Why Turkey, many people asked? My reply was
“for the antiquities” and “because I have never been there”. I was expecting Turkey to be a third world
country, sort of backwater and laid back.
I had lived in Lebanon in the ‘60’s and made an analogy. What I found was much more than the
antiquities and a third world country. I
found a dynamic, vigorous, proud modern country of nearly 80 million people
with a “can do” attitude. It is
reminiscent of Europe and the U.S. Turkey
is living Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s vision of a secular Turkey, integrated into
the modern world. Turkey is ostensibly
99% Muslim, and is a model of how a Muslim country can exist and grow in the 21st
century, (not the 7th century like the Taliban, or the 11th century
like Iran). There are mosques and
minarets in nearly every city and town in Turkey, just as there are churches in
nearly every city and town in the Western World. Turkey is not a Muslim theocracy, just as the
U.S. is not a Christian theocracy. What
a pleasant surprise Turkey was to visit!
Turkey’s population is about 80 million. Istanbul is 14 million. Ankara, 4.5 million, Izmir (Smyrna), 3.4
million. Per capita GDP is $15,300. Gasoline costs nearly $8/gal. Low end wage is about $500/month. Professional salary is about $2000/month.
Istanbul •
Canakkale • Izmir • Pamukkale • Antalya • Cappadocia • Ankara. Total
travel in Turkey by bus – about 3000 km or 1800 mi
Day 1 -
Thursday, May 15
Departed DFW terminal D at 3:55 PM on an Airbus
320/330, UA8865, LH439. Arrived in
Frankfurt 8:50 AM May 16 after uneventful 10 hour flight. No internet.
About two hours fitful dozing.
Day 2 - Friday, May 16
Three hour
layover and a long walk in Frankfurt.
Air Canada was at gate D48 instead of Turkish Airlines, who came
later. Left Frankfurt at 11:45 AM on
UA7773, TK1588. Arrived in Istanbul 3:45
PM. It seemed that half of Europe was trying to
get through passport control in Istanbul.
After about two hours, where is the checked bag? Luckily, it was by itself next to a baggage carousel. Quick debit card to get Turkish Lira for a
baggage cart. Really glad to see the GCT
sign, Selcuk, and other GCT people. Home
free after that. On to Titanic City Hotel (Taksim) and
7:30 PM introductory meeting.
SelchukYigitsoy
– our tour director Merhaba!
Sarkis (Steven) Manoukian, one of our
tour members from L.A., was a student at the American University in Beirut in
1967, when I was evacuating my family as a result of the Six Day War. Steven was born in Aleppo, Syria of Armenian
background, and speaks Turkish (from his mother).
Another tour member, Gina Jeffries
was on the East European tour last year.
We flew out of Budapest on the same plane.
Day 3 -
Saturday, May 17
Topkapi Palace
First thing this Saturday morning we visited the Topkapi Place. The Topkapi was a city-palace with a population of approximately 4,000 people. It housed all the Ottoman sultans from Sultan Mehmet II to Abdulmecit—nearly 600 years and 25 sultans. This palace, where the sultans and their courts lived and governed, is now one of the world's richest museums. Among multitudinous objets d’arte, it contains the famous Spoonmaker's Diamond (aka the Kasikci Diamond), the encrusted emerald dagger (of Topkapi movie fame) and the finger bones of John the Baptist.
Blue Mosque
The
next stop was the grand covered market, followed by the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, with its six minarets. Built between 1609 and 1616
by the architect Mehmet, under the orders of Sultan Ahmet I, the building is
more familiarly known as the Blue Mosque, because its interior gleams with a
magnificent paneling of blue-and-white Iznik tiles. The mosque is part of a
large complex consisting of tombs, medreses (theological schools),
fountains, a health center, homes, storehouses, and other buildings.
Hagia Sophia
We next visited the Hagia Sophia, a museum that was
once an Islamic mosque and the largest church in the world. It is the single
most famous example of a Byzantine structure, and contains breathtaking mosaics
and frescoes.
