More from Cappadocia

Staying in a cave isn't as great as we expected it to be - our initial awe of the cave room wore of quick as we realized it was a little moldy, since the bathroom had no ventilation and it turned out the minor amount of rain we experienced seeped down through the rock and started dripping into the room.... but i guess that's part of the charm.

other than our room - cappadocia is just amazing - we spent an afternoon exploring the landscape on our own, first at the Goreme open air museum, which is filled with rock/cave churches, covered in amazing frescoes and then hiking one of the valleys to the next town and up a rock castle - the highest point in cappadocia to have a view of the land. We had a lovely big dinner and drank a ton of cheap jug wine (again)made two more friends, Maui & Nasha)and did a little bar hopping, we found the local pool hall and got our game on (none of us were to good, but the next day we knew a lot more people in town)

we spent the next morning taking it easy after our night of jug wine and then met up with Walking Mehmet to walk several of the other valleys - Mehmet is the local walking guru, a free spirit who has an open air office near the town square, where he does a little big of gardening, cooking, and relaxing in his handmade hammock. A smoker (as pretty much every turk is) he effortless walks the hills, peaks, etc that we all struggled up. He led us through amazing landscapes and showed us views, churches, pigeon houses and just gorgeous nature. We capped off the evening with a turkish dinner and dance event - we saw dervishes, folk dancers and belly dancers (who seemed a little bit more like strippers then we expected - one came into the room from a red lit cage in the ceiling) We got back to our cave room only to find that the dripping had gotten worse - so I finally requested that we swap rooms - at least to sleep in - the gang shifted rooms into a nice dry cave the smelled fresh and clean - and actually had a ventilation shaft for the bathroom - so it turns out all caves are not created equal.

The next day we decided to be big tourists and took a bus tour to the underground city, the ihlara valley, and to see a couple more sights. The four of us were exhausted and enjoyed catching up on sleep between sights - i think our tour guide was a little put off by all our sleeping but we enjoyed a day of being carted around between activities. Jacinta, Russ and I left Ryan behind that evening and took the night bus back to Istanbul. We popped some sleeping pills and the 11 hour bus ride felt like 3 and we were in Istanbul before we knew it.

Olympos to Cappadocia

We've been wandering all day through the valleys, caves, and rock churches of Cappadocia - an absolutely beautiful part of turkey - picutures to come soon when we get back to new york - we have seen so much but still there is so much that we want to see - it has only left us wanting to see more of turkey - our little gang is already talking about a reunion trip, one where we can hit the towns, landscapes, walks etc that we missed on this trip.

we travelled from olympos to egirdir in the lake country with Jacinta and Ryan - Jacinta and I hiked up a large mountain above the town and had lunch in a small farm village above the town and lake that egirdir sits on - the 3rd largest in turkey i believe. The boys spent the day hiking on the canyons about an hour away - they jumped off of numerous waterfalls and cliffs into the river - the also met a turkish tourism film crew that shot a little of them and invited them to a mock turkish wedding back in Egirdir. So that evening we joined in the festivities of the mock turkish wedding, actually it was supposed to be the evening before the wedding when the bride and her family and friends get her ready for her big day with dancing, singing, henna, feasting, and some crying... after our moment on camera dancing with the bride we left the crew and grabbed the 7 lira *5 bucks* jug of wine we had left over from our boat trip and got drunk on our way to dinner. The next day Russ and I made the plunge and purchased rugs before heading to Konya, the birthplace of the whirling dervish. Jacinta and Ryan remained in Egirdir for some mountain biking, more hiking etc.

Konya was an interesting town - definitely does not get the tourists the rest of the places we have been to get, but it was nice to have a little change of pace. We got in to late in the day to do the dervish museum so we had a walk around and had a nice big dinner and collapsed into bed early. I was feeling the burn of the rug as my bag is now almost twice as heavy.

The next day we were up early and off to museums - on our way to one a turkish gentlemen passed us and ended up showing us the way to the museum and telling us a little history of Konya and of the dervish - the museum was a private collection of artifacts that one man had collected and donated to the gov't, his house was also part of the museum so you could see a traditional turkish home from the middle of the 20th century - the gentlemen was also helpful at arranging for us to view the house - it turned out the reason he was so helpful was because he had a rug shop he wanted to show us - which turned out to be about a block away from our hotel - basically the man saw us walk past his rug shop and followed us across town in order to get us in his shop - we felt obliged to go and russ, after some orange tea (warm tang) and swapping pick up lines, was somewhat suckered into getting another rug - but it's a nice little piece and the story is a memorable one.

