Hello again,
As i wrte i am in a small town in the amazing mountainous region of Cappadocia in the south of Turkey. Once again i have had a pretty amazing last few days, altho wth a minor hiccup or two.
From Dalyan we drove a few hours down the coast to the slef-proclamed 'Toursm capital of Turkey' - Antalya. This is a rather large-sh city with a beautiful harbour and marina, and some pretty cool bazaar/market areas. When i first arrived, it didn't particularly grab me all that much - loads of smog and smoke (altho there had been a large fire which took out four small hotels just inside the old city walls which reduced visibility over the coastal to almost nought).
Our hotel was a disgrace - and we all pretty much kicked up enough of a stink that i'm pretty sure they' ve lost the custom of 'Adventure Bound', the travel company 've booked wth. For a start there was no heating in about 1/2 the rooms, and the hot water 'will be ready in the morning'. It's getting pretty cold in the middle of winter here now, and when we expressed our displeasure, all the manager did was shrug his shoulders in a kind of 'sorry, that's the way it is' _expression. One of the guys in the group (my roomie) was pretty smart and actually checked into another hotel and plans to present the bill to the travel company. I grabbed his blanket that night and got thru the night that way.......and had a cold shower the next morning, as did everyone else, coz the promised hot water never eventuated.
Now ordinarily these things don't phase me - i travel independently, and so i choose my own fate. But here, i have paid big money to do this, and while it is a budget-style trip, we have been staying in 2-3 star hotels so far (waaaaay better than i was expecting!!), which is apparently the norm on these trips. This place had a star rating somewhere in the negative numbers (especially in terms of attitude).
Antalya has an awesome museum. It's mostly archaeological stuff in there, but the amount of ruins from Greek-Roman times and around the era of Chrst that exist in Turkey is mind-boggling, and most of the excavated artefacts have ended up here. The absolute near-pristine condition that some of the statues of mythical Gods and sarcophagus' etc is amazing.
That night we departed Antalya for a 10-hour overnight bus ride to Cappadocia, arriving rather travel weary at 7am, to find our hotel didn't have our rooms ready (there's been very few tourists thru here since the off-season kicked in, they knew we were coming - surely they could get 8 rooms prepared). While we waited, we were served breakfast - which they had to go to the local market to get supplies for coz they didn't have this ready either. All we wanted to do was get a few hours decent kp before we checked out Cappadocia.
As it turned out, there were heating and hot water drama's here as well. My room was an ice-box, and so after 1/2 an hours frozen sleep, went down to ask my guide about getting some heating, and was moved rooms to one where the radiator actually worked. But then another 1/2 hour later we were all up and out of the hotel. Our guide had finally got fed up of being the brunt of our (legitimate) complaints, and checked us out of the 2nd negative-star hotel we came across in 2 days. Adventure Bound have 2 travel styles - Adventure (us) and Traveller (classy), and our next hotel was normally for the Traveller class - and what a place this was!!!
Cappadocia is a desert-region of Turkey, and is famous for it's bizarre rock formations caused by an ancient volcano spewing out it's lava all over the area thousands of years ago, and then erosion from wind and weather carving into the rocks and mountains. A geological quirk meant that, as far back as the 6th Century, it was also very easy for humans to dig into this earth as well, making enormous caves, and build homes, churches, mosques etc, and labyrinthine tunnels linking them all, out of the caves. Our hotel was one such cave dug into the side of a small hill. Caves fit for a king, I swear to God. And this hotel of some 20-odd rooms on at least 3 levels was decked out wth the most amazing Turkish decor, rugs, ornaments and bizzarro knick-knacks, it was like stepping into some kind of Arabian Nights fantasy world!
Before we came here we were told it had been snowing and got as low as minus 5 degrees during the day, and so were looking forward to seeing how the weather would pan out for us - partcularly a couple of Queenslanders who had never seen the stuff!!
