Turkey (Cappadocia) The Land of Fairy Chimneys My dear friends, I am not writing about the magical chimneys through which you can ‘apparate’ or ‘disapparate’ by using Floo-powder. If I knew how to do that, I wouldn’t be spending my hard-earned money on flights, buses, trains, trams, ships and such other ordinary means of transportation. I would be using broomsticks, magic carpets, unicorns or dragons to take me from place to place, totally free of cost. (Or, may be for some ‘goblin gold’.) Alas! I pay a heavy price for being a ‘muggle&r [View Full Entry]

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Turkey (Pamukkale, Hierapolis and Ephesus) Pamukkale has to be seen to be believed. It just cannot be described in words and even photos cannot do full justice to its beauty and grandeur. Pamukkale is unique. We had seen such terraces at Waiotapu (New Zealand) before but though they are grand and colorful in their own right, nothing compares with the calcium terraces (They are called ‘travertine’s) with their beautiful turquoise-blue pools, shaped like lotus leaves, at Pamukkale. {I had always associated the word ‘Turquoise’ with the word ‘Turkish&rsq [View Full Entry]

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Turkey (Istanbul Day-2 and Day-3) The rest of Istanbul we saw after coming back from the tour i.e. after a week and by then the weather had changed and had become very pleasant. The biting cold had vanished. ‘Full-day Istanbul Tour’ is very tiring, because you have to walk a lot. The Hippodrome is interesting. It immediately brings to mind the thrilling chariot-race of ‘Ben Hur’. http://www.istanbulinfolink.com/the_city/monuments/hippodrome.htm Please refer to the link above for more info. about the Hippodrome. We saw the Obelisk in the Hippodrome a [View Full Entry]

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Turkey Gallipoli and Troy We traveled by bus from Istanbul to the Gallipoli Peninsula through such a beautiful countryside, made all the more attractive by the Spring, that it was difficult to believe that it was a regular battlefield. Two major wars and many battles have been fought over that strip of land. Most of the tourists on the bus were from Australia and New Zealand because Gallipoli has a special significance for Australians and New Zealanders. The heavy ‘Allied’ casualties suffered in the Battle of Gallipoli were the Anzac troops from Australia and New Zealand. [View Full Entry]

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Turkey (Istanbul Day -1) We were staying in the ‘downtown’, a highly touristy area and so, on the same day that we landed, we went to the Galata bridge by tram from Sultanahmet, to take a ferry boat on the Bosphorus because the ferryboat is a much cheaper, but equally enjoyable alternative to a private cruise. I had planned the cruise carefully. The guidebook had advised to take Turyol boat and so we searched for Turyol docks near the Galata bridge. However ‘left side of the bridge’ is confusing terminology. I mean, ‘left’ when you are standing on the [View Full Entry]

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Turkey Introduction We went to Turkey, basically because Turkish Airways was offering cheapest tickets to Dusseldorf at that time and there was an opportunity to take a stopover at Istanbul. Istanbul has always fascinated me ever since I have seen the movie ‘That man in Istanbul’, so first we decided to see the city for 2 days and come back. But then I started reading about Turkey and found to my surprise that there much more to Turkey than Istanbul. Before I stared to ‘read up’, all I knew about Turkey was that it is famous for Turkish baths, Turkish [View Full Entry]

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Bulgaria Trip Introduction People, who are interested in the dry details of history/geography/culture/politics etc. of Bulgaria, may refer to the following links or to the CIA World FactBook. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria http://www.bulgariatravel.org/eng/index.php Now that I have done my duty of educating my readers by giving the above links, I am free to write a non-official, non-standard, non-internet-researched, non-influenced-by-either-Communist-or-Western-propaganda account of my own Bulgarian experience. Bulgaria, or the part of Bulgaria that I have seen, is s [View Full Entry]

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Bulgaria Trip Plovdiv and Bachkovo Monastery I wanted to visit Rila Monastery but Evan told us that as the President of the country was visiting the monastery on the same day, foreigners would not be allowed to visit due to security reasons. I was not exactly heart-broken. After all, when I visited Plovdiv, I would also be visiting the second largest monastery, the Bachkovo Monastery. However, my plans appeared to be jinxed because the car had been booked by another lady from the Sheraton hotel. “You can go on the tour if you are willing to share the car with another [View Full Entry]

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Koprivstitsa Avi had mentioned to Evan that I wanted to see the places around Sofia and he suggested that I visit Koprivstitsa. He also offered that he will come at 7:00 AM to our hotel and take me to the central bus station to put me on the bus to Koprivstista. He would also arrange for a lady to escort me about the place. I too wanted to visit Koprivstitsa since I had read about it being a ‘town-museum’ and it’s Rose Festival. Evan was waiting for us when we finished our breakfast at 7:00 AM. I was surprised because according [View Full Entry]

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The Thrills of Dubai Practically all the tourists to Dubai go on a Desert Safari a.k.a. Dune-Bashing , but generally they go only once. Nobody wants to repeat the experience. This attraction is in the same category as climbing the ‘Jhulta Minar’ in Ahmedabad, or going into the dark, narrow caverns at Mawsmai, Shillong without a guide. You do them once and thank your stars that you came out of those adventures intact. You do NOT do it a second time. Our Desert Safari was made livelier by the presence of two school-going kids in the party. Whether it is a [View Full Entry]

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