Blogs from Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 10

Our first stop in Turkey was the smallish town of Gaziantep. During WW1, most of the young, fit men of Gaziantep - or Antep, as it was known then - were off fighting when a force of 2000 Allied soldiers, armed with the best automatic weaponry of the time, snuck around and approached the town unexpectedly. Some 600-800 Turks formed a milita, gathered up what shoddy rifles and handguns they could lay their hands on, and sucessfully defeated the opposing Allied soldiers. I was very impressed by this till I learnt the Allied soldiers were French... did those guys ever win a fight? Anyway, the Turkish government awarded the city the title of Gazi, or "Victorious Warrior" as a prefix. Upon arrival in Gaziantep, it was clear we were in a different country. The roads ... read more

Call me Marty, Mettin or Maumtez. Yes, this is a bike riding trip through the beating heart of the Middle East to unknowns of Central Asia and onto the motherland of Russia. I hope you enjoy reading, or are at best indifferent, to this oft poorly planned and somewhat misguided adventure of two semi litterate, fiendishly attractive middle twenties Aussie males, one of which has a penchant for absorbingly long sentances broken only by commas; and the occasional semi-colon. But my trip started long before this bike ride. It started in Istanbul on a warm day in the middle of september 2006. Istanbul grandest of citıes that bridges Europe and Asia in a malestrom of people (16 million, of which 15 million have a carpet store), ancient mosques, grand architecture and by gum, many many good ... read more

Hello The land i am in now (Anatolia) and the ways and beauty of its people are a welcomed contrast of what i left behind in Russia. Remember how i said you needed to stay away from Russian police? Well, trying to get on my boat i was forced into a bottle neck and had to pass through "customs". There, they made up whatever they wanted and i spent an hour arguing with the cops about a "problem" with my visa and regıstration. Long story short... This bastard wanted one hundred US dollars and i would be allowed to leave the country. So, with the next boat not leaving for another 5 days and me being too full of pride and in the right, i fought it. I argued in english and he in russian. I ... read more

Sonnenfinsternis 1999 in Österreich - Robert war von ihr total begeistert, Elisabeth auf Urlaub. Die nächste totale Sofi in Österreich wird in den 80er Jahren des aktuellen Jahrhunderts statt finden. Da die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass wir beide über hundert Jahre alt werden, doch eher gering einzuschaetzen ist, haben wir uns fuer eine Woche auf in die Tuerkei gemacht. All-inclusive-Urlaub ist zwar nicht wirklich unsere Stärke (und wirds auch nach dieser Erfahrung nicht sein), aber nachdem die Sofi mitten in der Tourismusregion um Antalya zu sehen war, haben wir dieses Angebot genützt. Mit unserem Mietwagen waren wir (fast) die ganze Woche unterwegs und haben uns viele Ausgrabungen und historische Stätten angesehen (Perge, Aspendos, Side, Seleukea,...). Besonders die verschiedenen Amphitheater haben uns fasziniert. Auch landschaftlich ist der Süden der Türkei um diese Jahreszeit re... read more

Geo: 37.0749, 37.3875 GUN 6 GUNLERDEN SALI Artık yola çıkma ve geri dönme zamanı geldi. Kızıltepe,Viranşehir ( aslında hiç viran değildir) Urfa üzerinden Gaziantep ' e döndük... Kafilemiz yolda neşeli fakat yorgundu Yolculuk sonuna doğru uyuklayanların adedinde artış kaydedildi. Antep 'e vardık biraz toparlandık ve Antep 'in önemli yemek mabedlerinden biri olan İmam Çağdaş' a gittik. İmam çağdaş Uzun çarşı 49 numara'da 1887'den beri bu işi yapıyor. Antep'e yaptığım tüm ziyaretlerde mutlaka ziyaret ettiğim bir lokantadır. İmam çağdaş bir efsanedir.. Herkes bilir ama yine de adres şöyle : http://www.imamcagdas.com/ Oradan çarşıya geçtik. Çeşit zenginliği başınızı döndürebilir. Şam fıstığı,Baklava,her türlü salça,baharat 'ın... read more