We went exploring the area the rest of the day, checking out Zelve, an abandoned village of caves nestled in between three narrow valleys, that was lived in until around the 1950's when they were moved into more stable housing (soil erosion was particularly bad there). We then visited an underground city built into a mountainside, Goreme, which had some 7 stories (3 up, 4 down) where people could live for months at a time during times of war. There is evidence of life in these caves as far back as the 6th Century.....the mind boggles at how clever and smart these ancient people were! Another wierd spot was the 'Fairy Chimney' valley - a small area where soft sandy towers around 20-30 metres high were topped of by oddly shaped volcanic rock that looked like strange little hats!
Finally, today we went for a 1/2 day hike in an area called the Rose Valley, so called because of the colour of the rocks (caused by high iron content). When you're standing at the top of a hill, and get these rocks layered wth calcium-based white and sulphur-based yellow, set against a piercing clear blue sky, with sweeping desert plains littered with these wierd-ass rock formations, it makes for a pretty awesome spectacle, not to mention fantastic photographs!
Talk soon - Have a great New Year!!
Tony
peace love and happy faces
Friday, December 31, 2004
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Pamukkale - Fethye - Dalyan
H Guys,
have had a pretty crusy 2 or 3 days snce my last emal...the weather has fnally put on a good show for us. All the tme we'd been thru Gallpol etc, t was constantly cloudy and on the cold sde, the only savng grace was that when t raned t was only whle we were on the bus - mraculously every tme we vsted a ste the ran stopped and then started agan as soon as we left. Now, just n tme for Chrstmas, Allah has heaped sunshne upon us the past 3 days.
Pamukkale and the ancent ste (another one!) of Heropols was the next stop after the amazng Ephesus. Pamukkale s a small town wth a major tourst attracton n the calcfed falls and swmmng holes. An underground natural sprng was unleashed due to an earthquake centures ago, and the water supply had huge calcum levels n t. These then splled over the nearby clff face to form a very unusual lookng whte waterfall. The ancent Romans apparently beleved these to contan healng qualtes and, arund 1st Century AD, landscaped the area nto dozens of mn pools down the hllsde deal for bathng and relevng alments. Swmmng n these has now been banned snce UNESCO has lsted t as a World Hertage Ste, but t looks amazng especally when lt up wth green-tnted floodlghts at nght.
The Romans also bult a cty, Heropols, as a spa town back n the same era, and the runs stll exst today - the usual towerng colums surroundng the Agora market place, publc baths and tolets (complete wth sophstcated sewerage systems!!) and a sprawlng Necropols (graveyard of the rch and famous) - once agan - very, very mpressve.
Fethye, down south on the Turquose coast by the Aegean Sea, has been my favourte town so far. Ths tourst mecca, usually packed n the summer, but almost deserted now, s spread around a large sheltered bay, wth a background of steep wooded mountans and a small harbour. It also was the frst place we spotted ancent bural tombs that have been carved nto the sde of the clff face lookng over the harbour. Now these are somethng!! They are lterally 20 metres n heght, and juttng some 4-5metres nto the clff, and some 30-40 metres above street level, complete wth carved columns supportng the 'roof' of the tomb. It s some pece of stone-masonry!! I could go on, but won't.
En-route to Dalyan, we pad a vst to an old Greek vllage whch s now a ghost town - has been snce 1923 when the Greeks and Turks had a populaton exchange to settle some nter-Government dspute over land. A whole town of Greeks was shpped back to Greece, and vce-versa. For some reason, the returnng Turks dd not take up the former Greek resdences. It was knda strange walkng thru totally grassed over streets and laneways on the hllsde vllage, wth all the roofs of stone houses completely mssng and open to the elements. Nce vew over the ocean at the top tho.
Fnally, our Chrstmas Day destnaton, Dalyan, another quant lttle tourst town totally devod of toursts and nearly all busnesses closed for the wnter, leavng t completely and utterly to us. Our Chrstmas Day was spent crusng around a rver-delta regon on a boat thru brush and scrub reeds to check out another pre-Chrst, 4th Century BC runs, some more ancent clff-sde tombs even more magnfcent than the ones n Fethye, and then Turtle Beach, where, when n season, turtles come up from the sea to lay ther eggs and hatch. Once agan, totally deserted apart from us - an excellent spot to st on a beach n the sunshne and 'blazng' heat of 13 degrees lookng out over turquose waters dotted wth lttle slands, whle havng our Chrstmas lunch. Mmmmmm.
