Wednesday 28 May 2014

Cappadocia, Turkey

Our first overnight bus surprisingly wasn't horrible.. We both managed to get about 5 hours of sleep. Which is a personal best for Chelsey! No bathrooms on the bus, so during our 12 hour ride We stopped three times for what seemed like forever...but we arrived safely at 7 am and got picked up by our hotel manager

Cappadocia area is a "must-see" in Turkey. It is dreamscape dotted with fairy chimneys (rock formations) and is unlike anywhere else on the planet!!


 




 The “fairy chimneys" were formed millions of years ago from volcanic lava turning to tuff with basalt on top. Eventually, erosion wore the tuff into narrow towers but the basalt tops remained, leaving behind the odd chimney-looking shapes. Throughout history, the caves and chimneys were carved out to form homes, monasteries, and excellent hiding places. Today they are a major tourist attraction and many of the caves and chimneys are used as hotels and restaurants.

We stayed in a cave! In the beautiful village of Goreme! Our views were spectacular especially during sunrise and sunset.








  We spent several hours each day hiking through the valleys. There were 5 main valleys around the town, each with their own name, respective to what the rock formations looked like..


















Anyways, as you can see in the pictures, Cappadocia is very unique and stunning.

A highlight of our whole trip was taking an air balloon over the valleys.

 We did a lot so research to select a good balloon company, and we were beyond pleased with Turkeye Balloons.
At 4:30 am sharp they picked us up and took us to their restaurant where a plentiful buffet met us. About 40 people were having breakfast, but the company soon divided us into two groups and we were driven to Rose Valley to watch our air balloon get blown up.






 We boarded the balloon with about 25 people, 5 to a section and 2 pilots. We were comfortable and enjoyed the company of the pilot and the fellow tourists from India.
 

Our pilot expertly flew us low to view the scenery, then weaved us in and around rock formations, then had us the highest balloon in the sky..








Apparently 130 balloons used to fly in the morning, but the government cut back for safety reasons and now there is a maximum of 100 balloons in the sky every morning. Which is still a ton!!About 2,000 people are in the air every day!!

We lucked out with a perfectly calm morning and watched the sun rise through the clouds. It was incredible!


After 70 minutes in the air, we landed perfectly on the platform and had champagne and juice in the field.then we were each awarded a certificate signed by the pilot. Lol.. Which was cute .. However, my certificate stated that Celsey Zunti rode the air balloon. Haha...close enough.  


 Cappadocia also has hundreds of underground cities. It’s not known exactly how many underground cities there are but some estimate around 300. The city we visited was several stories below ground. They were used long ago for communities to escape from enemies. It is believed that Christians settled in the area during the fourth century, as they were persecuted for their faith.

 The most incredible aspects of the Cappadocia underground cities are their sheer size and complexity. Some of these cities are eight levels underground, with living quarters and facilities for making grape juice, cooking, drainage and plumbing and even stables for horses. these underground cities were vital forts, protecting their citizens from intruders.

 we spent hours exploring above ground cave homes and churches which dated back to the 13th century. This particular monastic settlement was where 20 monks lived.



 Can you imagine your family sleeping and eating here?.. I only pretended for a couple minutes and it was very uncomfortable! Lol
Aside from the hot air balloon ride,one of our favourite days was finding a trail and hiking through the serene valley, saying hello to other hikers. We managed to walk 4 km to the nearby town in our flip flops!! Once at the town, we climbed a castle and found ourselves humming "I'm the king of the castle.. Your the dirty rascal.."

                                    ."



    Then we enjoyed a long delicious lunch in a tree house restaurant overlooking the valley. We love the food here. It's a lot of flavoured beef and chicken. (No pork, hence the. Muslim culture),.. Kebabs, rice, salads, tea


We walked ourselves tired and boarded our second night bus at 8:30.
Night bus = fail. Tiny seats, hot bus, annoying workers,long stop,lights on,coffee served at 3am???.. Grr.. One hour of sleep for each of us= grumpy and tired Ashton and Chelsey...
Now were in Antalya. A beautiful port city. On our way to the turquoise coast!!

Saturday 24 May 2014

Istanbul, TURKEY

Turkey!!
It is said that Turkey is where "East meets West".. And so far, that quote has proven true. Istanbul is the only city in the world which is on two continents,..Europe AND Asia. We have seen a little bit of the Asian side, and a little bit of the European side, (culturally, and physically)..hence the quote "East meets West".. But overall, this country is so unique and we are having a hard time finding the perfect words to describe this place.


We have only been in Turkey for six days, of which 3 were spent in Istanbul and 3 spent in Cappadocia. So I think it's fair to say we have barely scratched the surface.

This country is huge!, and Istanbul even huger.. Or so it felt..

Istanbul is the fifth largest city in the world!,! (Based on population)..there are over 14 million citizens living in the city.!! Add in the hoards of tourists, and you have a very densely populated city!

