The Amazing Cappadocia

It took longer than expected to get to Cappadocia. It was delayed two hours for take-off and then the pilots decided to give us a nice circle tour of Nevşihir… a couple of times, so we wouldn’t miss anything. We were also a bit surprised on how long it took to get from the Nevşihir airport to the town of Göreme. We mistakenly believed that the Nevşihir airport was in Nevşihir. Fortunately, we arrived at our hotel Ufuk (more about this later) with plenty of time to book our balloon flight and go to the Open Air Museum before dinner.

I read in the Lonely Planet guide that we needed to go to the Open Air Museum but I didn’t read further. As a result, I had no idea what to expect. I guess I just assumed it would be like a normal museum except outside. This was not the case. It is actually a series of cave dwellings used by the early Byzantines that lived in the area and included a number of chapels. Most of the room and chapels were pretty bare but a few had some very colorful frescoes remaining. We wandered in and out of the caves for an hour or so before heading back into town to explore.

We had two items on the exploration agenda: 1. Book a tour to an underground city for the following day; and 2. Seek out genuine fake sunglasses for Colleen to replace the pair she left in Şirince. We were successful on the first count but not on the second. All over Selçuk and Fethiye we saw signs advertising both genuine fake watches and genuine fake sunglasses but there were few choices available in Göreme.

After dinner we headed back to Ufuk. We booked a cave room so that we could imagine what it was like to sleep like the Byzantines in a cave (that is if the Byzantines had electricity, running water and a bed). After our long day traveling and wandering Göreme, Colleen and I were really looking forward to our “guaranteed hot showers 24 hours a day.” We quickly concluded that the hot water was cold and the cold water was frigid. I guess they meant that we could get hot water from the kitchen 24 hours a day? So after our “refreshing” showers we went to bed already questioning the plan to get up at 4:15 AM for our balloon ride.

It never really occurred to me that the Kapadokya balloon company had more than one balloon so I was surprised to see that about 50 other passengers beat us to the office in town to await their flight. It took about 30 minutes after arriving to deal with logistics – paying, getting our pilot assignment, drinking coffee (or tea) before boarding a mini-bus with 10 other passengers also assigned to the Sanjay balloon. On the way to the launch site we quickly realized that nearly every tourist in Göreme was awake and boarding a balloon somewhere in the vicinity. There were probably about 40 balloons in total flying between 500-750 tourists. The flight itself was spectacular. We hovered above the unique landscape, both soaring high above the hills and dipping deep into the valleys during our hour-long flight. Once we landed we were each given a flying certificate and a Turkish mimosa (champagne with cherry juice) to celebrate the journey and safe landing. All of this and we were back at our hotel by 8:00 AM.

Side note: Our captain, Sanjay Gupta (not the CNN newscaster/doctor) had previously lived in San Francisco and worked for Deloitte Consulting. Colleen and Sanjay spent a great deal of the morning comparing (her current and his former) colleagues and learned that they had a lot in common. Now Sanjay is a bit of a nomad, traveling all over the world working as a balloon pilots (winters in Melbourne, this summer in Cappadocia, and next summer in Kenya).

Since this was really our only full day in Cappadocia, we had to keep busy. We scheduled a tour that started at 9:30 AM. Most of the tour was ho-hum. The sights were beautiful but I could have happily skipped the 4 km walk through the Ihlara valley and the stone polishing demonstration/shopping trip. However, it was worth it to go to the underground city, Derinkuyu. This city was used by various peoples throughout the generations to hide from various attackers. It goes 150 m down and has a total of 8 floors. While very cool, this is not a trip for the claustrophobics. We spent a lot of time walking through narrow corridors with low ceilings. Colleen and I both had to duck. We also went to the Selime monastery. This is another cave dwelling that, in this case, house 600 monks and nuns during its peak.

We got back to Göreme at 6:00PM. The previous day we made reservations at a restaurant named Dibek. This restaurant is apparently the only one in town that serves genuine testi kebabs. This is a dish that is cooked for hours in a clay pot that is then broken open at the table. We’d been hearing about testi kebabs since Dalyan so our expectations were high, but I must say that Dibek far exceeded them. Colleen had the veggie version that made me very jealous because it was so good. I went with the beef, which was also spectacular. I’m now a little disappointed that we didn’t have it the previous night so we could each try it again.