It's pretty funny the way Xmas worked out. People were asking where i would be for xmas, and my answer was always 'somewhere in Turkey - maybe i could get some turkey in Turkey. After the lunch, whch was a packed lunch of sandwches and soft drink i was thinking that turkey was out of the question, but at dinner that night someone cheekily asked the waiter for roast turkey and cranberry sauce. Without batting an eyelid, he said they could get turkey, but suggested a turkey sish-kebab wth salad....an item not on the menu, but i suspect soon wll be, as about 3/4 of our group ordered t. So, turkey in Turkey was not out of the question, and we had it Turkish style! Nice!!
Anyway, that about wraps t up. hope you all had a great Xmas - mne has been somewhat dfferent!
cheers,
tony peace love and happy faces
have had a pretty crusy 2 or 3 days snce my last emal...the weather has fnally put on a good show for us. All the tme we'd been thru Gallpol etc, t was constantly cloudy and on the cold sde, the only savng grace was that when t raned t was only whle we were on the bus - mraculously every tme we vsted a ste the ran stopped and then started agan as soon as we left. Now, just n tme for Chrstmas, Allah has heaped sunshne upon us the past 3 days.
Pamukkale and the ancent ste (another one!) of Heropols was the next stop after the amazng Ephesus. Pamukkale s a small town wth a major tourst attracton n the calcfed falls and swmmng holes. An underground natural sprng was unleashed due to an earthquake centures ago, and the water supply had huge calcum levels n t. These then splled over the nearby clff face to form a very unusual lookng whte waterfall. The ancent Romans apparently beleved these to contan healng qualtes and, arund 1st Century AD, landscaped the area nto dozens of mn pools down the hllsde deal for bathng and relevng alments. Swmmng n these has now been banned snce UNESCO has lsted t as a World Hertage Ste, but t looks amazng especally when lt up wth green-tnted floodlghts at nght.
The Romans also bult a cty, Heropols, as a spa town back n the same era, and the runs stll exst today - the usual towerng colums surroundng the Agora market place, publc baths and tolets (complete wth sophstcated sewerage systems!!) and a sprawlng Necropols (graveyard of the rch and famous) - once agan - very, very mpressve.
Fethye, down south on the Turquose coast by the Aegean Sea, has been my favourte town so far. Ths tourst mecca, usually packed n the summer, but almost deserted now, s spread around a large sheltered bay, wth a background of steep wooded mountans and a small harbour. It also was the frst place we spotted ancent bural tombs that have been carved nto the sde of the clff face lookng over the harbour. Now these are somethng!! They are lterally 20 metres n heght, and juttng some 4-5metres nto the clff, and some 30-40 metres above street level, complete wth carved columns supportng the 'roof' of the tomb. It s some pece of stone-masonry!! I could go on, but won't.
En-route to Dalyan, we pad a vst to an old Greek vllage whch s now a ghost town - has been snce 1923 when the Greeks and Turks had a populaton exchange to settle some nter-Government dspute over land. A whole town of Greeks was shpped back to Greece, and vce-versa. For some reason, the returnng Turks dd not take up the former Greek resdences. It was knda strange walkng thru totally grassed over streets and laneways on the hllsde vllage, wth all the roofs of stone houses completely mssng and open to the elements. Nce vew over the ocean at the top tho.
Fnally, our Chrstmas Day destnaton, Dalyan, another quant lttle tourst town totally devod of toursts and nearly all busnesses closed for the wnter, leavng t completely and utterly to us. Our Chrstmas Day was spent crusng around a rver-delta regon on a boat thru brush and scrub reeds to check out another pre-Chrst, 4th Century BC runs, some more ancent clff-sde tombs even more magnfcent than the ones n Fethye, and then Turtle Beach, where, when n season, turtles come up from the sea to lay ther eggs and hatch. Once agan, totally deserted apart from us - an excellent spot to st on a beach n the sunshne and 'blazng' heat of 13 degrees lookng out over turquose waters dotted wth lttle slands, whle havng our Chrstmas lunch. Mmmmmm.