Day 4 - Sunday,
May 18
Dolmabahce
Palace Jan
Sobieski
This Sunday, on the full-day optional East Meets
West tour, we visited the Dolmabahce Palace, built in the mid-19th century
by order of Sultan Abdul Mecit I. The Sultan's architect was given the order
that this building should "surpass the palace of any potentate anywhere in
the world." The facade of the palace stretches for more than 1,200 feet on
the European shores of the Bosporus.
Dolmabahce means “filled”. It was
reminiscent of the Sychrov Palace outside of Prague last year or Versailles in France
though not quite as ornate.
The special exhibition in progress was art and
artifacts seized by Poland after Jan Sobieski defeated the Ottoman Turks in the
battle of Vienna to stop the northern progress of the Ottomans in 1683, and now
lent back to Turkey.
The Bosporus
Next, we boarded a private boat for a cruise on the
Northern Bosporus. We sailed back to the
European side at Tarabya and disembarked for lunch at a seafood restaurant
overlooking the Bosporus. Afterwards, we
visited the Sadberk Hanim Museum, a privately funded collection of furniture,
art, and antiquities housed in a villa decorated in a traditional Ottoman
style.
Taksim Square
After dinner, I walked to Taksim Square, of CNN and
Fox News fame, which was fairly close to the hotel. Police were in evidence, but no
demonstrations on this Sunday evening.
Day 5 - Monday,
May 19
Istanbul • Gallipoli • Ferry to Canakkale 300
km Kolin Hotel
Spice market – Istanbul Eastern
(hole in floor) toilet
First thing this Monday morning we visited the spice
market. Similar to the one in Budapest
last year. The Eastern toilet was a
first for me. I had never noticed or
remembered these holes in the wall toilets, and the reason the left hand is not
used for shaking and eating.
Gallipoli was the scene of famous and often tragic
World War I battles in 1915 and 1916. Allied troops (mainly "ANZACS,"
Australia and New Zealand combined forces) landed in April of 1915, and there
was fierce fighting across the peninsula through January of 1916. At Gallipoli
National Park there are war memorials, along with Turkish and Allied
cemeteries. The natural beauty of this area, with its green hills rolling down
to sparkling blue waters, is surely a fitting resting place honoring the
500,000 soldiers who were wounded or died here.
The Gallipoli campaign was a decisive victory for the
Ottoman Empire, some of the campaign under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal
(then Pasha). Of course the Ottomans
backed Germany in the First World War, and ultimately lost the war (and their
empire). Gallipoli is also widely regarded
as a major failure for Winston Churchill, who was First Lord of the British
Admiralty at the time. Churchill was
sacked and sent into relative obscurity for a good long time. Another take on Gallipoli and Churchill is
offered by the Sydney Morning Herald in the following link: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/gallipoli-was-not-churchills-great-folly-20110413-1ddzb.html
In 1934 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wrote a tribute
to the Anzacs killed at Gallipoli: “Those
heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the
soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference
between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here
in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway
countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in
peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as
well.”
Sunset in
Europe, seen from Asia Our
Coach for about 3000 km
We then ferried across the Dardanelles to the Asian
side of Turkey, and arrived at the Kolin Hotel in Canakkale. Tolga is our driver of the above coach after
we left Istanbul.
Day 6 -
Tuesday, May 20
Canakkale • Izmir • Troy • Home-Hosted Lunch 400
km
Troy
This morning we drove on the Asian side of the Dardanelles,
the narrow strait between Europe (the Gallipoli Peninsula) and Asia to Troy, a
UNESCO World Heritage site. This is the city where, in Homer's monumental Iliad,
Helen's face is said to have launched a thousand ships. Until 1870, it was
thought that Troy was a fictional place. In this year, the German businessman
Heinrich Schliemann began excavations in a location he deduced from his
readings of the Iliad. Remarkably, he uncovered the historical city of
Troy.
We then
continued to a nearby village to enjoy lunch in the home of a local family.
We arrived in Izmir in late afternoon and had a brief
orientation of the city by bus.
