Istanbul, Reprised
Vintage treasures from the Grand Bazaar (which was otherwise disappointing--way too many cheap souvenirs).
Topkapi.
Kate: Where's Camille?Elliot: Fart and she'll smell you.
They say the Hagia Sophia will take your breath away, and they're right.
The Blue Mosque.
As awe-inspiring as the Hagia Sofia is, I loved the Chora Church even more. I geeked out (being an art history major and all) over all the magnificent frescoes and mosaics.
Sweet cart! Kate couldn't be happier.Eating out in Istanbul was a bit hit or miss. We went to one restaurant in Sultanahmet (a touristy area near the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque) that served us meat dishes (which we had obviously not ordered), and when we asked for fries the waiter made an excuse: "The cook, he is not here." Elliot started eating his lunch and said, "Judging by the taste of this chicken, the cook was last here three or four days ago." Hah.We did have a nice last meal at a lovely rooftop restaurant, and as you can see, the street food was never a disappointment!
"Wonderful Kizkalesi"
"You were thinking rabbit, which was optimistic."We wanted more time at the beach before heading back to Istanbul, so we took Lonely Planet's recommendation on "wonderful Kizkalesi," on the Mediterranean coast.HAH.Oceanside architecture so ugly I couldn't even laugh at it. Tacky amusements. Crowds upon crowds of weirdly unfriendly Turkish tourists. (You know how nice we found the Turks everywhere else!) We might as well have been a million miles away from that perfect morning in Butterfly Valley.Anyway, we made the most of it, seeing everything remotely worthwhile in the area--like a really cool floor mosaic of the Three Graces in nearby Narlikuyu, and some nifty clifftop Roman reliefs:
"Even if I fell I probably wouldn't die," part two. (Can you see Elliot?) We scrambled down that rock-face to get to the Roman reliefs.We had the reliefs to ourselves, but there were plenty of people to contend with at the Caves of Heaven and Hell. On our descent into "hell" we found empty water bottles strewn along the path even though there were trash bins at regular intervals. (Leads one to wonder if there's a special circle reserved for jerks who don't respect the environment.) Elliot remarked, "If there is a heaven, who cleans it up?"
At the mouth of the cave is the ruin of a Byzantine church:
The ghost of a fresco in the apse, destroyed through the elements plus human idiocy.
We got up early one morning and swam out (200 meters) to Maiden's Castle, and wandered over the ramparts in our bare feet. There was plenty of graffiti on the walls, and the smell of urine in dark corners, but it was a glorious morning and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.Istanbul, reprised: the next and final installment!
The Ihlara Valley
Here are our last batch of photos from Cappadocia! One day we rented a car in Goreme in lieu of taking an organized tour--less expensive and way more flexible. (And anyway, none of us are all that keen on traveling with a pack of strangers. Sometimes you meet lovely people that way, but if they're not lovely then you're stuck with them for HOURS. Bwahahaha.)First stop, the underground city at Derinkuyu:
Elliot [washing Kate's dirty underpants]: It looks like somebody died in these.
Next stop, the 10th-century rock-cut Gümüşler Monastery. It was closed for lunch when we first arrived, so we spent a bit of time exploring the caves across the street.
At this point Elliot goes, "Don't worry. Even if I fell I probably wouldn't die." Probably true, but not exactly reassuring. (I guess he was maybe thirty feet up?)Can you see him in this one?:
Below: the monastery chapel. These paintings aren't quite as breathtaking as those of the Dark Church, but they were still pretty awesome.
We reached the Ihlara Valley quite late in the day, so we weren't able to see much, but it was very tranquil and we got to see the Kirkdamalti Kilisi (the Church of St. George) in a cave a few minutes' hike up from the main path.
The amount of graffiti on the walls of this sacred place was nothing short of horrifying.
So some artist a long, long time ago used his God-given talent to create something beautiful, and then some jerks came along and did their best to spoil it. How sad.(I know there's graffiti everywhere, but I'm not used to seeing it on sublime works of art. Why scratch your name across the face of an angel? How does that make you feel like somebody important?)ANYwho. Two more Turkey entries and then it's on to Colombia!
Hitchin' a Ride, part 2
We spotted a hitchhiker on the bus to Nevsehir (en route to "wonderful Kizkalesi").Elliot [a tiny bit freaked out]: It's going to mate with me and then eat me!!!