It's pretty funny the way Xmas worked out. People were asking where i would be for xmas, and my answer was always 'somewhere in Turkey - maybe i could get some turkey in Turkey. After the lunch, whch was a packed lunch of sandwches and soft drink i was thinking that turkey was out of the question, but at dinner that night someone cheekily asked the waiter for roast turkey and cranberry sauce. Without batting an eyelid, he said they could get turkey, but suggested a turkey sish-kebab wth salad....an item not on the menu, but i suspect soon wll be, as about 3/4 of our group ordered t. So, turkey in Turkey was not out of the question, and we had it Turkish style! Nice!!
Anyway, that about wraps t up. hope you all had a great Xmas - mne has been somewhat dfferent!
cheers,
tony peace love and happy faces
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Turkish Carpet
Hello once more,
Almost forgot to mention. on the way to Selcuk, we made one stop at a countryside village co-op carpet factory. it's one where it's not run by unscrupulous Istanbul entrepreneur types, but one where the Money made from sales goes back into the community (for real too, actually) and so i bought a carpet!! Really nice design too.
I'd actually wanted to get one, I just didn't want to get ripped off. US$200 is a bit of Money, but hey, it's an investment right!
later,
tony
peace love and happy faces
Almost forgot to mention. on the way to Selcuk, we made one stop at a countryside village co-op carpet factory. it's one where it's not run by unscrupulous Istanbul entrepreneur types, but one where the Money made from sales goes back into the community (for real too, actually) and so i bought a carpet!! Really nice design too.
I'd actually wanted to get one, I just didn't want to get ripped off. US$200 is a bit of Money, but hey, it's an investment right!
later,
tony
peace love and happy faces
Merry Xmas from Dalyan, Turkey
H?all,
Merry Xmas from the turquo?e coast of turkey!!
the weather today on Xmas day has been absolutely perfect - blue sk?s and a pleasant 13 degrees. we managed to f?d a beach to have lunch on here - totally deserted as ?s off season, so we had ? all to ourselves - the turquo?e waters, the postcard p?ture ?lands off the coast - the only th?g m?s?g was a beer ? hand, coz even the cafe's and shops were closed on the beach!!
you'll see the photos soon enough!!
anyway, a more deta?ed ema? of the past few days com?g soon.
cheers,
tony
peace love and happy faces
Merry Xmas from the turquo?e coast of turkey!!
the weather today on Xmas day has been absolutely perfect - blue sk?s and a pleasant 13 degrees. we managed to f?d a beach to have lunch on here - totally deserted as ?s off season, so we had ? all to ourselves - the turquo?e waters, the postcard p?ture ?lands off the coast - the only th?g m?s?g was a beer ? hand, coz even the cafe's and shops were closed on the beach!!
you'll see the photos soon enough!!
anyway, a more deta?ed ema? of the past few days com?g soon.
cheers,
tony
peace love and happy faces
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Gallipoli - Troy - Ephesus
Hi again,
Thought the last email was getting kinda long, so decided to split them up.
Gallipoli. All Aussie's and Kiwi's have been taught about this place ever since Day 1 of school, and every April 25th, Anzac Day, our nations mourn the death of the 1000's of soldiers who died here in World War 1. So to come here, and see the place in person, visiting the museums, memorials, and cemeteries, and to walk along the beach where they landed almost 90 years ago was something spectacular and moving.
We spent the best part of the day here, listening to tales told of courage, heroics, and friendships made between the Turks and Anzacs. It's stuff i'd heard hundreds of times before in school, and on TV and newspapers, but actually being there and kind of being able to imagine it happening made it all the more real to us. It was a strange experience for me, as i've never made much of it beforehand, but I certainly have a much better understanding and appreciation of the dramas now. It's funny how being in a place where history was made does that!
