Pamukkale
As we arrive at Pamukkale it seems we have changed climatic zones. The surrounding hills are snowy white but it isn't snow, it is salt deposit. The mineral salts in the water flowing from the hot springs in the mountain left a thick white deposit on the hill sides. For many years it was a resort with 2 big fancy hotels at the top. After an earthquake the water began to dry up. The tourists misuse of the springs of and lack of flowing water caused the white deposit to turn black. A few years ago the government stepped in and bought the hotels, tore them down and made the area into a park. They control the water flow so that every area gets water over it and the ground is white again. We were able to wade in some of the pools or put our feet in the water filled diversion trough. The pools were quite slippery so we opted for the trough. The water was pleasantly warm and felt good on our feet and calves. We stopped to have cold drink as I was feeling very thirsty and that ate up the time we would have used to visit the Necropolis. It is a huge cemetery and would have been interesting. I honestly didn't feel that well so didn't care.
We stayed over night here. There were hot pools we could go in at the hotel so we donned our bathing suits only to find very hot and unappealing pools of water. Back to our room and dressed for dinner. The food at the Colossal spa hotel wasn't the best we encountered on the trip but we had lots to eat. The best memory of the dining room came from John. Roy and I took soft boiled eggs only to discover they were almost raw. John was finding it difficult to keep his boiled egg on his plate so he stuck it in his pocket, forgot about it and sat down, oops, it broke all over his wallet. What a way to start the day! He will be remembered for that incident - good thing he is a good sport!
Antalya
Okay, I am sick! We are visiting the highly rated Archeological museum, a place I really wanted to visit but this morning I have a fever, I am dizzy and I hurt all over. After the Turkish plague struck things have become a bit blurred. This is a nasty virus! I thought it was the smoke from the farmers burning the fields but no, it's the plague. After the sore throat came the aching body, the sore chest, feeling weak and like you are going to faint and fever, runny nose and horrendous cough.
I made a stab at touring the museum but had to go sit in the lobby where I fell asleep, sitting on a bench that had no back. I remember Tolga coming by and then Roy coming to get me so I wouldn't miss it all. I was glad he did as it was amazing but I sure felt rotten.
Perge
After a brief stop for photos of the white hills so Pamukkale the next morning we were off to visit the ancient city of Perge. This was really some thing to see. Ephesus was very dramatic but Perge gave us the feeling of stepping back - way back in time. The long Avenue with ruts made in the marble paving stone by chariots and the water channel running down its centre. The bathhouse is still fairly well preserved. There was a stone honoring Dianna. Of course our Diane had her picture taken with it. We were able to climb up above the fountain at the far end of the street and view the town. What must it have been like when St Paul visited there?
Aspendos was next on the list. A huge theater that seats 50,000 but Elton John performed there to 80,000. It is one of the best preserved in the world, built in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (180AD161 - 180). The theater was cleverly constructed so that people could enter and leave easily. Aspendos was founded by the Hittites. We only saw the theater but there was a large city.
Konya
On the way to Konya Tolga entertained us with tales of how dense, stupid, whatever people from Konya could be. He had everyone in stitches.
Rumi's museum
This was an interesting visit. Rumi was born in what is now Afghanistan and wrote his poetry in Persian. He was a Theosphic (professing to achieve a knowledge of God through spiritual ecstacy or direct intuition) philosopher. Rumi's philosophy was basically a longing for unity of men, the universe, with God and God's spirit. His epitaph reads "when we are dead, seek not our role in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men". His timeless teachings live on. It seemed a bit ironic that there is a large building (now a museum) is devoted to his tomb. It was raining when we arrived at the museum, not just a little rain, torrents of it. Lee got her feet wet and had to take her socks and shoes off to dry them on the bus.
