celebrated every year on a certain day. The Gallipoli fighting is considered by Turks as their “Third World War”’after the Trojan War and Alexander the Great against Darius and the Persian Empire. So Gallipoli is a big deal for the Turks.
We also learnt that Attaturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 earned his reputation by being the key leader of the 57th Division, which was based in Gallipoli. By the end of World War 1 they had lost 97% of their original members. Attaturk’s leadership was key to turning back the Allied Forces on a couple of occasions.
Attaturk is revered in Turkey as founder of modern day, secular, Turkey. As it happens tomorrow is the day his death on November 10th at 9.05am is commemorated annually across the country when everything comes to a standstill for a minute of silence.
Our afternoon tour was very interesting as our tour guide, Bulant, stepped us through the various key stages of the fighting. The overall objective in 1915 was for the French and British allies to gain access and control of the Black Sea, via the Dardanelles and Bosphorus waterways so that supplies could be sent to the Russians who were fighting the Germans on their Eastern front. This would have shortened World War 1 significantly.
The area we were in was where the Australian and New Zealand troops came ashore. Their task was to capture the highest point on the Gallipoli Peninsula from which the whole area could be controlled, and the campaign won for the Allied forces. In three months of brutal fighting the New Zealanders captured it for only two days before Attaturk mounted a successful counterattack. After this the Allies realized they could not win, and ultimately they retreated. After nine months of fighting the Allied losses were about 40,000 and the Turks 60.000 with hundreds of thousands of wounded. Such are the glories of war and I am exceedingly grateful I and my family have been spared having to go war. We have lived in a golden age. Thank you, Lord.
Exhausted after a hot day in the sun - about 10 degrees above average, we were ready for a break.

The Anzac Grand - no frills

We had to cross the Dardanelles channel to the town/city of Cannakale by ferry, walk to our hotel, across cobblestone streets and settle into the ANZAC Grand Hotel. Grand isn’t really the word that springs to mind at the Anzac Grand. Our room was small, very plain and definitely no frills. The duvet on our double bed wasn’t wide enough to cover the bed. We finally put the duvet on sideways and covered our feet with the ornamental bed cover. Nothing we couldn’t survive but we had paid for a hotel upgrade throughout our trip and hope this will be a mere blip in what has otherwise been a well-done tour so far.
Cannakale is a quaint town on the Asian side of the Dardanelles waterway. We took a walk along the waterfront in the evening.

Their desserts came in
Large or Extra Large sizes only

We have lost our caution of being out and about on our own and felt very safe along with throngs of locals all enjoying the gorgeous weather and waterfront eateries. Outdoor living and eating areas abound and are packed with people eating, sipping small glasses of black tea or smoking and chatting. Nary a cell phone in sight. We eventually settled for a dessert spot and decided to share one. That was so good I asked for a square of baklava just because. Lo and behold I was handed three pieces of baklava neatly arranged between three blobs of ice cream. Cher declined to help me, so I manfully forced it all down and went home for a well-deserved rest and digestion break.
Turkey - Sunday, November 10th. (Cannakale, Troy, Pergamon, Kasudasi).
8.30am pick up today. Turns out we are having our own personal tour today. We have our own driver and separate tour guide. To top it all we are in a nice 7-seater Mercedes van. Benefits of traveling in the low season I guess.
En route to the ancient city of Troy, our guide, Hassan regaled us with ancient mythology stories related to Troy and so on.

Rob in top left window
of Trojan Horse

Nine layers of civilizations have been identified
at the Troy site

Hassan, our guide, points out the sea on the horizon.
Troy used to be a port city. Silt has pushed
the sea back over time.

Some of the ruins at Troy were
remarkably well preserved.