I'll Pass, Thanks
A vendor at the Uçhisar Castle entrance pulled open a dried apricot, tucked three kinds of nuts inside, and handed it to Elliot. Elliot, being gentlemanly, passed it along to Kate. "Natural Viagra!" the man said as she was about to bite into it. She hurriedly handed it back.
Hitchin' a Ride
Further adventures in Cappadocia...
"Hop on, Mama! I take you all the way to America!"Later that same day we hitched a ride back into Göreme on a tractor bed:
(Man, that was fun!)
This farmer dropped us off at the edge of town, and gave us this thoroughly disgusted look when we tried to pay him.
Balloons!
Yes, taking a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia is expensive and SUPER TOURISTY. But as you can see, you'd be a fool to skip it.
You get up while it's still dark, take a shuttle bus to the office of the balloon operator, where tea and pastries are served before everyone gets split into big groups and whisked off to the launching site. The balloons go up as the sun is rising.
Our pilot, doing his thing.I can't even remember exactly many people there were on board with us (maybe 30?) or how long the ride lasted (maybe an hour?) It was totally breathtaking the whole way through. We loved it.At one point a Chinese tourist plaintively asked (kidding, I think--I hope!): "Is possible to go to bathroom?"We went as high as 1,080 meters!
And if I had to choose my very favorite picture from our Turkey trip, this would be it.
A Good Man is Hard to Find, part 2
An interlude with a bushy-mustached, roly-poly tea-and-nut seller near the Open Air Museum:
Man: How you like Turkey?
Kate: Çok güzel! ("choke-oo-zahl," very beautiful)
Man (to Kate): You are çok güzel. (Points to me) You are sisters?
Kate and me: Yes, we are kardeş.
Man (to Elliot): Brother?
Kate: No, we are... (makes a smooching noise)
Man (to me): You have boyfriend?
Me: (shaking head)
Man: Why you no have boyfriend?
Me: No good men left in America! (points to Elliot) Except for this one.
Elliot: (holds out his hand and makes the 'so-so' gesture)
Man (to me): You find boyfriend!
Me: I'll try! (to Kate): Okay, I'll buy some apple tea. I'll laugh every time I drink it.
Snapshots from Cappadocia
"Pardon me: may I suck on your nip?"We had a totally awesome time in Cappadocia--hiking among weird rock formations in the "Love Valley" (so named for its proliferation of phallic rocks) and elsewhere, breathtaking frescoes in rock-cut churches (you must go to the Dark Church at the Goreme Open Air Museum! now that was a spiritual experience), goofing around the castle at Uchisar...not to mention the hot air balloon ride!The photos below are from our walks in the valleys, but I've got plenty more to post after this.
A nice man rode up on a motorbike and offered to take our picture.
Growing grapes!
We walked (and crawled) through some rather spooky caves.
City of a Thousand Gods
Another cool thing we wouldn't have seen on our original itinerary is Hattuşa (or Hattusha), the capital of the Hittite empire during the Bronze Age (c. 3300-1200 BC). It's been called, rather romantically, "the city of a thousand gods."
The Hittites, as I may have mentioned, had a thing for lions. (Seems like all those ancient cultures did--the Phrygians may have inherited it from them?)
Archaeological excavation is ongoing. A steadily ascending road road leads you up to a series of old city gates with some pretty spectacular views.
We walked down this tunnel to a path that hugged the city wall on the outside (see previous group photo).
"Does it recommend a good place for lunch?"Speaking of lunch, I may have mentioned in an earlier post that we were visiting Turkey during Ramadan, a time when devout Muslims do not eat or drink while the sun is up. This often made something as seemingly simple as lunch into a proper challenge. Thankfully, on this particular afternoon we found a very kind restaurant owner back in the little town who was willing to open up just for us. (Those poor guys, sitting at a neighboring table watching us as we devoured big plates of salad and fresh bread!)
After our meal we hired a taxi to Yazilikaya for some kick-ass Hittite reliefs. This was a holy site for those who lived in "the city of a thousand gods," some of which are depicted in these reliefs. It's still a very peaceful place.
Next posts: CAPPADOCIA, woo hoo!
Making Lemonade, Turkey Style
Sometimes plans go awry, and the itinerary must be changed. We weren't originally supposed to visit Ankara, the capital of Turkey, but we definitely made the most of our couple days there. It's quite a pleasant city. These photos are from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, an absolute must see.