Fortunately we were there early and avoided the masses. Tolga seems to be very good at planning our days. We have never had a long wait at any site. There are and number of cells with relics of Rumi and his friend and followers. We only visited a couple of them as they were small and it took a bit of time to read the English translations. The grammar is often more interesting than the description. The building Rumi is buried in is large and there were people, mainly women, praying along the walls. You can see his tomb, as well as his son's. Rumi's son began the Dervishes The tombs are covered in a brocade fabric with a pole coming out at one end. On the pole is a turban like affair. We never did learn what it was. Books with his writings were behind glass. They remined us of the Book of Kells in Dublin. After a short visit to the gift shop it was back on the bus.
Next we stopped at a tile museum and Koran school but it was really an observatory and a school. Students were taught math and astronomy. There was a large basin in the floor right under the domed roof. The stars were viewed by there reflection in the water. A grid of silk thread was set across the basin. Another wooden grid was there for them to walk on and measure the movement of the stars. Sheer genius. The tiles were beautiful but not as memorable.
Next stop, one high on my list, a caravanasairy. Everyone felt transported in time, feeling like we were on a movie set but actually were in the real thing. The caravanasairys were built by the sultan along the silk road for the protection of the caravans coming from the east from pirates. The economy was drying up so he built a string of caravan stops spaced the distance traveled each day, about 30 km. The travellers went inside the walls and placed their valuable cargo in a safe. There was a large building for the camels. The people slept outside in alcoves. The camels were the most important. There were guards to kept watch and to defend in case of attack. Travelers could stay 3 days for free or 7 if they were ill. This was a place they could buy a camel if theirs died.
Underground city
Cappadocia
I am feeling a bit better, the severe part lasted about 24 hours. I slept on the bus and the fever left about 3 in the afternoon. It returned a few times but never was as bad. Both of us were really looking for to this stop. Tolga has warned us off shopping until now and everyone is a bit anxious. We want to see the whirling dervish ceremony and go for the balloon ride here. Damn, now it's Roy's turn to be sick. He is sicker than I was and decides he won't go to the ceremony in the evening or for dinner. I doped myself up and took cough drops and water with me. I was seated so that I couldn't leave without too much disruption if I began to cough. You must be silent during the ceremony so that you do not break the trance the dervishes are in.
"The ceremony is the inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi (1207 _1273 (try saying that fast -or slowly). The Sema (ceremony) has 7 parts and each symbolizes a stage of the mystic journey to perfection".
First the musicians come to the round stage and play. It begins with singing? a eulogy the the drum followed by the ney, a reed instrument with a very nasal tone. (Its all very soothing). Then after this goes on for a few minutes the dervish especially enter. They each bow to the altar and the go to the side of the platform and as one (there were 5 of them and their teacher) drop to their knees. I heard some bones crack but it was amazing. They have a black coat on over their white dervish gowns. Suddenly it seemed like they had no legs. They prayed for a bit to the music and then rose and removed their cloaks. One by one they bow to the altar and then begin, slowly, to twirl. The round stage is not large and some of the dervish are quite tall. Their skirts billow .out as they twirl, one arm pointed to the sky, the other to the earth, head tilted to the raised arm. Round they spin, never touching, eyes closed but always aware of their postion in reference to the altar. When they stop twirling they bow to the altar. Their trance takes the audience with them; it's as though no one breathes or moves. This goes on for 40 minutes. I was so worried that I would cough and kicked out. I was okay until they stopped twirling and knelt down. It must have been psychological because then an uncontrollable cough welled up in me. I headed out and up the 3 flights of stairs ( I didn't mention that we were in a cave ) trying to choke back my coughing. I didn't succeed but did my best. I hurried up the stairs, out of breath because this nasty bug really affects your lungs. I must have looked bad when I got to the top because a lady got me seated and checked to make sure I hadn't died. I was so happy that I went to the ceremony but I sure wished Roy could have come too. We met the rest of the group at a restaurant for dinner after the ceremony . The meal was many courses starting with shepherds salad. We each got a bowl big enough for a family. Finely chopped tomato and cucumber. Refreshing and delicious. What do they do with the leftovers?? The focal point of dinner was a kebab (small pieces of meat cooked in broth with vegetables.) It is placed in a vase made of clay, covered with yeast and baked in the ground all day. They bring it to the table and make a big deal of cutting of the top with a huge knife. It made for a good show, I think Nancy got to cut the top off one of them.
