Janet and I didn't sleep much before getting on the plane from New Delhi to Istanbul, so most of the flight was spent recuperating from the constant attention we got as foreigners in India. We landed in Istanbul in the morning so had plenty of time to sort things out. I was just happy that we could actually do some proper "backpacking" as in India we had more or less everything planned out for us. We got out of the airport and headed for the subway station so we could get into downtown Istanbul. Thankfully, Turkey has a substantially better infrastructure than India... and by this I mean THEY HAVE SIGNS. It was relatively easy to get ourselves to the Beyoglu district where the hostel we had chosen from our guidebook was. Although, we did have a bit of an adventure actually finding the specific street... nothing really new to me, but Janet got a thrill out of wandering randomly around an alien city with her backpack on.
Apparently the part of the city we had wandered into was the sight of a terrorist bombing or bomb threat a few years ago, but it sure didn't seem like it while we were there. After getting a bit lost and talking to some locals, we finally found the hostel we were looking for. The heat seemed to have followed us from India, so at this point we were sweaty, a bit tired, and hungry. The hostel owner spoke good English and was a cool guy. He was quick to get us settled and volunteered to walk us to a near-by kabap stand he said was cheap and good. What awesome, friendly, NOT-RIP-YOU-OFF service... we were ecstatic!
So... a little bit about Istanbul... It is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe. Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.
Our first full day in Istanbul had two priorities... suss out the possibility of Janet getting visas to continue with me through Eastern Europe and see some of the sights in the Sultanahmet District of the city. After a bit of a wild goose chase around Istanbul we learned that people holding Chinese passports have a hard time moving freely around the EU. With somewhat of a headache over the matter, we trekked to the Sultanahmet District to check out some of the wonders it had to hold. First stop, the Basilica Cistern. Built during the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, it is said that 7,000 slaves were used to construct it. It is capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres of water and is supported by 336 columns most of which were taken from former ruins or constructions around the empire at the time. Originally used as a water filtration system for the The Great Palace of Constantinople, it was later used, after the Ottoman conquest of 1453, to provide water for Topkapi Palace. Needless to say, wandering around in this place was awe-inspiring, even with the occasional drip-drip on our heads as we marveled at the Ionian, Corinthian, and Doric columns.
After spending some time in the musty cistern, we headed back into the sunlight to check out the famed Blue Mosque just across the street a bit. The Blue Mosque is called such because of the blue tiles adorning various of its surfaces, but it's true name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Built from 1609-1616 during the rule of Ahmed I, the mosque is considered the last great mosque of the classical period. It has 6 minarets, 8 domes, and 1 large main dome and contains 20,000 ceramic tiles. It is quite a massive structure as we discovered by having to go through a "non-believer's" entrance around the side. Once inside the size and scope of the place is quite breath-taking. Even with hundreds of tourists jabbering about, you could still get a sense of peace while inside. While there I ran into a fellow Canadian from Alberta. We got to chatting until we were ushered out so that a prayer session could get under way. Once outside, the heat began oppressing us again, not to mention my oh so soar feet. Earlier in the day we had bought me a pair of new shoes as my airwalks had suffered dramatically during the last 8 months of travel. Unfortunately, my shoe size is not so common in Turkey, so we ended up getting a pair that were a tad bit on the tight side. We made for the hostel and my flip-flops before wandering around Beyoglu in search of some Turkish cuisine. Then the Raki got us and the night was over.
Next day we decided to walk around a bit before heading for Topkapi Palace. Thank goodness we did because we stumbled upon the oldest tower in the world, the Galata Tower. Completed in 1348 C.E. and originally named the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) it was part of the Genoese colony that underwent expansion at the time. The tower formed the apex of the fortifications surrounding the Genoese citadel of Galata. Starting from 1717 the tower was used by the Ottomans to spot fires in the city. It is said that circa 1630-1632, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi flew as an early intercontinental aviator using artificial wings for gliding from this tower over the Bosphorus to the slopes of Uskudar on the Anatolian side, nearly six kilometres away.
After soaking up some stunning panoramic views of Istanbul we continued our journey towards Topkapi Palace. Along the way Janet and I got separated, so I figured we'd meet up somewhere in the Palace grounds. Construction began in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehemed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At its peak, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people and was home to royalty until 1853. To be quite honest, after the soaring domes of the Blue Mosque and the gloomy ancientness of the Basilica Cistern I wasn't so impressed by the Palace. If anything I was a bit disturbed at the amount of space a single family occupied during some tough times for the rest of the city. One thing, however, that did stand out for me was the collection of jewels on display in its several museums, particularly the Spoonmaker's Diamond. This diamond is the fourth largest of its kind in the world at 86 carats (17 grams) and the most valuable piece of the Topkapi exhibit. It was amongst the gold, ruby encrusted jewels of an age now gone that I found Janet... not too surprising in my opinion. We wondered together at the massiveness of the Spoonmaker's Diamond as well as the legend that goes with it...
According to one tale, a poor fisherman in Istanbul near Yenikapi was wandering idly, empty-handed, along the shore when he found a shiny stone among the litter, which he turned over and over, not knowing what it was. After carrying it about in his pocket for a few days, he stopped by the jewelers' market, showing it to the first jeweler he encountered. The jeweler took a casual glance at the stone and appeared disinterested, saying "It's a piece of glass, take it away if you like, or if you like I'll give you three spoons. You brought it all the way here, at least let it be worth your trouble." What was the poor fisherman to do with this piece of glass? What's more, the jeweler had felt sorry for him and was giving three spoons. He said okay and took the spoons, leaving in their place an enormous treasure. It is said that for this reason the diamond came to be named "The Spoonmaker's Diamond". Later, the diamond was bought by a vizier on behalf of the Sultan (or, by a less likely version, it was the vizier who dealt directly with the fisherman).
