From the category archives:

Turkey

Fairy Chimneys and Panoramas

by Amy on November 8, 2009 · 5 comments

The Cappadocia region of Turkey was our favorite part of the 20 days we had in the country. Hiking through breathtaking canyons, exploring an underground city and climbing to a mountaintop monastery were definitely highlights. We arrived in Goreme after an overnight bus from Antalya, where we had a lovely visit with Uncle Gary and Aunt Patti. We then spent our first day in Cappadocia exploring the Goreme Open Air Museum. The Museum contains many churches carved into the stone, some featuring beautiful frescos, and caves that were once used as kitchens and living spaces.

After the Museum, we passed on a camel ride and instead explored the Kilcar Valley and hiked to fantastic viewpoints for the Red and Rose Valleys.

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Rose Valley

The next morning we arose early for an amazing sunrise hot air balloon ride over the valleys and fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. You can check out our photographs here. Luckily our balloon basket consisted mostly of tourists from Hong Kong and Keith was able to take photographs is all directions over their heads. They were also an excitable bunch, cheering every time the pilot took the balloon low over the rocks or deep into the valleys (so low that Keith could reach out and pick a leaf off a tree top). While a bit on the pricey side, the balloon ride was an incredible way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Wonder how we’ll top it next year…

We did one day with a tour group, on what is know as the “Green Tour.” Our hostel, Rock Valley (which was a great value with fabulous breakfast, a helpful manager and which we highly recommend to fellow budget travelers) arranged the tour which included a panoramic view of Goreme,

The Fairy Chimneys of Goreme

a tour of the largest underground city at Derinkuyu, a hike through part of the Ihlara Valley, and a climb up to the monastery carved into the mountain 150 meters up near Belisima.

The Advantage of Being Short - Plenty of Room

The underground city was used as a hiding place for many of the residents when the city was under attack and contains 8 levels down to about 85 meters below the surface. The city had wine presses, food storage places, churches, ventilation shafts and even what is believed to be a religious classroom. It also had small passages to slow down the enemy (who were taller) and stone doorways to block any attacks. As we made our way up and down the narrow and steep passageways and staircases, I was grateful for my short stature, which is turning into a real advantage when touring historical ruins (and on long-haul flights in coach). While most visitors are hunched over or nearly crawling through the spaces, I was lucky to only have to duck here and there.

Our next stop was a hike through part of the Ihlara Valley, which was very different from the valleys around Goreme. The Ihlara has a small river running through the middle and is lush with vegetation. It was incredibly beautiful and we were able to stop and have a delicious lunch on a platform built right over the river. Unfortunately, our tour guide was in a rush and practically trail-running through the valley so we didn’t get to stop and take in the scenery as much as we would have liked. It is also very difficult to get to the Ihlara without being on an organized tour so we didn’t have a chance to spend more time there.

The climb up to the top of monastery was steep and a challenge to my fear of heights, so while Keith explored the nooks and crannies at the top, I stayed far away from the ledges and enjoyed the incredible views from a safe, flat area below the top.

The rest of our time in Goreme was spent relaxing, taking hikes (and lots of photos) in the Pigeon and Love Valleys and enjoying picnics along the way. The hike through Love Valley was one of my favorite hikes. The valley contains two trails through the middle, one of which is pretty conventional and the other of which takes you through many tunnels. We started on the tunnel trail and as the tunnels got increasing smaller and smaller we were both practically crawling along the muddy ground. It was definitely a more interesting trail, but we finally decided that the mud wasn’t for us and switched trails. We also found lots of fresh fruit vines and trees along the trails, which made for delicious snacking.

After such a wonderful time in Goreme and a fabulous three weeks in Turkey, it was hard to pack up and hit the road again but it was time to move on. We took another overnight bus back to Istanbul to catch our flight to Cairo and the start of our adventures in Egypt.

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Pictures from Our Hot Air Balloon Ride

by Keith on October 25, 2009 · 5 comments

Below is a slide show of select pictures from the hot air balloon ride that Amy and I took on our recent 1 year wedding anniversary. Cappadocia has very unique flight conditions for hot air ballooning. With the still air in the mornings (you take off at 7am) and the amazing canyons the extremely skilled pilots can take the balloons into some amazing spots. In fact we brushed so close to a tree in our balloon that I was able to pick leaves off of the tree, really amazing the control the pilots have. And while it is a bit of budget buster at €130 ($194) each for a 1 hour ride, it was a once in a lifetime experience.

