Photographic Voyage

Turkey has so much to offer that we highly recommend that everyone should look into a very long extended vacation here. Turkey has history that dates back thousands of years, a fascinating Middle Eastern and European culture, and spectacular and unique landscapes that can only be found in this region of the world. Oh, and there's the stunning Mediterranean coast, too.

Istanbul

Thirty minutes after arriving in the Middle East, I left our "Middle East" guidebook on the Istanbul subway on our way from the airport to the city center. Without a map and only from memory, we managed to make our way to the same hostel that we stayed at on a trip to Istanbul in 2005. It was still there, and they had some beds for us. We decided four years ago that Istanbul was one of our favorite places, and this time around it didn't disappoint either, despite the lost guidebook, resulting hunt for an English book store, a case of food poisoning, and a long trip to the relocated Egyptian embassy ("You no need visa! America is number one!"). We wandered into the Blue Mosque at night and saw it as the locals do. Then we meandered through the Grand Bazaar, the more interesting Spice Bazaar, and the even more interesting local shopping areas between the two. We went into "The New Mosque" in Emininou which was built in the 1600's before wandering up into Taksim to grab some Baklava and a big bowl of chocolate mousse. We took a day to travel up the Bosphorus on the ferry to a few suburban areas and visited a fish market and various scenic views of the city. This truly is the most amazing city in the world. Where else can you take a one dollar ferry ride from Europe to Asia?

Pamukkale

From Istanbul we ventured south on a bus that felt more like an airplane. A steward served us drinks and cake in our comfortable seats while we admired the mountainous scenery and small villages of the Turkish countryside. (This type of bus would become the norm for our travels in Turkey.) We arrived in Pamukkale fairly late at night and found a nice but cheap hotel. Rather, they found us. It seems to be the Turkish way that no tourist may stray off by themselves for too long without a Turkish chaperon to point them in the right direction. At first this can be annoying, but once we learned to differentiate between the "salesmen" and the honest do-gooder citizens, we just went with the flow.

The next day we went up the hill to the historical and natural site that is Pamukkale and Hieropolis. A natural spring rich in calcium and other minerals has poured water down the side of the hill for thousands of years creating a surreal scene of travertine pools made from smooth white calcium. Each pool spills into the next and the water is clear and blue. We had been told that most of the pools were now empty (due to a lack of water), but we were still impressed. On top of the pools, ruins of the ancient town of Hieropolis dominate the hilltop. We found rows of columns and a huge ancient stadium, at the top of which were amazing views across the valley.

The Lycean Way

Had we not lost our "Middle East" guidebook and replaced it with an even thicker and more informative "Turkey" guidebook, we never would have learned about a three-day hike along the Mediterranean coast known as the Lycean Way. From Pamukkale we took another cake-filled bus to Fethiye on the coast and found a nice guesthouse with a great view overlooking the harbor.

That night I slipped in the bathroom and smacked my foot into the wall, breaking a few of my toes. At least I think they were broken, and the next day we were planning to do a 3-day hike. The next morning my toes were black and blue and hurt like hell, but I could walk. So, we followed the instructions in our book and found our little minibus to a very small nearby town on the coast named Kabak which would be the start of our hike. Once there, we found the trail which went up the side of the steep mountains overlooking a small crystal clear cove. A few small buildings could be seen near the beach, and we ended up staying at a brand new "hotel" on the beach. It had just opened the week before, and they told us we were some of the first customers. Since this was a fairly remote place, it was more of a campground and not so much of a hotel. They had small bamboo structures for the guests, but each contained a very comfortable bed with nice blankets. Dinner and breakfast were included, and we ate dinner and sat around the campfire with a small group of other guests from various places. There were two older women from Denmark, a man from Germany, and another group of German men cruising along the coast in their sailboat. The food at dinner was amazing, and breakfast the next morning was equally as good. We swam in the clear water of the Mediterranean and looked up at the mountains in between lounging on the beach and wandering through the nearby forest. However, we had to eventually leave this hidden paradise and continue our hike back towards Fethiye. Along the way, we passed through a few small towns with amazing views of the sea. The locals mainly farm their land and produce honey from the large number of beehives nearby. Since it was spring, the wildflowers in the mountains were in full bloom, and the scenery was spectacular. Later we reached the next town where we stayed at another guesthouse that fed us dinner and breakfast. Since we were closer to civilization, this place was more luxurious with a pool and air conditioning. Finally, on our last day we hiked up and over a ridge with an amazing view of Oludinez, a town on the coast surrounded by mountains with a unique beach that extended out on a peninsula into a small bay.