It seems there is quite a lot of cross over between myth and factual history. For instance, the factual history of Troy indicates there was a time of significant warfare around 1200 BC but they don’t know with which enemy. Could this have been the war of Trojan Horse and Helen of Troy fame? No one really knows apparently, but speculation is rife.
At Troy the main attraction for the large numbers of Chinese tourists was the life size replica of the Trojan Horse. One was able to climb up inside and pose for photos. Not to be outdone, I elbowed and jostled my way into the innards with the best of them for the obligatory “wish you were here” shot. The inside of the horse would be a North American lawyer’s dream with barely a handrail or bannister to be found. It was precarious at points, especially with the jostle factor. I survived.
On to the serious, factual side of the Troy trip. They have uncovered eight or nine levels of settlements going as far back as 3000 BC, that’s 5000 years old! It was extremely interesting. They think eventually what killed the city around 500 AD, was malaria. As the harbor silted up, the sea retreated, leaving mosquito ridden swamp land behind. Who would have thunk those pesky little critters could destroy a whole city?
Next up is a 2.5-hour drive to Pergamon. Hassan, moved to sit in the front seat to indicate it is free time for him and us. He’s reading a good book, so idle chatter not encouraged. We were fine with that. Keeping up conversation can be tough all round.
En route we stopped at a gas station for a pit stop. The gas company, Optek, has as their slogan, “‘The cleanest washrooms in Turkey”. Cher came back, with news to share. The toilet had an automatic plastic seat cover changer, activated by a wave of the hand. Now that’s impressive.
While on the subject of toilets, we have noticed signs requesting not to deposit paper down the toilet, but rather in the bin. This idea doesn’t seem that hygienic or appealing. Are we missing something? Maybe. We’ve also noticed there is a little squirter fitting in the back of the toilet bowl which sends out a stream of water in the direction of one’s unmentionable parts. Presumably the squirter does the rinsing and the paper does the drying, in which case paper in the bin makes sense. Neither of us has plucked up the courage to try Toileting a la Turkey. Poop and paper all are still being flushed by these two intrepid travelers. In the spirit of “when in Rome”’we really must try it the Turkish way just for posterity sake. Watch this space for updates.
Next stop, very close to Pergamon (biblical name Pergamum) from Revelations 2.12-18 fame we were taken to a genuine Turkish carpet factory where our guide mentioned we would be given lunch, a guided explanation and there would be no pressure to buy. Two out of thee are not bad odds.
Joking aside it was a fascinating tour.

Demonstrating how the silk is collected from cocoons

This work is painstaking
- knot by knot

We were given lunch to soften us up for the kill.

Suliman - did a good job of
landing us in the bag

Carpet making is a traditional Turkish skill. One of the main centers was in the Pergamon area. About 40 years ago the government noticed the skill was dying out and provided incentives to revive it. There is now an association of 1500 local women who work from home. They work with 750 designs and sizes for set amounts of money and are able to fit carpet making around their other family needs. Good arrangement for all. Our guide Suliman, a very charming gentleman, showed how the silk worms are produced and how the silk is unraveled from the cocoon and wound into racks. Amazing that anyone could ever figure that out. We were then shown a diverse assortment of combos of silk, wool, and cotton carpet samples. We got to watch some ladies at work and Cheryl tried her hand at tying a few knots. Our complimentary lunch was next, not in a lunchroom but in the display room - no pressure of course. While we ate, Suliman and his helpful side kick just kept the conversation going and various samples appeared until the floor in front of us was covered with samples. Suliman it seems is an excellent reader of body language and very quickly realized we weren’t big league buyers and he’d need to tone it down a bit. He also had excellent hearing as somehow from across the room he had us and our likes and dislikes, within our price range, down to a tee. We eventually had four or five of our “likes” in front of us at which point Suliman generously started to offer us deals for buying more than one. Eventually we limped out of there with one of something we really liked, and I am sure it will bring us many happy memories of Turkey. A civilized way to do business albeit not that easy on the pocket. I’m not sure I’d describe the lunch as having been free.
Our final tour of the day would be Pergamon Acropolis.

Roman architecture - our admiration grew and grew

Like so many of the Roman cities,
they were felled by volcanoes - sad.

Pergamon - boasted a 300,000 book library
along with the steepest theater in the Empire.

