Gallipoli

Just a couple of notes of update that I forgot to add in earlier. On Friday after we had our donair dinner, we went for ice cream (dondurma in Turkish). The flavours were chocolate, strawberry, green, and white. The green we thought was pistachio, but only had a very subtle flavour; similar to the white which I couldn’t tell if the subtle flavour was vanilla or marshmallow.

Yesterday as we were in the dolmus coming back from Troy, we stopped in a small town and a guy got on carrying two shopping bags of yellow plums. He started handing out handfuls to all of us on the dolmus . They tasted great, but I don’t think that his wife would be all that happy once he got home, since he left the dolmust with just over one bag of plums.

Sunday night we sat up on the top balcony for a bit, and then started watching the 1981 movie Gallipoli (with Mel Gibson) that was put on the the hostel, all while going through a bottle of vodka. We slept in until 10:00 as we didn’t have anything on in the morning. We grabbed a sandwich for breakfast (still in Asia) then got to the tour office to start our Gallipoli tour. We got on the ferry from Çanakkale to Eceabat on the European side, looked at the Gallipoli 3D map they have at the ferry landing there, then got the the hotel where our tour was starting from.

The tour was waiting on a girl that was coming on a bus from Istanbul, so we didn’t get started until 1:00. Our first stop was up to a small museum for lunch (in Europe). From there we went down to the Agean cost and down to ANZAC Cove where the Australian and New Zealand forces during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War 1.

Our guide was a former university professor in Istanbul and had a special interest in Gallipoli. He was the tour guide for many foreign dignitaries, and had been to Australia a few times, and put together a conference for foreign academics on the subject. At ANZAC Cove he had about an hour speech about the state of the world and everything leading into WW1 and all the reasons for the state of Turkey, and why the Aussies and Kiwis were involved and sent where they were. I think I learned more in that hour than all of Social Studies 10 in Grade 10. He showed the different ridges that the troops went up and where the Turkish defenses were and where they moved around to and from. And to be standing there and seeing all the landscape and topography, it was incredible and so informative.

We stopped at a few war cemeteries, and saw the Australian, Turkish, and New Zealand war memorials. Then we also went into a few of the still surviving trenches which was quite interesting.

It turned out to be a great tour, with the only issue being the heat. It was absolutely scorching. Both Nathan and I managed to drink 4.5 litres of water in 6 hours. We got back into town and wandered a bit finding a pizza place for Turkish pizza for dinner. It was a bit different than the ones we’d had, but still good. We got back to the hostel and chilled out for a bit before running out to get some things prior to our 1:00am night bus back to Istanbul. There I saw what I’d been looking for for a bit, street mussels. Probably the riskiest of street meat, but oh were they good. They were cooked and stuffed with rice and cheese, and served with a wedge of lemon.

Now it’s just waiting for our bus, then back to Istanbul.

Çanakkale and Troy

After a long overnight bus trip we made it in to Çanakkale at about 6:30am. We got dropped off at the ferry terminal, not the bus depot, so after a bit of confusion we found the hostel, checked in, then went looking for breakfast. We found a hotel that had just emptied out for a tour and walked in and asked about breakfast. We got ushered out down an alley and into another cafe place where there was the leftovers of breakfast, and we put together sandwiches for 5TL each, and it was really good. We got back to the hostel and crashed for a nap. We were up about 10:30 and decided to get going and see some of the sights. We grabbed a second breakfast then moved down the waterfront to the Trojan Horse. This was the one from the 2004 movie Troy, which they display in the town.

We walked down to the minubus depot which is about 7 or 8 blocks away and physically under a bridge. We had to wait for about half an hour for the dolmus, but were then off to the ancient city of Troy. There have been 10 cities of Troy (Troy I to Troy X) from 3000BC until 750AD, all of them on the same hill. Unfortunately with the schedule of dolmuses, we had 45 minutes to push through the site. We had heard that there wasn’t much to see, but after taking that into account, were fairly impressed with what was there. Thinking there would just be rubble and such, there were actually a few walls and signs that had fairly good descriptions.