All in all, one of the best day’s so far. Tomorrow we return to Istanbul.

Mud, Kayaks and Ruins

Our final day in Dalyan was our most relaxing day of the trip so far. We slept in and didn’t have to meet up with the tour until 10 AM at which point we boarded a boat and headed to the ancient city of Kaunos. Similar to Pinara, Kaunos contained a fairly well preserved theater (no dance show this time). There was also a temple from the Greek times and a church that was built after the people were converted to Christianity.

After Kaunos, we re-boarded our boat and went to the Sultaniye hot springs and mud baths. This was definitely a unique experience. After changing into our swim suits, the first stop is the was to be hosed down with a fire hose by a guy that seemed to like his job a bit too much. The we slid in to the brown pool filled with muddy water. You had to reach down deep to grab mud that you then applied all over. Then you exit the pool and stand in the sun and wait for the mud to dry. Next you head to the showers to rinse off the mud before entering the hot springs pool. We were a little disappointed to discover that our friendly fire-hose laden guy was standing at the ready to get us again before and after the hot springs. The hot springs have the pleasant scent of rotten eggs (sulfur) so we weren’t that interested in spending too much time floating around in the cloudy, but warm water. After one more shower and a change of clothes we were back on the boat. After a buffet lunch at The Other Side restaurant (cleverly named because it is on the other side of the river from the majority of Dalyan) we took a long cruise back to turtle beach. A few of us opted to stay on the boat (in the shade) rather than head out to the beach in the scorching sun. After the beach the boat took us back to our hotel in Dalyan where we loaded our luggage back in the bus and headed back to Fethiye.

On our last day of the tour, we went on a kayaking trip. We all gathered in the bus and headed to the town of Gocek and reunited with our cycling guides for a day of kayaking. There were four two-person kayaks and the remainder were singles. Sonia, our guide warned us that you should only kayak in a two-person kayak with someone you really get along with. Colleen and I risked it and were fine; Louis and his son Jeremy were not so fine. When they finally reached the beach for our first break, there were both blaming each other for taking the much longer slalom course they took to get there. After the rest, they broke up. Jeremy hooked up with Sonia in the two-person and Louis ventured off on his own to prove that it wasn’t his fault. When we reached the next beach for lunch the results were inconclusive but they both seemed happier. Kayaking after lunch was tough. I think everybody was pretty tired by that time and just wanted to be back on shore but we had to paddle for an hour to get there. Once on shore, Colleen and I had to say our goodbyes to our tour group since we decided to skip the 12-hour overnight bus ride to Istanbul and instead take a bus to Selçuk.

I must say, that Colleen and I were both a bit nervous waiting on the side of the road for our bus to arrive, not knowing what to expect. When it did pull up we found it to be nicer than that Luftansa plane we took to get here. Each seat had its own television and we were served cookies and ice cream during the 4-hour ride. The bus, however, only took us as far as Aydin where we then boarded a dolmuş (mini-bus) to Kuşadasi and then transfer to another dolmuş to Selçuk. We could have taken a taxi from Aydin directly to Selçuk but where is the fun in that. It was nearly 11 PM when we finally arrived at our hotel so after a quick snack we headed to bed.

In the morning we took a dolmuş to Ephesus – also known as Efes which is coincidentally (or perhaps not) the name of the most popular beer in Turkey. Our plan was to arrive at Ephesus ahead of the heat and the crowds. We failed. It was already scalding hot at 8:30 AM and humid. And while at first there didn’t appear to be many tourists, we quickly discovered that they all entered from the upper entrance and as a result we spent the morning like salmon swimming upstream to all the sites. After admiring the library and other ruins we decided to walk (I don’t know why in this heat) back into town via the temple of Artemis. Only one complete column of this wonder of the ancient world still exists and is now the home to a couple of storks that have made their nest on top. Next we escaped the heat by heading in to the Ephesus museum. Both the air conditioning and the relics were worth the price of entry. After lunch we did a quick tour of the Basilica of St. John (of which little remains, although much more than the Temple of Artesmis) and to the Isa Bey Camii which was a mosque built in the 14th century and still operates today (although it’s had some work down). Next we took a dolmuş to Şirince about 9 km away. This is the town where our cherry wine originated. After tasting a number of other fruit wines (raspberry, strawberry, mulberry, blackberry, peach) Colleen and decided that there are some things that should just stay in Turkey. Tomorrow our adventure will relocate to Cappadocia… stay tuned.

