Turkey leg of journey

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Hello, time for another update aka a boring night about the world today. We spent an incredible month or so in Turkey. This is a must stop for everyone who is thinking about touring in the area. We also had the pleasure to hang out with our friends Rena and Anne from Kamloops.

Turkey is amazing, you have all the ruins and weather of Greece, the variety of cultures and customs of Europe and Asia and the friendliness of Scotland, no kilts though.

Highlights (in the order we travelled, not by any other criteria)

Ephesus - very cool Roman ruin site very close to the western coast and in a nice little town called Selchuk watch out for the carpet salesmen. This is a beautiful location and a magnificent old Greek ruins site.

Pamukule - slightly disturbed by tourism and a little shabby but not less than an amazing site to see. calcium derived terraces, blue pools and amazing ruins in the backdrop

Fethiye - nice little town on the mediterrean sea - aegean sea, jump point for Blue Cruises which we did take and had a really great time on the boat with many younger livers than ours. Had a good time with lots of laughs and great swimming off the boat. 4 days 3 nights of more fun than you are allowed.

Mt. Nemrut - A really wonderful climb and an amazing sunrise, yes sunrise, they are the early ones. Some crazy religous fanatic built a temple there and after spending sometime there watching the sunrise you can see why they chose that spot. It totally illuminates the stone icons that are left to marvel.

Cappadoccia - The best of the best, our only regret was that we didnt spend more time there. Fairy castles, underground cities that housed upwards of 4000 people and livestocks while under seige. Monestaries built right into the cliffs. This is a must see if you ever make your way there.

Eastern Turkey was also interesting, we made our way to Gazi antep - Mt Nemrut - Mardin - Sanla Urfa
Super nice people and interesting history and architechture. Not much English spoken which made some transactions an exercise in pantomine skills. I have to say Rena was the queen of this and she can be on my charades team anytime.

Antaylia - really nice city with a very cool byzantine section that is protected by UNESCO from ruin. We dont really like cities, no we don´t like cities at all but this is a great city, really clean and beautiful.

Side - I would have loved to have been there 50 years ago before the rampant tourism, but none the less this is a great spot with crystal clears seas and great beaches and amazing ruins all within walking distance.

Unfortunantly we had to head to Bodrum for our cheap flight to Scotland (go figure). We didn´t like Bodrum as it was way over the edge as far as being a tourist cesspool.

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Photos

Columns in Ephesus
some of the great old ruins

Pamukule
Really nice calcium terraces here that really emphasize the azure waters.

Antalyia
Nice view over the bay of Antalyia.

Saklikent Gorge
This is just outside of Fethiye. About a 4km gorge filled with potholes and little waterfalls. Nice climb up to the falls. We never made the falls as some of the little falls were to hard to climb and we would have missed the bus back.

Cappidocia
This was the hightlight of the Turkey area.

Mt Nemrut
The wind was blowing so hard and the it was so cold that I couldn´t hold the camera still so all the pics are blurry.

Sunrise Mt Nemrut
Yes sunrise, that´s the early one, 4:30 am to be exact. We had to get up at some weird hour like 3:30 or something to make the drive up to see the sunrise on the top of Mt Nemrut.

Underground City
Yes this is an underground city. Upwards of 4000 people and animals lived here to avoid detection from Door to Door sales persons and other hostiles.

Mardin
This is Mardin in eastern Turkey. This was an interesting place with a very cool market down through alleys and tunnels of the city.

Ancient Monastary
This monastary was established about 300 AD and continues today to be used as a religous beacon for monks to study.

Young village lad in Mardin area
wanted us to come to his house we think or wanted to drive our car we weren´t sure.

Joanne on the Hotair balloon
She was the only brave soul to try this out. Looks awesome over cappidocia.

Side
This is a really nice little town that tourism has taken over, for good reason I guess as it is beautiful. We spent a few days here on the beach and exploring the ruins.

Comments

[Ralphy]

Mmmmm... turkey leg
you get cranberry sauce with that?

[Deb H]

Hello again
Hey, aren't you two back yet? lol. So glad that this is everything you had dreamed it would be. Do you have a place back in Kamloops that you still call home, or will you be coming back to your teenage roots. hmmm, can always be hopeful. And Bill, why weren't you with Joanne in the air balloon?! I thought you tried everything once. Keep enjoying and sending us the great pics. xxxooo Deb

[Mick & Jeannette]

Ok...Ok!!!....we are officially jealous.We are sooo excited to read your notes when they arrive and can only imagine what an amazing trip you are having.We need more pictures of you both......do you look like "hippies" yet?....and when are you planning on coming back to Canada?...keep safe and well...love to you both xox

[saadsatar]

travell
i want to travell to antalyia