 

 

After hopping on the dolmus and getting back to town, we wandered through some of the town and I found a street where they were doing water and sewer main replacement. This is more for those at work but they were digging up the street and replacing both water and sewer. However the street was about one car wide and the equipment operators were superb in making the backhoe and loader work in such tight confines.

 

We wandered through the naval museum which had a few really cool relics from World War I (where the Ottoman Turkish Empire was allies with the Triple Alliance). They had pieces from a sunk German U-Boat and a whole bunch of torpedoes, cannons, and mines.

We booked our bus to Istanbul and our tour of Gallippoli, grabbed another donair, then went to a pub and played backgammon while having a beer. Now, we’re back at the hostel having a drink on the upper floor while watching the move Gallippoli in preparation for tomorrow.

Last Day in Selçuk

Today was our last day in Selçuk and Kim’s last in Turkey. We started off the morning getting everything packed up, dropping our bags and checking out. Our first stop was to the Selçuk Efes Museum. It was only 5TL and was perfectly priced for what was there. There were confusing signs at the entrance which I took to be no cameras, but afterwards realized were no flashes or tripods, so I only got a few shots. The main pieces were relics from Ephesus and the statue of Artemis from the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the World).

Next we grabbed breakfast then went through a market on the way to the train station to send off Kim. He grabbed his train and we headed off to the Temple of Artemis. There isn’t actually anything left of it, but they’ve reconstructed one of the 127 columns. Nathan and I walked there and just beat a tour group, so got some good pictures and then wandered around the site. There was a pond left by the ruins and we saw turtles, frogs, a snake, and a bunch of dragon flies, some of which were fire red.

 

For the reconstruction this is what it would have looked like, from a model in the Selçuk museum. Knowing that the pillars are 4m taller than the one reconstruction.

After the temple we walked back into town and it was HOT. So we stopped at a little cafe that was shaded by grape vines, and had a bottle of wine. By this time we were fully into the swing of a new game, Find the Attaturk. In every shop, restaurant, etc. there is a portrait of Mustafa Ataturk (the first President of Turkey, and credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey).

We decided to go back to the market we were in with Kim and do some shopping. This was the Saturday market that is mostly for the locals, there was everything and anything that you could imagine to buy. We found a butcher and the fish market and were picking up steam. We got into the hardware area where we looked at camel bells. They are like cow bells, but different. These two cost $100CDN each so Nathan got a smaller one.

We got into the fruit and vegetable area and found some strawberries. They were small and ripe (like when you grow them in a garden, or for Nathan, on the farm) and tasted amazing; not the giant ones from Safeway that taste almost bland. We found spices and clothes and a whole bunch of stuff and had a grand old time.

After a donair for lunch, we headed back to the hostel and chilled out for a bit. We went for another Turkish pizza, not as good as previous, but still delicious. We grabbed a bottle of wine and went back to the hostel where we enjoyed it on the roof before getting to the bus station at 11:30. We hopped on the overnight bus to Çanakkale and that was it.

Pamukkale

On Friday we took a day trip to Pamukkale. In Turkish pamuk means cotton, and Pamukkale literally means cotton castle. It started with driving there on a midi-bus (22 passengers). It’s about 250km away and took 3 hours to get there. Once there we only had 3.5 hours as we were coming back that night, so hurriedly made the best of it. After a quick donair for lunch we started our way up.

 

Kim got whistled at just after this picture, as you have to go barefoot up the slopes. The water contains calcium-hydro-carbonate, which when it meets the air, releases carbon dioxide gas, and deposits calcium carbonate. It settles out into a silty mud on the bottom of the pools, thus forming the travertines (terraces of carbonite material left by the flowing water). When it was wet, there was a large amount of grip on the slopes, the only thing was stepping on pebble and gravel sized rocks which were hard on the feet.

Going up, we took our time, stopping in pools and taking a bunch of pictures.

 

At the top is the ancient city of Heriopolis (where St. James was martyred). By this point we were pretty ruined out, so just took a quick look at things, but it gave a great view of the whole structure.

