East v West

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Scott and I head to Turkey for 2 weeks in the heat of summer. The first week we spent way out east, the second week was western Turkey; both areas had a very distinct feel. Be warned … this blog is rather long, eastern Turkey was just so interesting I have gone into a little bit of detail.

After a very pleasant experience flying out of T5, we started with a hiss and roar in Istanbul; heading straight for the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. There was a lot to buy; gold, pumas, lamps, books, pants, Turkish delight (which Scott managed to eat in 2 days), Viagra, cheese, spices and much, much more. The place was heaving with tourists and locals alike. I saw a frenzied group of women and went over to take a look; it was a sale of head scarves. There is an interesting blend of how people dress in this town, some head to toe covered in burker others in mini-skirts and tank-tops - east meets west. After a quick nibble on a delicious meze, we waited for a walking tour at the designated place, when it was 15mins past the hour we realised we should have made a reservation. Luckily a nice man called the company and a guide arrived in 30mins; a very enthusiastic Macedonian man. We burned off down where the old hippodrome would have been; a huge entertainment centre. We made a visit to the Blue Mosque; it is a magical structure inside and out. After that we visited a few more mosques. The guide was hilarious, he asked us ‘what is the Turkish Tarzan’, and he then proceeded to emulate a prayer call! Then while at another Mosque he told the boys washing the prayer mats there was a water shortage … we got yelled out of that place. We ended the afternoon at a local Turkish bath, just too long at this stage. As the sunset behind the Blue Mosque we had some wine and olives and relaxed on top of one of the closest hotels; marvellous views.

Day 2 in Istanbul started at Aya Sofya …. what magnificent structure, built in 537 the dome was huge and the mosaics gleamed gold on the walls. After, we walked to Topakapi Palace, it was chaotic, people running around and pushing in like mad. The palace was interesting, good views, and they certainly loved their precious stones, I have never seen such large emeralds! All in all it didn’t wow us like Sofa. That afternoon we cruised around on the open top bus, it gave us a good feel for the city which is massive. That evening we went to the Blue Mosque for the sound and light show, which I am afraid to say, was rubbish.

The following morning, 5.30am to be exact, we took off for Van - Anatolia. A short 2hr flight later and we meet the two Kurdish brothers that will take us around the region, ending in Cappadocia in 7 days time. We wasted no time at all and headed to the hills. Our first stop an Armenia Church, the first in the region ‘Seven Church’, it was crumbling, no money has been spent by the government. In fact many of the churches have been ransacked as it has been rumoured there is gold in the calls, thus many of the churches have been destroyed by locals over the years. A lovely old lady showed us her earth over and gave us a piece of yummy Turkish bread. I predict we will be eating a lot of that. One military check point later and we arrived at Hosap Castle build on top of a rocky hill; it has been tax and rest point on the Silk Road, but was built well before that time, it is crumbling now. The trip out there was rather amusing; much of the local economy is supported by petrol/diesel smuggling from Iran so there were 100s huge trucks with empty loads everywhere. There are over 40million Kurdish people spread in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. After the mornings site-seeing, we went to our campsite on the edge of Lake Van (and the major road into Van), it was rather basic, filthy squat toilet and all. That afternoon we spent a tranquil few hours on Lake Van visiting another Armenian Church built by a King on Akdamar Island. All was well until 25 vocal men from Kazakhstan (I can only guess) showed up … 25 Borats! The first night in the tent went ok, with the assistance of some sleeping pills.