The Blue Cruise

At the end of our hike we ended up back in Fethiye just in time to hop on a Gulet for a four day cruise along the coast. The cheesy "Blue Cruise" name comes from the clear blue waters that are found along the coast. Our boat was a modern representation of an old Gulet sailing ship, and it had 8 cabins. There were 9 passengers and 3 crewmen, which was a perfect size for a fun and relaxing trip from Fethiye to a town named Olympos down the coast. Over the next few days we anchored in various scenic swimming holes, saw small towns and ruins along the coast, and at one point swam into a large cave with bats. The crew kept us well fed. We were so relaxed that we didn't want to leave, but when we did we found ourselves in Olympos, a place with a dramatic cliff-lined beach, ancient ruins, and guesthouses known for their tree house hotel rooms and home made food.

Cappadocia

Our next stop was Cappadocia, a region in central Turkey with a unique mountainous landscape. Various rock formations stick up out of the ground, and long ago the local people carved their homes out of the rocks. The resulting "fairy chimneys" as they are called dot the landscape. We found a hotel that had been carved out of the rock, and our hotel room was inside a cave. We spent the next few days hiking through the area, discovering various carved-out rocks that had been transformed into small cities, churches, and homes. One day we went down the road to a huge underground city that was used as a hiding place against invaders. Apparently over 10,000 people could live in this place - it was truly amazing. Later that day we visited a castle carved from the highest rock in the area, and then hiked down through the valley back to our town amidst the fairy chimneys.

The Kurdish Region

From Cappadocia we ventured to southeastern Turkey, which is dominated by the Kurdish people. Our first stop was the city of Diyarbakir, a large town with an imposing ancient wall and narrow alleyways. As we walked through the town, the people were extremely friendly and social. They wanted to know where we were from and where we had traveled. They were very proud of their Kurdish heritage, and constantly asked us to take their photos. We also ate lots of baklava and watermelon.

Next we hopped on a bus to the small town of Hasenkeyf along the Tigris river. Here the river has carved out some cliffs along one side of it, and the town and the ruins of an old fortress sit within and above the cliff. We ate a lunch of grilled fish at a small restaurant that had tables and lounging platforms sticking up out of the shallow water of the riverbank. Then we climbed the cliffs to see the ruins and the amazing view over the valley. Supposedly this town and many others nearby are soon going to be flooded by the construction of a new dam. The locals are protesting the construction, but in the meantime no new investments are being made in the town and the population is slowly decreasing. This would probably explain the overpriced crummy hotel that we had to stay in, the only one in town. Despite this the town was very scenic and worth the visit.

Next we took another short bus ride to Mardin, a town sitting on the top of a hill at the edge of a mountain range overlooking the desert. All of the buildings, including the scenic mosques and bazaar, were made of a golden colored stone and trickled down the side of the hill. It was a nice place to wander around and relax.

Finally, our last stop was in Sanliurfa (or Urfa as the locals call it), a fairly large city with great restaurants, a large bazaar, and a lot of nice public parks. It became a regular event for us to purchase some of the local baklava after exploring the town. On one of our days here we took a day trip to Harran, the home town of Abraham from the Old Testament. Harran claims to be the oldest inhabited town in the world (but we would later visit several other places that also make the same claim). Harran had ruins of an old fortress alongside many "beehive" conical shaped homes that the locals have lived in for centuries.

After a month in Turkey, it was time to leave. We ate some great food, met some very nice Turks and Kurds, and saw places that can't be found anywhere else. Next stop: Syria.