Acropolis means high city. Hassan gave us the rundown and background as we drove there. I love the history and am slowly piecing together some of the big picture pieces in this part of the world. Short version - Alexander the Great conquered the world around 325 BC and needed somewhere safe to store his treasure. He chose Pergamon, presumably because it’s at the top of a really high, easily defendable hill. He left one of his most trusted generals guarding the loot. Alexander died unexpectedly leaving the guy with the loot having won the lottery. Everyone else was miffed and wanted in. There was lots of fighting and eventually the Romans took over and built some really nice buildings at the top of the hill and that was that. For more detail you’ll need to do the tour yourself. My memory only goes so far.
In the town at the bottom of the hill, Hassan had shown us a large set of ruins of a building that had been a Roman temple, a Byzantine church and a mosque at various stages. The church, we surmised might have grown out of the one mentioned in Revelations. We did a special photo op visit on our way out of town en route to our hotel. Another benefit of our own personalized tour today.
Final comment on our day - the roads in Turkey are excellent, easily as good as anything we’ve seen in North America. Along with the general obsession with cleanliness some of my presuppositions about Turkey are being undone. I guess that’s one of the benefits of traveling. Thank you, Lord, for another good day.
Turkey - November, Tuesday 11^th (Kasudasi, Ephesus, Kasudasi)
We got to sleep in an extra 15 minutes this morning so life is good.

View from our room - the
Dardanelles Strait in the distance

Our hotel is a bit out of the downtown core of the town of Kasudasi. We are halfway up the hill and with a balcony overlooking the Aegean. We are being spoiled.
Our tour guide for the day, Marcie, is the main point of interest for the day. She is extremely flamboyant and highly energetic. She makes up for any lack of language skills by driving her points home with forceful and dramatic gestures. She shepherded our group around with drive and vigor. By the end of the day she was rounding us all up with the same exhortation “Come on my babies”. She was hard to ignore.
Our first stop of the day was to the burial site of Mary. Marcie noted that despite many other countries claiming similar sites she outlined the rather sketchy evidence for this site. This was one of the least impressive parts of our tour so far.
Next up was the city of Ephesus, which at its peak had been the third largest In the Roman Empire. We reviewed the 3D map of the city at the outset. The scale of it was huge.
Like so many other such cities it met its ultimate demise via an earthquake. It was only in the 1800s that a European archaeologist figured out where Ephesus was and excavation began.

Marcie hammers home a point.
She was great and definitely
added a flamboyant touch

Main Street Ephesus - so grand and so interesting

The effort and distance in moving
these columns to their location
was immense

A mini theater in Ephesus
Some of highlights of the day:

The size and scope of the city.

The sophistication of life in Roman times - some examples:

Urine collection tubs. The ammonia in urine was used for bleaching togas. Bleach in urine, rinse in water- clean toga.

Communal toilets - for men only.

No room for false modesty
in those days.

Apparently, men would sit side by side and socialize. Poor people who could not afford the entry cost would find a rich guy and offer to warm their seat for them by sitting on it ahead of them. Women left to their own devices - literally. Marcie very earnestly and graphically demonstrated how women would use a handheld bowl to do their stuff. No stone unturned by Marcie. No bridge too far.

Ephesus had the second or third largest library in the world, at the time, competing with Pergamon with about 300,000 books. Cleopatra’s 500,000 book library in Alexandria, Egypt, burnt down, so Mark Anthony her newly minted husband, gifted her the contents of the libraries of Pergamon and Ephesus as a honeymoon offering.

Apocryphal but true. There was a “secret” tunnel connecting the Ephesus library to the brothel over the road, lending a new meaning to “‘Honey, I’m just popping down to the library to find a book”.

Largest theatre in the Roman world.

Lunch was included in our tour for the day. It “happened” to be in, you guessed it, a carpet factory. We nearly died. Anyway, for our pains we were given a much nicer meal than the previous display before they started pummeling us with carpets. We escaped the carpet beating and, on the way, out of the building “somehow” got diverted to the jewelry making area. We eventually staggered out battered and bleeding but with our wallets intact. Our fellow passengers for the day looked haggard and worn - as I’m sure we did. Whew, that was a close call.
Next stop. To the site of the Temple of Artemis which was one of the wonders of the ancient world. There was very little to see, as the earthquake had done it in. Just a few foundation stone ruins.
Final stop to the leather factory and store. I stayed in the bus to have a nap and sent Cher in for a further beating. She’s tougher than me but I held onto the wallet just in case she weakened. Just as well. She came back raving.
We bid farewell to Marcie. We’ll see her tomorrow.

Those street side desserts are to die for.

The bus dropped us in downtown Kasudasi to enjoy the waterfront and find some dessert for our dinner. It was gorgeous watching the sun go down and we chose the fruit and ice cream waffle we had been coveting ever since Cannukale. We are so privileged to be experiencing all of this.
Back to the hotel by bus and we were tucked into bed and sleeping peacefully by 9pm. This touring takes it out of one.