 

We wandered around for a bit, seeing that off to the side you can see far more natural/unused travertines. This water flows down then becomes some of the waterfalls along the side of the main path up.

We headed back down at a bit brisker pace, but still managed to have some fun.

The water was incredibly hard for the little bit that you did manage to taste. So there are still regular rocks underneath the white, it is just a coating. In spots it looks like icicles.

We got back to the bus just on time, and again sat for our 3 hour drive back to Selçuk. We went for dinner with an amazing donair, wandered around for a bit of shopping, and then chatted with vodka on the rooftop before bed.

Ephasus & Pamucak Beach

Thursday we got up early to get to see the sights before it got too hot. We started by going to the bus station and grabbing a cab. our first stop was the Virgin Mary’s House. About 15km outside Selçuk in the hills. Jesus had entrused St. Johm to look after his mother, just prior to his death. St. John never left her side throughout the rest of her days, and with him going to Ephasus (present day Selçuk) that the home she lived and died in is here. It was a little stretch for the explanation of how the remains of the home were found. In the early 20th century, a nun had a vision about the ruins of Ephasus and the hills surrounding and the house of the Virgin Mary. She was able to lead a group of people to the remains of the house. All that was left was about half a metre above the ground, but it has since been restored and quite commercialized.

 

Inside they had a small shrine and place to pray, but not much other space. Outside there is a spring with taps that pour holy water (or so it is said) and a whole bunch of petitions on small pieces of paper and tied along a wall outside the spring.

 

We were only there about 20 minutes, and got just in before a whole bunch of tour busses. From there we went down to the top gate of Ephasus (or Efes in Turkish). There were lots and lots of people, all in tour groups and moving slowly, and it was starting to get really hot, only at 10:00. We went to the Odeon first, thinking it was the amphitheatre. We were quite disappointed, but then after looking at our map, we realized our mistake. We raced across the site, and took a quick break at the library, which has an amazing two-storey facade.

 

Then we made it to the 20,000 seat amphitheatre where our timing was just about perfect and we were the only ones there.

 

With nobody there, we even managed to set my camera on burst mode and do some double tours to 20,000 empty seats.

There we were at the bottom gate, and worked our way back up to the top gate. With Ephasus being the best preserved Roman ruins in Asia, there is some stuff there, but not too much. However it was still very cool to see the main centre of the city that had 200,000 inhabitants. There were a few sites that were closed for archeological work including the old port, but we still saw most of it. By 11:30 we were getting far too hot in the 38 degree weather, and had had enough, so headed out back for the hostel. The crowds were getting pretty insane too.

 

After stopping for lunch, to combat the heat, we got back to the hostel, cranked the air conditioning, and took a nap. After getting up in the late afternoon, we figured we had escaped the sun for long enough and headed to Pamucak Beach which is only 7km away. We took a local dolmus (mini-bus) there and it was pretty nice. The waves were rolling, the beach was sandy, but it was pretty dead, and not much to do aside from sit on the sand or go in the water.

After cramming onto a dolmus to get back to town and dropping off stuff at the hotel, we went exploring a bit and found the most amazing Turkish pizza for supper. One of the best meals in Turkey.

Then it was back to the roof of the hostel, sitting, drinking vodka, and chatting.

Travel Day to Selçuk

We got up and ready on Wednesday for our busy travel day. Having breakfast at the hostel, there were hot air balloons flying over. We had decided not to go on them, as the good companies were €150 per person, and we’d rather have the time and money for our other tours (which were far cheaper). We didn’t get a confirmation from our airport transfer company, so 15 minutes after we figured they should be there, we booked an alternate transfer. We flew in to Nevşehir, but were flying out of Kayseri so got to see a bit of different scenery on the way. It was about a full hour in a minibus getting there. We got all checked in to our flights and headed off.

