Bathing Optional

Turkey: Nov.22 - Dec.14

Continents

Continents

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Approaching the popular port of Marmaris by our ferry from Rhodes, Greece.
Marmaris.
Marmaris. Thats all we would see of it. As soon as we arrived we took a bus to Datca and onwards the next day.
Datca, new town, a fancy, but small, resort town. Not what we expected.
Old Datca could not be any more different from the new town. We loved it.
Lane in Old Datca.
Old well.
Flowers.
Flowers and old home.
Flowers.
All of Old Datca is built of stone and wood.
Windmill just outside Datca.
Dalyan, a very quiet small town on a river along Turkeys Aegean coast.
Dalyan is famous for its peaceful riverboat trips to turtle beaches and hotsprings.
Us on the riverboat.
Looking a bit dirty in the mudbaths.
Really enjoying those hotsprings/mudbaths.
The springs.
Sunset over the springs.
Our captain.
Just two days in Turkey and we were already thankful that we were here during low season. Look at all those riverboats, thankfully empty.
Dalyans mosque.
Lycian tombs cut into the cliffs over the river in Dalyan.
Lycian tombs.
Tombs and riverboats.
Sunrise over the beautiful lagoon at Olu Deniz. Only half an hour from the very ritzy port of Fethiye, Olu Denizs campground was a VERY welcome escape for us.
The wonderful beach at Olu Deniz.
At the beach at sunrise.
Beautifully clear waters.
Enjoying the sunrise at the beach.
Ashe at the gate to the ruins of Xanthos.
Plant making a home amongst the ruins.
Inside the ancient theater.
Fallen ornaments.
The Lycian pillar tombs at Xanthos are decorated with reliefs that show a siren carrying a baby away representing the voyage of the soul after death.
The old theater seats how many?
Ancient script on one of the few pillars still standing.
Sun through the clouds.
Beach along Turkeys Mediterranean coast.
View over one of the many white-walled, red-roofed towns we passed as we followed Turkeys Mediterranean coast east towards Antalya.
Man in the streets. Those caps are very popular with guys of his generation in Turkey.
The town of Demre, the historic home of St.Nicholas.
Patriotism makes for unsafe driving.
Santa Claus and mosque minaret -- an unexpected sight.
Our bus dropped us off at a small roadside cabin/restaurant, the access point for the amazing ruins and village of Olympos 10 kilometers off the highway and downhill towards the coast.
Olympos is known for being a long-time home of nomads and hippies in the early part of the last century. Today, visitors have the option of staying in treehouses while visiting.
Our treehouse was more a rustic cabin on stilts amongst a wonderful orange orchard. We left with bags stuffed full of ripe oranges.
Inside our treehouse.
The next morning, a fabulous sunrise over the beach at Olympos.
A beautiful sunrise.
One more time.
The rock entrance to the beach from the village in the forest and upriver beyond.
A perfectly clear stream flows through Olympos.
Sunrise colors on the cliffs above the beach.
The river that flows through Olympos town and its ruins also flows right onto the beach and into the ocean.
Olympos wonderful beach.
Castle and necropolis ruins above the beach.
Early morning picnic, the beach all to ourselves.
Fall colors.
Olympos Beach.
Climbing up to the necropolis above the beach.
Views from within the necropolis walls.
Olympos valley views. Beautiful!
A distant mosque.
Necropolis wall and peaks beyond.
Ancient wall.
Over the beach and a little sweaty after the quick hike up.
Peacock along the beach.
Nice feathers.
White peacock?
Ancient tombs along the beach.
Following the path from the beach into the ruins of ancient Olympos.
Ruins lost in the forest.
Face on an old tomb.
Sunlight through the trees.
Another old tomb.
And another.
Ancient aqueducts.
To see some of the more remote ruins hidden away in the forest we had to do some shoe-less wandering through the swamps, Tomb Raider style.
Old tile floors.
Ashe in the old chapel with its amazing tiled floors.
Tiles in ruins.
More of those wonderful tiles.
More tiles.
Wading through those canals.
Ashe passing through one of Olympos most impressive sights, the ancient temple gate.
Maciej on gate.
The mountains over Olympos valley.
She doesnt look too Turkish.
Ashe on the beach, relaxing before our 7 km. sunset hike to the ancient natural flame known as the Chimaera.
Wonderful beach pines.