As our guide book says "this marvellous metropolis is an exercise in sensory seduction like no other".. Which is entirely true. We were in awe while we explored this magnificent city.

From seeing the worlds most famous mosques, to walking along chic boutiques, to shopping in the Grand Bazzar, to ferrying between Asia and Europe,.. This city is alive and exciting!!

For being such a large city, we were impressed with how clean and quiet it was. The metro system was very easy to use and the people were fairly good at English. Unfortunately we did see poverty, with children running around begging for food and money, and we did get overwhelmed with the enormity of the city, but overall, it's a city I would recommend others to see. It really is bustling!

We often found ourselves sitting on a bench with coffee or beer in hand, simply people watching, enjoying the view of the sights, and listening to the call to prayer.


 We stayed in a tiny hotel in the centre of "old city" (Sultanahmet) which is a world heritage site packed with so many wonderful sights.

                                                   (Our view from our hotel room)
Blue Mosque- This 17th century Ottoman mosque is beautiful. And remains a place of prayer up to this day. We entered in appropriate attire, bare feet, shoulders and. Head covered.



 Aya Sofya- one of the worlds most glorious buildings.

Grand Bazaar- a colourful, chaotic, enclosed market. Shops lined up selling gold, silver, carpets, clothing, lamps and souvenirs. It was really neat to walk through and do a bit of shopping, however very easy to get lost in the maze of streets and shops.



 Spice Bazaar- another incredible roofed market selling spices, olive products, turkish treats and other cooking products. I think this market was a little bit busier as we were weaving in and out of people, majority were local Shoppers.

 Basilica Cistern- an amazing underground vault consisting of 300+ columns and over 100,000 gallons of water. The water was distributed among the ancient city.

 Ferry ride- a 90 minute ferry through the Bosphorus river from Europe to Asia. A really nice escape from the city, and a neat way to see the unique skyline.

 We left the tourist area and walked across the Golden Horn Bridge to the Galata area. The bridge was lined with fisherman, and men selling orange juice,pastries, ice cream, water, nuts..

 we we're amazed to find a modern street lined with brand name shops, malls, cinemas, cafés, etc. along with street performers and business looking people.

 Galata tower was a great way to see a 360* of the city. Just like everything else in Turkey, this tower was full of history... During one period of history, prisoners of war were housed and worked as slaves in the tower.



 When travelling in Turkey one must try hookah. In the Middle East people smoke waterpipe as part of their culture and tradition. Shisha cafés are very popular in Istanbul. So we tried strawberry banana hookah and it was a sweet treat. I would like to believe that majority of the hookah is now nicotine and caffeine free with all of the anti-smoking laws in place. Regardless, it was fun to experience a Shisha cafe.



 Another interesting cultural tradition is the turkish bath. Aka "hamams". A turkish bath is supposed to be very relaxing and cleansing. The long and short of it is that you have a turkish woman or man, scrub you down and rinse you off. I just had to see what all the hype is about, so I decided to experience my very first,and probably last turkish bath. Despite my begging, Ashton very firmly stated that he did not want to have another man scrub him down Ha ha...

Here's how it went for me..
I paid up front for a traditional turkish bath and a massage. (The name of the place was Cemberlitas hamami , which is a a beautiful building with lots of history, dating back to 1584 and elegant rooms-
 one of the major reasons I selected this location. Also, it was a top tourist place so I figured best to get my first turkish bath with other tourists, rather than find myself in the midst of a whole bunch of turkish ladies..ha ha
I was pointed to a female change room and given a towel, disposable bottoms, and rubber sandals. From there an older turkish lady waved her arms and pushed me along to the steam room. I sat down on the marble and admired the room. My turkish lady spoke broken English "where from?" After I replied, she squeezed my cheeks, said "so nice", then smacked my bottom and said "baby baby from Canada"....????? LOL... She abruptly left and I relaxed in the steam room with a couple other female tourists. After about 15 minutes she was back and began scrubbing my body with a hand scrubber. I was quite disgusted to see the black rolls of gunk all over my body. ...( She scrubbed off five months of sunscreen, sand, sweat, grease, and god knows what else?.. Lol...after 15 minutes of scrubbing , she soaped me up, and I was covered in foam. Then she literally pulled me over to the water jug and began dumping pails of warm water over my head!.. I wasn't expecting that and sputtered, while
trying to breathe through the water..
Then I was allowed to soak in the jacuzzi for a while before my massage.

In all, I felt squeaky clean when I left and actually did feel relaxed! An interesting experience!


(These men and children are cleaning their hands, face and feet before they enter the mosque to pray)

"Turkey is 99% Muslim, practising a more relaxed version of Islam than many other Middle Eastern. Countries."- Lonely Planet.


 After 3 days of wandering around Istanbul, we hopped on a 12 hour night bus to Cappadocia!! Since there is so much to tell you about Istanbul, we decided that it should be it's own blog! .. Stay tuned for our air ballooning and trekking adventures in Cappadocia!!