For those of you who just want an overview, the following is a summary of our 2 week itinerary (which excludes a few days which were largely spent driving):
- 3 days exploring and experiencing Istanbul’s sights and markets
- 1 day exploring Gallipoli Peninsula – a beautiful but sad place
- 1 day in Kusadasi a coastal base from which to explore the incredible Ephesis Roman ruins
- 1 day in Pamukkale – a spa town with ‘medicinal pools’ said to cure almost everything under the sun
- 3 days in Kalkan – once coastal fishing village, turned Turkish holiday destination – sun, diving/kayaking – you get the picture right?
- 1 day in Antalya – large coastal city and departure point for flight to Cappadocia
- 2 days in Cappadocia – phallic rocks, hot air balloons and hidden cities.
Driving
- Turkey has lanes, speed limits and traffic lights - none of which seem to trouble the Turkish drivers too much. Liberal use of the wrong side of the road is commonplace, passing on blind corners a local past time, speed limits are seemingly unenforced (which has its benefits) and red lights are purely optional - with running them being both tolerated and encouraged by those behind you with 'toots' to let you know they think it is safe for you to run the light now.
- Be wary of the 'TomTom’ shortcut - although we would have struggled without it, TomTom did take us down one or two 'shortcuts' where she decided she'd had enough of main routes and that a dirt track would liven the drive up a bit.
- Turkish drivers do not always look in their rear vision mirror when reversing - ask our buckled number plate if you need confirmation of this fact.
- Beware of the black cloud - you don't really want to find yourself being battered by hail the size of large ice cubes which turned once dry roads into a slush/ice river in minutes.
- Rule of thumb for Turkish driving - if in doubt: toot.
Piles of hail on the road
Istanbul - Markets and mosques
- Hotel Romance - hearts for as far as the eye can see.
- Blue Mosque, Ana Sofia and the Basilica Cistern - 3 amazing sights all within a stone's throw of each other. The mosaics at Ana Sofia and the cistern (an ancient underground watery oasis) were particularly impressive.
- Grand Bazaar - a labyrinth of shops but less chaotic and shop keepers far less pushy than anticipated.
- Spice markets - chaos and shoulder to shoulder with people - but an amazing mix of the sweet smell of Turkish delight and spices.
- Ferry up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea - a relaxed adventure up this incredibly busy water link with Russia (despite the “yoghurt, yoghurt, yoghurt” salesmen on the boat). Stunning seafood lunch sitting out in the sun with the water lapping beside us in picturesque Anadolu Kavagi at the top of Bosphorus.
- Raki and Beer combos. Beware.
'Sightseeing' at the Topkapi Palace - exhausting stuff (although refer Raki and Beer combo' point above).
- Great food - my pick was at 360^ - a top floor restaurant with great modern food with a Turkish twist and panoramic views.
Gallipoli - Lest we forget
- A beautiful and idyllic peninsula dotted with memorials, cemeteries and walkways.
- Visiting Chunuk Bair (where the Turkish took a strategic hold which ultimately won them the campaign, but a site where NZ troops fought and died bravely), Lone Pine (the main Australian memorial), The ANZAC memorial (sitting on the water's edge just around the corner for ANZAC cove where the forces ANZAC forces landed and the sight of the dawn service) and many other Turkish and allied memorials. The most peaceful and private site was the 4th Battalion Parade Ground Cemetery - located on the track from ANZAC cove up to the front line near Lone Pine - stunning setting nestled in bush and overlooking Shrapnel Valley and the coast.
- Learning about the sacrifice and waste on both sides at Gallipoli.
Gallipoli Houses - a perfect base, with Eric the perfect host. http://www.gallipoli.com.tr/
Enjoying a cold Efes in the late afternoon sun while taking in the view across to the peninsula.
Kusadasi and Ephesus
- En-route to Kusadasi from Gallipoli we stopped to take in Troy (yawn, or is that too harsh?) and Bergama, which was an unexpected highlight. Bergama is a small inland town which is home to an Acropolis perch precariously on a steep mountain - complete with a 10,000 seat theatre which is built on the side of the mountain (did anyone say vertigo?) and the Asclepion - an ancient medical centre dating back to 130 AD.
You can see the theatre to the RHS of the second of the two pics above
- Exploring Ephesus - the best preserved classic Roman city in the eastern Mediterranean. A booming harbour town until it went into decline as the harbour started to silt up. A real highlight was exploring the Yamac Evleri (Terraced Houses) which gave an insight in the luxury in which the ruling class lived and in which many stunning mosaics can be seen. The Great Theatre and the Library of Celus were also spectacular - the former inspiring all sorts of tourists to break into song or dance - I was even tempted to give 'Kia Whakatane Ahau' a go, but thought better of it.
