Turkey. Words seem to do nothing but injustice to the sights and sounds of the cradle of civilisation. Absolutely amazing, astounding and awe-inspriring don't even come close. Even if I didn't get to see snow. Frikkin weather had to choose then to go topsy turvy and have summer in winter.
Trip didn't start out too well though. Turkish Airlines must have some bloody gall, daring to call themselves a national airline. Must admit I had major reservations about the trip while on the plane. It was just soooooooo budget, so frikkin amateurish it became almost a comedy show. The antics of the crew were far more entertaining than anything they decided to screen on during the flight. Not that the screen was any good in the first place; lets just say the movie screen experienced far more turbulence than a hot air balloon in a snowstorm. The crew went about bumbling all over the place, even managing to somehow push their food carts in opposing directions on the same aisle and meeting in the middle with a terrific testament to their incompetence. The return flight was slightly better but if they're trying to send the message about the ability of their planes to get there against all odds then... well... they're doing a good job.
The Blue Mosque. Didn't get my wish and photograph it with snowflakes all around but Mosque didn't need a single speck of white to make the entire group's jaws drop open in wonder. Seeing it in real life is worlds apart from looking at it from pictures. And if you think the outside is magnificent, check out the interior.
I just hope that don't say allahu akbar
That dome is more than 30 metres high and every bit of the inside is covered in gorgeous painted mosaic tile. Imagine that. No electric tools, no computer diagrams and sure as hell no Phua Chu Kang. Every bit of it painstakingly done by hand. There was another mosque, the Hagia Sophia.
It used to be the biggest church in the world till the Ottomans took Constantinople (Istanbul) and turned it into a mosque. Architects today are still trying to figure out what on earth is holding that 40 metre high dome up and how on earth people in the 16th century could've put up something like that. Without much success evidently. All they've found is that if they move a single piece of stone in the structure, the whole thing will come down like house of cards. If you can imagine 100 ton cards that is.
Then it was off to Anakara and the Anatolian Civilisations Museum. Millenia old cave paintings and stautes and all, but somehow I was far more entertained by other stuff.
You'll have to excuse my friend, she lost her head
Obviously the feeling ain't mutual
Thats the darling of the tour group. Say hi to Christina! She looks sooooooooo darned cute in that coat. Like Boo fron Monsters Inc. She had people eating out of her hand every darned where we went. Our little super star in my sister's words. Ain't that the truth
When the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, died the Turks decided to bring up the ol architectural prowress again. And obviously nothing's changed. Thats just the courtyard of Ataturk's mausoleum. The actual ground area is way way bigger than that.
I sure wouldn't want to be doing drill practice there. Like these guys were doing.
I couldn't resist.
Food FOR the faint hearted
So we made our way down to this place called Cappodocia and along the way I managed to get the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.
Eat your heart out Michelangelo
Cappodocia is quite simply the land of the most amazing natural wonders. Utterly absolutely astouding.Like the fairy chimneys below.
And even some man-made ones. People actually used to live INSIDE these things. In fact some people still do. Many of them led to humongous underground cities that spanned miles and miles and went down hundreds of feet. The early Christians used this cave network to hide from the Arabs and Romans hell bent on annihilating them. Sounds eerily like a certain movie don't it?
So thats where urinals came from. Wonder where they washed their hands.
What the? I just asked where the sink was. No need to get all touchy.
Outside the caves.
My lovely lady what? Here's looking at you Fergie
Had a frikkin 12 hour drive after that to this place called Pamukkale but it was more than worth it when we got to see this.
Think thats snow?
Think again.
Ere the sun rises
Its freezing out but the water's lovely!
Somehow or other, hot water from some calcium rich underground source gets forced up and over the surface of those cliffs, hits the cold air and becomes just the right temperature for white calcium deposits to form. The result. Pamukkale, better known as Cotton Castle. One of the natural wonders of the world. A sight I could just sit and gaze at for hours on end. But the day was just beginning.
We went on to the town of Selcuk where lay the age old one time capitol of the Roman Empire, Ephesus. And also the last known dwelling place of the Mary, the mother of Jesus. Seems a nun in the 19th century had a dream about this place on top of a mountain overlooking Ephesus but no one believed her. Well at least not until someone decided to check it out and found ruins that, when analyzed and reconstructed on paper, matched her description to the bill.
The red line indicates where the ruins were still standing when they found the place. The rest of the pieces were uncovered and fit almost like a jigsaw. A centuries old, cobbled stone jigsaw that appeared in a dream to a woman thousands of miles away. There's a peace up there thats impossible to describe. As if all the cares of the world were but the seeds of a dandelion, gone in the brief insistence of a breath.
After that we went down the mountain and through the gates of a city that Paul himself walked and preached in. A city so significant he wrote a letter to its inhabitants lauding them for their contribution to the Christian cause.
For a city that existed more than 2000 years ago the Ephesians were pretty darned technoloically advanced. They had an underground pipiing system and street lighting. If you were rich you could even have hot water piped and pumped right up into your house. And their toilets were something else altogether.
If you ever wondered where the phrase 'doing your business' came from then, well, this is it. Ephesian toilets were the equivalent of modern day meeting rooms. People came here and talked shop, after having their seats personally warmed by slaves of course. Hot water flowing to get rid of the smell and a gorgeous water feature in the centre. These guys knew how to live.
It seems they were sticklers for education too. They built the 3rd biggest library in the world at that time and made it so beautiful that even just the ruins of the front facade are enough to astound you. And testament to their cleverness, they built the town's biggest brothel 'the house of love' directly opposite the library......and an underground tunnel connecting the two.
One of the oldest advertisements for the oldest professions in the world. The foot pointed to the heart, indicating the way to the house of love. The square on the right of the foot recorded the name of the prostitute.
Backgammon. The oldest game in the world. It ain't DOTA...but well....
Probably the most impressive engineering feat in the city is their very own auditorium. Check this out.
They carved that thing out the side of a frikkin mountain! Even better, somehow they manage to engineer the most amazing acoustics. You can sit all the way at the top of the stadium and still hear the guy in the centre perfectly clear, even if he was talking in a normal speaking voice. The guide proved that to all doubting souls.
Here's to you SamsonOn the way out
Second last day in Turkey and we head up to this gorgeous city on top of a mountain called Pergamon and after that the movie famous Troy. But Troy was a total let down so I'll just show the Pergamon pics.
Finally the long drive all the way back to Istanbul. We covered more than 3000km in 8 days. Dinner was accompanied by a belly dance act that was only slightly better than the food, which was terrible. Its only saving grace, and the only reason I stayed awake.
Final day in Turkey.
We were supposed to be admiring the scenery but something else became the main attraction.
Champions of Europe!
One last goof off.I'm damn proud of this post.