The next morning I did some yoga over looking the lake and then due to the nasty toilet/shower situation Scott and I ran down to the lake, dodging rubbish and went for a dip to wash-up before heading to Dogubayazit a mere 25km from Iran. It was cool driving past all the road signs directing you to Iran. We stopped at a Muradiye, a lovely waterfall for breakfast; Turkish bread, cheese, tomatoes and cucumber. The tomatoes in this country are so tasty. The waterfall was not as spectacular as it has been in the past, there is a huge water shortage in the region, the effects of global warming were very visible as we travelled throughout this region. The level of lakes and dams were worryingly low and our guides, based on knowledge of the area, predicted the next big world war will be about water. In fact Turkey and Syria nearly came to blows a few years ago when Turkey stopped the water flow when they dammed a river for power and irrigation.
Due to proximity of Iran and the smuggling issues we went through 3 checkpoints. There is not only oil smuggling, but also drugs. Every drug coming from Asia to Europe passes through Van. Interestingly, due to religion there is not a significant drug usage problem in the city. The landscape was beautiful, large dramatic mountains on either side as we drove down the valley passing small villages. We event saw the Iranian boarder guard houses on the ridge. As we rounded the last corner we saw Mt Ararat … just, there was lots of clouds so it wasn’t that clear. Pretty soon we arrived at Ishak Pasa Palace perched high on the hill, the building itself was great and the view phenomenal. After the visit we had a stroll around Dogbayazil which is a frontier town; dusty streets, rather slow but hectic at the same time. On our way back to Van we stopped in at the Van Uni to visit a Cat Hospital; this is where all the unwanted Van white cats with one blue and one green eye live - freaky little things and smelly too. We then sampled the local ice-cream in Van, the stuff is so gooey and solid that is can be hung from meat hooks and you need to use a knife and fork to eat it! This was also our first opportunity to try the Baklava; sweet filo pastry with honey and nuts … delightful. Our last visit of the day was to the Van Castle and citadel, another structure on top of a rock surrounded by plains and the Van Lake. It was originally built BC but further developed through the ages; they certainly pick some fab spots for the castles. The ruins of the old town was at the base of the castle, it is said that when the Turks invaded they gave the Armenian women and children and opportunity to leave, but they decided to stay with their men so they were all massacred, the Armenian’s deny this opportunity and said the Turks simply massacred them all. The Turks claim they were massacred by the Armenian’s, we will never know the true story.

The next morning was started with a dip in the lake before heading off to Hasankeyf via Batman (!!) which is a booming oil town. We passed through many small towns, no women in site all the men sitting around smoking and drinking tea. Hasankeyf was amazing; the Byzantine Palace was built on a cliff top over looks the Tigris River. You could still see the ruins of a double story draw bridge crossing the river, an engineering feat of the time I imagine. A family now live in one of the crumbling towers, refusing move, claiming the family has the title from decades ago. The other attraction in the town was the 8000 odd caves in the surrounding cliffs carved out by water and people. Up to 35 years ago the locals still lived in these caves, rather happily, until the Prime Minster visited after an earthquake and declared it was too primitive for any citizens to live in caves and they were all forced to move into little houses. The views from the castle were spectacular. Now, here is the sad thing about the wonderfully historic and pretty town, in less than 2yrs it will all be under water. Apparently the ruins will be moved to an exposed hill top on the other side of the valley, not sure where they will put the bridge turrets. The town has to make way for a huge damming project, the GAP Project is delivering 19 dams in the region and will provide 80%!o(MISSING)f the power to the country and provide irrigation, and thus the region will produce most of the food required by the country.
On the way to Mardin we stopped at a Monastery in Midyat where a grumpy old man lets us have a brief look around. Then it was onwards to Mardin, a very pretty town built from honey coloured stones over looking the Mesopotamis plains. The hotel we stayed at had been beautifully restored and gods send after 2 days in a tent. That evening after a long shower we walked along the main road and just managed to catch the most spectacular view of the entire trip, the sun setting over the very flat plains and the lights of Syria twinkling in the distance, colours; yellows, pinks, blues. That evening we dinned in a fancy place overlooking the lights of Syria. It was special as it was owned by women and women worked in the kitchen, the first of its kind in the region, although we were served by male waiters.

The next morning we looked around Mardin, first a photo stop for a shot of the city, high on the hill was a NATO base, it kinda ruined the feel with a big surveillance dome taking centre stage. We then visited a Syrian Christian Monastery and an old, very peaceful, religious school (Medrese) before visiting the Old Mosque, followed up by wandering around the Bazaar. Due to the heat and both Scott and I not feeling to flash we rested that afternoon in Diyarbakir, it is the unofficial capital of the Kurdish people and is 90%!K(MISSING)urdish. The city use to have a population of 800k, the government has forced many Kurdish families into the cities, thus it is rapidly and recently swelled to 1.5million, so the town is bustling. We went to see an old church, baths and an infamous jail (many Hungarians died here), all currently being restored. On the way we passed though an outdoor Bazaar, the women were out shopping in their colourful scarves there was a real buzz. The city has a huge grey wall around it, stretching 5km and apparently the second largest wall after the Great Wall of China. It is remarkably well preserved. We then walked to the cities Mosque, once inside our guide told us it was the 25th anniversary of the rebel Kurdish PKK party the following day and that the police had already arrested 25 party members and ‘there maybe some shooting’… right, right. Although Scott claims to have heard some shooting during the night I remain unconvinced. That said, we stayed in that evening and watched the Olympics; the men’s gymnastic final, great.