Turkey - Wednesday, 12th November (Kasudasi, Pammukale, Cappadocia)
Early start this morning with a 7.30 am pick up

These two ladies from Birmingham inspired us with
their adventurous spirits
Marcie was on board to greet us, full of vim and vigor. We are in a small mini bus with six passengers today. A Japanese couple we met yesterday and then two ladies from Birmingham who are just wrapping up a 7-week round trip tour of Turkey. They have been intrepid travelers and inspired us with their stories of how they have toured the country figuring it all out as they go. One of the benefits of traveling is the tips you pick up along the way.
Thee hours of driving on more gorgeous double freeway. Our two English ladies tell us that these excellent roads are typical throughout the country.
We turned onto some real back roads and we were into cotton country. For the first time we were off the beaten track and the houses were a different style - smaller and single story. The women work picking cotton 10-12 hours a day for a pittance while the men stay in the village sipping tea and discussing important stuff. To add insult to injury in the last few years mechanical harvesting is becoming more common, putting many of these women out of work. Now that’s something important to discuss.
We began to approach our destination which was Pamukkule, meaning “Cotton Palace”. It is a whole mountain front which has been covered with calcium mineral deposits from natural springs in the area. It was known by the Ancients as being “healing thermal waters” and a whole city sprung up in the area called Hierapolis. The area is now a World Heritage site.
We drove to the top for the guided tour, where there was a very glitzy welcome centre. Marcie showed us the overall site plan giving us the big picture of what we were about to see. One of the delicious ironies is that this city of healing water has one of the largest graveyards ever uncovered - two miles of sarcophagi and graves.
As with so many of these cities, the end came with an earthquake.

This theater had most of it's front standing,
giving it a more complete feel

Their amphitheater is the second steepest in the Roman world after Pergamon which we saw a couple of days ago. It is the most intact one that we have seen, having all the seating levels and the stage front all complete or reconstructed. Some of the seats have names inscribed for those who have bought a “box” for the season. Those Romans - man they didn’t leave much for us too many fresh ideas to dream up.
We saw in the distance the burial site of the Apostle Philip. The details were sketchy as to how we know that. Marcie, was quite funny as she would get confused about her bible characters, often mixing up Paul, John and Peter. So sometimes we had to treat her stories with a grain of salt.
Next was Cleopatra’s Pool, not named because she was there, but because it sounds and sells better.

It felt like we were on a ski slope

Cleopatra's Pool - note the genuine Roman columns

Pammukale - fascinating

This area was quite modern and full of folks in their bathing suits enjoying the warm springs. One of the features of the pools is the crystal-clear water and all of the ancient columns lying on the bottom of the pool. It looked inviting, but no time for frippery. Places to see and things to do. Onward and upward.
The highlight was to walk barefoot down the mountain soaking our feet in the various mineral pools which have developed over time. This was a very different experience and definitely fun.
The day ended with a late buffet followed by a tour of an onyx factory. This idea of presenting us to various sales opportunities is getting a bit old.
We are now waiting in the local bus station for our connection to Cappadocia, a nine-hour overnight drive. This was a badly planned part of our tour as we have six hours to wait for our connection. It’s not all bad as we need some down time. Time to go and find one of those nice Turkish teas we have been so enjoying.
Folks along the way. One of the fun things with traveling is some of the interesting folks one bumps into. A recent sampling:

We met a young Japanese couple while waiting for our bus. They are both IT types. They were married in April and have been on a “tour the world” trip since then. I asked when their trip will end. The answer, “when the money runs out”. Fun to be so footloose and fancy free.
George a young guy, introduced himself to me at the restaurant we just ate at. He was freshly shorn with short cropped hair. He explained he normally has hair hanging halfway down his back and is a hang-gliding instructor all over Turkey. He has just completed his military training. Turkey’s basic mandatory training is two years at age 19, but if you go direct to university and graduate one has the option of paying a few thousand bucks and then one just has to show up for three weeks, get one’s haircut and bingo military training is complete as long as you have an appropriate pedigree. So, he had just completed his three weeks of living with short hair. Some guys have it tough. He tells me he lives for anything that includes the freedom of flying. I wondered if he was trying to recruit me for hang gliding lessons, which is a big thing around here, but figured it’s more likely he was just being friendly.
Turkey- Wednesday November 13th. (Goreme, Cappadocia area)