we made our way to the dervish museum, which is a site of pilgrimage during the month of december but also houses a hair of mohammad's beard so it is a site of much religious significance - so that was pretty interesting and exciting.

after the museum we found two really cool shops - one felt shop that actually has two exhibitions currently going on in the US - a husband and wife team that uses traditional felting methods (the ones used to make the hats the dervish wear) and new experimental methods to make blankets, rugs, scarves etc - they had some amazing pieces and actually teach courses in the US and turkey, so it's on my list of things to do.

we also discovered one of the wholesalers for ABC Carpet and Home (one of my favorite stores i can't afford) after unfolding many wonderful textiles from iran, uzbekistan, turkey and other places, and bemoaning my lack of funds (it would take being a millionaire to feel comfortable spending money there) Russ and I got back on the road and made our way to Cappadocia.

come sail away

ah - what can i say - sailing down the coast was amazing - it has got to be the most relaxing experience i have ever had in my life - we were on a boat with 13 others - mostly from Australia and new zealand - although there were 3 other americans.

we had all our meals provided on the boat and slept up on deck under the stairs every evening. we spent our days swimming and sleeping in the sun as we sailed to ruins, small towns, and even a smugglers bar in a little cove (it felt like being in the pirates of the Caribbean ride - except you could drink, and there were crazy new zealanders dancing like maniacs and fire walking)

we have bonded with two other wandering souls and will now continue our adventures in the company of jacinta, who is from australia and ryan who is from oregon. we're not exactly sure our plan but we're talking about going up to the lake country, hitting konya (birthplace of the whirling dervishes) and then on to cappadocia.

right now i'm sitting in olympos - a most beautiful spot nestled in between the mountains on the southern coast of turkey near anatalya - the valley is filled with greek/roman ruins, a rocky strand of beach, and amazing mountains - there are only guest houses - no town - so it's just a little oasis of a spot for backpackers.

i'll load more photos when we get back to istanbul. we've taken tons - although mostly of ruins and old churches/mosques so i don't really know how exciting they will be.

efes and beyond

so ephesus - efes in turkish - is a wonderful oasis of ruins, vıneyards, mulberry trees, and olive groves. we walked for miles yesterday and after only about 5 hours of sleep on our 12 hours of bus ride from istanbul to sulçuk - the town that efes ıs ın - we were exhausted, we got slap happy on mulberry juice well at a little rest stop on our walk - it seems exhaustion can serve as a cheaper way of getting drunk. we,re staying at a lovely hostel and have met some fellow back packers - mostly from canada - so far americans seem few and far between - except when it comes to big organized bus tours.

we have just booked a cruise on the aegean sea - we will be sailing from fethiye to olympos. İ can,t wait to be out on the water and taking in the coast from a sail boat and exploring ruins by swimming over them.

i,ll update the photos when we get back to istanbul in two weeks.

day 2

our luggage arrived around 9 in the evening - so we wasted much of the afternoon on day 1 just waiting for our luggage to arrive... but once we showered and put on fresh clothes we were out the door to a local brew pub - apparently a new thing on the Istanbul bar scene - to toast the arrival of our clothes.

We got an early start on day two and caught a ferry to old Istanbul - the part that had been known as Constantinople. We toured the Topkapi Palace - the palace of the sultans and the harem - the photo above is from one of the ceilings in the harem - which means private place - but anywhere from 300 to 500 concubines did live in the harem to serve as the wives of the sultan, the princes as well as for court officials.

We spent hours touring the buildings and grounds, which stand in the shadow of the Hagia Sophia, our next destination. That Hagia Sophia is amazing - it was rebuilt in 414 - i think it maybe on of the oldest buildings i have ever been in. Aside from all of the beautiful tile work that is being exposed from under the plaster that was put over it when it was claimed by the Muslims and made into the mosque after being a church for a thousand something years - the shear size of the dome is just something to be in awe of.

After taking in the views we went across the street to the Basilica Cistern - built by Constantine to help solve water issues - it was built using columns from other buildings - apparently they also salvaged some medusa heads - so the big attraction was two medusa heads - one which was upside down and one which was on its side that support two of the columns. But just seeing the structures and knowing that the cistern has existed for almost 2000 years was the real attraction - people lowered buckets down into the cistern to bring water back up to their homes and sometimes they even caught fish in their bucks - many fish remain today swimming in the underground well... they look well fed - there's now a cafe down there as well and they have a stage were small concerts are held in the summer - it's pretty darn cool.