The next morning we were able to climb up to the top of the wall and walk along a section of it, it gave us an excellent view of the city. The drive out showed us how rapidly this sprawling city was growing; tower blocks were going up left, right and centre. Town planning seems to be good though; green spaces, large shopping centres and lots of bus stops. It was a hot drive to the man made lake which we crossed by ferry. We had to wait awhile for the ferry as we arrived just on prayer time and it was a Friday, the day everyone goes to Mosque. After the crossing it was a short ride to out hotel at the base of Mt Nemrut. Before Christ a Macedonian king built a HUGE tomb for himself and his parents on top of a mountain, his people must have carried the shingle a long way to make the extension to the mountain. He then built status of all the Greek gods (Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, etc) AND one of himself on the east and west side of the mountain tomb. The sunset was spectacular over the hills and when the light hit the statues and the faces lit up it was clear while a lot of people flock here. It was at this point we started to see more foreign tourists.

On our final day on our eastern Turkey leg we both felt a bit average, but we pressed on to Sanliurfa (Urfa). This city is famous as this is where Abraham was apparently born. On the way there we stopped at another tomb and then briefly at the massive Ataturk Dam, boy it was big, it supplies 25%!o(MISSING)f the power to Turkey. Before we got to Urfa, we went to Harran 8km from the Syrian boarder. Its’ claim to fame was beehive houses and the 1st university in the world. We went to a touristy beehive house and met a crazy Arabic man with 3 wives, 2 were in Syria. We arrived in Urfa in the heat of the day; however the centre was cool due to the Abraham Holly Pools. The story goes like this … Abraham was thrown from the Citadel but rather than falling to his death into a fire, GOD turned the fire into water and carp, thus he lived. The pools are now full of carp, they must be the most pampered fish in the world, I even feed them, great! The visit to Abrahams’ birth cave was a bit crazy. Girls one side, boys the other, I had to wear a full covering coat. Inside there were women praying, prostrating, and kissing the window of the cave. Interestingly, here we saw lots of beautiful lilac headscarves this is what the Arabic women wear. The hotel we stayed in that night was below average, the toilet was so close to the wall you had to sit sideways. The evening was rather quiet as we had to depart the following morning at 4am to get to Cappadocia. On the plus side it meant we caught Val win the gold medal in the Shot Put for NZ and saw Bolt’s 100m win and WR.

After the early start we arrived in Cappadocia just after midday, the hotel was pure luxury and I may have shed a tear of joy at the prospect of staying 3 sweet nights. After a very long shower we wandered around Urgup the town we were staying in and then visit one of the local vineyards to sample some of their finest. That evening we watched the sunset over the valley before a lovely dinner at Dmitri’s, a local place with great views we visited every night in Cappadocia, hey-ho if it is good why go anywhere else, especially since they had fish on the menu! Our stint in Cappadocia started with a fabulous breakfast on the balcony; I had one of the biggest peaches ever, about the size of a softball, potentially bigger. We then headed out in our taxi with a lovely old guy, not much English, but we didn’t have much Turkish (mainly because I left the phase book in London). We stopped at multiple places, so I will only mention the highlights… rocks shaped like a camel, a face of ‘scream’, penis rocks (valley of fairy chimneys), running around Zelue Valley, paintings at Goreme, family of 3, marshmallow delight, soft serve, castle with 360 views, pigeon homes, layers of colour (white, pinks, reds, orange), peaks, churches, cones, frescos, houses, houses, houses … you really need photos rather than words here! All in all it was stunning. We rounded out the day with a 5km hike in the blazing afternoon sun along Rose Valley. That evening we were lucky to see a full moon rising while we were eating dinner.
One thing I have found rather amusing while travelling around is the moment just after the call to prayer. Rather than being a live call, 9 times out of 10, it is recorded and they haven’t quiet got the timing right, so when the call ends there is a ‘do-do-do-do’ sound, like someone is making a call … hello, is god there?
We were up at the crack of dawn again today, seems like it is SOP on this trip. Today it was for a luxury balloon ride. It was magical and all those good things that are written in the guide books. We raced out to our departure point which was near Zelve Valley, it was rather interesting watch them get blown up. God knows how the balloon doesn’t catch on fire. Once at full size we all ran down and jumped in, up we went … frightening. Our balloons where the only ones in the valley, and near the fairy chimneys, it was lovely and peaceful. When we rose higher we caught site of all the other 20+ balloons in the sky, fantastic site. We rose about 4000 feet at the maximum a very uneasy feeling. The experience was unforgettable which was lucky because I lost my memory card containing all the photos, but Scott had his camera so all good. The landing was hilarious as we bounced along the rugged ground, excitingly we saw a fox on the way down as well. The landing was topped off when the crew covered the basket with flowers and leaves, god knows why, but the whole thing was bearable as we were supplied with ‘cocktails’, champagne and grade juice, love a cocktail before 9am. That afternoon we did some site-seeing in Southern Cappadocia, it was no where near as good as the previous day, to be honest there was just too much graffiti on the frescos. Good night and good bye Cappadocia.