We left Pammukale and were delivered to the main Inter-city bus depot to wait a couple of hours for our bus traveling to the town of Goreme in the area of Cappadocia. The bus terminal was massive and built, like the new Istanbul Airport, on a grand scale. It is definitely not a place heavily subscribed to by foreign tourists. We were the only gringos in town. The bus itself was large and comfortable, complete with USB chargers and TV screens. We were offered a snack and a cup of tea at the outset, so it was a good service. No toilet on board and only two washroom breaks in a 9 hour trip so our intake of liquids needed to be limited. Sleeping in cramped quarters is not my first choice. We were sitting in pre-booked seats, but eventually I sneaked to the back of the bus and found some unoccupied seats to stretch out on. It didn’t make for a comfortable night’s sleep and this was the least favorite part of our trip so far.

Balloon rides is the premier "must do" activity
in Cappadocia
As we approached Goreme at around 8am in our bus, we came around a corner and out of the blue we were overlooking a wide plain which was filled with hot air balloons floating over the Cappadocian landscape. It was breathtaking and the folks on our bus were amused at our reaction.
We were dropped off and driven up to our hotel. All around us we were noticing strange rock formations with doors and windows carved into them. We saw signs of people living inside these “fairy candles” as they are called. Lo and behold, to our amazement we discovered our hotel is built into the side of the rock. Our room is deigned with the same shape and feel of living in a cave, even down to the lights being dim enough they fit the “why bother category”. What fun!

Our hotel in Goreme was built into the rock
We were picked up for our tour around 10am to find a full 15-seater bus. Our tour mates hailed from Pakistan, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Australia. Our common binding factor? English.
First stop was at the smallest monastery in the area, where we got our first close up look at how monks in the area lived in caves.

Evidence of Christian presence was everywhere

We had a live pottery
making demonstration

A wine pourer being demonstrated

The pottery produced was exquisite

The manner in which they carved out their living spaces is remarkable. They were unique in that, as opposed to other monk communities, they chose to live among the local population so they could be of practical assistance and prayer was not their only focus.
Next was a visit to a local pottery producer. Their main artist, who apparently is famous, they call Professor Einstein. He looks just like Albert Einstein. We saw the obligatory pottery making display and then were shown into their display room. It really was beautiful and very tempting but their prices not suitable for the likes of us.
After a nice buffet lunch, it was time for another carpet display. I told our guide we would not be participating as we were were “bagged” (did you get it?). We stayed in the bus for a catch-up snooze. One or two other recalcitrants from our group joined us in the bus and we were soon on our way again.
Next stop was a high lookout point overlooking the town of Goreme.

One of the world's most fascinating landscapes

Have hillside - will make home

The original tower block

Multi level living ahead of it's time

It was quite breathtaking- so much unusual topography, but quite easy to see how many fairy castles had been destroyed to build the town, which is a thriving little tourist trap.
Final stop of the day was the largest monastery in the area. We are in the low season and still it was very busy with visitors.

These tiny cut out rock chapels were fascinating

Much of the caves are carved out of sandstone, which wears easily, and I dread to think of the irreparable damage being done each year by the hordes of visitors. We saw a number of small churches carved into the rock, complete with their wall paintings. No photos or talking allowed unfortunately. The level of sophistication of the artwork was very simple when we consider some of the gorgeous Byzantine churches, we have seen dating from a similar era. Sadly, we noticed that many of the faces of the figures in the art were scraped down to the rock. Too bad that these could not have been saved. Was this a Muslim outrage, or just vandalism? No explanation was given.
Back home to settle into our hotel. Our room is up numerous flights of stairs with no elevator in sight. All part of the authentic cave dwelling experience. We are happy to have a few hours of respite before heading out for dinner and a Turkish cultural evening.
We were picked up by our own personal taxi at 7.30pm to be taken to Avanos, nearby, for our dinner and Turkish show. We were ushered in like royalty to our pre-booked seats. The facility is obviously designed for large groups. It has a stage/floor area in the middle with five seating pods surrounding it with rising seating for the diners but separated off from the neighboring group by thick walls. So, we were in a large crowd but could only see our own group and the two pods opposite on the far side of the stage floor. As it turned out we were the only gringos in town again and most of our fellow guests were Chinese from large bus loads. Some of them were drinking a lot and singing raucously. Our immediate neighbors were relatively restrained so that was good. Our table was loaded up with two huge bottles of wine, pop, fruit juice and so on – just for the two of us. We could have slaked the thirst of a small army. The entertainment was good but lacked any commentary, which would have made it more enjoyable. Towards the end it got more interactive and I ended up being selected to compete for the bride who was covered in a gigantic red veil. It was unclear if the prize was worth competing for. My job was to do push ups and wow her with my biceps. Needless to say, I got the thumbs down by the bride, but a good time was had by all and we returned home having had a good dose of Turkish and Chinese culture.