We then wandered through the old streets to the grand bazaar just to have a peek - we're saving the shopping until the end of the trip - it wasn't nearly as overwhelming as i thought it would be - put it is really hectic and people try to get your attention at almost every stall - we came out and made our way through the maze of old streets down to the spice market where we picked up a box of lukum - turkish delight - there are so many amazing smells - i'll be sure to bring home spices for everyone to try.

back on the ferry we relaxed and took in the views - we were exhausted at this point - but the walk home nearly killed us - we went a little off track - and it was all uphill - after a day of being on our feet - it was the last thing we wanted to be doing. We finally got home, took cold showers, and Zeynep took us out for a night on the town. We went to this amazing restaurant on the top of an old apartment building - we had amazing views of the city and the food was wonderful - Russ took the plunge and tried Raki - a turkish anise based alcohol - you mix it with water - but even then i don't think i could drink it. After dinner we went basically to the party street - there were hundreds of people out walking, eating, drinking on the main strip of Beyoglu - a little like Hollywood Blvd or Times square - minus the cars and plus a lot more people and action. We wove down narrow streets filled with cafes and bars until we found Zeynep's favorite dive - beers were cheap, the guns and roses was blaring, and there was plenty of people watching. After a round of cheap beers we went back out to find a more trendy bar that had amazing views - it was a great night out filled with amazing views of the city.

a little taste

I'm starting this blog on Turkish blogger - so i kinda have no idea what i'm doing or if this will even work since i can't read the directions... but i've gotten this far without understanding what i'm doing.... so here it goes....

We arrived in Istanbul yesterday afternoon after a smooth flight from NYC to Rome - which seems very lovely from the airport - we joked it would have been nice to have had plane issues and have to spend a day or two in Rome - however everything went as scheduled except apparently our luggage decided to spend an extra day in Rome, touring without us. After arriving in Istanbul Russ ominously said as we approached the luggage carousel "well this has been a smooth trip so far" never something that should be uttered when you're waiting to get your luggage as we soon found out.

We had a nice taxi ride through town to Zeynep's apartment - a friend of Anna's from school - who graciously offered to host us while we are in Istanbul - we couldn't have asked for a nicer host or nicer place to stay - after dealing with the luggage issue it was nice to know we had a place to go and didn't have to search around for a hostel. Zeynep lives in an area of town - much like Soho... it's a chic shopping area filled with cafes, lots of cool bars and all my favorite shops from London and Spain - a good thing for a girl who has missing luggage - although i'm trying to hold off on shopping, as our luggage has been promised to arrive at some point this evening.

Russ and I had a big sleep after a nice meal and a couple of Efes beers in some of the cool little bars that populate the neighborhood. We woke this morning and headed down to the water to tour one of the old Palaces, only to find it was closed for the day so we enjoyed cay (tea) at a little cafe along the water front and watched the ferries come and go. We eventually made our way through much of the side of town we're staying in - poked around a couple of mosques and wound through some beautiful narrow old streets up to the Galata tower where we took in the view of the city - which is divided on 3 peninsulas - eventually heading back to Zeynep's apartment to wait for the luggage to arrive.

a little taste

We arrived in Istanbul yesterday afternoon after a smooth flight from NYC to Rome - which seems very lovely from the airport - we joked it would have been nice to have had plane issues and have to spend a day or two in Rome - however everything went as scheduled except apparently our luggage decided to spend an extra day in Rome, touring without us. After arriving in Istanbul Russ ominously said as we approached the luggage carousel "well this has been a smooth trip so far" never something that should be uttered when you're waiting to get your luggage as we soon found out.

We had a nice taxi ride through town to Zeynep's apartment - a friend of Anna's from school - who graciously offered to host us while we are in Istanbul - we couldn't have asked for a nicer host or nicer place to stay - after dealing with the luggage issue it was nice to know we had a place to go and didn't have to search around for a hostel. Zeynep lives in an area of town - much like Soho... it's a chic shopping area filled with cafes, lots of cool bars and all my favorite shops from London and Spain - a good thing for a girl who has missing luggage - although i'm trying to hold off on shopping, as our luggage has been promised to arrive at some point this evening.

Russ and I had a big sleep after a nice meal and a couple of Efes beers in some of the cool little bars that populate the neighborhood. We woke this morning and headed down to the water to tour one of the old Palaces, only to find it was closed for the day so we enjoyed cay (tea) at a little cafe along the water front and watched the ferries come and go. We eventually made our way through much of the side of town we're staying in - poked around a couple of mosques and wound through some beautiful narrow old streets up to the Galata tower where we took in the view of the city - which is divided on 3 peninsulas - eventually heading back to Zeynep's apartment to wait for the luggage to arrive.