Adventures in Turkey
Hello all,
It's been a long couple of weeks here in Turkey, but all in all it's been a whole heck of a lot of fun.
We've done too much and covered too much ground - literally 3900 kilometres - to go over all the details, but here are my general impressions of the country and some of the highlights of our time here. We started in Istanbul, then went to Ankara, Goreme (in the region of Cappadocia) Malatya, Nemrut Dagi, Selifke, Antalya Kas, Fethiye, Selchuck, and now we are in Cannakale, which is right next door to Gallipoli. Tommorrow (at 5am - blah!!) we head back to Istanbul to complete our circle around Turkey. Whew!
Impressions:
Turkey is a very odd mix of the Middle East and Europe. The infrastructure is definitely European. The trains are nicer than ones I've been on in Italy and Spain. The busses are definitely some of the nicest I've ever been on, which is a damn good thing because this trip has entailed at least 4 hours on a bus every second day (need I re-mention the 3900 kilometres). One of our bus trips was 9 hours and one was a whopping 11 hours. And, as some of you
may know, I can't read on busses because I get motion sickness, so I needless to say, I was popping a whole bunch of gravel. (Thanks Lindz - that was a great Trip Gift!).
Anyway, the busses have been air conditioned, relatively comfy and some have even had TVs, just like on planes! Too bad the only channels they get are ones with weird and incredibly melodramatic Turkish soap operas on them... There is always a 'conductor' on the bus who periodically serves water, soft drinks and snacks and also splashes this neat collogne type stuff on your hands...it cleans them and makes them smell nice:) It's amazing how entertaining hand collogne can be after 7 hours on a bus...
Speaking of cleaning, one of my general impressions of Turkey is that the people are very, very hygenic. (That comes from being 95% Muslim I think, because Muslims must be clean before they can pray.) Every single washroom I've been in, whether it be in a hotel in a major city, or a dive road stop in the middle of nowhere, has had soap! A very nice touch I think.
So, the infrastructure of Turkey is very modern and western; good train, good buses, good roads, clean toilets...all great. But the vibe in Turkey is decidedly not Western. It's hard to describe; it's not distinctly arabic, like Egypt was; for example they use western script not arabic, so all the signs are legible. But it doesn't feel western either. I guess I just have to go with the traditional cliche of Turkey being a mix or a bridge between east and west.
One thing that has been a problem here is being vegetarian; B & I have eaten so many freaken' tomatoes, I'm practically turning red...
Trip Highlights:
Kayaking in Kas (pronouced 'Cash')
B and I went sea kayaking on the Mediteranian for a full day, which was just lovely!
Another highlight was DEFINITELY paragliding in Fethiye. Don't worry Mom; I'm fine!!!
From the coastal town of Fethiye we drove about 45 strait up along very dusty and windy roads until we arrived at a big hill 2100 metres above sea level. Then the paragliding-expert-dude clipped me onto his parachute and said 'run'..... I ran for about 2 steps and then was floating thousands of feet above the Mediteranean. The paragliding ride down took about 15 minutes and it was fun as well as beautiful. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended!
- Me: About to jump off a mountain! YIPEE:)
- Me in the process of jumping off a mountain!
- SuperBrad!
- View from the parachute...
More photos coming...
TK
It's been a long couple of weeks here in Turkey, but all in all it's been a whole heck of a lot of fun.
We've done too much and covered too much ground - literally 3900 kilometres - to go over all the details, but here are my general impressions of the country and some of the highlights of our time here. We started in Istanbul, then went to Ankara, Goreme (in the region of Cappadocia) Malatya, Nemrut Dagi, Selifke, Antalya Kas, Fethiye, Selchuck, and now we are in Cannakale, which is right next door to Gallipoli. Tommorrow (at 5am - blah!!) we head back to Istanbul to complete our circle around Turkey. Whew!
Impressions:
Turkey is a very odd mix of the Middle East and Europe. The infrastructure is definitely European. The trains are nicer than ones I've been on in Italy and Spain. The busses are definitely some of the nicest I've ever been on, which is a damn good thing because this trip has entailed at least 4 hours on a bus every second day (need I re-mention the 3900 kilometres). One of our bus trips was 9 hours and one was a whopping 11 hours. And, as some of you
may know, I can't read on busses because I get motion sickness, so I needless to say, I was popping a whole bunch of gravel. (Thanks Lindz - that was a great Trip Gift!).
Anyway, the busses have been air conditioned, relatively comfy and some have even had TVs, just like on planes! Too bad the only channels they get are ones with weird and incredibly melodramatic Turkish soap operas on them... There is always a 'conductor' on the bus who periodically serves water, soft drinks and snacks and also splashes this neat collogne type stuff on your hands...it cleans them and makes them smell nice:) It's amazing how entertaining hand collogne can be after 7 hours on a bus...
Speaking of cleaning, one of my general impressions of Turkey is that the people are very, very hygenic. (That comes from being 95% Muslim I think, because Muslims must be clean before they can pray.) Every single washroom I've been in, whether it be in a hotel in a major city, or a dive road stop in the middle of nowhere, has had soap! A very nice touch I think.
So, the infrastructure of Turkey is very modern and western; good train, good buses, good roads, clean toilets...all great. But the vibe in Turkey is decidedly not Western. It's hard to describe; it's not distinctly arabic, like Egypt was; for example they use western script not arabic, so all the signs are legible. But it doesn't feel western either. I guess I just have to go with the traditional cliche of Turkey being a mix or a bridge between east and west.
One thing that has been a problem here is being vegetarian; B & I have eaten so many freaken' tomatoes, I'm practically turning red...
Trip Highlights:
Kayaking in Kas (pronouced 'Cash')
B and I went sea kayaking on the Mediteranian for a full day, which was just lovely!
Another highlight was DEFINITELY paragliding in Fethiye. Don't worry Mom; I'm fine!!!
From the coastal town of Fethiye we drove about 45 strait up along very dusty and windy roads until we arrived at a big hill 2100 metres above sea level. Then the paragliding-expert-dude clipped me onto his parachute and said 'run'..... I ran for about 2 steps and then was floating thousands of feet above the Mediteranean. The paragliding ride down took about 15 minutes and it was fun as well as beautiful. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended!
- Me: About to jump off a mountain! YIPEE:)
- Me in the process of jumping off a mountain!
- SuperBrad!
- View from the parachute...
Trip Lowlight:
Getting violently sick at the very picturesque harbour front in Antalya...Wasn't feeling well, but decided to go for a walk around the old town of Antalya to get some fresh air. But the Evil Green Monster that had taken up (thankfully temporary) residence in my tummy decided that my walk was not to be a success...so I ended up throwing up dockside...probably not so picturesque for all the poor people on their boats nearby....It was horribly embarrassing... and 'no' there are no photos! I spent the rest of our time in Antalya wearing in a path between my bed and the toilet in our hotel room. sigh. But no worries, I'm all better now!
Getting violently sick at the very picturesque harbour front in Antalya...Wasn't feeling well, but decided to go for a walk around the old town of Antalya to get some fresh air. But the Evil Green Monster that had taken up (thankfully temporary) residence in my tummy decided that my walk was not to be a success...so I ended up throwing up dockside...probably not so picturesque for all the poor people on their boats nearby....It was horribly embarrassing... and 'no' there are no photos! I spent the rest of our time in Antalya wearing in a path between my bed and the toilet in our hotel room. sigh. But no worries, I'm all better now!
More photos coming...
TK
posted by TK at 8:17 AM
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