Turkey - Thursday, 14th November (Cappadocia area, Goreme

We had misjudged our need for cash, so I did a quick run downtown Goreme after breakfast to find a bank machine. All the shops were closed but I noticed that the carpet shops indicate they are closed by hanging large carpets in the front of the shop. Large piles of carpets, presumably valuable, were clearly visible and accessible from the street. Amazing level of trust.
We have enjoyed Cappadocia as our tours have started later and finished by four. It has been good to not feel so rushed. We were first to be collected today and were delighted to find Fumi and Mark, a Japanese couple, were joining us. We had spent two days with them in Pamukkale and had made our way to Goreme by two different modes. It was like meeting long lost friends. Our group today was great and by the end we were all bosom buddies. Too many of them to describe, but with such interesting backgrounds.
Our tour guide today was Suat. He was a significant improvement over our guide yesterday, so it was good to end with him. He has a good sense of humor which helps.
First up was a village which had had a disastrous fire some decades ago causing most of the cave dwellings to be abandoned and newer houses built.

Room with a view of the garden
in the foreground

Pomegranate squeezing - a favorite offering. This
man still occupies his carved out rock house,
running it as a live demo for tourists

The village used to be a happy mix of Muslims and Greek Christians but in 1924 the Greek and Turkish governments agreed on a citizen swap and about 750,000 people from either side were forcibly moved. We walked up the hill above the village to enjoy some spectacular views.
Next up was the Underground City, that was discovered in 1975.

These underground living areas
were amazing. Note the alcove on
right which was used for oil lighting.

Note the rolling stone at mouth of tunnel
to keep the bad guys out

It is one of about 150-200 such cities in the area. It covers about two square kms and has four underground levels, only two of which are open to the public. Some of these cities go down seven levels. Doing this tour is competing right up there with Petra for the number one spot on this three week trip including Israel, Jordan and Turkey. The level of effort these Christians went to, to avoid persecution initially by the Romans and then the Muslims a few centuries later, is quite remarkable. The tightness of the spaces, lack of light and general level of difficulty of life defies comprehension.
At the end Cher came back exultant from the gift shop as she had finally found an item she had been looking for since Istanbul. Great celebration. Imagine our chagrin when we discovered the market over the road was selling the identical items for about two thirds the price. Drat – don’t you hate it when that happens?
After lunch we visited a variety of viewpoints and finally Pigeon Valley. It was so called because the locals had carved pigeon homes in the sides of the cliffs to keep them safe from predators and then sold their droppings to supplement their income. So, the valley was a gigantic pigeon farm. Quite a concept.
All good things must come to an end and we were dropped off at our hotel around 4 pm.

Note the cave height of door frame

Our hotel room - modeled to feel cave like

Fond farewells all around and then suddenly it’s all over.
Turkey has been a great eye opener for me. So many of my preconceptions have bitten the dust. How many other of my firmly held beliefs are founded on sand? There’s only one solution of course. We’re going to have to work harder at our bucket list.
Turkey to Toronto – Friday November 15^th (Goreme, Istanbul, London, Toronto)
All that was left was to undertake our grueling three leg flight from Cappadocia to Toronto, via Istanbul and Heathrow in London.

Istanbul Airport - it has to be one
of the world's largest
It has been a wonderful three weeks. We have seen and experienced so much. Our bucket list is temporarily depleted. After what we just did, how can anything else match it? No doubt we will go in search of other splendors and our bucket list will begin to grow again.