We ended the day with my feet feeling like they were being bent in half by the tight shoes I was wearing. So we decided to hit up every shoe store between there and our hostel in search of some properly fitting footwear. We were in luck! The first place we happened upon had my size, albeit in a rather less than promising style. No matter... my feet were delighted with the proper fit. In order to enjoy my new found mobility, we headed to a travel agent to get some bus tickets south to explore more of Turkey's wonders. Next stop... the ruins of Troy.
Located along the Aegean Sea at the mouth of the Dardanelles, the ruins of Troy are not much more than a large pile of grown over stone walls from various of the 9 or so ancient cities to have existed there between 3,000 B.C.E.-1 B.C.E. The site of the ruins was, in times past, a strategic spot due to its overlooking the Dardanelles, a narrow strait and the only access point to the straits of Bosphorus and the Black Sea beyond. Very valuable for exacting tolls on passing traders and defending access to the Sea to its north, for me the place was a must see as I had spent a good deal of time labouring through Homer´s Illiad back in my university days. There is still some controversy over exactly which layers of ruins belonged to the famed Homeric Troy, nevertheless, it was pretty cool to stand atop the hill the city was built upon and gaze down at the plains where surely Achilles rode his chariot and slew Hector in vengeance of his friend Patroclus´s death. Our tour guide was fairly resourceful and we got a fair bit of history along with the explanations of the various layers of ruins, not to mention a nice layer of sweat from the Aegean heat.
A quick minibus and ferry ride back to the sea-side town of Eceabat we awaited our night bus south to Selcuk. While there we learned of the recent Anzac Day celebrations that occurred a few days prior in memory of all the New Zealand, Australian, and Turkish troops to have perished during the second world war in the area. Once on the bus, it was an uncomfortable 7 hours or so to our destination. The buses in South America and even some in Southeast Asia were more comfortable than these! We got off the bus at around 5:30am in this sleepy little town with little more than our guidebook to get us to the pansion we were interested in. Thankfully there was a local out for an early morning stroll who gave us perfect directions to the hostel. As we rocked up to the place we realized that it was barely 6am and we may be out of luck. No problem, a very nice grandmother of the old Greek or Turkish variety let us in and generously offered us a couple of couches to crash out on until the office opened up for us to check in.
We decided to hibernate for the day and recover from the bus ride. The pansion was quaint and the people friendly. The next day we took our breakfast and organized a ride out to the nearby ruins of Ephesus. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. Following the Edict of Thessalonica from emperor Theodosius I, the temple was destroyed in 401 AD by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom. The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The city's importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here and the city is also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard.
We spent a good three hours wandering along the few kilometres of these ruins. Not quite as free to exploration as the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Janet and I still managed to crawl into some curious places where few tourists likely have been. Wriggling into some of the old rooms of the baths and corners of the amphitheaters, not to mention the bordello and library, gave us a neat little thrill. Nevertheless, it was HOT, I mean buckets of sweat hot, so we made for our pick-up spot with a certain degree of alacrity. Back in Selcuk we learned that the ruins of the Temple of Artemis were just around the corner from our pansion, so we got lost touring through Selcuk's streets until we found the entrance to the Temple grounds. Presently there is not much of the once enormous Temple, just one lonely column remains standing with other parts of the ruins sunk in an encroaching swamp. Archaeologists believe the sight of the temple was considered holy by peoples as far back as the Bronze age (3,300-1,200 B.C.E.) with many structures being built there in worship of various forms of the ancient Goddess, Artemis being the last incarnation to be worshiped there. The Temple itself had been rebuilt three times during its existence... destroyed the first time by a flood, the second time by arson, and the third, and final time, by the invasion of the Goths.
After a marvelous traditional Turkish dinner, the pansion owner inquired of us what the rest of our Turkish travel plans were. We only knew of the next immediate place we were going, so she offered to introduce us to her cousin who ran "Blue Cruises" along the Turkish coast from Fethiye to Olympos. After some negotiations we managed what we thought was a good deal... 150 Euros each for four days and four nights aboard a 29 metre yacht with everything except drinks included... sold! But first, a trip to Pamukkale and the ruins of Hierapolis.
Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish and is an apt name for the hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water, which are perched upon the hillside of the ancient spa city of Hierapolis. We only had four hours to explore the area between buses from Selcuk to Fethiye, so we trekked and sweat for most of the time, although Janet came prepared with a bathing suit to take a dip in the swimming pool of ruins... pretty cool. Hierapolis itself was built in the 2nd century B.C.E. to take advantage of the hot springs which pump out around 200 litres a minute. The gleaming white carbonate terraces were blinding in the sunlight while the azure waters in the pools beckoned many who simply jumped in fully clothed. Overall, a very cool place, probably worth a few days, but, alas, we had a yacht waiting for us on the coast.
A few more hours on the bus got us to Fethiye where we were informed that the yacht we would be staying on was without electricity for the evening, so the company was going to put us up in our own private room... okay! We got ourselves some delivery Turkish food, and spent the rest of the evening imagining what the next few days were going to be like. As we were eating breakfast in the morning, the hostel hostess let us know that our yacht awaited us. They were nice enough in the yacht office to let Janet sort out a ticket to Istanbul from Antalya so she could meet up with her mom in Beijing, then they ushered us onto the yacht and showed us to our cabin. There was only one other couple on-board aside from the captain, the cook, the cleaning lady, and the cabin boy who was called "Only". Apparently we were going to cruise to a nearby bay for some swimming and snorkeling before dinner, then we were going to await the arrival of the rest of the passengers. No problem, the weather was hot, the sea was cool, and the water was clear enough to do get some of that snorkeling in. The rest of the day involved some pretty tough sun-bathing and gourmet foods... once dark set in, we called it an early night.
