Turkey

After the ferry ride to Kusadasi we arrived at the hotel and enjoyed a huge buffet dinner of all sorts of meats, salads, Turkish specialties and desserts – delish! 

Our first day with the new tour group we visited Ephesus, about 30km out of Kusadasi. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city and later one of the largest in the Roman Empire. The ruins are incredible. Already they have been excavating for 200 years and the site is huge. The two most impressive parts are the library and the theatre. The library is massive and only the statues have been replaced as they were stolen. The theatre is huge and that’s only half of it – I can only imagine what it would’ve been like when it was all there and full of people! Incredible!

(Where Hercules used to get his power from!)

Theatre

We also visited the Temple of Artemis – or rather the one column of it still standing. It’s considered one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. 

And no tour of Turkey would be complete without visiting a Turkish carpet shop. The Turkish government Department of Culture and Tourism has started funding various workshops to bring in women from outlying villages and teach them the craft of hand weaving on a loom these beautiful Turkish carpets. On our visit we saw how they spin the silk from the little cocoons and then how they use it to weave the carpets by tying thousands of tiny little knots. It can take years to make a carpet, depending on how many stitches per cm2 they use. It’s an incredible art – I don’t know how they’re so patient. The carpets are quite expensive (well most definitely out of my price range) but you can see why and they do last 150 years.

Turkish carpet

The next day we visited Pamukkale where they have the most magnificent calcium mountains with luxurious calcium baths set into the cliff side. The calcium baths are filled with lovely warm thermal water and calcium mud that you spread all over you, bake it onto your skin and then wash it off – apparently it makes your skin look four years younger! 

The next day we spent most of the day travelling to Cappadoccia but on the way we stopped in Konya where the Dervish founder, Rumi, was buried. I hadn’t heard of the Dervish people before – apparently it’s not so much a religion but a commitment to love to all. 

“Remember, the deep root of your being, is the presence of the only Being. Give your life to the One who already owns your breath and your movements” – Rumi

They are most famous for the meditative whirling. 

 

In Cappadoccia we visited one of the 400 underground cities. They were built by Christians who were hiding from persecution due to their religion. These underground cities were huge, housing up to 5,000 people with about eight floors. It only took them a few months to build each city, chipping away at the soft volcanic lava formations. The tunnels were purposely made so small that soldiers in their armour would get stuck. 

 

We then visited a valley of these lava rock formations where Star Wars was filmed. Each formation has been worn down by the winds and some have little hats that eventually fall off once worn down enough. It looks like a fantasy world. We also visited the Open Air Museum of the first Christian churches in the world, they were built into lava rock caves. 

On our way to Istanbul we stopped in Ankara and visited Attaturk’s Mausoleum. It’s a grand display of most Turkish people’s love for their founding father. According to popular history, he was key in liberating Turkey from the Ottoman Empire, for making Turkey a secular country and for making it a Republic. 

On our tour of Istanbul we visited the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern, Hippodrome and the Grand Bazaar. 

The Blue Mosque is incredibly beautiful – it’s huge, with a big domed ceiling and every part of it is decorated in blue patterned tiles, or gold, red and white patterned paintings. The floor is covered in an extravagant Turkish carpet usually donated to the mosque. It’s hard to believe that they built it 500 years ago and even then could decorate the high ceilings. In fact when one of the arches fell down they were puzzled as how to rebuild it until they found a glass bottle with instructions and the plan of the arch from the engineer saying that they should use the plan provided as they would never figure it out themselves. The towers (minarets) around the mosque have speakers to play the Imam’s call to prayer and each mosque faces Mecca. 

Topkapi Palace is where the Sultans used to live and rule from. Now it’s more like a museum. It houses 15% of Turkey’s national tresaure – enough to buy a country! It also holds many religious relics – most importantly the Prophet Mohammed’s beard, Moses’ stick and the key to Kaaba (the black box at Mecca that also holds religious relics). During our tour of Topkapi Palace we learnt of how powerful the Ottoman Empire was with 19 countries under its rule at its prime. 
Tiles at Topkapi Palace

The Hippodrome is where the obelisks given to the Ottoman Empire are all situated. Fun fact – Turkey gave an obelisk to Washington to demonstrate a transfer of power before the two super powers. 

The Basilica Cistern is a massive underground water storage with over 350 columns though it is no longer used today. In ancient times, to attack a city the enemies first went for their water supply so to protect their water supply there was an upside down Medusa head at the main gate as mythology claims that her upside down eye would turn people to stone hence protecting the water supply from incoming soldiers. The Basilica Cistern is in itself also a huge engineering feat that no one can quite explain how it was built. 

The Grand Bazaar really is grand. The world’s biggest covered market with over 6,000 shops is super overwhelming. Not my kind of shopping so I just browsed and ended purchasing my souvenirs from the Spice Market (a quieter more foodie version) and in the main pedestrian street connecting Galata Tower and Takseim Square. 

In Istanbul I also visited Aya Sofya, the Church/Mosque that Attaturk declared a museum in order to stop any religious fighting. It was similar to the Blue Mosque but less blue.. Very beautiful. 

On my way back to my hostel I got decidedly lost… Knowing that my street was just off Topkapi Palace I asked the free tourist info guides for directions to there. Unfortunately I followed their directions and the signs and unknowingly ended up at the back entrance to the palace where I waltzed straight in unawares. The security guard stopped me and asked me where I was going and I answered “I don’t know.. Where am I?” After trying to give me directions to where I wanted to be he relented and escorted me through the closed palace to the other side where I wanted to be and directed me to my street. Luckily! Otherwise I could still be lost in the streets of Istanbul…

The day before flying out to meet my friend in Greece I took a day trip to Gallipoli. We visited Anzac Cove and Lone Pine along with various other monumental battle sites and cemeteries. It was surprisingly moving to see these sites so important in Australia’s young history yet not really directly connected to me. So many young lives were lost and the little inscriptions from their families on the grave stones were the most moving of all. 

Turkey was great – full of history, culture and good food. What more could I ask for?