Our first flight was on Pegasus airlines to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport (on the Asian side). The most notable point of the 1 hour flight was the pre-flight safety instructions. They had done up a video with children playing all the parts (flight attendants, passengers, pilots) and it was quite funny and a good take on things. Once in Istanbul, we had 45 minutes to transfer to our other flight (on Iz Air, operated by Pegasus) to Izmir. The flight again was an hour and not all that interesting. We got to Izmir and got our bags and noticed that it was scorching hot, with the high scorching us at 37°C. We loaded up our packs and sweated our way out of the airport, across the street to the train station (conveniently located). We sat and waited for 30 minutes for our train and it was just roasting. The train ride from Izmir to Selçuk took about an hour, and thankfully it was air conditioned. The only real note of it was one section of track about 4km long where it looked like they were doing work to twin it and the tracks were not evenly spaced or level with each other. The train slowed from its usual 110km/hr to 20km/hr and we swayed back and forth along it for a good 10 minutes. After getting in to Selçuk, we walked about 4 blocks uphill to our hostel, which mercifully enough has air conditioning. Not too bad for a travel day with a minibus, 2 flights, and a train, and making it in only 7.5 hours.

 

The first thing I noticed arriving in Selçuk were the storks. There were storks on the top of the old aqueduct pillars, on rooftops, on hot water heaters; everywhere.

After a quick break to cool off and checking in, we wandered over to the St. John’s Basilica. It was built in the 6^th century over the tomb of St. John. There wasn’t too much left as it was mainly built from brick and wood, but would be the 4th largest church in the world today if it was fully intact.

 

From there, we wandered down the hill to the İsa bey Mosque. It is at the base of the hill from St. John’s Basilica, and was constructed in 1375. It has some neat architecture, and is still a functioning mosque, so we wandered around and in and checked it out.

From there we grabbed some dinner, and went to the rooftop of our hostel to watch the sunset. We cracked a bottle of vodka and stayed up there until just past midnight.

Cappadocia Private Tour Part 3

Next we went to the Red Valley to look around and go for a little walk along the road. That wouldn’t have been enough for us, so we scrambled on up into the valley and its rock formations to see what we could see. We were supposed to be on a 15 minute walk, but turned it into a 30 minute hike; always with the car as our target point to hike to. The joys in being on a private tour.

We even had a light sprinkling of rain (our first in Turkey) just as we got to the car, although it only lasted for a few minutes. We continued back to Avanos to a pottery factory there, where we had a tour of how terracotta and porcelain were produced there, and how they are painted with different patterns and details, especially Hittite designs. We got to watch a demo of actually making a clay vase, and Nathan tried his hand at it rather unsuccessfully. We were there for a bit as Kim made a purchase, so made sure he got exactly what he wanted.

Our last stop on the tour was to the Rose Valley for the famous fairy chimneys. We were pretty tired by this point, so didn’t spend too much time or go around too much, but got a good look nonetheless.

Back at the hostel, we had supper there,drank our bottles of wine from the winery, and got all packed up for departing Cappadocia and our travel day to Selçuk.

Cappadocia Private Tour Part 2

Next on our agenda was a hike through the valley to see two more cave churches. We saw the Domed Church, which was unique as it was a church on top of another cave room. We also saw the Hidden Church which was actually beneath the path, but you had to go into a cave building and through another room to get to it. It was in a cave house near the Hidden Church that we also found our first pigeon nest. It was kind of funny after hearing 2 full days of how important pigeons were to the people living in the caves (so much so that they made caves just for the pigeons to roost) that it took us so long to actually find a nest.

After making it through the valley, we ended up at a small village for lunch. The food was home cooked and superb, with the best soup we’ve had on the trip, and an incredible salad. Then there was the best part of the trip, a planned for and included one hour nap.

Then we went down into another valley to the small town of Ceme where we saw a 1,000 year old Greek Church. It was repainted in 1905, and there is a note of that on the church, so most people miss-interpret it as only being 100 years old. This was at a time when Greeks and Turks lived together in some communities; the Greeks had their church, and the Turks their mosque. After Ataturk came to power Greece and Turkey did a population exchange, with most of the Greeks living in Turkey being moved to Greece, and vice versa.

 

Next we went to the Turasan Winery in Ürgüp where we tasted a few wines and bought 3 bottles. Just outside of town there were large rock strutures that we again stopped for a couple quick pictures.