The next few days kind of blended into one another as more and more passengers trickled on-board at various bays we explored. The weather was mostly balmy and water continued to be refreshing. By the time everyone was all aboard, we numbered about a dozen or so people. Aside from the general Mediterranean beauty continuously around us, we stopped at a few places along the way which should be mentioned. The first stop was at the island ruins of St. Nicholas. One thing which never ceases to amaze me about Asia and Europe are the plethora of ruins just left to crumble all over the countryside. We dropped anchor and went swimming for a bit before enjoying some lunch and gawking at the island ruins.
The next stop place was Butterfly Valley. This valley is accessible by boat or by a very nasty trail, so it is a nice quiet out of the way kind of spot. The valley is named for the rare and elusive Tiger Butterflies which swarm around the waterfall at the back of the canyon during summer. We were there a little early in the season to catch a glimpse of the butterflies, but we enjoyed a little hike up the canyon to the point where there is a sign indicating possible death to those who continue. We only had an hour or such, so we blasted up the canyon and back at a good clip. Still a nice little break from being on the yacht most of the time for the last two days.
Early one morning, while all the passengers were still asleep, the captain motored us to the seaside village of Kalekoy, also known as Simena, with its Byzantine castle ruins above overlooking the sea and the islands including Kekova. We were permitted to go ashore for an hour or so to check out the ruins which were originally a castle/fortress built to combat pirates in the area who largely based themselves off of nearby Kekova island. Back on the yacht we headed over to Kekova island to check out the partly sunken ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe, an ancient town which was destroyed by an earthquake during the 2nd century. Some of the ruins in this area have not yet been properly dated, but some believe there may have been settlements here as far back as the Bronze Age. The area is under government protection, so we weren't allowed to go swimming or snorkeling there as it is still an active archaeological site.
The last of our noteworthy stops along the coast was at the "Blue Cave" also known as the pirate's cave. Technically people aren't supposed to enter this cave, but our Captain had it on good authority that the coast guard was nowhere near, so he allowed us to swim into the cave for a little bit. I only got to explore a part of it before the ships horn was blown and we were recalled back to the yacht. It's definitely a place I could have spent a couple of hours... oh well, still amazing! So we were on our way to the town of Demre where we would be picked up by a minibus and shuttled to the village near the ruins of Olympos. Still a little ways out from the town docks, I spotted some dorsal fins off the port bow. I signaled to the captain and he pointed the yacht in that direction. Soon enough we came up to a small group of dolphins or porpoises who were fishing and playing in the area. A couple of them even did a little bow-riding with us until we left their fishing area. Cool!
Unfortunately, we were unable to explore the cliff dwellings of Demre where the yacht dropped us off. We had a minibus shuttle to catch to get us to the town near the ruins of Olympos. The former city of Olympos was founded in the Hellenistic Period presumably taking its name from nearby Mount Olympos, one of over twenty mountains with the name Olympos in the Classical world. From these mountains of the Solymi, according to Homer, the god Poseidon looked out to sea and saw Odysseus sailing away from Calypso's island, and called up a great storm that wrecked him on the shores of the island of Nausicaa. The coins of the city of Olympos date back to the 2nd century BC. It was described by Cicero as an ancient city full of riches and works of art. The city became one of the six leading cities of the Lycian League. In the 1st century BC, Olympos was invaded and settled by Cicilian pirates. This ended in 78 BC, when the Roman commander Publius Servilius Isauricus, accompanied by the young Julius Caesar, took the city after a victory at sea, and added Olympos to the Roman Empire. The pirate Zenicetes set fire to his own house and perished. The emperor Hadrian visited the city after which it took the name of Hadrianopolis for a period, in his honour. The chief deity of Olympos was Hephaestus, god of fire and blacksmiths.
We decided to stay put in Olympos in a "treehouse" hostel for a few days to relax and take in the ruins. During our stay we learned of another fascinating sight nearby. Near Olympos, located in the neighbouring village of Cirali and about 200 metres above sea level, the eternal flames called the Chimaera may be seen issuing from the ground. The fuel source for the flames is natural gas, largely methane, seeping through cracks in the earth. The mythical Chimaera - or Chimera - was a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent, who roamed these woods and sprouted fire from her mouth. The tour to check out these sacred flames happened at night for better visibility of the fires. As we hiked up the millenia old staircase to the site of the flames, I imagined how it might have felt to be a villager two thousand years ago witnessing the eerie spectacle of seemingly magical, undying flames dancing on the hillside... I thought it was pretty awesome.
After three nights in the relatively sleepy community near Olympos, we hopped on a minibus and headed for the city of Antalya. Although we only had one day and one night in the city before Janet headed for China and I headed for Cappadocia, we managed to see a few of the sights. It is uncertain when the site of the current city was first inhabited. Attalos II, king of Pergamon, was believed to have founded the city around 150 B.C.E., naming it Attalia and selecting it as a naval base for his powerful fleet. However, excavations in 2008 in the Doğu Garajı district of Antalya have uncovered remains dating to the 3rd century BC, suggesting that the city was founded earlier than previously supposed. Antalya became part of the Roman Republic in 133 BC when King Attalos III of Pergamon willed his kingdom to Rome at his death. The city grew and prospered during the Ancient Roman period.
Christianity started to spread in the region after 2nd century. Antalya was visited by Paul of Tarsus, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "From Perga, Paul and Barnabas went down to Attalia and sailed from there to Antioch after preaching in Pisidia and Pamphylia" (Acts 14:25-26). Antalya was a major city in the Byzantine Empire. It was the capital of the Byzantine Theme of Carabisiani which occupied the southern coasts of Anatolia and the Aegean Islands. At the time of the accession of John II Comnenus (1118) it was an isolated outpost surrounded by Turkish beyliks, accessible only by sea. The city, along with the surrounding region, was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the early 13th century. Antalya was the capital of the Turkish beylik of Teke (1321–1423) until its conquest by the Ottomans.