Day 7 -
Wednesday, May 21
In the first millennium BC, Izmir, then known as
Smyrna, ranked as one of the most important cities of the Ionian region. Legend
has it that Homer, poet and author of The Iliad and The Odyssey,
was born here.
Izmir Market Izmir
Bay
This morning we went to the open air market at Izmir,
and then took ferry ride around Izmir bay.
Izmir Center
Clock Tower Izmir
Center Mosque
We then did a bus and walking tour of the city, the
third-largest in modern Turkey. The city lies at the head of a long and narrow
gulf furrowed by ships and yachts. Behind the palm-lined promenades and avenues
that follow the shoreline, the city ascends the slopes of the surrounding
mountains in horizontal terraces. The original city of Izmir was established in
the third millennium BC, at which time it shared with Troy the most advanced
culture in Western Anatolia.
Ataturk
Monument with Izmir Hilton in Background The
Aegean Sea
Early this evening we attended a Discovery Series
slide show with music, Our Land, Our People, presented by the
internationally known photographer Yusuf Tuvi, who was born in Izmir in 1938.
Later, we had dinner at the hotel.
Day 8 -
Thursday, May 22 Izmir •
Pergamum tour
Funicular to
Pergamum
Pergamum Acropolis Theater
Trajan Temple Moslem
Graves
We did a full-day tour to Pergamum, an important
cultural center built high on a hilltop. Pergamum became one of the most
important cities of the Hellenic era when it was willed to Rome in the second
century BC. It was known as a center of medicine, where the famous doctor of
antiquity, Galen, worked in the Asklepeion (sanatorium) and wrote
several hundred medical books. During the Christian period, its Temple of
Serapis was converted to a basilica dedicated to St. John, and the city is
featured in the saint's Book of Revelation.
We stopped to view the remarkably well-preserved
ancient city and fascinating ruins at Pergamum, which was home to a library of
more than 200,000 parchment volumes. We learned about the history and culture
during a visit to the Museum of Pergamum, and visited the modern-day city during
lunch.
Day 9 - Friday, May 23 Izmir • Ephesus • Pamukkale
Amphitheater at
Ephesus
Ephesus State Agora? The
Goddess Nike
The Library at Ephesus
The Tomb of St. John the Evangelist at Ephesus
After breakfast we started toward Pamukkale. We stopped to explore Ephesus, the
best-preserved and most extensive (2,000 acres) classical Roman city in Asia.
Located 60 miles from Izmir, Ephesus dates to at least 1300 BC and was once the
commercial center and capital city of Roman Asia Minor, with a population that
once numbered more than 300,000. One ancient legend attributes the founding of
Ephesus to the Amazons of Greek mythology. Another credits the Athenian
Androclus, who received advice from an oracle to establish a colony at the
"place of the fish and the boar." And so, when he and his crew saw a
wild pig charge out of underbrush set ablaze inadvertently by locals grilling
fish, he staked his claim on the Anatolian shore.
At Ephesus, we saw the Great Theater, where Paul of
Tarsus stood trial for bringing Christianity to the area. This is the largest
structure in Ephesus, a huge semi-circular theater that was the central meeting
place, and focus of social and cultural life of the city. The city's fame in antiquity is indisputably
due to its great Temple of Artemis (Diana), built in 550 BC, and one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We saw other highlights, and walked the Marble Way
from the theater to central Ephesus and viewed the two-story facade of the
Library of Celsus. We also explored the Tomb of St. John the Apostle.
After lunch we continued on to Pamukkale, and arrived
in early afternoon.
White Cliffs of
Pamukkale Russian
Swimmers
Necropolis
Day 10 -
Saturday, May 24 Pamukkale • Hierapolis & Travertines 3 km
After breakfast this morning we visited Pamukkale,
which is famous not only for its unique geological formations, but also for its
historical remains. Hot, calcium oxide-rich waters flowing down the slopes that
overlook the fertile river valley have, over the millennia, built up deposits
of white travertine, or limestone deposits, on the plateau. From a distance,
the stalactites—overflowing terraces and unusual shapes—glisten like white ice
and dominate the landscape. The Romans established Hierapolis (Holy City) here,
primarily as a luxury health resort and thousands made use of health benefits
of the calcium-rich thermal spas and pools. Hierapolis itself contains a mix of
structures—baths, temples, theaters, and churches—dating from Roman,
Hellenistic and Christian times. Both the ancient city's name and its modern
Turkish name—Pamukkale (Cotton Castle)—fit the area perfectly.