Gorges and Bicycles

After two nights in our little tree house in Kabak it was nice to leave and head back to civilization.  But before we got to civilization our first stop was to the ancient city of Pinara. Colleen kept thinking that we were goint to Panera and was a bit disappointed that there was no one there selling fresh baked bread.  But I digress... Pinara was one of the most important cities from the Lichan period (according to both our guide, Mutlu, and the lonely planet).  We saw many tombs, an agora (I checked and there were not any agoraphobics in the group) as well as a theater.  Most of the homes had been destroyed by various earthquakes over the years.  When we got to the theater, Mutlu sang us the Turkish national anthem and then Eram and Amir put on a traditional Pakistani dance (I think it was traditional) and then the whole tour group got together and Eram led us in another dance. 

After Pinara we all hopped back in the bus and many of us napped as we headed to our lunch spot at a place called Yaka Park. You have the option at Yaka Park to stand in the brisk water with trout for 5 minutes and in exchange you get a free drink; 15 minutes for free lunch.  We all decided to forgo the pond and pay for our food the old fashioned way... cash. 

After a leisurely lunch we headed to our next stop, the Saklikent Gorge.  Here we all donned our water shoes and walked hand-in-hand across the very cold stream of water into the gorge.  Once we were in the gorge the water was pleasantly warm and muddy.  Mostly the walking was easy but there were times scrambeling over rocks through the water that were a bit dicey.  Fortunately we all made it back our with all our limbs intact. 

The drive to Dalyan was long and a bit boring but I had no trouble sleeping after spending most of hte day under the beating sun.  Once we got to our hotel we only had a short time to shower, change and head out for dinner.  We decided to try Pita Pizza.  It is actually called Pide which is essentially Turkey's equivalent to pizza. It was one of the better meals so far in my opinion, ranking about even with the Turkish pancake.

In the morning of Day 6 (I can't believe how quickly the trip has gone) we headed our for our day of cycling.  Because the temperature is so hot in the summer we were able to skip the 10 km climb that usually starts the day and instead drive up to the top of hte hill and begin there.  Unfortunately, this didn't eliminate all the climbs but it got us out of the longest one.  Once we reached the top, we were all fitted with bikes and began with some off-road biking.  Mostly it was gentle enough, but there were definitely moments where I questioned whether I was due to break my left arm again (it's been 7 years since the last break).  Furtunately I made it through the and the dirt road turned into a nice smooth asphalt.  Well maybe not smooth but definitely better than the rocky dirt one.  We stopped for tea and lunch along the way and eventually made it to turtle beach for a swim.  The beach, while not as blue as the water at the blue lagoon, was nice and sandy and much warmer than our last swim.  The breeze kept us cool but soon turned a little too windy just as it was time to head back to Dalyan.

Escape to the Blue Lagoon

We flew from Istanbul to Dalaman and took a bus from there to our hotel in Fethiye on the Mediterranean coast. After a short rest we walked along the waterfront which is filled with boats offering tours and diving trips and eventually stopped for a seafood dinner. We all opted for a meze dinner that consisted of a number of small plates of seafood including octopus 2 ways, calamari 2 ways, lumberjack fish cooked in lemon (ala ceviche), shrimp, a shrimp and cheese patty, some kind of miscellaneous seafood egg-roll-like item as well as a seafood casserole which was tasty but hard to identify. I was quite proud of myself for not only trying everything they brought to the table but actually enjoying much of it. By the time we finished, which seemed like hours later, it was time for bed.