Early the next morning we took a taxi out to the airport where I saw Janet off on her flight to Istanbul on her way to Beijing to visit her family. I hopped on a city bus and headed for the bus depot where I had already bought a bus ticket the previous day... I was headed for Cappadocia, specifically the town of Goreme. Incidentally, the name "Cappadocia" means "land of beautiful horses" as many fine horses were found here throughout history. The bus ride was long and uneventful... about 13 hours in total. It dropped me off in the town of Nevsehir around 9pm, long after any local shuttles were running to Goreme. My only option was to hail an over-priced taxi to get me to my destination around 20kms away. Once I got into the town I went straight to one of the hostels listed in my guidebook, booked a tour for the next day, and made short work of getting to sleep... long bus trips are more exhausting than you might think.
The Next morning I got my day bag packed and finished breakfast just as the minibus pulled up to the hostel. First stop was the Goreme Panorama, but the weather was overcast, so much of the dramatic effect was missing. Next we drove for about a half hour to one of the many underground cities that may be found throughout Cappadocia, Derinkuyu. To understand the underground cities and fairy chimney's of Cappadocia, one needs to understand the area's geologic history. A couple million years ago this region had the unique experience of being covered by a shallow sea while three large volcanoes erupted simultaneously. The massive amounts of ash blown into the atmosphere fell to this sea and sank to its bottom forming hundreds of metres of volcanic ash silt. Another million or so years went by and the sea dried up leaving ash flats stretching as far as the eye can see. From that point the powers of wind and water erosion formed the soft materialed landscape into what we see today as well as what people saw in the region up to 3,000 years ago. The softness of the solidified volcanic ash made it easy to carve through, hence the plethora of human-made passages and caves in the area.
First built in the soft volcanic rock of the Cappadocia region, possibly by the Phrygians in the 8th-7th centuries B.C.E. according to the Turkish Department of Cultue, the underground city at Derinkuyu may have been enlarged in the Byzantine era. During the Persian Achaemenid empire the city was used as a refugee settlement. There are references to underground refugee settlements built by the Persian king Yima in the second chapter of the Zoroastrian book Vendidad. Therefore many scholars believe that the city may have been built by the Persians. The city was connected with other underground cities through miles of tunnels. Some artifacts discovered in these underground settlements belong to the Middle Byzantine Period, between the 5th and the 10th centuries C.E. The most common explanation for these cities is that they were built and used by early Christians to avoid persecution first by the Romans and later by Muslims.
This particular underground city consisted of 5 levels reaching depths of up to 60 metres. The city could accommodate between 2000 to 3000, maybe 4000 people maximum and had all the usual amenities found in other underground complexes across Cappadocia, such as wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, and chapels. Unique to the Derinkuyu complex and located on the second floor is a spacious room with a barrel vaulted ceiling. It has been reported that this room was used as a religious school and the rooms to the left were studies.
After an hour or so scurrying through these bizarre subterranean passages and domiciles, we piled back into the minibus and headed for our second stop, the Ihlara Valley. What makes the valley unique is the ancient history of its inhabitants. The whole canyon is honeycombed with rock-cut underground dwellings and churches from the Byzantine period. Due the valley's plentiful supply of water and hidden places, here was the first settlement of the first Christians escaping from Roman soldiers. In the Ihlara Valley there are hundreds of old churches in the volcanic rock caves. Our bus dropped us off at one end of the valley into which we hiked. We were permitted to explore some of the ancient carved out habitations as we walked around 7 kms to our lunch spot and where the minibus would pick us up and cart us off to Selime monastery.
The Selime monastery was carved out of the volcanic ash-stone in the 13th century by a bunch of Christian monks. Once again, it was likely done as a place of religious refuge where monks could freely follow their faith without being prosecuted by the Muslim powers that were running that part of the world at that time. We were given about an hour to run around the various passageways, cathedrals, and living spaces. For me, this was definitely a highlight, but, as I would discover the next day, it was nothing compared to my solo hikes through the Cappadocian countryside.
Last stop worthy of note that day was a panoramic view of Pigeon Valley. The valley gets its name from the many hundreds, if not thousands, of pigeon aviaries carved into the cliff walls. In the past pigeons were used for long distance communication while there eggs were a source of food and their droppings used for fertilizer. Ancient inhabitants figured the best way to ensure a continuous supply of these resources was to provide them with safe nesting areas and have them habituated to human contact. Once again, for me, the next day would prove more interesting to my explorer's lust. Back in town I was bored as night fell, so took the opportunity to wander around the town of Goreme and enjoy the bizarre fairy chimneys with nighttime lighting casting them in intriguing shadows.
In the late morning I got my act together and had a local outline on a map where some interesting areas around Goreme might be found. My first stop was the Goreme open air museum. This "museum" consists of several intricately decorated carved cathedrals and a well preserved monastery complete with living quarters, mess halls, and... more cathedrals. As it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with lots of tourists coming through, I wasn't able to satisfy my exploration bug. No matter, right across the road from the entrance I spotted many carved dwellings open for anyone to crawl through... I headed for the ridge line. Once there I was rewarded with a view of a narrow chasm with what appeared to be a footpath along its bottom... finally, exploration Indiana Jones style!
I slid down the steep walls of the canyon to the foot path and marveled at various caved-in ruins, but one thing that caught my eye through the bushes turned out to be a score. I happened across a tunnel which had been carved in the ash-stone parallel to the exterior footpath. Water erosion had dropped the floor a few feet, but the tunnel itself extended for several hundred metres, I was giddy with excitement as I clambered along getting peaks through openings along the way. The canyon narrowed further where the tunnel ended, to the point where I could easily stretch both arms out and touch both sides of the canyon. The visual was enchanting. Eventually the path spit me out in a broader valley where the real fairy chimneys began and virtually every one had carved out ruins in it. I think I wasted about an hour in a 100 metre stretch of valley simply checking out EVERY hole I found. I even found some badly damaged cathedrals... too cool. I was getting a bit hungry, so I scrambled back over the ridge and found a kebap stand to fill up at and grab some water as the day was heating up nicely. I discovered that the valley I had been in was called the Kilclar Valley, but the real treats lay in the Kizilcukur Red Valley and Gulludere Rose Valley, so off I went.