Troy?. The following day, we visited another site of historical importance, but one somewhat older. Troy, the one recently made into a Brad Pitt Hollywood flick (by all accounts it's crap, altho i've yet to see it). We were guided around the site for a few hours or so by a local villager and archaeologist/historian, and self-pronounced modern day Trojan warrior. To the naked eye, the site were we shown around was just a bunch of old ruins and knocked down stone/brick walls. With the help of Mustafa, we were almost able to reconstruct in our minds all of the how/why/what/when/where/who's of the 9 different stages of Trojan history, and pondered over the many different theories of the invasion of the city with the famed Trojan Horse. What could ordinarily have been rather boring was all of a sudden very interesting indeed.
6 Hours of driving in pouring rain later, and we arrived in the tiny village of Selcuk, the gateway to the ancient and amazing ruins of Ephesus.
Day 4 of our journey we spent the morning here following another well-versed guide around an ancient ruined city. Once again, an absolutely amazing experience. The main difference here was that the ruins here are in a much more well-preserved state where you can actually visualise the goings on of the Ancient Greeks and Romans around the time of Christ, and early 1st-3rd Centuries AD. Towering colums of marble, and public bathroom facilities complete with drainage systems, enormous open air theatres, and the facade of the Library of Celcius, which on its own is something to behold. And to think that this was all buried for centuries under metres of earth, and only excavated in the past 50 years or so. At some stage i'll add photos to my Yahoo Photo website and you'll get some idea.
Another of the highlights here for me so far has been the food. oh-my-God, Turkish cuisine is something else. Dining out every evening on Turkish breads and dips, kebabs, pizzas and salads, I just drool at the thought of dinner each night. It's only 4 days in and already i'm in 7th Heaven. On that note, it's almost 6pm, time for dinner.
Talk soon.
Tony
peace love and happy faces
Thought the last email was getting kinda long, so decided to split them up.
Gallipoli. All Aussie's and Kiwi's have been taught about this place ever since Day 1 of school, and every April 25th, Anzac Day, our nations mourn the death of the 1000's of soldiers who died here in World War 1. So to come here, and see the place in person, visiting the museums, memorials, and cemeteries, and to walk along the beach where they landed almost 90 years ago was something spectacular and moving.
We spent the best part of the day here, listening to tales told of courage, heroics, and friendships made between the Turks and Anzacs. It's stuff i'd heard hundreds of times before in school, and on TV and newspapers, but actually being there and kind of being able to imagine it happening made it all the more real to us. It was a strange experience for me, as i've never made much of it beforehand, but I certainly have a much better understanding and appreciation of the dramas now. It's funny how being in a place where history was made does that!
Troy?. The following day, we visited another site of historical importance, but one somewhat older. Troy, the one recently made into a Brad Pitt Hollywood flick (by all accounts it's crap, altho i've yet to see it). We were guided around the site for a few hours or so by a local villager and archaeologist/historian, and self-pronounced modern day Trojan warrior. To the naked eye, the site were we shown around was just a bunch of old ruins and knocked down stone/brick walls. With the help of Mustafa, we were almost able to reconstruct in our minds all of the how/why/what/when/where/who's of the 9 different stages of Trojan history, and pondered over the many different theories of the invasion of the city with the famed Trojan Horse. What could ordinarily have been rather boring was all of a sudden very interesting indeed.
6 Hours of driving in pouring rain later, and we arrived in the tiny village of Selcuk, the gateway to the ancient and amazing ruins of Ephesus.
Day 4 of our journey we spent the morning here following another well-versed guide around an ancient ruined city. Once again, an absolutely amazing experience. The main difference here was that the ruins here are in a much more well-preserved state where you can actually visualise the goings on of the Ancient Greeks and Romans around the time of Christ, and early 1st-3rd Centuries AD. Towering colums of marble, and public bathroom facilities complete with drainage systems, enormous open air theatres, and the facade of the Library of Celcius, which on its own is something to behold. And to think that this was all buried for centuries under metres of earth, and only excavated in the past 50 years or so. At some stage i'll add photos to my Yahoo Photo website and you'll get some idea.
Another of the highlights here for me so far has been the food. oh-my-God, Turkish cuisine is something else. Dining out every evening on Turkish breads and dips, kebabs, pizzas and salads, I just drool at the thought of dinner each night. It's only 4 days in and already i'm in 7th Heaven. On that note, it's almost 6pm, time for dinner.