One of the interesting tidbits I learned about ballooning from the trip is that the champagne toast at the end dates back to 1783. Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis Francios-Laurent d’Arlandes took off from Paris ultimately landing in a farmers field, upsetting him and his animals quite a bit. To appease him the pilots offer him some champagne they had aboard and it has been a tradition ever since.

If you ever get the chance to ride in a balloon I would highly recommend it. We used Anatolian Balloons, who is by their own claim, the largest balloon company in the world and we were quite impressed, check out Amy’s Trip Advisor review here.

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Selçuk and a Mediterranean Blue Cruise

by Keith on October 23, 2009 · 0 comments

After the urban sophistication of Istanbul Amy and I decided we needed to see some very old ruins and to maybe relax a bit. The town of Selçuk, which is near the ruins of Ephesus and other ancient cities did not disappoint with amazing ruins. The Mediterranean cruise we took with V-Go from Fethiye to Demre was indeed very relaxing.

After a very nice ride in business class on a ferry from Istanbul to Bandirma, then quite a comfortable bus from there to Izmir and a couple of hours in a small mini-bus, we finally arrived in Selçuk. The mini-bus was an interesting ride. While the bigger longer haul passenger buses in Turkey are comfortable, affordable and quick, the mini-buses that you take to smaller towns and for trips of shorter distances can be somewhat cramped, and the drivers seem to often stop to pickup passengers on the side of the road, including school kids in the afternoon, that are headed in the same general direction. The emphasis is on general, because after dropping someone off the bus would often u-turn to then head back 5 minutes in the direction we had just come from.

Once we arrived to Selçuk we checked into our hostel, Urkmez Hotel. The owner Juju is quite the affable host and we enjoyed our stay there. After quickly showering to refresh from a long travel day we headed up to the rooftop terrace for a very reasonably priced Efes beer where we meet a great couple from Seattle who clued us in that we should try and visit Ephesus either early or late in the day, as the cruise ships that dock in the nearby city of Kuşadası send thousands of tourists to Ephesus from 10:30am-4:00pm. So we hit up some of the other sites near Selçuk in the morning, including the 6th century basilica of St. John the Apostle, which, some claim, is built on the site of the Apostle’s tomb.

This picture is from a tunnel behind the alter, where an Orthodox Priest was performing a mass.

At about 3:30 we headed up the hill to the ruins of Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period. There are two main features: the 44,000 seating capacity theater and the Library of Celsus. Also, true to the advice from the previous day, while there were quite a few tourists at 3:30, by 4pm we practically had the place to ourselves, which was excellent as that was when the light was much better for photographs.

When we were not looking at ancient ruins there is a good chance you could find us at Ejder, an excellent and extremely affordable restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. In fact we were so impressed the first night with the quality of the food as well as the low prices we went back every night.

Leaving Selçuk we headed down the coast to Fethiye for our 4 day, 3 night cruise. We arrived in Fethiye the night before and met Eugene, a fellow traveler from the States. We decided that the three of us would walk down to the fish market near the harbor in Fethiye. The fish was exceedingly fresh and cheap. Amy and I bought a yellow fin tuna to share for 12TL ($8). The best part of the fish market are all of the restaurants that surround it. They all have the same deal, for 5TL ($3.40) they cook your fresh fish any way you like, as well as providing salad, potato and bread with your fish. It was a delicious meal shared with our new friend Eugene.

The next morning we boarded our boat, Summer Love, for 4 days of relaxation.

There is not a whole lot to say about the cruise. It consisted of lots of lounging on the deck reading and napping, taking a dip in the blue and crystal clear Mediterranean when you got too warm, and eating the amazing fresh and delicious food prepared by the crew three times a day. The one stop we had that was of interest was a castle in Kekova, near the Sunken City. We hiked up to see it and the view of the bay with Matt and Aisha, a couple from Perth, Australia that is also doing an extended trip around the world.

After disembarking the Summer Love in Demre we took a 2.5 hour minibus ride to Antalya where we were meeting Amy’s Aunt Patti and Uncle Gary for dinner, as they were also in Turkey on vacation. More about that another time.

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