The distance I would be traveling if I simply stuck to the trail and hiked would have been about 4 kms each way, something I could cover in about 2 hours with a little bit of looking around. I ended up spending a good 6 hours scrambling into every canyon, gulley, and carved out space exploring to my heart's content. I discovered that contemporary locals still used some of the dwellings as camp out spots as well as party spots. I also managed to climb into a couple of the pigeon aviaries along the way just to check them out. I discovered that locals still maintain some of the pigeon houses for their own uses and they also like to farm wine grapes and various vegetables in the area. There's not much to really say about these valleys that I haven't already covered, but the views were absolutely breath-taking, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
By the time I made it to the end of the Rose Valley I calculated that I would have to cover the 4 kms back to town in about 45 minutes in order to have time to get my gear and make it to the bus stop for my ride out of the area. Fortunately, I'm no stranger to trekking with a purpose, so I made it with enough time to spare to grab a meal. Originally, I had wanted to travel further east into Turkey to check out a couple more sites of interest to me, but, alas, my money was running thin and my father was expecting me in the Czech Republic sooner rather than later. So, with a somewhat heavy heart, I accepted that I'd only get to see half of Turkey... this time. My bus was direst to Istanbul where I could catch another one into Bulgaria. The journey would take the better part of 24 hours, so on I went and prepared for a long, back cramping, boring haul through the Turkish night.
Apparently the part of the city we had wandered into was the sight of a terrorist bombing or bomb threat a few years ago, but it sure didn't seem like it while we were there. After getting a bit lost and talking to some locals, we finally found the hostel we were looking for. The heat seemed to have followed us from India, so at this point we were sweaty, a bit tired, and hungry. The hostel owner spoke good English and was a cool guy. He was quick to get us settled and volunteered to walk us to a near-by kabap stand he said was cheap and good. What awesome, friendly, NOT-RIP-YOU-OFF service... we were ecstatic!
So... a little bit about Istanbul... It is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe. Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.
Our first full day in Istanbul had two priorities... suss out the possibility of Janet getting visas to continue with me through Eastern Europe and see some of the sights in the Sultanahmet District of the city. After a bit of a wild goose chase around Istanbul we learned that people holding Chinese passports have a hard time moving freely around the EU. With somewhat of a headache over the matter, we trekked to the Sultanahmet District to check out some of the wonders it had to hold. First stop, the Basilica Cistern. Built during the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, it is said that 7,000 slaves were used to construct it. It is capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres of water and is supported by 336 columns most of which were taken from former ruins or constructions around the empire at the time. Originally used as a water filtration system for the The Great Palace of Constantinople, it was later used, after the Ottoman conquest of 1453, to provide water for Topkapi Palace. Needless to say, wandering around in this place was awe-inspiring, even with the occasional drip-drip on our heads as we marveled at the Ionian, Corinthian, and Doric columns.
Next day we decided to walk around a bit before heading for Topkapi Palace. Thank goodness we did because we stumbled upon the oldest tower in the world, the Galata Tower. Completed in 1348 C.E. and originally named the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) it was part of the Genoese colony that underwent expansion at the time. The tower formed the apex of the fortifications surrounding the Genoese citadel of Galata. Starting from 1717 the tower was used by the Ottomans to spot fires in the city. It is said that circa 1630-1632, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi flew as an early intercontinental aviator using artificial wings for gliding from this tower over the Bosphorus to the slopes of Uskudar on the Anatolian side, nearly six kilometres away.
According to one tale, a poor fisherman in Istanbul near Yenikapi was wandering idly, empty-handed, along the shore when he found a shiny stone among the litter, which he turned over and over, not knowing what it was. After carrying it about in his pocket for a few days, he stopped by the jewelers' market, showing it to the first jeweler he encountered. The jeweler took a casual glance at the stone and appeared disinterested, saying "It's a piece of glass, take it away if you like, or if you like I'll give you three spoons. You brought it all the way here, at least let it be worth your trouble." What was the poor fisherman to do with this piece of glass? What's more, the jeweler had felt sorry for him and was giving three spoons. He said okay and took the spoons, leaving in their place an enormous treasure. It is said that for this reason the diamond came to be named "The Spoonmaker's Diamond". Later, the diamond was bought by a vizier on behalf of the Sultan (or, by a less likely version, it was the vizier who dealt directly with the fisherman).
We ended the day with my feet feeling like they were being bent in half by the tight shoes I was wearing. So we decided to hit up every shoe store between there and our hostel in search of some properly fitting footwear. We were in luck! The first place we happened upon had my size, albeit in a rather less than promising style. No matter... my feet were delighted with the proper fit. In order to enjoy my new found mobility, we headed to a travel agent to get some bus tickets south to explore more of Turkey's wonders. Next stop... the ruins of Troy.
Located along the Aegean Sea at the mouth of the Dardanelles, the ruins of Troy are not much more than a large pile of grown over stone walls from various of the 9 or so ancient cities to have existed there between 3,000 B.C.E.-1 B.C.E. The site of the ruins was, in times past, a strategic spot due to its overlooking the Dardanelles, a narrow strait and the only access point to the straits of Bosphorus and the Black Sea beyond. Very valuable for exacting tolls on passing traders and defending access to the Sea to its north, for me the place was a must see as I had spent a good deal of time labouring through Homer´s Illiad back in my university days. There is still some controversy over exactly which layers of ruins belonged to the famed Homeric Troy, nevertheless, it was pretty cool to stand atop the hill the city was built upon and gaze down at the plains where surely Achilles rode his chariot and slew Hector in vengeance of his friend Patroclus´s death. Our tour guide was fairly resourceful and we got a fair bit of history along with the explanations of the various layers of ruins, not to mention a nice layer of sweat from the Aegean heat.