When we returned to the hotel Roy was in bed and hadn't left the room for anything, including dinner. He didn't think he needed a doctor but we probably should have had him see one. We were to go up in a balloon the next morning. Both of us were up and ready at 5:30. Roy wasn't going to miss it. The winds were too high. We went back to bed and got up again in time for breakfast. Roy got himself a bowl of cereal, then sat and stared at it. We were sitting with Pat and Pat. They were concerned but not as concerned much as I was. He decided to miss Cappodocia and stay at the hotel.
That was a difficult decision as this is a spot everyone was anxious to visit. I felt so bad leaving him behind. Joan also stayed at the hotel, she was feeling so sick that she got a separate room so her roommate wouldn't suffer.
Cappadocia has rock formations created over millions of years ago when 3 volcanoes erupted. Over the years the frequent eruptions covered the area with a porous layer of volcanic ash (tufa). Erosion has created fairy chimneys (think of the hoodoo in Alberta multiplied many times over) , valleys, pillars and pyramids. Fantastic!
The first stop was at a village of cave homes. Early Christans used the caves as homes as they were very secluded. Monastic communities were formed in caves carved out of the rock. I didn't go too far as the dusty ground was so slippery. I looked around a bit and checked out a high priced shop until it was time to move on. Everything had been closed where the bus stopped but was open when I returned to the bus so a shopping opportunity missed. The camel had even been trotted out for people to sit on. That was an opportunity I was only too happy to miss. What a stink! Off we went to visit the outdoor museum at Goreme. The rock formations on the way are really something to see. Each one is different and better than the last. Some are even in shapes resembling camels, etc. The museum at Goreme is a world heritage site. Roy is missing it! It's a good thing because it is all up stairs and hills and down again. The area is sprinkled with hundreds of church's but Goreme has the best ones. They are painted with frescoes painted on the rock. In some places the paint has peeled off and you can see earlier designs painted in red ochre. The cave churches date from as early a the 6th century.
I hung out with John and Ruth. They are such nice people. We are played out after awhile. My knees were trembling from all the up and downing.
The last church we visited was across the road from the main museum and the best, in my humble opinion. Tokali church is the oldest church in the museum. The narrative scenes are in chronological order and you are able to follow the story of the old testament.
After the museum we visited a pottery factory. The factory is family owned and the workers are family. One fellow made and amphora while we watched. His cousin explained what the potter was doing. Someone asked why he wasn't a potter too. The answer "some of us like to talk too much". That got a laugh. After the very interesting demonstration we saw artists painting the pottery. Then of course it was time to buy the pottery. While I really liked every thing, the only thing I wanted was an amphora and they were over a thousand dollars. They would ship it to your home, no taxes,no duty and if it breaks on the way you take a picture, send it to them and they replace the item. Dave and Jill bought a plate that will be shipped to them but I think that was the only big puchase. The amphora will have to wait until we win the lottery.
We had lunch at a place that had been a carvanasary. It had huge, tall doors made of hide and felt, very heavy. We were served lunch on what we guessed were plates that were seconds from the pottery factory. I am loosing my enthusiasm for Turkish food, even baked eggplant. It's beginning to all taste the same -maybe it's because we have a lot of buffet meals.
Back to the hotel and to my great disappointment my husband is not dressed and waiting for me in the lobby. No, he is in our room, in bed dressed only in his underwear, where he has been all day. He is coughing like crazy so I go down to the bar for hot water to make sage tea for him. Toga is in the lobby and insists the Roy has to eat something. He gets the menu from the bar and I order spaghetti with tomato sauce from room service. Roy seems to feel better after he manages to get about half of it eaten. Yeah! We went for a walk around the beautiful grounds with Joan, who is also feeling a bit better and then go for dinner. The balloon ride has been rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Turkey leaves daylight savings time tonight but we still have to get up at the same time but for a later flight. Go figure! Next week we will have to fall back again when we are at home.
