Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 438

Geo: 40.9994, 39.7091 GUN 1 GUNLERDEN CUMARTESİ Uçağımız Trabzon havaalanına kondu... Kondu diyorum zira bu Karadeniz sahilinin havaalanları beni hep düşündürür. Önü deniz arkası sarp dağ olan Karadeniz'in öyle geniş havaalanı yapacak düzlükleri yoktur. Bu nedenle düzlüklerin çoğu denizden kazanılarak doldurulmuş arazi parçacıklarıdır. Samsun'da da bir dağın tepesine inersiniz..... durdunuz durdunuz ... duramadınız..... Ya bayır aşağı gidersiniz ya da havalanıp bir tur daha atarsınız .. Karadeniz rüzgarları hırçın eser . O nedenle bu alanlara inen Pilotlarımızı yürekten kutluyorum.. Dostlarımız bizi alandan karşıladılar ve hemen Otelimiz Zorlu Grand 'a vardık. Benim burada görev yaptığım yıllarda kalınabilecek düzeyde tek bir otel var dı... Şimdi ... read more

March 29th, 2006, Day 83 of our cruise of 105 At sea after Antalya A local costumed Turkish band was playing loudly outside our stateroom by 8am-the dock was a very vibrant place with 60 busses parked in a line waiting for the passengers of 2 cruise ships going out on tours, then there were cabs, excursion people and ships crew tightening ropes. My favorite part of the day as it is truly alive! We toured with our friends who work very hard at organizing these special tours; turns out that we see three times as much at a third the cost. Turkey is one of our favorite countries (there are many). As we were walking back to the bus after touring ruins, countryside, waterfalls and old and new town, Mary gave me food for thought. ... 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

I'm back in Istanbul for my last day in Turkey and to wash the dirt of my body from the trip I decided to go have a Turkish bath. I decided to go to the most famous hamam in Istanbul, which is 300 years old and has been used in everything from soap adds to an Indiana Jones film. I was slightly nervous at the thought of being violated by some huge Turkish guy, but it all turned out ok. They give you a sheet to change into and some ridiculous wooden flip-flop things to walk around in. First they sent me to the hot room, which was this amazing marble steam room. On all the walls are basins which you can run water into and wash yourself. They left me to steam for about 10 ... read more

I have arrived in Fethiye, which is by far the most touristy place I've been in Turkey. Everything costs about double what it has so far. It is also very dead - there was only one other person staying at the most popular hostel in town! None of the blue cruise boats are running and many of the shops are closed. On the way into town from the bus station, our bus driver crashed into another car - ripping the back bumper off. The police arrived and he was made to sit in the back of the police car. Some random guy off the street got into the bus then and drove us to where we were getting off. Where this guy came from or who he was is a complete mystery! After getting to the ... read more