Into day 3 of a 15 day GAP Adventures tour of Turkey. Flight from Zagreb to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines was uneventful. Indeed, I was surprised that they have a relatively new fleet and more leg room than normal these days though I guess this comes as a result of paying more than normal for a short flight.
Istanbul airport is modern, only getting through customs took some time. Public transport into the heart of the old city is really easy and cheap via the Metro and Tram system. The city is huge though you see most of the main sights easily on foot or via tram if you stay in the main tourist area.
Our group is 8 plus a local tour leader. 4 from Canada, 2 from the US and 1 Australian. I am not sure yet if we will end as a happy group as there are some personalities that could develop into irritations. Time will tell and it does usually take the full 2 weeks before tensions ( if any ) boil over on these types of trips.
I was last in Istanbul in 2007 but did some of the main sights again including the Blue Mosque. Then it was a night train to Ankara on which I did not sleep well. The train was modern and comfortable so there was no good reason for not sleeping. In Ankara, we visited a museum and the no.1 sight in Ankara...the tomb of Attaturk, the founding father of modern turkey and still revered by most Turks today. We now have a 14 seater minibus for most of our travels. First stop is here in Goreme in the Cappadocia region. There are all sorts of weird rock formations as a result of uneven erosion of volcanic soils. You will have to wait on the photos to see these. As well, being in the path of maraunding invaders over millenia, the local communities used the relatively soft rock to build extensive towns underground, going down 60 or so metres over 6 - 8 levels. These they would use during emergencies, successfully from the invaders. They were also used by very earlier christians during various purges during the early stages of this religion. Several churches are carved into the rock. However, the whole area is a very popular tourist destination with all the negatives that go with this. Souvenir shops galore. I am going to a "trap" tonight...demostrations of various local ethnic dancing including the whirling dervishes as well as a belly dancer. You can tell what sort of "dramas" these will be when they offer unlimited free alcohol!!!
Eventhough technically a muslim country, it's the light version here. Quite a few of the older women wear a headscarf but the full chador is rare. Beside the call to pray 5 times a day ( the first at about 4:30 am ) and the presence of mosques everywhere, you don't really feel you are in a muslim country. Alcohol is freely available and consumed by many of the locals. Surprisingly large numbers of people still smoke. Some tea houses also double as places where mainly men go to smoke hooka pipes.
More trekking amongst the "fairy chimneys", as the most common rocks formations are called tomorrow and in the evening, dinner with a local family.
On the bright side, weather is delightfully hot and sunny. Probably to early 30's today with not a cloud in sight. A bit cooler at night.
We have 3 nights here before moving down to Konya and towards the Mediterraen coast.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