The flight is on! Roy seems to be much improved. We both are coughing a lot but so is literally everyone on the bus...
The wake up call comes and we dress in as many layers for warmth as we have. Dress warm! Two shirts, a fleece, coat, 2 pair of socks, and a hat. Dress warm -ha! By the time we got up in the balloon we were shedding layers. That's another story.
The drive to Goreme was nice because Roy got to see some of the rock formations he missed the day before. When we arrived at the balloon offices the air around Goreme was alive with balloòns. There were 75 to 100 balloons up all at once. It was really cool. They were going down into the valleys and around the fairy chimneys. Cool!
It seems that because 5 people had dropped out of our group (Turkish plague) they wanted a different balloon for us. By the time they got us in the air the wind had died and we couldn't go down into the valleys. We drifted around at a high altitude and finally with a bit of difficulty found a place to land. They landed the basket right on the trailer with us in it this time. Different than our previous experiences. When it came Nancy turn to get out the fellow just lifted her out and then he did the same with me. He must have eaten his Wheaties that morning! We were an hour later than we were supposed to be and the others had a long wait for us. Thankfully they kept the kitchen open for us so we could have a most welcome breakfast. Even Roy was hungry. The chef cooked eggs for us, toast, yogurt with honey, a little fruit - pretty much what we have every morning.
The next stop was Ankara, capital of Turkey. Ataturk moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara in 1923 because it was considered to be secure in the middle of Turkey. More than 4 million people live here now. According to Toga who has lived here the city is constantly growing. He said that the transportation system is good so people use it during the week and only drive their cars on weekends. Consequently they are terrible drivers.
We visited Ataturks mausoleum. It is huge, rivals Mao tomb at Tinamen Square in Beijing but the square . isn't as big.
The hotel was one Toga hadn't used before. He won't be using it again if he has any choice. Roy's stomach wasn't feeling good now so he stayed at the hotel while I went with about 7 others to the museum of Anatolian civilizations. Wow, this was a museum! The museum covers every civilization that has occupied the area going back 10 miĺenia. It is arranged chronologically. Tolga gave us a 1/2 hour introduction and then left us on our own. Nancy and I went around together and the first thing we agreed upon was to go in reverse order (it was less crowded that way and I think we are both random type thinkers). It was tremendously interesting and fun with Nancy. We particularly enjoyed the mother earth goddesses and the changes to their anatomy over the ages.
Back to the hotel. Roy is back in bed, in his underpants! Damn! Fortunately some imodium set him right and he was able to go down to dinner. The staff had given our group tables, not in the dinning room but in a kind of cafe at the back. Tolga was livid. The next morning we were seated in the dining room! It was one of the poorer hotels on our trip, the food was not as appealing as at other places and the walls in the small rooms were very thin. Our groups rooms were all in the same area(except for Dave and Jill who got moved to another room because their room smelled of smoke) so we're treated each other to a symphony of coughing all night.
A word about hotels. We stayed at very nice hotels, even the ones I have complained about were still very nice, it's just that we got spoiled.
Well, the last day has come. We board the bus to Istanbul. It is a long trip on the bus. 454 km. At last we near the bridge that will take us from Asia to Europe. It's rainy, windy and traffic is in grid loclock. The bus moves a metre a minute. Poor Cater, our driver. We are scheduled to go on a Bosphorus cruise and to visit the Spice Market. We vote to skip the cruise, though everyone has been looking forward to it. Check in at the hotel we stayed at before. This time our room is an appropriate temperature but it is tiny. Oh well, it's just one night and we won't be in it much. Roy and I went across the street to the grocery store and got Turkish tea glasses and food incase everything is closed tomorrow and the next day (Republic days)when we are on our own.