Lunch and fruit wine in Sirince - a hilltop town surrounded by paddocks of fruit of all descriptions. The local dish here of fried diced beef served with garlic yoghurt and tiny fried potato sticks was a group favourite.- Stunning homemade 'local' cuisine - Turkish sausage in a tomato sauce served with authentic Turkish made spaghetti on the night of our arrival. It's all we could rustle up from the local corner store. It was however topped by delicious seafood in a local restaurant on night 2.
Turkish coffee
Pamukkale - The Ancient pool
- Famous for its white terraces, caused by the calcium rich water which cascades down the terraces and pools of the ridge overlooking the town. A place of pilgrimage for Russians who come to benefit from the supposed medicinal properties of the waters. Long before us, the Roman's built a spa town here (190 BC) and the remains of this can still be visited. Shoes are not permitted on the white terraces - so one's feet are silky smooth after a long walk up and down the coarse calcium deposits.
Swimming in the Ancient Pool which sits at the top of the white terraces was a real highlight - the warm waters are crystal clear in a stoney natural pool, the bottom of which is littered with marble and stone columns etc from bygone eras.
- Pretty determined touts here - with one taking a 'roadblock' type approach stopping traffic on the way into town and another taking to his scooter to pursue tourists like us as we drove into town.
Kalkan - Where did all the tourists go?
- By now European airspace was closed by the eruption in Iceland - as so it came as a 'nice surprise' to the staff at our hotel in Kalkan when we arrived looking for our room - it seemed they had either a) lost our booking or b) assumed that like their other guests, we would be unable to make it. So there we were - upgraded and the only 4 guests in the hotel for the duration of our stay - perfect fodder for the new staff to practice on at the (delayed) start of the tourist season.
- Kalkan was a fantastic little seaside town - although in the peak of summer its population grows to 150k, which could be a bit cramped! Thanks to ash and it being the start of the season - we saw it at its sleepy best! The coast here is stunning – crystal clear waters, dotted with Turkish (and Greek!) islands.
- Shane and his ladies going on a kayaking tour - taking in the beautiful Mediterranean coast and even passing over a sunken city. Upon learning Michelle was pregnant the guide treated her like a princess - she of course lapped this up.
- Meanwhile, I was the sole diver on a dive trip for 2 dives - the highlight of which was diving on a sunken C-47 Dakota plane. This WWII aircraft was formerly an allied plane, but passed into the hands of the Turkish air force before being retired to watery grave for the enjoyment of me and others!
- We took the coastal highway from Kalkan to Antayla, an overnight base before our flight to Cappadocia. Not much to say really – except that the drive along the coast was pretty cool – and the hailstorm (mentioned above) was spectacular!
- Final stop – and perhaps a case of saving the best for last. Cappadocia, right in the middle of this surprising large country, with a mix of lush fields and vineyards with dry dessert like conditions. The geography and history here is what brings tourists flocking, but for us, the fantastic accommodation and the chance to relax and enjoy somewhere quite different to anywhere else we had been was the icing on the cake.
- Cave dwellers: Cappadocia is a warren of caves and underground cities. What better way to experience this first hand than to sleep in one right? Our room was a luxurious cave, complete with en-suite, seating area and an open fireplace. While this was no doubt more comfortable than the caves of yesteryear, it was nevertheless a real cave carved into a hillside. It was amazing – especially with the fire blazing.
- Phallic rocks: Cappadocia is littered with clusters of phallic looking rock formations – and in fact many of these have cave and even churches carved into them. Like many others we took the opportunity to see this incredible landscape from the air, so at some ungodly hour we found ourselves preparing for a balloon ride. We were very very lucky – conditions were prefect and we were treated to an hour or so that was without question one of the highlights of our trip. For the record – the phallic rocks are known locally as ‘fairy chimneys’, but that name never really stuck for us.
- Carpets: No trip to Turkey would be complete without carpet shopping. We joined Dena and Shane for a little ‘window browsing’ at one place here, and before long we were all eagerly admiring carpets from various angles while enjoying a beer (we were only supposed to have the beers once we had chosen our carpet – but the owner decided we should have one early in anticipation of decisions he felt sure were close to being made….). ‘Shena’ (the Dean/Shane conglomerate) acquired a beautiful carpet, but Mich and I walked out empty handed (although, to be fair, I would describe this as ‘a near miss’).
- We did heaps of other great things here – a walk through a valley, explored an area set up as a monastery with dozens of cave rooms and churches (including some with beautiful painted ceilings and walls) and exploring an underground city (9 levels deep – of which we visited the first 4!).
Turkey was a fantastic start to our long trip home. It was great travelling with Shane and Dena and Turkey was a country which we went to with high expectations (based on what we had heard from others) and we were not disappointed. The people were so friendly and it is a place with so much to offer. Perhaps next time we will get to explore it by boat………..
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