We didn’t have to be ready until 10:30 the next morning so after a traditional Turkish breakfast (essentially deconstructed greek salad – tomatoes, cucumber, and cheese) Colleen and I went for a walk through town in the daylight. It was already quite hot so after a bit of walking we stopped at a café and each ordered some fresh fruit juice – watermelon for Colleen and pear for me. While the pear was a shocking color of pink that didn’t seem quite normal, it tasted delicious. At 10:30 we met in the lobby and headed out for our first day of hiking. We walked along a dirt road with spectacular Mediterranean views and then dipped down through a forest to the town on Kaya for lunch. We ate on a breezy terrace overlooking the small village and farms. Since the restaurant was also a wine store we decided to order a bottle of Turkish fruit wine for our table. After a little debate we decided on the cherry wine. I, being a huge fan of cherries, was particularly excited to give it a taste. I’d never had fruit wine before and wasn’t quite sure what to expect but after my first taste I quickly discovered that Robitussen cough syrup was modeling it’s taste off of Turkish cherry wine and doing a really good job of it.

After lunch our hike continued through the ghost town of Kayaköy. It had been inhabited by the Greeks but after WWI the Greeks and Turks made a swap and all of the Greeks living in Turkey were sent back to Greece and vice versa. No one ever returned to Kayaköy and now the only inhabitants are the goats which made me question whether our guide was calling it a ghost town or a goat town.

Our hike continued to the blue lagoon in the town of Ölüdeniz. Once we arrived at the blue lagoon we changed into our swim suits and went for a swim. The water was the perfect temperature and in no way was I interested in escaping from the blue lagoon. We were given about two hours to frolick in the water (although after about an hour I went to watch the Germans destroy England’s hope of a World Cup.)

Eventually it was time to depart the blue lagoon and head to our hotel in nearby Kabak. En-route to our hotel our guide (Mutlu) was sharing details for the following day’s activities. After hearing what was being offered we staged a mini revolt and demanded to go paragliding instead. At first Mutlu seemed a bit annoyed by the request but eventually gave in and coordinated everything for us. The only bad news was that we would have to wake up a little early than other days so we could get to the Paragliding office back in Ölüdeniz by 8:30. While the drive from sea level to the 2000 meter high peak of up Baba Dağ was not fun, it quickly proved worthwhile. I wasn’t out of the truck more than 5 minutes before I was geared up and told to run. I really only got one real step in before the wind got us and my feet no longer reached the ground. While paragliding doesn’t give you the same rush as skydiving, it was still worth every penny.

After paragliding we headed back to Kabak for a lunch of Turkish pancakes. These are nothing like American pancakes. In fact, I don’t really know how to describe them except to say they are a cross between a crepe and quesadilla. Mine was filled with potatoes, cheese and parsley and was quite delicious and just enough food to fuel me for our hike through the butterfly valley back to our hotel. Similar to the day before, the hike gave us some great views of the Mediterranean but I was disappointed that there was not a butterfly to be seen anywhere.

Airpot to Istanbul to Airport to Istanbul

Colleen and I arrived in Istanbul sans luggage.  We watched while the people arround us spied their luggage, smiled, and left the airport while we waited.  And waited. We went into the Turkish Airlines luggage office and they asked us to go back out and wait some more.  So we did but with no luck.  I do not recommend losing your luggage in Istanbul because they apparently can tell you nothing. 

In the morning, after showering and putting my dirty clothes back on we went downstairs and learned that our luggage had arrived at the airport.  We were given two options:  1. Wait for the luggage to be delivered to the hotel or 2. go to the airport and pick it up.  The risk with option 1 is that the bags might not get to the hotel before we would have to leave for the airport to fly to Fethiye.  So we went for option 2.  We returned to the airport and it is a good thing we got there when we did. Colleen's bag was in a pile about to be loaded on a truck for delivery to our hotel and mine was in next to the lost luggage office with a tag indicating it was to be delivered to Alan Jan. 

We quickly changed into new clothes before dropping our bags back off at the hotel and finally we got to see a little bit of Istanbul (besides the airport and hotel) with the rest of the tour group.  First we went to the Basilica Cistern.  This is an underground water storage built in the sixth century to supply water to the Great Palace.  It was forgotten about for a few hundred years when it was redescovered in the 16th century.  Now it is a really great place to escape the heat in the summer as well as check out the Medussa heads.