A quick minibus and ferry ride back to the sea-side town of Eceabat we awaited our night bus south to Selcuk. While there we learned of the recent Anzac Day celebrations that occurred a few days prior in memory of all the New Zealand, Australian, and Turkish troops to have perished during the second world war in the area. Once on the bus, it was an uncomfortable 7 hours or so to our destination. The buses in South America and even some in Southeast Asia were more comfortable than these! We got off the bus at around 5:30am in this sleepy little town with little more than our guidebook to get us to the pansion we were interested in. Thankfully there was a local out for an early morning stroll who gave us perfect directions to the hostel. As we rocked up to the place we realized that it was barely 6am and we may be out of luck. No problem, a very nice grandmother of the old Greek or Turkish variety let us in and generously offered us a couple of couches to crash out on until the office opened up for us to check in.
We decided to hibernate for the day and recover from the bus ride. The pansion was quaint and the people friendly. The next day we took our breakfast and organized a ride out to the nearby ruins of Ephesus. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. Following the Edict of Thessalonica from emperor Theodosius I, the temple was destroyed in 401 AD by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom. The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The city's importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here and the city is also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard.
We spent a good three hours wandering along the few kilometres of these ruins. Not quite as free to exploration as the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Janet and I still managed to crawl into some curious places where few tourists likely have been. Wriggling into some of the old rooms of the baths and corners of the amphitheaters, not to mention the bordello and library, gave us a neat little thrill. Nevertheless, it was HOT, I mean buckets of sweat hot, so we made for our pick-up spot with a certain degree of alacrity. Back in Selcuk we learned that the ruins of the Temple of Artemis were just around the corner from our pansion, so we got lost touring through Selcuk's streets until we found the entrance to the Temple grounds. Presently there is not much of the once enormous Temple, just one lonely column remains standing with other parts of the ruins sunk in an encroaching swamp. Archaeologists believe the sight of the temple was considered holy by peoples as far back as the Bronze age (3,300-1,200 B.C.E.) with many structures being built there in worship of various forms of the ancient Goddess, Artemis being the last incarnation to be worshiped there. The Temple itself had been rebuilt three times during its existence... destroyed the first time by a flood, the second time by arson, and the third, and final time, by the invasion of the Goths.
After a marvelous traditional Turkish dinner, the pansion owner inquired of us what the rest of our Turkish travel plans were. We only knew of the next immediate place we were going, so she offered to introduce us to her cousin who ran "Blue Cruises" along the Turkish coast from Fethiye to Olympos. After some negotiations we managed what we thought was a good deal... 150 Euros each for four days and four nights aboard a 29 metre yacht with everything except drinks included... sold! But first, a trip to Pamukkale and the ruins of Hierapolis.
Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish and is an apt name for the hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water, which are perched upon the hillside of the ancient spa city of Hierapolis. We only had four hours to explore the area between buses from Selcuk to Fethiye, so we trekked and sweat for most of the time, although Janet came prepared with a bathing suit to take a dip in the swimming pool of ruins... pretty cool. Hierapolis itself was built in the 2nd century B.C.E. to take advantage of the hot springs which pump out around 200 litres a minute. The gleaming white carbonate terraces were blinding in the sunlight while the azure waters in the pools beckoned many who simply jumped in fully clothed. Overall, a very cool place, probably worth a few days, but, alas, we had a yacht waiting for us on the coast.
A few more hours on the bus got us to Fethiye where we were informed that the yacht we would be staying on was without electricity for the evening, so the company was going to put us up in our own private room... okay! We got ourselves some delivery Turkish food, and spent the rest of the evening imagining what the next few days were going to be like. As we were eating breakfast in the morning, the hostel hostess let us know that our yacht awaited us. They were nice enough in the yacht office to let Janet sort out a ticket to Istanbul from Antalya so she could meet up with her mom in Beijing, then they ushered us onto the yacht and showed us to our cabin. There was only one other couple on-board aside from the captain, the cook, the cleaning lady, and the cabin boy who was called "Only". Apparently we were going to cruise to a nearby bay for some swimming and snorkeling before dinner, then we were going to await the arrival of the rest of the passengers. No problem, the weather was hot, the sea was cool, and the water was clear enough to do get some of that snorkeling in. The rest of the day involved some pretty tough sun-bathing and gourmet foods... once dark set in, we called it an early night.
The next few days kind of blended into one another as more and more passengers trickled on-board at various bays we explored. The weather was mostly balmy and water continued to be refreshing. By the time everyone was all aboard, we numbered about a dozen or so people. Aside from the general Mediterranean beauty continuously around us, we stopped at a few places along the way which should be mentioned. The first stop was at the island ruins of St. Nicholas. One thing which never ceases to amaze me about Asia and Europe are the plethora of ruins just left to crumble all over the countryside. We dropped anchor and went swimming for a bit before enjoying some lunch and gawking at the island ruins.
The next stop place was Butterfly Valley. This valley is accessible by boat or by a very nasty trail, so it is a nice quiet out of the way kind of spot. The valley is named for the rare and elusive Tiger Butterflies which swarm around the waterfall at the back of the canyon during summer. We were there a little early in the season to catch a glimpse of the butterflies, but we enjoyed a little hike up the canyon to the point where there is a sign indicating possible death to those who continue. We only had an hour or such, so we blasted up the canyon and back at a good clip. Still a nice little break from being on the yacht most of the time for the last two days.
