Pelicans on lamposts, Brush Turkeys stealing lunch, Goannas on the Prowl. We must be home!

Back to morning walks

Skull eggs for breakfast...

Goannas in gum trees

Brush turkeys stealing our lunch and pelicans on lamp posts.

America Bay.... We must be home!

Had my hair cut by the wonderful Cha...

Off to the Archibald... missed it the last couple of years!

Mmmm this was my favourite.

Güle güle Kyseri Merhaba Cappadocia

Its not until you get a birds' Eye view that you realise just how big some of these cities are....Nothing had really prepared me for "Modern Turkey"

 

Or for the ancient, desert of Cappadocia

A mind boggling trip in a shuttle bus, full of Europeans, amazed by the scenery around them.  Gasps at the mountains, the "Fairy Chimneys" and the rugged landscape.  Little did we know how much more we were going to see

.

Couple by couple we dropped people off at extraordinary cave hotels.....We passed through the throbbing tourist town of Goreme, dropping the final passengers into the heaving mass, leaving just the two of us to travel further into the desert to the Hezen Cave hotel.  We had no idea what to expect.  Finally we pulled into a narrow car park overlooking the Castle... Not the traditional European type but the Cavernous, honeycomb of defensive caves that we got to know so well.

We were tired after our flight and long journey through the desert, and totally unprepared for the warm reception that we got.  Cold drinks, çay, cheeses, bread, fruit all appeared from nowhere.  Mehmet, was a wealth of information and within ten minutes had us all organised with a private taxi for the day ahead.  "Phew!  Take me to my cave" I thought.

And so he did...A cave we had been prepared for.   This Cave we were totally unprepared for..

A suite of three rooms ....

... and two bathrooms!

Our neighbours though were living a very different lifestyle.  I wonder why hotels think we need three rooms and two bathrooms?  Must admit though after the dusty ride a bit of luxury didn't go amiss.  

First morning, we stepped out into the heat and dust to explore the village of Ortahisar.

A world apart from the crowds of Istanbul.  Life had suddenly slowed to a more leisurely pace.  But everywhere we looked, people were working, renovating buildings, sweeping, cleaning and of course trying to sell us carpets.

On the first night Mehmet had described the different trips we could take by private taxi..... After a walk around the village we were ready to do some exploring but NOT six hours of exploring, so we negotiated the trip we wanted to do.  The "Orange Route" we decided -  First stop Zelve Valley Aktepe - to see the 'Fairy Chimneys' or as Lonely Planet describes them, the best 'Penises in Cappadocia'

And pretty impressive they were too!

We climbed to the top... only to find...

A wedding...

It must have been the wedding season in Turkey because we saw the most lavish weddings happening everywhere from the Blue Mosque to the Pinnacles of the desert.

Spurred us on to our next spot... 

Turkey has constantly surprised us... nothing is quite what we expected it to be and so it was with Göreme Museum. 

The valley has some of the best painted cave churches.  Medieval monks (1000-1200 AD) carved out the caves from the soft rock and then decorated them with Byzantine style frescoes. 

Most of the frescoes have been damaged — by wind, water, weather, earthquake, and shepherd boys who sought refuge in the caves and used the faces of the figures as targets for pebble attacks, having been taught that images were sinful.

The views from the caves was spectacular...

Cannot believe how many of these cave dwellings and churches there are!

Epic Ephesus

The Turks call this place "Efes" which also an iconic brand of beer here .... but Ephesus is one of the wonders of the ancient world.  We took the train from Izmir, the station was only 100m from our hotel, The Met.  Very efficient, clean and organised trip to the town of Selcuk, to be dropped off at a station still being built with no apparent exit!  We wondered over the rail lines, over half built platforms and eventually found street level.  We hooked up with a rep from "No Frills EphesusTours" run by Mehmet and his Australian wife Christine.  Air conditioned bus, English speaking guide and NO CARPET SHOPS@!  We visited "Mary's House" which allegedly housed the 'Virgin Mary' who was brought here for her protection by St John.  Also the 'Temple of Artemis" which was an amazing structure, one of the largest of its type, but little remains today. The wonderful statues of the god are located in the amazing museum.


What is different about Ephesus to other ancient settlements is the extensive reconstruction of the site so that you get a real understanding of the grandeur of the city of 250,000 and how the people lived.  As usual those people at the top of society lived very well thank you with vast living spaces, hot baths, heated rooms, mosaic flooring and private worship.  As a geographer I was especially intrigued  to see the partial statue of one of the Roman emperors with his foot firmly planted on a representation of the globe, which was round!  This was two millennia before Galileo was prevented from writing about its possibility. The city was the capital of Asia Minor in Roman times and a major port although it now lies several kilometres from the coast now.

Is it Izmir? I'm not sure but I know its Roger's Birthday!

I thought we had left high fashion behind, but as I had booked rather a swish Western Style Hotel we found ourselves right back in the heart of Wedding dresses and Evening gowns.

