Voluptuous Tulips

---

TURKEY = REALLY FREAKIN' COOL!!!!!! And far and away the highlight of our very Bonza Adventure so far.


But we can't work out how to write about it. We sit, and reminisce, but nothing worthy emerges on paper. We think you should all just go there.


Check the following website to help plan your trip.
www.melandgarethbonzaadventure.com.au/toursuggestions/welikesausages/ nowedont/turkey/highlights.htm recommends the following must-sees.


Blue Mosque, Istanbul - Huge, graceful and a great first mosque experience. Get woken every day at dawn by the not-altogether-unpleasant wailing of the call to prayer, then huddle on the carpet to learn a little about Islam. Istanbul has over 2000 mosques, and the five-times-daily call to prayer reverberates around the city streets. It's an awesome sound.


Topkapi Palace - home of John the Baptist's hand and skull, AND an 84 carat diamond. Need we say more?


Tulips - Istanbul is ablaze with a myriad of colours courtesy of Turkey's native (according to the locals) voluptuous tulips.


Food and Drink - Baklava, Pide, apple tea, wine, fish sandwiches and many other Turkish delights.


Cappadocia - a lunar landscape of meringue tufts, complete with countless churches and living spaces for both humans and pigeons, carved into the nobbly pinnacles.


Turkish shopping - Oddly enough, very enjoyable and educational - the Grand Bazaar, carpets, jewellery, pottery and tasty tasty fruit wines. Mmmmmm - black mulberry.


Pamukkale - brilliant white travertines - calcium terraces formed by the slow trickle of spring water down the hillside, almost unfeasibly perfect and snowy white with icy blue warm water. The 'cotton castle', as it's known, is surrounded by the spectacular poppy-strewn ruins of Hierapolis.


Ephesus - Here for all to see lies an ancient city filled with amazing history, mythology, architecture and geology. The grandeur, detail and freedom to explore will make it hard for any other ancient site to measure up...even the 5000-year-old site at Troy.


Gallipoli - of course. Click here (ANZAC) for tour highlights.


Go there. See for yourself. Do it.

---

Photos

Blue Mosque
Looking a little off-colour

The Sultan's signature
at Topkapi Palace

Marble floors in the Palace
Vewy vewy slippewy

More tulips
Voluptuous, aren't they?

East meets West
Europe (left) and Asia (right)

Prophet Mohamed's birthday
He gets the big balloons.

Comments

[TK]

voluptuous - an excellent word
Have enjoyed reading about your adventures Gareth and Mel. I thought after seeing such wonderful tulips in Turkey you might desire to travel on to Amsterdam ! Did you know that once upon a time that Ephesus was the natural centre for the spread of Christianity in the whole province of Asia. I didn't either until I read it in the Atlas of the Bible.