That morning we witnessed the unravelling of a friendship as we made our way on to our flight to Izmir and western Turkey. 3 young American’s went hell for tong at each other regarding; an egg seller, change, consoling the seller & priorities re getting the flight, it was good drama, and they were still going as they boarded their plane. Our flight was great and we some how got the exit seats again, bags arrived and we walked out the airport and straight onto a bus to the Otogar (bus station), easy. We arrived at Selcuk and found an evening bus to Fethiye and left our bags with the bus company. After a quick bite to eat we headed to Ephesus on foot down a tree lined street flanked by dozens of pieces of work-out equipment. Luckily Ephesus didn’t let us down, we hired an audio guide and off we went, a very interesting place, old Roman ruins, apparently the first ancient city. The highlights were the main street and the library at the bottom. After picking up some shorts for our trek we bordered the 5hr ‘non-stop’ bus to Fethiye. On arrival in this touristy neon town we checked into our sub-standard hotel. The following morning we were in a bit of panic as after the trek we were suppose to stay there for 2 more nights, but after a bit of a walk we found a lovely chic boutique hotel which was more our style, whew, disaster averted. So in the heat of the day we headed out to start the Lycian Way.

It seemed an ungodly feat to get to the suggested starting place, so we caught a slow van to Kabak the 1st nights resting place. The intention was to walk to the start and then walk back to Kabak, on arrival and seeing the gigantic mountain we decided on a lazy lunch, snooze and a trip to the beach instead. The walk back up the hill from the beach to our abode was sweaty enough; we were leaking. I had to sit in the cold natural pool for 20mins to regulate my temperate. Needless to say it was stinking hot. We stayed at a rustic place called Full Moon in a little wooden hut overlooking Kabak beach; it provided sensational views of the mountain we should have walked over and the beach below. My fear was growing about Day 3, which was supposed to take 6hrs … my fear was that of melting. We were up at the crack of dawn, but had to contend with an army of wasps buzzing merrily around our breakfast. The walk provided great views, but the track was not marked very well at all and we went off piste a little and arrived unconventionally by road in a short 2hrs. We found a lovely ‘motel’ Montenegro, which cost as much as the rustic place the night before, it had AC, private bathroom and a pool, great! We thought we would walk down a share cliff face using ropes to the much talked about ‘Butterfly Valley’; it was a rather strenuous and frightening climb. Just as we made our sweaty decent no less than 4 tourist boats showed up. It was a traumatic to arrive and have young 20 something Italians, chavs from Britain and a bunch of other package holiday makers running around. We had a quick drink and beat a hasty retreat back up the 300m cliff. By the time we hauled ourselves back up we looked like we had jumped in a pool, which we did later that afternoon. On the bad news front, just before 6pm balcony drinkies, a damned bee stung me on the lower back thigh and not just once, twice! That evening we pondered our last 6hr day in the blazing sun and got even more worried when the motel owner told us ‘he does not recommend’ the trek given the temperature and especially since we had just ordered a bottle of wine.
After all the concern there was no need to worry, we made it and in under 5hrs, so we got out of the midday sun, whew. However it was not all roses, we thought we were golden until the last hour of rocky path exposed to the blistering sun, we did wilt somewhat. The views were special along the coast and town to the beach towns. That afternoon utterly exhausted we rested, slept and had to consume two lunches to get strength back. Fethiye itself was a bit chavy, but hey-ho, we stayed in the hotel and managed to find one classy bar for sunset drinks. Our final day was a morning ranch-o-relax-o pool side styling and the Olympics closing ceremony in the afternoon. Very relaxed and with a bit more colour we returned to London.

Photos

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