Early one morning, while all the passengers were still asleep, the captain motored us to the seaside village of Kalekoy, also known as Simena, with its Byzantine castle ruins above overlooking the sea and the islands including Kekova. We were permitted to go ashore for an hour or so to check out the ruins which were originally a castle/fortress built to combat pirates in the area who largely based themselves off of nearby Kekova island. Back on the yacht we headed over to Kekova island to check out the partly sunken ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe, an ancient town which was destroyed by an earthquake during the 2nd century. Some of the ruins in this area have not yet been properly dated, but some believe there may have been settlements here as far back as the Bronze Age. The area is under government protection, so we weren't allowed to go swimming or snorkeling there as it is still an active archaeological site.
The last of our noteworthy stops along the coast was at the "Blue Cave" also known as the pirate's cave. Technically people aren't supposed to enter this cave, but our Captain had it on good authority that the coast guard was nowhere near, so he allowed us to swim into the cave for a little bit. I only got to explore a part of it before the ships horn was blown and we were recalled back to the yacht. It's definitely a place I could have spent a couple of hours... oh well, still amazing! So we were on our way to the town of Demre where we would be picked up by a minibus and shuttled to the village near the ruins of Olympos. Still a little ways out from the town docks, I spotted some dorsal fins off the port bow. I signaled to the captain and he pointed the yacht in that direction. Soon enough we came up to a small group of dolphins or porpoises who were fishing and playing in the area. A couple of them even did a little bow-riding with us until we left their fishing area. Cool!
Unfortunately, we were unable to explore the cliff dwellings of Demre where the yacht dropped us off. We had a minibus shuttle to catch to get us to the town near the ruins of Olympos. The former city of Olympos was founded in the Hellenistic Period presumably taking its name from nearby Mount Olympos, one of over twenty mountains with the name Olympos in the Classical world. From these mountains of the Solymi, according to Homer, the god Poseidon looked out to sea and saw Odysseus sailing away from Calypso's island, and called up a great storm that wrecked him on the shores of the island of Nausicaa. The coins of the city of Olympos date back to the 2nd century BC. It was described by Cicero as an ancient city full of riches and works of art. The city became one of the six leading cities of the Lycian League. In the 1st century BC, Olympos was invaded and settled by Cicilian pirates. This ended in 78 BC, when the Roman commander Publius Servilius Isauricus, accompanied by the young Julius Caesar, took the city after a victory at sea, and added Olympos to the Roman Empire. The pirate Zenicetes set fire to his own house and perished. The emperor Hadrian visited the city after which it took the name of Hadrianopolis for a period, in his honour. The chief deity of Olympos was Hephaestus, god of fire and blacksmiths.
We decided to stay put in Olympos in a "treehouse" hostel for a few days to relax and take in the ruins. During our stay we learned of another fascinating sight nearby. Near Olympos, located in the neighbouring village of Cirali and about 200 metres above sea level, the eternal flames called the Chimaera may be seen issuing from the ground. The fuel source for the flames is natural gas, largely methane, seeping through cracks in the earth. The mythical Chimaera - or Chimera - was a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent, who roamed these woods and sprouted fire from her mouth. The tour to check out these sacred flames happened at night for better visibility of the fires. As we hiked up the millenia old staircase to the site of the flames, I imagined how it might have felt to be a villager two thousand years ago witnessing the eerie spectacle of seemingly magical, undying flames dancing on the hillside... I thought it was pretty awesome.
After three nights in the relatively sleepy community near Olympos, we hopped on a minibus and headed for the city of Antalya. Although we only had one day and one night in the city before Janet headed for China and I headed for Cappadocia, we managed to see a few of the sights. It is uncertain when the site of the current city was first inhabited. Attalos II, king of Pergamon, was believed to have founded the city around 150 B.C.E., naming it Attalia and selecting it as a naval base for his powerful fleet. However, excavations in 2008 in the Doğu Garajı district of Antalya have uncovered remains dating to the 3rd century BC, suggesting that the city was founded earlier than previously supposed. Antalya became part of the Roman Republic in 133 BC when King Attalos III of Pergamon willed his kingdom to Rome at his death. The city grew and prospered during the Ancient Roman period.
Christianity started to spread in the region after 2nd century. Antalya was visited by Paul of Tarsus, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "From Perga, Paul and Barnabas went down to Attalia and sailed from there to Antioch after preaching in Pisidia and Pamphylia" (Acts 14:25-26). Antalya was a major city in the Byzantine Empire. It was the capital of the Byzantine Theme of Carabisiani which occupied the southern coasts of Anatolia and the Aegean Islands. At the time of the accession of John II Comnenus (1118) it was an isolated outpost surrounded by Turkish beyliks, accessible only by sea. The city, along with the surrounding region, was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the early 13th century. Antalya was the capital of the Turkish beylik of Teke (1321–1423) until its conquest by the Ottomans.
Early the next morning we took a taxi out to the airport where I saw Janet off on her flight to Istanbul on her way to Beijing to visit her family. I hopped on a city bus and headed for the bus depot where I had already bought a bus ticket the previous day... I was headed for Cappadocia, specifically the town of Goreme. Incidentally, the name "Cappadocia" means "land of beautiful horses" as many fine horses were found here throughout history. The bus ride was long and uneventful... about 13 hours in total. It dropped me off in the town of Nevsehir around 9pm, long after any local shuttles were running to Goreme. My only option was to hail an over-priced taxi to get me to my destination around 20kms away. Once I got into the town I went straight to one of the hostels listed in my guidebook, booked a tour for the next day, and made short work of getting to sleep... long bus trips are more exhausting than you might think.