We also visited Hierapolis' Necropolis (graveyard),
which, as one of the largest in Asia Minor, reveals the gravity of the health
problems Romans hoped to heal here. We then saw the natural travertine
formations—believed to have formed more than 14,000 years ago.
We had lunch in the town of Buldan, where we visited a
clothing cooperative, for a look into the town's local textile industry, and
also Buldan's marketplace.
Day 11 - Sunday,
May 25 Pamukkale •
Aphrodisias • Antalya
Pamukkale to Aphrodisias, 78 km;
Aphrodisias to Antalya, 250 km
Temple of
Aphrodite
Sports Stadium
at Aphrodisias Theater
at Aphrodisias
Gate Theater
Masks on Sarcophagus
Aphrodisias
Museum
We first visited ancient Aphrodisias, named after
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. During the guided tour of this city, we
saw the Temple of Aphrodite and its tetrapylon, or monumental gate. We toured
the adjacent museum and learned more about the history of the Temple, its
original construction from marble, and its later conversion into a Christian
basilica. We also visited the ancient Council House and the stadium, both of
which remain well-preserved today.
We arrived in Antalya in the early evening, and had
some time to relax after dinner at the hotel.
Day 12 -
Monday, May 26
Antalya • Magic of the Mediterranean tour • Turkey's
Lost Antiquities discussion
Accommodations:
The Marmara Antalya Hotel
Hadrian’s Gate, Antalya
Trash Pickup – Playing Vivaldi Ramparts
Antalya Harbor Ataturk
Monument, Antalya
Antalya Archeological Museum
After breakfast we did a walking tour through the
winding streets of the old harbor quarter of Antalya, the jewel of Turkey's
Mediterranean Turquoise Coast. Set on a crescent-shaped bay, it is bounded by
citrus groves, valleys, and the Taurus Mountains.
We saw the ramparts, Hadrian's Gate, slender minarets,
and the restored harbor area. We then visited the Archaeological Museum of
Antalya. The artifacts here trace the path from the Stone and Bronze ages,
through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and up to the Ottoman Empire. The
museum is one of Turkey's largest, and has nearly 5,000 works of art on
exhibit.
After lunch, we attended a Discovery Series cooking
lesson and learned how to prepare Turkish specialties with instructions from an
Antalyan chef. The chef described the most popular dishes in Turkey, such as
eggplant salad and halva (a popular dessert typically made from semolina
and honey).
We then returned to the hotel and relaxed by the pool
and on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Later, we attended a Discovery Series discussion on Turkey's
Lost Antiquities, led by a university professor. Turkey is a land that is
steeped in history, abounding with ancient artifacts—unfortunately, much of it
has been lost or even stolen over the years. A professor from a local
university led the discussion, and described some of the things that have gone
missing.
Day 13 -
Tuesday, May 27 - Perge and Side
Roman Arches
Southern Gate Agora
Pillars
Amphitheater at
Side
Today we visited Perge, where St. Paul gave some of
his first sermons. Originally settled by the Hittites in 1500 BC, Perge thrived
during the Roman Empire. The ruins here, which include a theater and stadium,
create an excellent impression of how an ancient city looked and felt.
After lunch we toured the ancient Greek city of Side, including its ancient Greco-Roman
theater.
Day 14 -
Wednesday, May 28
Antalya • Mevlana Museum • Sultan Han caravanserai
• Cappadocia Antalya
to Konya, 364 km Konya to Cappadocia
(Goreme), 238 km
Tarsus
Mountains
Mevlana Museum,
Konya (Iconium)
Sultan Han caravanserai
This morning, we departed Antalya for Cappadocia over
a scenic route through the Taurus Mountains.