The farewell dinner, hosted by Neon Tours is at a fish restaurant under the Galatea Bridge. We begin with mezes (tapas style appies). After a long rest between courses we are served a phylo roll with cheese inside. Delicious. I chose Raki to drink. You add a bit of water and it becomes cloudy. Very potent and very tasty. After a very long wait our fish comes. They serve it with the head on in Turkey but we all asked to have the head removed. Guess that is what took so long! A 3 piece band plays folk music for us and a chubby fellow belly dances, sings and gets us all to join in. It was fun and entertaining. Dessert was too hard to describe and not worth the effort. Now everyone but us has to be up by 1:30 to go to the airport and they want to get back to the hotel. There are 4 or 5 going to Jordan next and they have a later plane. We are moving to the Amira Hotel.
Shelley made a lovely presentation of our tip money to Tolga, Cater and Tolga II even though she had succumbed to the plague and looked like she'd like to die.
We were very fortunate to have such good people taking care of us for 2 weeks.
Tolga even gave us his cell number in case we needed help when we were on our own. Even Shelley didn't have his cell number.
Next day, after breakfast we caught a taxi to the Amira hotel on the other side of the Golden Horn. What to say about the Amira? Wow, it is a 35 room boutique hotel near the Blue Mosque. You can walk to the Mosque and Hague Sophia in just a few minutes. The door was opened by the young doorman for us. We never had to open that door ourselves. We were early but our room would be ready in 45 minutes, please have a complementary breakfast while we wait. The concierge (Karen) came to the dining room with a map and talked with us for the next 1/2 hour explaining what would be open on the holiday, suggesting places to visit, which trams to take, good restaurants. Yes, we were impressed. Meanwhile the man in charge of the dining room is getting us toast and coffee and anything else that we might desire. Such service. Our bags are taken to our room and we are shown how everything works. It is a very nice room, not fancy but we'll appointed. We are more than happy.
All of our fretting about this game being closed for Republic day were mostly unfounded. The Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, Topkapi place we're closed but we had seen them so that was okay.
We went to the Basillica Cisterns, a 6th Byzantine underground water reservoir built by the Emporor Justinius with recycled Roman columns and covers the area of 2 football fields. There are 336 columns. It is vast and dimly lit. There are even fish swimming in the water. We were much impressed. The Pudding Shop rated another lunch but we would try to keep the price down this time.
Between our hotel and the Cisterns was a lovely market that we enjoyed a stroll through on the way to the Blue Mosque area and again on the way back. We met a man who stopped us to talk. He was of course selling carpets but was willing just to chat when we weren't interest. We strolled down a side street which was lined with restaurants. Each had a tout in front to encourage passers by to eat at their establishment, or just have tea or a drink. One fellow told us his mother was the cook and his mother's hands were golden. It was too early for dinner so we went on to look at the outside walls of the Topkapi Palace. While standing looking an American gentleman engaged us in conversation. He had been in Istanbul in 1958 with the American forces as a decoder. His sister had a friend who lived in the city and he had stayed at her home then. He and his sister were in Istanbul to visit that lady. He asked if I sewed, his sister and the friend had gone to a fabric shop just around the corner. He was going there now to pick up a shirt the shop had made for him. We should come with him. My thought was, what are we getting into now but we went. I don't think we would have come to any harm. The shop was family run and sold hand woven cotton items. I never did see any fabric so we left after a decent interval. Never know who you will meet! On our way back there was a gentleman selling tee shirts for a third the price we had paid at the Spice Bazaar so we bought one and chatted with him.
The Amira has tea for the guests from 4 to 6. A lovely spread. It could easily be dinner. We enjoyed a lovely tea and went to the roof to Skype the Berg's and Hutchinson's and show them the view of the Sea of Marima, the Blue Mosque and street scenes around during us. Later we made our way up restaurant street again through everyone wanting us to eat at their place. Had another chat with the tee shirt man, we had also chatted with the carpet man, who remembered us too. Getting pretty friendly . Those men and some of the restaurant fellows always remembered us. It was hard to make our way to the Babylon restaurant that the hotel recommended but we did it. By this time we just want something familiar to eat so we ordered pizza, thinking we were ordering Turkish pizza which is very different but good. The waiter was disgusted. We ordered raki which redeemed us a bit. The pizza was Italian style and soo good. We went back the next night and I had a Turkish vegetable hot pot. Awesome, I almost licked the pot. Roy had Turkish pizza - good too. We shouldn't have had tea at the hotel as it filled us up.
