Turkish Delight
Trip Start
Aug 05, 2007
1
23
26
Trip End
May 25, 2008
Konya, Turkey
Monday, March 17, 2008
The mosaics throughout the interior of the magnificent domed ceiling is so beautiful one is quite literally stunned into silence.
Another of Istanbuls cultural sights is the Blue Mosque; a huge Ottoman mosque with six minarets and an interior of tens of thousands of blue tiles and 260 stained glass windows. It was constructed in 1606 and has four huge elephants feet pillars holding up the dome. We also visited the Topkapi Palace which was home to many sultans over hundreds of years. Some famous like Selim the Sot and Suleyman the Magnificent.
With over 4000 shops and and several kilometers of lanes as well as mosques restaurants and workshops the Grand Bazaar is a covered world. This is where you buy Turkish carpet if you have room in your backpack!
No matter where you go in Turkey one can find tables full of delicious lentil soups-stews-assorted kebaps-and Turkish pizza. A traditional breakfast consists of fresh bread with jam or honey and butter-black and green olives-sliced tomatoes and cucumbers-a hard boiled egg and cheese. Strong tea is the favorite drink here and is served in small tulip-shaped glasses.Our favorites have also been pistachio turkish delight and baklava washed down with heart-stopping Turkish coffee!
We have been using Turkeys world class bus system. Most hostels and pensions purchase your ticket and the long-distance luxury buses have a conductor who comes around frequently with coffee-tea-water and snacks. And no matter how short your journey is you can expect the conductor to make his rounds spraying everyones hands with cologne!
Touring in off season has its advantages. So many of the famous sites and ruins have been very quiet. The pensions have also been almost empty. Generally Turkey has been more expensive with its western and European influence.
In the Cappadoccia area we ran into winter-there was snow on the ground as we explored the lunar landscapes and surreal scenery of ancient churches and cave dwellings at Goreme and Urgup. This area consists of the soft volcanic tuff that has been sculpted over millions of years into fantastic shapes by wind and rain. The end result is fascinating-huge stone mushrooms and fairy chimneys in deep valleys riddled with ancient cave dwellings and monasteries.
In central Turkey we journeyed to Konya famous for its Mevlana Museum-once a Seljuk church of the whirling dervishes. The church has a fluted dome of turquiose tiles -one of Turkeys most splendid sites! We took in a performance of the whirling dervishes - the sema is a ritual dance representing union with God. As they whirl they form a constellation of revolving bodies sealing the mystical union with God.
Travelling from Konya to Olympos the landscape changed from flat plains to rugged snow-capped mountains and then down to the Mediterranean Sea. The ruins of Olympos are mostly buried in rubble and are widely scattered through olive trees and along the coast. We stayed near the site in an old orange orchard -had hoped to stay in a treehouse but was too cold. We wandered along a creek leading to the sea -there were several hundred tombs along with the amphitheatre-baths and a small church all in different states of ruin. The beach here is made of tiny pebbles - an agate hunters dream. Unfortunately the water was too cold to swim in.
On our bus trip to Fethiye and onto Pammukle had beautiful views of the sea. The World Heritage site of Pammukle and the tavertines is the huge mountain of calcium deposits with hot springs cascading over the edges. The site looks like a huge ice glacier. We were lucky enough to be able to walk on the tavertines as they have been closed for several years. From here we visited the ancient cities of Hieropolis and Afrodisias.
Afrodisias is one of Turkeys finest archaeological sites. The citys name quickly evokes the word Aphrodisiac which is derived from the Greek name for the goddess of love - Aphrodite. The ruins date back 5000 years but most of what you see today is from the 2nd AD. We were especially impressed by the stadium.
The best preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean is Ephesus. Here one can really get a feel for what life was like in the Roman times. The Great Theatre built for 25000 people had the ingenious design of the cavea - where each success range of seating up from the stage is pitched more steeply than the ones below. Thereby
improving the view and acoustics for spectators in the upper seats.
Last but not least we visited the ruins of ancient Troy - another World Heritage site. The excavations have revealed nine ancient cities built one on top of another dating back to 3000 BC. The first thing you see is the huge replica of the wooden Trojan horse. The rest is history!
Turkey is hard to beat as a perfect holiday destination. The country has everything-a climate that guarantees sunshine-beautiful beaches-dramatic scenery-more classical ruins than Greece or Italy-fantastic cuisine and great public transport. But hospitality has always played a starring role in Turkish culture and what we will remember is the incredible friendliness of the Turks themselves!
Our next destination is Bulgaria and then on to the Croatian coast.
Hope spring has arrived in Canada!
Comments
two turkeys in Turkey (I lied about aliteration)
...great narrative, excellent pictures, almost like being there only a lot cheaper.
Peter G goes there a lot in winter, their fav spot. The setting for one of my fav mystery writers Barbara Nadel...(if you get bored...which appears entirely unlikely!)
..Europe will now appear sooo 'nouveaux' to you..though very historical to we colonials...
...all the best from here in the west..and yes the edges of the lawn to the south starting to tenatively emerge..First day of spring...started off at -12 and has warmed to a balmy 6+...ahhhh
..has been week plus of Zoe, whew what a workout,... she and Phyl off for a week with Jan and Rowan ...lonely lorne..(Greg back to work...
...speaking of which...back to work for mois
..later peace out and all that jazz...(sorry no rude comments..haha)
Great memories ... plus
Looking at your photos from Turkey brought back many memories of our past two summer holidays in Italy. Your pictures of Byzantine mosaics, Greek-Roman theatres, remnants of ancient architecture, tombs, sarcophagi, caves, even the cave dwellings, all look like photos from our own album. It just shows that the political boundaries defining the countries of the modern Mediterranean world are truly arbitrary divisions. The cultural differences, though, are quite pronounced. I love reading your descriptions of the bazaars, the food, the customs and the people. Keep the stories and photos coming!
(and yes, the snow is melting here in PR ... spring is on its way)
You sparked our memories!
As you know, Turkey was also one of our favorite places. It is great to read your comments, see your pictures and then pull out one of our albums and reminisce!! Can't wait to hear the stories in person!!
We just got back from visiting Elaine in Port Coquitlam, not as exciting as Turkey but the grandchildren spice it up!
buff and richard
Re: You sparked our memories!
We did not have pictures of the Turkish bath we had in Selchuk just north of Ephesus. We remember the great story of your Turkish bath experience! Where did you go for your bath? Ours was not as physically demanding but interesting just the same!. We went to a mixed bath where a man scrubbed our entire tans away is just a few minutes!