Next we made our way to the blue mosque.  We only had about 15 minutes to marvel at the beautiful stained glasses and tiled domes before all the tourists were kicked out for prayer time. 

After the mosque we proceeded to the Hippodrome.  I'm sad to say that there was not a hippo to be found.  At one time, this was the site of the beloved chariot races but now it is merely a nice looking park.  Among the sites in the hippodrome was an Egyptian obelisk from Karnak.  When I was in Karnak a few years ago, I didn't notice that it was missing any obelisks but I plan to go back through my pictures and see if I can find the spot from where it was ripped so that it could come to Istanbul and guard the hippos that once lived there.  (I might be making that last part up.)

bir iki üç

For as long as I can remember I've heard stories about my dad and his family arriving in Turkey for the first time. My grandpa had been there for a while and then brought over the rest of the family to live in Ankara while he was setting up a new factory for Minneapolis Moline (for those of you reading this that were there, feel free to comment and correct anything). My dad was only 10 or 11 at the time and either before they left the US or sometime in route my grandpa taught my dad how to count in Turkish. So when they got to the immigration counter and the officer demanded to know if anyone spoke Turkish my dad confidently spoke up and said "bir iki üç". This seemed to lighten the mood and quickly my dad and his family were out of the airport about to embark on their two year Turkish Adventure.

When Colleen told me she was going to Turkey I couldn't pass up the opportunity to embark on my own Turkish Adventure, albeit for two weeks not two years. I'm all packed and just hours away from take-off and ready to impress the immigration officer with my expansive knowledge of the turkish language "bir iki üç"

Heli - Day 1

I was feeling great when I woke up this morning. We arrived in Mazama, Washington late Wednesday, after a long drive from Seattle. We met most of the others partaking on this crazy adventure for dinner and drinks before heading to bed early in preparation for what I was certain was going to be a crazy day. After a bite to eat we made our way along Ithe icy driveway to the heli-barn. The road was so slick in parts I wondered if I was even going to get a chance to ride in the helicopter.

After a safety talk about what to do and what not to do around the helicopter - most important lesson is to be aware of the spinning blades. We had to practice using a transponder and search for a missing boarder in the snow packed field. I was paired up with Jim and we were thrilled that we were not looking for a real person. The guide told us if the numbers on the transponder were increasing we should do a 180 and walk in the other direction. As a result, we were walking in cirles for quite some time. It seemed like every direction we turned, the numbers kept going up. Finally, the guide switched us to a different buried transponder and we finally found the downed "man". Colleen and Ash had better luck on their practice search and rescue - but not that much better. Hopefully none of us was going to have to use our newly honed technique.

The larger group of 12 was broken down into 3 groups of 4 for the day. Each of us with our own guide. I was very happy to learn that I was assigned the most experienced guide for the day, Dale (a.k.a. Fuzzy). Unlike the bear, Fuzzy was a bit Fuzzy, was he?

Our pilot for all three days is Seamus. Close your eyes and imagine what a guy named Seamus would look like and I think you'll find he looks exactly how you imagined (I'll add a picture later). Seamus gave us another quick safety talk... which came down to watch for spinning blades and then the first group was off. At this point of the morning, I'm shaking a little but deep breathing is helping keep me relaxed.

We watched one more group take off before it was our turn. Seamus flew the copter in and then shut it down for refueling. Before I knew it, it was time to take off. Colleen hopped in the helicopter first, I came in next and Ash and Jim followed quickly behind. As the blades starting picking up speed so did my heart. I was still practicing my deep breathing techniques but nothing was keeping my heart from trying to break out of my chest. Finally, we were airbound. Almost skimming the trees below we made our way to our first landing zone.

Dale took us down a fairly easy run for the first one in an attempt to assess our skills. Even though the runs were not nearly as steep as I imagined it still took a few runs (and falls) before I got in the groove. My legs were shaking so much from the helicopter ride that I had a hard time figuring out how to turn. After a few more rides, my fear of both the helicopter and the slopes was gone and I really started enjoying the day. Hopefully I won't be too sore to enjoy tomorrow.