Talk soon.
Tony
peace love and happy faces
Istanbul
Hey Folks,
Last time i wrote i was in Prague. Since then I've had 2 days in Istanbul, met up with my Adventure Bound tour group, and have been with them 3days now, and am in Selcuk.
Istanbul? My 2 days here were kinda wasted, and i felt a little bit down when leaving the place cause i should have/could have used the time sooo much better. I feel as tho i hardly know Istanbul at all.
Firstly, when i arrived it was past Midnight, and due to a cock-up by me travel agent (for once a cock-up on my travels wasn't due to me) there was no airport-hotel transfer arranged, nor had my hotel (where i was meeting with the tour group) had not been booked. So i had to spend an hour or so sorting this out with the hotel reception.
Next day, when i woke i was past Midday, and the cold i had brought from Dublin with me had gotten worse so I was feeling rather ordinary. I didn'y have a guide book with me, my usual source of info on what to do and therefore no idea where anything was, what was significant and special about the city, so left the hotel and just wandered. This was cool. i ended up walking away from the main tourist area, Sultanahmet, where the hotel was, down towards the harbour and into a local market area. A couple of hours later tho, i was just shattered tired from the cold i had, and just went back to the hotel and back to bed.
That evening i walked the opposite direction and stumbled upon the Grand Bazaar, an amazing covered market place full of shops and stalls selling all manner of goods, but I only had an hour before it was closing, and so really only saw a tiny section. The following day was Sunday and so closed. Bummer.
Back towards Sultanahmet I saw the Blue Mosque (16th Century) and Aya Sophya Musuem (6th Century), two phenonmenal buildings of immense size and grandeur, all lit up with floodlights. Ahhhh, so this is where it's all at!!!! I spent the next hour or so walking about them trying to get the best night photo i possibly could, with the plan to visit the both of them the next day.
By this stage i had not met anyone else from my tour group, and had no idea where to, let alone felt like, checking out Istanbul's famed nightlife, and so was back in bed by 11pm that Saturday night.
On the Sunday, I was up and out early enough, and was all set to see the sights. I had been not more than 90 seconds out the front of Aya Sophya, when i was accosted by the bane of all tourists, the carpet selling tout, making small talk conversation about the great friendship between Turks and Aussie's, and Turkish hospitality, slowly bringing the subject, ever so skillfully around to Turkish carpets, with the 'no obligation, just take a look?' line and lure of free Turkish tea 'to help you with your cold?' Thinking i would just go in there, drink some tea and chat, then leave, i went with the guy to his shop. 30 minutes later, having had at least 20 carpets rolled out in front of me with 'this one only 350 US dollars!', i finally managed to leave. The tea was delicious tho!
Back at Aya Sophya, once again it took all of 90 seconds for another guy to approach me. My will-power unusually low due to feeling rather sick, I was again led away. Another hard-core sales pitch and another 2 cups of tea, and i escaped the clutches of the carpet man. I couldn't be bothered dealing with this again, and so planned an hour's sabbatical at an Internet cafe to download pics from my camera to disc, before heading out again. Before i knew it, i had been there nearly 4 hours, the sun was setting and the musuem and mosque were closed. We were leaving Istanbul the next morning.
I need to come back here at some stage having had conversations with guys from my group i have finally learnt about all the great stuff in Istanbul that i missed. I mean I never even made it over the the river to the main city centre. I spent all my time in the tourist quarter, and most of that was wasted.
The tour group met up the next morning. 16 of us all up - all Aussie's with the exception of 1 Kiwi, 1 Brit 1, Canadian, and 1 Indian hopped on the bus and headed out to Cannakale our first night's stop - but the first stop was Gallipoli - a place very special to the hearts of Aussie's and Kiwi's.
peace love and happy faces
Last time i wrote i was in Prague. Since then I've had 2 days in Istanbul, met up with my Adventure Bound tour group, and have been with them 3days now, and am in Selcuk.