At mid-day we stopped at the historic holy city of
Konya. Once known as Iconium, Konya is one of Turkey's oldest continually
inhabited cities, and was home of the Whirling Dervishes. This Muslim ascetic
order performed vigorous chanting and whirling dances as acts of ecstatic
devotion.
Here we visited the Mevlana Museum, containing the
mausoleum of the founder of the Whirling Dervishes. Each year in December, the
Dervishes mark the death of their founder, the great poet Mevlana Celaleddin-i
Rumi, selected "Mystic of the [13th] Century" by Time magazine.
Though not of the orthodox Muslim faith (a follower of Mohammed), he preached
tolerance towards all peoples and religions. Rumi is revered in the world of
Islam and studied widely by those of other religions—his beautifully lyrical
poems have a wide appeal, and he is one of the best-selling poets in the U.S.
Then we continued along the road to Cappadocia,
stopping on the way at Sultan Han, the largest Seljuk caravanserai in
Turkey. The caravanserai was established as a way point for
camel caravans along the Silk Road by Sultan Keykubat in the 13th century, and
has grown to prominence in the years that followed. Over time, a village, then
a town sprung up around it, surrounded by immense fortress-like walls served by
an intricately-decorated portal.
We arrived in Cappadocia in the early evening.
Day 15 -
Thursday, May 29
Cappadocia • Underground city tour • Goreme Open-Air
Museum • School visit • Art of Pottery in Asia Minor visit • Whirling
Dervishes tour
Tufa Formations
in Cappadocia
When you first see the landscape of Cappadocia, it
might just take your breath away. Ten million years ago, volcanic eruptions
from Mount Erciyes and Mount Hasan blanketed this limestone plateau in central
Turkey with ash and lava. When they mixed with water, the result was a mud-like
substance that slowly hardened into a soft rock called tufa.
Centuries of erosion from rain, wind, and flooding
from the Kizilirmak River shaped this tufa into a striking, surreal
moonscape of cone-shaped pinnacles and towers, all in a variety of lovely hues.
Some 300 beautifully frescoed churches and dwellings for 30,000 people were
carved from the soft volcanic pinnacles between the fourth and 14th centuries.
The maze of cones, windows, and chimneys is built directly into the malleable
rock. Beneath these fanciful shapes lie even more wonders—underground chambers,
even entire villages, some 14 stories deep.
This morning we toured the city of Kaymakli, once a
refuge from Arab, Roman, and Mongolian aggressors, as well as the Goreme
Open-Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There we saw the ancient
rock-hewn churches sculpted in the hillsides almost 1,000 years ago. Medieval
Christian monks established a community of monasteries by carving their
churches out of the soft volcanic stone that is part of this terrain. On the
stone walls of the caves, they depicted the New Testament with paintings and
vibrant frescoes. Then we continued on to the small town of Urgup, which has
many carved dwellings that are still inhabited.
After the tour of Cappadocia, we visited a local primary school, supported by
Grand Circle Foundation, where, we visited a 4-8 grade English class. Only a few children were there, since hot
weather allowed an early closing of the school.
Link
to YouTube clip taken at this Sema. http://youtu.be/eXh74rJlxxg
Day 16 -
Friday, May 30
Cappadocia • Ballooning Over Moonscape tour •
Turkish Handwoven Carpet discussion • Art of Pottery in Asia Minor -Tufa
Formations of Pashabag & Uchisar Fortress
YouTube links below to video clips taken early morning
May 30, 2014 at Cappadocia:
We rose at 4 am this morning and did the balloon tour
over Cappadocia. We got a new
perspective on the intriguing tufa landscapes while gliding above them
on our hot-air balloon. We saw the light
of dawn spread over Cappadocia, as the balloon flight varied from low contour
to get a good look at the sculpted tufa, to a somewhat higher altitude
to give a panoramic view of this strangely shaped landscape of eroded pillars
and cones.
Later this morning we visited the village of Avanos,
known for its carpet-making.
We then visited the Uchisar Kale (Fortress)
that dominates the skyline for miles. You'll then visit the tufa
formations of Pashabag, conical formations capped with basalt that are still
used as storage units today. We crawled
inside of these holes in the ground like bloody moles!