The Next morning I got my day bag packed and finished breakfast just as the minibus pulled up to the hostel. First stop was the Goreme Panorama, but the weather was overcast, so much of the dramatic effect was missing. Next we drove for about a half hour to one of the many underground cities that may be found throughout Cappadocia, Derinkuyu. To understand the underground cities and fairy chimney's of Cappadocia, one needs to understand the area's geologic history. A couple million years ago this region had the unique experience of being covered by a shallow sea while three large volcanoes erupted simultaneously. The massive amounts of ash blown into the atmosphere fell to this sea and sank to its bottom forming hundreds of metres of volcanic ash silt. Another million or so years went by and the sea dried up leaving ash flats stretching as far as the eye can see. From that point the powers of wind and water erosion formed the soft materialed landscape into what we see today as well as what people saw in the region up to 3,000 years ago. The softness of the solidified volcanic ash made it easy to carve through, hence the plethora of human-made passages and caves in the area.
First built in the soft volcanic rock of the Cappadocia region, possibly by the Phrygians in the 8th-7th centuries B.C.E. according to the Turkish Department of Cultue, the underground city at Derinkuyu may have been enlarged in the Byzantine era. During the Persian Achaemenid empire the city was used as a refugee settlement. There are references to underground refugee settlements built by the Persian king Yima in the second chapter of the Zoroastrian book Vendidad. Therefore many scholars believe that the city may have been built by the Persians. The city was connected with other underground cities through miles of tunnels. Some artifacts discovered in these underground settlements belong to the Middle Byzantine Period, between the 5th and the 10th centuries C.E. The most common explanation for these cities is that they were built and used by early Christians to avoid persecution first by the Romans and later by Muslims.
This particular underground city consisted of 5 levels reaching depths of up to 60 metres. The city could accommodate between 2000 to 3000, maybe 4000 people maximum and had all the usual amenities found in other underground complexes across Cappadocia, such as wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, and chapels. Unique to the Derinkuyu complex and located on the second floor is a spacious room with a barrel vaulted ceiling. It has been reported that this room was used as a religious school and the rooms to the left were studies.
The Selime monastery was carved out of the volcanic ash-stone in the 13th century by a bunch of Christian monks. Once again, it was likely done as a place of religious refuge where monks could freely follow their faith without being prosecuted by the Muslim powers that were running that part of the world at that time. We were given about an hour to run around the various passageways, cathedrals, and living spaces. For me, this was definitely a highlight, but, as I would discover the next day, it was nothing compared to my solo hikes through the Cappadocian countryside.
Last stop worthy of note that day was a panoramic view of Pigeon Valley. The valley gets its name from the many hundreds, if not thousands, of pigeon aviaries carved into the cliff walls. In the past pigeons were used for long distance communication while there eggs were a source of food and their droppings used for fertilizer. Ancient inhabitants figured the best way to ensure a continuous supply of these resources was to provide them with safe nesting areas and have them habituated to human contact. Once again, for me, the next day would prove more interesting to my explorer's lust. Back in town I was bored as night fell, so took the opportunity to wander around the town of Goreme and enjoy the bizarre fairy chimneys with nighttime lighting casting them in intriguing shadows.
In the late morning I got my act together and had a local outline on a map where some interesting areas around Goreme might be found. My first stop was the Goreme open air museum. This "museum" consists of several intricately decorated carved cathedrals and a well preserved monastery complete with living quarters, mess halls, and... more cathedrals. As it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with lots of tourists coming through, I wasn't able to satisfy my exploration bug. No matter, right across the road from the entrance I spotted many carved dwellings open for anyone to crawl through... I headed for the ridge line. Once there I was rewarded with a view of a narrow chasm with what appeared to be a footpath along its bottom... finally, exploration Indiana Jones style!
I slid down the steep walls of the canyon to the foot path and marveled at various caved-in ruins, but one thing that caught my eye through the bushes turned out to be a score. I happened across a tunnel which had been carved in the ash-stone parallel to the exterior footpath. Water erosion had dropped the floor a few feet, but the tunnel itself extended for several hundred metres, I was giddy with excitement as I clambered along getting peaks through openings along the way. The canyon narrowed further where the tunnel ended, to the point where I could easily stretch both arms out and touch both sides of the canyon. The visual was enchanting. Eventually the path spit me out in a broader valley where the real fairy chimneys began and virtually every one had carved out ruins in it. I think I wasted about an hour in a 100 metre stretch of valley simply checking out EVERY hole I found. I even found some badly damaged cathedrals... too cool. I was getting a bit hungry, so I scrambled back over the ridge and found a kebap stand to fill up at and grab some water as the day was heating up nicely. I discovered that the valley I had been in was called the Kilclar Valley, but the real treats lay in the Kizilcukur Red Valley and Gulludere Rose Valley, so off I went.
The distance I would be traveling if I simply stuck to the trail and hiked would have been about 4 kms each way, something I could cover in about 2 hours with a little bit of looking around. I ended up spending a good 6 hours scrambling into every canyon, gulley, and carved out space exploring to my heart's content. I discovered that contemporary locals still used some of the dwellings as camp out spots as well as party spots. I also managed to climb into a couple of the pigeon aviaries along the way just to check them out. I discovered that locals still maintain some of the pigeon houses for their own uses and they also like to farm wine grapes and various vegetables in the area. There's not much to really say about these valleys that I haven't already covered, but the views were absolutely breath-taking, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
By the time I made it to the end of the Rose Valley I calculated that I would have to cover the 4 kms back to town in about 45 minutes in order to have time to get my gear and make it to the bus stop for my ride out of the area. Fortunately, I'm no stranger to trekking with a purpose, so I made it with enough time to spare to grab a meal. Originally, I had wanted to travel further east into Turkey to check out a couple more sites of interest to me, but, alas, my money was running thin and my father was expecting me in the Czech Republic sooner rather than later. So, with a somewhat heavy heart, I accepted that I'd only get to see half of Turkey... this time. My bus was direst to Istanbul where I could catch another one into Bulgaria. The journey would take the better part of 24 hours, so on I went and prepared for a long, back cramping, boring haul through the Turkish night.
No comments:
Post a Comment