Istanbul? My 2 days here were kinda wasted, and i felt a little bit down when leaving the place cause i should have/could have used the time sooo much better. I feel as tho i hardly know Istanbul at all.
Firstly, when i arrived it was past Midnight, and due to a cock-up by me travel agent (for once a cock-up on my travels wasn't due to me) there was no airport-hotel transfer arranged, nor had my hotel (where i was meeting with the tour group) had not been booked. So i had to spend an hour or so sorting this out with the hotel reception.
Next day, when i woke i was past Midday, and the cold i had brought from Dublin with me had gotten worse so I was feeling rather ordinary. I didn'y have a guide book with me, my usual source of info on what to do and therefore no idea where anything was, what was significant and special about the city, so left the hotel and just wandered. This was cool. i ended up walking away from the main tourist area, Sultanahmet, where the hotel was, down towards the harbour and into a local market area. A couple of hours later tho, i was just shattered tired from the cold i had, and just went back to the hotel and back to bed.
That evening i walked the opposite direction and stumbled upon the Grand Bazaar, an amazing covered market place full of shops and stalls selling all manner of goods, but I only had an hour before it was closing, and so really only saw a tiny section. The following day was Sunday and so closed. Bummer.
Back towards Sultanahmet I saw the Blue Mosque (16th Century) and Aya Sophya Musuem (6th Century), two phenonmenal buildings of immense size and grandeur, all lit up with floodlights. Ahhhh, so this is where it's all at!!!! I spent the next hour or so walking about them trying to get the best night photo i possibly could, with the plan to visit the both of them the next day.
By this stage i had not met anyone else from my tour group, and had no idea where to, let alone felt like, checking out Istanbul's famed nightlife, and so was back in bed by 11pm that Saturday night.
On the Sunday, I was up and out early enough, and was all set to see the sights. I had been not more than 90 seconds out the front of Aya Sophya, when i was accosted by the bane of all tourists, the carpet selling tout, making small talk conversation about the great friendship between Turks and Aussie's, and Turkish hospitality, slowly bringing the subject, ever so skillfully around to Turkish carpets, with the 'no obligation, just take a look?' line and lure of free Turkish tea 'to help you with your cold?' Thinking i would just go in there, drink some tea and chat, then leave, i went with the guy to his shop. 30 minutes later, having had at least 20 carpets rolled out in front of me with 'this one only 350 US dollars!', i finally managed to leave. The tea was delicious tho!
Back at Aya Sophya, once again it took all of 90 seconds for another guy to approach me. My will-power unusually low due to feeling rather sick, I was again led away. Another hard-core sales pitch and another 2 cups of tea, and i escaped the clutches of the carpet man. I couldn't be bothered dealing with this again, and so planned an hour's sabbatical at an Internet cafe to download pics from my camera to disc, before heading out again. Before i knew it, i had been there nearly 4 hours, the sun was setting and the musuem and mosque were closed. We were leaving Istanbul the next morning.
I need to come back here at some stage having had conversations with guys from my group i have finally learnt about all the great stuff in Istanbul that i missed. I mean I never even made it over the the river to the main city centre. I spent all my time in the tourist quarter, and most of that was wasted.
The tour group met up the next morning. 16 of us all up - all Aussie's with the exception of 1 Kiwi, 1 Brit 1, Canadian, and 1 Indian hopped on the bus and headed out to Cannakale our first night's stop - but the first stop was Gallipoli - a place very special to the hearts of Aussie's and Kiwi's.
peace love and happy faces
Friday, December 17, 2004
On The Road Again
hey there,
well, it's goodbye Ireland for good, and on the road again for me. I left Dublin on Tuesday afternoon, and....it wouldn't be a Tony traveling Tale if something didn't go slightly awry.
I was all set and had caught a local bus into the city to get the Airport link bus. Before leaving the house I had checked I had everything I needed - passport, flight ticket etc, and all was good. But, in town, I was thinking 'I didn't check for my travelers cheques' - and they weren't in my document wallet as I usually do. Oh shit.