Later we joined a Discovery Series Art of Pottery
in Asia Minor event and visited a cave pottery atelier. During a discussion
at this workroom, you learned about the artisans' skill and techniques used to
produce the traditional pottery of the region.
Arab Ray
Day 17 -
Saturday, May 31
Cappadocia • Hittite Lands & Hattusas • Yazilikaya
• Ankara - Cappadocia to Yazilikaya 232 KM,
Yazilikaya to Ankara 195 km
We travelled overland to Ankara today. En route, we stopped
to delve into a civilization that rivaled Egypt's during the second millennium
BC. We explored ancient Hattusas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and capital of the
great Hittite Kingdom—a powerful empire of the Ancient Near East that ruled
from about 1600 to 1200 BC. Located high on a rocky summit, Hattusas offers a
wealth of archaeological treasures that have been recovered from this former
center of the kingdom, including records offering extensive details on
political and religious aspects of the culture.
After lunch, we continued on to Yazilikaya, a sacred
Hittite sanctuary of two chambers enclosed by natural rock formations. Hewn out
of the rock are depictions of deities and a stone relief of King Tudhaliya IV
that stands twelve feet high. Archaeologists estimate that the Hittites used
this locale as a revered shrine as early as 1250 BC.
Here, we walked through an open-air cultural center
featuring representations of the Hittite pantheon. The Hittite people revered
up to 1,000 gods and goddesses—but the major spiritual beings—such as Teshub,
the Thunderstorm God, and Hepatu, the Goddess of the Sun—are depicted more
frequently in sacred sites throughout the region.
Day 18 -
Sunday, June 1
Ankara • City tour
Kocatepe
Mosque in central Ankara
Ataturk Monument Changing
of the Guard
We did a city tour this morning. The first stop was at
the Mausoleum of Ataturk, a tribute to the founder of modern Turkey. Ataturk
(originally named Mustafa Kemal) helped lead the nation during the collapse of
the Ottoman Empire and transformed it into the secular republic that stands
today. He was Turkey's first president and is now considered its most revered
historic leader. Local artisans created the statues, adornments, and reliefs
you see throughout the complex that combine ancient and modern architectural
styles. It is an impressive site, with a large colonnaded courtyard, a Hall of
Honor with mosaics of gold leaf on the ceiling, floors of colored marble, and a
40-ton sarcophagus. A group of statues near the towered entrance represent the
three strengths of a nation—defense, productivity, and education.
Ankara is a very old city, founded in 2000 BC, and
there are several Roman ruins scattered throughout the metropolis.
Archaeologists have also found artifacts that date back to pre-Roman periods. Much
of Ankara's character is sophisticated and modern, from the educational
institutions to the art galleries, from the music to the architecture. There
are three symphony orchestras and five theaters offering classic performances
of ballet, opera, modern dance, and drama. On many levels, Ankara has become
the cultural and political center of Turkey.
Then we visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. It details the
many cultures that have inhabited this region, starting as far back as the
Paleolithic Age. The museum houses a priceless collection of artifacts from
Neolithic, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Persian, Galatian, and Roman times. The
two buildings themselves, a caravansary (an overnight site for caravans)
and a bedesten (covered bazaar), are Ottoman structures that date to the
15th century. Vendors abound in this area, adding to the local color with their
fragrant spices, dried fruits, and traditional Turkish handcrafts for sale.
Day 19 -
Sunday, June 2 Ankara • Return to U.S. Gule
Gule
Lufthansa flight LH1787 6:05 am from Ankara to Munich,
3hrs, 5 min. 4 hr layover in Munich
after interminable walk. UA953 from
Munich to Chicago O’Hare, 9 hrs, 45 min.
Passport control, collect checked bag, clear customs, recheck bag. Catch train from terminal 5 to terminal
1. 2 hr layover at O’Hare. UA3581 from O’Hare to DFW is late 1 ½
hrs. Plane is there, crew is not. This is UA’s hub! UA 3581 is 1 hr late at DFW. Maxine was there. I was in the house at 10 pm.
