Blogs from Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 9

We got up in the morning to visit the open air museum of Göreme. It is a Unesco site. This region of Turkey is geologically spectacular. The land has a deep layer of volcanic ash from three now inactive volcanos. The ash is cover with layers of basalt lava flow. The result is a fairy tale. Great rivers washed away land to form valleys, but left behind spires and columns and cones of basalt capped soft rock. People over the centuries, carved homes and many churches into the walls of the canyons and into he spires and cones themselves. The open air museum is a small religious (Christian) village carved from the stone and capped with basalt. There are 8 or more churches and other buildings for living. The churches have domes and carved pillars all ... read more

In Ankara is the mausoleum of the first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Our guide Ibo, brought to life this incredible man and his accomplishments through his thoughtful explanations which also touch on the humorous and human. Therefor, when we went through the mausoleum and museum, I was moved to tears. The Mausoleum is huge due to the awesome dimensions of the architecture, with simple clean marble lines and huge open spaces. The museum attached tries to teach of the difficult, painful sacrificial nature of the war that had to be fought to gain independence, democracy. It does not glorify. The museum also describes the hopes and dreams for the future of Turkey with explanations of the reforms that were made. Finally, the museum gave you glimpses of the man behind it all, through old ... read more

Saturday morning dawned and with breakfast done we were on the road by ten, only a short drive thorough the mountain plains and then into the City of Konya which was massive. Gripping the maps, reading signs and following James’ instructions with a few high rise over-passes, we left the city behind. Into the mountain roads we cruised with only a ninety kilometres to go. Woolly says – I was over the moon having seen seven big flocks of sheep, nothing unusual in that you might think but this IS Turkey. Turkey has Goats, millions and millions of goats, sheep are few and far between and a whole herd is something we haven’t seen for quite a few countries. We arrived in the town of Beysehir which was to be our stop for the night, we ... read more

Woolly says – I woke up freezing with rain pelting down on the tent, I was not a happy Mammoth. With the temperature at 12 degrees it felt bitter bearing in mind the steady 27 to 30’s we have been living in. Ian went on a rummage through Ollie and found warmer clothes for me and Jo. She looks very cute in a pair of Ian’s jeans rolled up by the foot and one of his T Shirts to provide an extra layer, not to mention a pair of his socks over hers. He also dug out my hoodie, woolly hat and scarf for me…..what a star!! Suitably clad we made it into to Ollie by midday. It was a very late start for us but there was little point in doing anything until the deluge ... read more

We sat on the veranda of the Atahan Hotel for breakfast watching Ollie having a bath by several Turkish men who were fascinated with his steering wheel being in the ‘wrong’ place. A nice way to start the day with Chi and coffee and the obligatory salad and cheese. Thanking the staff for their hospitality we pointed Ollie in the direction of Corum and off we went. Woolly says – I knew where we were going today but Jo didn’t have a clue. At the first town the locals watched us passing several times with grins getting bigger at each circuit. Finally ignoring James we managed to find the main road and cruised off. The trip through the mountain passes was lovely and with the sun in the sky and the clouds clearing quickly, we rolled ... read more