In a panic, I flagged down a cab back home, hoping and praying someone was in the house coz I had given my keys over, and was frantically looking all over the house, in the paper recycling bin, everywhere - and couldn't find them!.....the cabbie was waiting outside with the meter running, so I ran back out, got my rucksack and started to unpack everything in the street......I had them all along, just for some stupid reason I packed them away in a completely different spot. Phew! I felt like a right doofus!
Anyway, all was smooth sailing from then on - I got to the airport on time and arrived safely in Prague at around 3.30pm, with the pilots parting words 'Welcome to Prague, it is minus four degrees outside, enjoy your stay'......MINUS FOUR!!! I felt it immediately I left the plane...it is freekin freezing!!
But Prague is amazing. Despite the cold, I went out that night with a couple of guys from my hostel (8 euro per night including breakfast) and wandered thru the Old Town Square. This square is full of 14th-19th Century menacing looking Gothic, as well as Baroque/Rennaisance architecture, all lit up with floodlights to an amazing effect, providing the perfect backdrop while we went looking for a bar showing the Liverpool football game.
I went on a 4 hour guided walking tour of the city yesterday, and got an awesomew history lesson that fleshed out, and gave body and meaning to all this stunning architecture that was leaving me jaw-droppingly gobsmacked at every turn of a street corner. My brand new digital camera got a helluva workout, not more so than when we finished the tour at the Prague Castle at night, which is just too much to put into words (so just check out the attached photo)
St Vitus' Cathedral, Charles IV Bridge, and central Prague
I was hoping for snow....if its gonna be minus 4 at least let it be snowing - i've seen pictures of Prague covered in white, and it's even more beautiful.
Anyway, you get the idea - I like Prague...it's just a shame i'll only be here for 3 days, but life goes on. The next time i'll write , i'll be in Istanbul.
Take care, talk soon,
Tony
peace love and happy faces
well, it's goodbye Ireland for good, and on the road again for me. I left Dublin on Tuesday afternoon, and....it wouldn't be a Tony traveling Tale if something didn't go slightly awry.
I was all set and had caught a local bus into the city to get the Airport link bus. Before leaving the house I had checked I had everything I needed - passport, flight ticket etc, and all was good. But, in town, I was thinking 'I didn't check for my travelers cheques' - and they weren't in my document wallet as I usually do. Oh shit.
In a panic, I flagged down a cab back home, hoping and praying someone was in the house coz I had given my keys over, and was frantically looking all over the house, in the paper recycling bin, everywhere - and couldn't find them!.....the cabbie was waiting outside with the meter running, so I ran back out, got my rucksack and started to unpack everything in the street......I had them all along, just for some stupid reason I packed them away in a completely different spot. Phew! I felt like a right doofus!
Anyway, all was smooth sailing from then on - I got to the airport on time and arrived safely in Prague at around 3.30pm, with the pilots parting words 'Welcome to Prague, it is minus four degrees outside, enjoy your stay'......MINUS FOUR!!! I felt it immediately I left the plane...it is freekin freezing!!
But Prague is amazing. Despite the cold, I went out that night with a couple of guys from my hostel (8 euro per night including breakfast) and wandered thru the Old Town Square. This square is full of 14th-19th Century menacing looking Gothic, as well as Baroque/Rennaisance architecture, all lit up with floodlights to an amazing effect, providing the perfect backdrop while we went looking for a bar showing the Liverpool football game.
I went on a 4 hour guided walking tour of the city yesterday, and got an awesomew history lesson that fleshed out, and gave body and meaning to all this stunning architecture that was leaving me jaw-droppingly gobsmacked at every turn of a street corner. My brand new digital camera got a helluva workout, not more so than when we finished the tour at the Prague Castle at night, which is just too much to put into words (so just check out the attached photo)
St Vitus' Cathedral, Charles IV Bridge, and central PragueI was hoping for snow....if its gonna be minus 4 at least let it be snowing - i've seen pictures of Prague covered in white, and it's even more beautiful.
Anyway, you get the idea - I like Prague...it's just a shame i'll only be here for 3 days, but life goes on. The next time i'll write , i'll be in Istanbul.
Take care, talk soon,
Tony
peace love and happy faces
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