The reconstruction of a typical dwelling at Catal Huyuk. I learned about this important Neolithic settlement (c. 7500-5700 BC) in World Art in high school, so I was really excited to see this exhibit. They buried the bones of their ancestors in the floor of the house, as you can see at bottom center. Fascinating stuff!
Fertility goddesses galore!
Neo-Hittite orthostat of a chimera, carved out of basalt. Three-headed sphinx. It is a winged lion with a head of a bird of prey on its tail. On top of its head is a human head with a long plait, and wearing a conical hat. The details on its foot are very clear.
"Winged Griffin-Demons." Also Neo-Hittite. Their hands rise above their heads, supposedly carrying the sky.
Then to a charming Ottoman house for lunch!
King of the World
Patara.It actually turned out to be a pretty horrible day, but this is how we'd prefer to remember it.
A Perfect Day, Part 2
At breakfast, before paragliding:
Kate: I don't know why you guys are drinking so much tea. You're going to have to tinkle.
Elliot: I'll tinkle from the air!
A Perfect Day, Part 1
We're at the "public beach" at Faralya, warm clear azure-blue water in a rocky cove, sunshine and pine trees and cicadas and a white smudge of a moon in the blue sky and an old woman pulling worms out of a white plastic bucket. I don't think she's caught anything yet. We walked down from the road (Mehmet dropped us off) on a sandy rocky path through the trees, and just before the beach we found a Lycian tomb with a marvelous carving of a head in the archway. Magical. Rugged hills dotted with green across the water. Elliot and Jill reading, Kate writing in the Pooh journal I gave her in 1997.
The Lycian Way
Fresh figs!!!We spent a happy few days along the south-west coast of Turkey, taking in pretty beaches lined in pine trees and cliff tombs situated on the 316-mile Lycian Way.
A Lycian tomb overlooking an idyllic little beach in Butterfly Valley. See that tiny sliver of moon?
We found a great waterside restaurant in Dalyan, Beyaz Gül, and kept going back. (This was the only time I ever ordered Turkish coffee though.) From the restaurant veranda we had a view of these Lycian rock tombs set into the cliff across the water:
Boatloads of tourists motored by as we ate, and in the evening the tombs were illuminated by floodlights. There's something sort of Indiana Jones-ish about them, isn't there? (Or maybe I'm just thinking of The Last Crusade.)
Chameleon Love
Kate: I think I'm in love. I'm sorry, Elliot.
We all fell in love with this adorable little chameleon! Some friendly Turkish guys we met on the beach at Iztuzu (near Dalyan) had found her on the road, and were now keeping her as a pet. "We are four traveling together, but now we are five!"I could have watched her crawl up and down our arms all day. We took lots of photos, but this one was my favorite since she seems to be affectionately brushing her cheek against Kate's shoulder.Happy New Year!!!
Ephesus
They say no trip to Turkey would be complete without a visit to Ephesus, one of the great cities of ancient Greece and Rome. The ruins were amazing, but the site (like Hieropolis the day before) was ridiculously crowded. Afrodisias may not have ruins quite so dramatic as the Celsus Library (above), but it was a much more enjoyable excursion overall.
The terrace houses were the highlight of our visit. The gorgeous frescoes and floor mosaics are well worth the additional 15-lira entrance fee, and because most tour groups don't budget enough time for it, the excavation site is relatively quiet too.
Many of the decisions made by the restoration team were puzzling at best. "Cubist architectural collage"?! WTF!
I feel like I should submit this one to LOLcats once I think up a funny tagline.
Afterward we went to the museum in town and checked out the Artemis statue, once housed in one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I think I counted twenty-nine boobs.Happy New Year, everybody!
You Always Hurt the One You Love
From the museum at Afrodisias:Achilles supports the slumping figure of the Amazon queen Penthesilea, whom he has mortally wounded. Her double-headed axe slips from her hand. The queen had come to fight in the Trojan War against the invading Greeks. Between her being wounded and dying in his arms--the time represented here--Achilles fell in love with her.
Nero and Agrippina
(Also from the museum at Afrodisias.)Did you know Nero killed his own mother?
The Three Graces
Above: Afrodisias. Below: the so-teeny-it's-just-the-one-floor-mosaic museum at Narlikuyu, near "wonderful Kizkalesi."