Besides the beach, the other attraction in Çıralı is Mount Chimaera and the Yanartaş, the “Flaming Rock,” a half-mile hike up into the surrounding mountains. We started our hike after dinner, just as the sun was setting behind the mountain. There was an eerie feel to the place as we approached, with people huddled around … Continue reading
Continuing our drive west along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, we planned to drive through, rather than stop in, Antalya. The main airport in the region is here in Antalya, a city of more than 1,000,000 people. Something that has surprised us in Turkey – outside of Istanbul – is that Americans are a bit of a … Continue reading
About 20 miles west along the coast, we stopped to visit the Roman ruins at Aspendos, primarily because of its Theater and Aqueduct. These structures, along with a Basilica, Gymnasium, Hippodrome and several other public buildings, were built in the late 2nd century A.D., during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The Theater at Aspindos is … Continue reading
Side thrived under Roman rule, serving as a significant port, olives being one of the main exports. A Roman fleet and garrison were stationed here and, at its peak, the city had more than 60,000 inhabitants. We spent yesterday roaming around the Roman ruins. As I previously mentioned, the town of Side sits on the … Continue reading
The peninsular settlement that is modern day Side was first inhabited by Greeks from Cyme around 700 B.C. It was subsequently occupied by Alexander the Great, another Greek, in 333 B.C. and by the Greek island city-state of Rhodes in 190 B.C. So, by the time the Romans came to Side around 75 B.C., the … Continue reading
We left Göreme Sunday morning with a destination of Side (pronounced “see day”) on the Mediterranean coast; total driving time, 8 hours. There’s not much to see in the very center of Turkey. It’s pretty much like driving through Kansas or eastern Colorado, but without the corn and wheat. There’s a lot of farm land … Continue reading
After our horseback ride on Saturday morning, we set out again on our quest to get to Mustafapaşa. But, we didn’t take the detour to Pancarlik Church, so the GPS took us on a different route over and down the hill. This time, our trail dead-ended at the most amazing rock dwelling we saw in … Continue reading
We had been planning to hike the Rose Valley, but decided, for a change of pace, to do it on horseback, instead. So, Saturday morning we drove over to “Dalton Brothers Ranch” (really) and joined a young French couple and a woman from California for a two-hour ride. Besides our little group, we had a … Continue reading
Friday was our “driving around looking at stuff” day, so after leaving Çavuşin, we tried to find the road to Mustafapaşa, a place that the guidebooks said was only infrequently visited by the tour buses, but worth the effort to get to. I have relied on my iPhone4S for many things on this trip: all … Continue reading
According to the guidebooks, just up the hill from the Çavuşin Church is the oldest and largest church in the region: the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, built in the 5th Century A.D. On our way up the hill from the Çavuşin Church, we passed this wagon, similar to many we have seen in … Continue reading
After our early morning balloon ride, we went back to the hotel, ate breakfast, and took a nap. In the afternoon, we went to the Göreme Open Air Museum, a highlight on the tour bus circuit. We should have taken a pass on it; crowds ruin things for me. I’m going to be brief on … Continue reading
Yesterday, we were glad, for the first time, to hear the morning call to prayer which, here in Cappadocia, was at 4:05 a.m. We were being picked up at 4:35 for an early morning balloon flight! It was a little windy Friday morning, so the company we chartered with, Butterfly Balloons, had to launch with … Continue reading
After visiting the underground city on Thursday morning, we continued southwest to the Ihlara Valley. As we drove along, we almost felt like we were in Colorado, approaching the Rockies. But once we got to the Ihlara Valley, it seemed more like we were in Utah or Arizona, back in the canyon lands. There was … Continue reading
One of the ancient peoples to settle in Turkey were the Hittites from Europe. They were attacked by invaders from Thrace around 1200 B.C. Those Hittites living in the area now known as Cappadocia literally took to the hills for refuge, but they also went underground because the rock was so soft that they could … Continue reading
As we neared the valley floor, we spotted a cave complex of greater proportion than those we had been exploring on our way down from the ridge, so we went to investigate. It was a columned Christian church, carved into the cliff! We entered through the large cave opening to the right, inside of which … Continue reading
We took a different route back to Göreme from Uçhisar, walking the road along the ridge, looking down on Pigeon Valley. This gave us a view into the areas that were not reachable from the valley floor. We had a little trouble finding a way down, although we could see trails below, so we knew … Continue reading
Cappadocia is famous for its strange geological formations and cave dwellings. The soft rock that makes up the ground and hills is called “Tuff.” The guide book says that 30,000,000 years ago, the three volcanoes in the region erupted and covered the plateau with ash and mud. Tuff is the result of the compression of … Continue reading
We had an early, but uneventful flight from Istanbul to Nevşehir in the midst of the Cappadocia region in central Turkey, with the minor of exception of the hardest landing we have ever experienced – it really woke us up. Nevertheless, we did enjoy traveling on Turkish Airlines. Nevşehir Airport is in the middle of … Continue reading
When we were in Baden Baden, Germany, last Fall, we really enjoyed the Roman-style bath we had at the Friedrichsbad. So, we decided to try a Turkish bath here in Istanbul for comparison. Dale had read that only the Süleymaniye Hamami, “hamam” being the Turkish word for bath, makes provision for couples; all the other … Continue reading
The Kapalı Çarşı, the Grand Bazaar, is a covered shopping district spanning 66 streets and containing somewhere around 5,000 shops. Here’s one of the main entrances: The Grand Bazaar has been a marketplace for about 600 years. Many of the shops seem to be held in the same family for generations, which means that these … Continue reading
There are mosques everywhere here. I mentioned that there is one right across the street from us. Here’s a picture of the minaret that I took from the roof of our hotel which is where we have breakfast every morning. Note the loudspeaker on the minaret. Through loudspeakers like these, at blaring volume, the Adhān … Continue reading
Yesterday, we took a long walk across town to the Chora Church. When it was originally built in the early 5th century, this church stood outside the city walls that had been built about 100 years earlier by the Roman Emperor Constantine. However, the later Emperor Theodosius II extended the walls of the city in … Continue reading
We got off the river cruise one stop before the southern terminus so that we could walk along the Bosphorus to the Tünel, an underground funicular, that would take us up to Taksim Square and the Galata Tower at the top of the hill overlooking the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. As we exited the Tünel, … Continue reading
The northern terminus of our Bosphorus cruise ended at the fishing village of Anadolu Kavağı. All along the waterfront were open-air seafood cafes and fishing boats. We decided to get in a little exercise before lunch, so we immediately headed up the hill to the ruins of the Roman fort called Yoros Castle. It was … Continue reading
Yesterday, we got a relatively early start and took a river cruise up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. The boat departed at 10:35 from Eminönü next to the Galata Bridge which spans the Golden Horn tributary of the Bosphorus. It’s about 18 miles up the Bosphorus from old Istanbul to the Black Sea. Along … Continue reading
The Road Less Traveled 