Next day we did take the Bosphorus cruise. The guide the useless, but we had been spoiled by Tolga. The cruise was excellent. Before the cruise we were supposed to go to the Spice Market but it was closed. The guide sort of told us to go visit the New Mosque. We did briefly then walked around some of the stalls surrounding the Market. They were open and so very colourful. The cruise lasted an hour and a half and we saw homes and hotels on both the European and Asian sides that we wouldn't otherwise have seen. It was an interesting look at Istanbul.
The bus driver returned us to the hotel. It was obvious that he knew the city well. He took us down some very narrow streets, even he was pleased to squeeze through some half of the narrow places.
In the afternoon we decided to take the tram, a fun experience, and the funicular to Takism Square. The square was quite deserted when we got there. We got our bearings as headed to Iskital Street. The plan was to follow Rick Steves walking guide. The street was so crowded and many of the buildings were boarded over so the guide became extremely difficult to follow. We were about half way down the street when we saw an armored van, many police and a lot of people with placards. We weren't enjoying the experience all that much anyway so decided to retrace our steps and take the funicular and tram back to the Train station. I was very happy to leave the area even though there were things I would have liked to see. Even before we saw the police I felt uncomfortable in the suroundings. Guess I just don't feel safe in crowds.
We go off the tram at the Spice Market and walked a few steps to the train station. We were there! The famous terminus for the Orient Express. The waiting rooms were deserted and it was easy to imagine Agatha Christie or any one from that era in them. The bar was empty too. The was a train in the station but it was sitting empty. We had a glass of wine in the bar and took our pictures against the sign that said Orient Express. Another couple came and we took each others pictures. The barman that had said we could go in the dining room and look around so I told them. They decided to have a glass of wine as well. It was worth the price to see the pictures on the walls.
We returned to Babylon (the restaurant ) for our dinner after a much lighter tea at the Amira. Bought another tee shirt from our friend as an end to a very happy time in Istanbul. Everyone said that you never have enough time in Istanbul and now I agree. Tolga gave us so many dire warnings when we were with the tour that we were somewhat put off the city. Thank goodness we had the extra days to change our opnion.
We were up and ready to leave for the airport before 2 am but waited to go to the lobby until 2. We checked out, our Bosphorus cruise and tram tokens were put on our room tab. Very convenient. Then the door man went outside in the pouring rain, gave a little whistle and a cab awaited us. There was no traffic and that guy sped along at a grateful rate. We were at the airport in 20 minutes or less. The hotel said it would be 50 lira but he said 55 would be okay. He got 60 in the end and left a happy man.
The Lufthansa sign was on so we joined a huge queue, each person had so many bags! A gentleman came and told us we were in the wrong line. These people were refugees. We greatfully went to a much shorter line. They processed the refugees first so we waited anyway but at least we were in the correct line... We thanked him later and he explained that he works for the United Nations and he was seeing the refugees from Iran on to their plane ( our plane). There were between 40 to 50 people to from about age 6 to grandparents. We were on the same plane to Frankfurt. They had a different UNITED person to shepherd them to their next plane which we think took them to Toronto. We had lots of time before our flight to Vancouver so we had a pricey coffee while we waited.
This time we had bulkhead seats on the left side of the plane. Nice. We had lots of room and though the bathrooms were very close the flight crew pulled the curtain and they didn't bother us a bit. The steward chatted with us while we waited to take off was a nice guy and he gave us a bit of extra attention. Delicious cookies from first class. I think the bulkhead seats were worth the extra money. It was good to have the extra room and it seems to me that I felt less fatigued.
In spite of being sick it was a great trip. We saw so many new places, had new experiences, and enjoyed getting to know all our new friends on the tour and hope to see more of them in the future.