I had read in Lonely Planet that the Castle was the best place to be for the sunset.  So as it was Roger's birthday we hired a cab and set off the steep hill overlooking the Bay.  We were surprised that no cab wanted to take us there. We thought the trip was just too short.  

We were even more surprised when we got there that the Cab driver didn't want to leave us there.  He offered to wait, but we explained we were going to enjoy the sunset, have dinner and then get a cab or  a dolmuş back.  He shook his head in disbelief.

We walked happily through the castle gates and this is what we saw!

I have to say it is the only time I have felt unsafe in Turkey.... gangs of youths roamed around, accompanied by scungy looking dogs.  There was of course no candlelit restaurant.

Roger made the best of things by posing next to the water canon which was next to the heavily armed and  protected police station... next to the bomb blast barrier!  Everyone apart from us was on high alert.  "No surprise I can hear you saying."

Luckily a dolmuş came by and we crammed on.  We discovered we needed a transport card, they didn't accept cash (Errol where were you?)  The driver just shook his head, waved us on and put his foot to the floor and we sped down the steep winding road at what seemed like 100km a second!  Phew!  I sure know how to give a guy a good time on his birthday!

Back to the safety of the harbour, where we joined hundreds of others as they enjoyed the coolness and the setting sun.

I particularly liked this photographer, who would take shots of people, print them from a portable printer.  They would purchase them and show them proudly to family.  The photographer declined my kind offer to sell him his photo!

Dinner on the seafront ended an interesting day... Ephesus tomorrow.

Hey! Still mangled to escape buying a carpet!

Boscaada

After debating catching a dolmuş to Troy, decided to go to Boscaada.  This involved flagging down a dolmuş which dropped us right at the ferry.  The cool wind from the sea refreshed us from the 32 degree heat. We were greeted by fresh grapes, fish, fish and more fish..... heaven for me.  Too hot to explore the Castle so decided to just go for  a meander....Restaurants around every corner.  Cool trellises of grapes.  How could we resist a glass of wine and seafood lunch.

Cats and fishermen everywhere.  Truly relaxing... not sure about the Titanic boat trip though!

Against our better judgement decided to get a dolmuş to the beach - everyone had told us how fantastic it was.  Of course we should have known better.  Sunbed next to sunbed, stony beach, burnt bodies and people of all ages struggling to swim.  A quick dip and back on the dolmuş and ferry to our lovely hotel, dinner at local restaurant and like the rest of Canakkale a stroll along the front.

Canakkale

6.30pm arrived at the wonderful Hotel D'Etranges after a long, long day. 

 The people there were just wonderful  The hotel is famous because of the archeologist who discovered Troy (Schliemann) stayed there, but it was famous for us for its incredible breakfast!!!!!!! 

We felt we had earned our wonderful seafood meal on the seafront. Everyone came out as the sun set to walk, eat mussels, to make and drink çay, to fish, to share a beer or simply to enjoy the sunset.  What a great people gazing experience!

I was often stopped by groups of guys who wanted their photos taking.  No print, nowhere to send the photo to.... they were just happy to have their photo taken!

The guy in the orange pants was onto a really good lurk.  He would place the soccer ball between two empty bottles of water - for 1TL you had 3 shots at getting the ball through the bottles without knocking the bottles over..... impossible!  There was a constant stream of people waiting to try.

Lots of older Turkish men where flat caps... "Ey Up!"  I thought... but I could find the history of the fez and other hats but not the Turkish Flat Cap.  Anyone know?   Did find out that the English Flat cap so loved by Yorkshire men can be traced back to the 14th Century when a law was passed to encourage the wool industry. All males over 6 years of age, except for the nobility and "persons of degree", were to wear woollen caps on pain of a fine of three farthings (3/4 pence) per day.  By the time the act was repealed in 1597 the fashion trend had been set.

The following day we really needed chill out time so spent the day exploring Canakkale.

Sampling Jasmine flower tea.

Checking out the Harbour.  Loved that all the Ferry boats had "Peace is Possible" emblazoned on their sides.

Checked out the swimming suits, which came complete with long pants.

Loved the Street Art.

And the faux Trojan Horse which had been a major prop in the film of the same name.

Canakkale was fantastic for shopping .... you could buy anything from tripe and goat's innards to a glamorous evening wear.

Canakkale is dominated by the Dur Yolcu Memorial.  It sits above the fort, a huge figure of a Turkish soldier carved in white upon the hillside. In one hand he holds a riffle while his other arm is outstretched towards an inscription...

Traveller halt!

The soil you tread

Once witnessed the end of an era.

Which of course it did... as well as a new beginning.  Modern Turkey!

And so farewell to Canakkale (Still no carpet in our luggage Ha! Ha!)  with all its history, fashion, food and fun and into the dolmuş once more.  This time to Izmir ready to explore Epic Ephesus!