Ashe showing off what we called her jaundice hands the result of peeling way too many oranges while traveling the Turkish coast.
Some of the Chimaera flames. Normal flames made a thousand times more interesting considering that not only are they a natural phenomenon but that they have been burning for several milennia.
Natural flame. Amazing!
Ashe by one of the vents.
Toad. Ashe swears she saw one JUST like it on the seat beside her when she flew to India a few years ago.
Chimaera flames.
Enjoying the warmth of those natural flames.
Sheesha water pipe. Back at our treehouse hostel.
Alanya, another beautiful historic city along Turkeys Mediterranean coast. We came for the castle.
Alanya Castle, high on a rocky perch above the city.
Buildings within the castle walls.
Views over Alanyas rooftops from the path up to the castle. They love their satellite t.v.!
Passing through one of many castle gates.
Within the walls and looking out.
Passing through another gate.
An old mosque within the castle walls.
Coastal views from the castle wall.
Ashe enjoying the fantastic views from the castle wall.
Castle tower.
Old Byzantine church within the castle walls.
Castle walls.
Mosque over the city.
More castle walls.
Alanyas beach as seen from the castle.
The castle wall.
Ashe with the sunset.
We werent the only ones enjoying the marvelous sunset.
Turkey is definitely not the strictest of Islamic nations.
Not so covered up.
Fantastic sunset.
What a view we had from the castle.
Wow!
Final sliver.
Alanyas famous Red Tower by night.
Side, the sight of an important ancient Roman port was abandonded for 400 years before being resettled in the early 1900s. Today, the fabulous Roman ruins have made it a very popular tiny town on Turkeys Mediterranean coast near the big city of Alanya.
Side turned out to be WAY more touristy than we expected. Rug shops werent the only thing we had to deal with.
The fantastic Roman theater in Side.
Roman fountain at the end of an extensive aqueduct system.
View over the Roman agora.
A closer look at the theater.
One of the two ancient colonaded streets in Roman Side.
Ornamental pieces like this one lay scattered throughout all of ancient Side. We were surprised that all of them hadnt been taken by now.
More pieces.
Ornament details.
Fisherman.
Medusa heads, fallen from the Temple of Athena.
What remains of Sides Temple of Athena.
The Temple of Athena.
Palm trees and columns.
Another Medusa head by the sea.
Medusa!
Incredible treasures lying forgotten by the sea.
Never seen a column top like that one before!
Half column and fall colors.
NOT mother and kitten. She hated the little guy.
Ottoman balcony.
Ottoman building along Sides harbour.
BEFORE: a pretty good looking veggie sandwich. Green pepper, tomato, cheese... looks good.
AFTER: What a scam! Look at those two strategically placed pepper bits and those half tomatoes and cheese! What a disappointment!
Konya, central Turkeys conservative city. In other words, lots of mosques, more burkas per block than we had seen throughout our entire trip along the coast, and, in short, more culture.
Konya is also the hometown of 13th century philosopher Rumi who founded the most important mystical movement in Islam and the famous whirling dervishes.
Nothing like a flashing rainbow colored Mecca piece for your wall.
The streets of Konya.
Its not all so conservative in Konya. Many women and men have succombed to Western influence and fashion here too.
More local fashion.
Minaret.
Lady on a bench.
Pacing.
Parking the bike.
Minarets.
Crescents.
Walking to the mosque.
One of Konyas oldest mosques. Beautiful!
Wonderful mosque minaret.
Hanging todays dried goods out by the shopfront.
Mystery dried goods.
More dried produce.
Bins of all kinds of stuff, one of the things we loved most about Konya.
An unnerving place to read the morning paper.
The mosque RIGHT in front of our hotel in Konya. We were extremely worried that the 4:30 a.m. prayer call would be too much for us to handle.
Early morning coffee guy.
Inside one of Konyas many mosques.
Most mosques seem to come complete with immense chandeliers.
Rumi memorabilia everywhere!
More whirling dervish dolls for sale.
Fancy stuff.
The writing is on the wall.
Another mosque, another grand chandelier.
Mosque dome.
The domes of the giant mosque/tomb of Rumi and his students with the great turquoise dome positioned right over the tomb of Rumi itself.
What does it say?
Porcelein ball.
The mosque by Rumis tomb.
Lantern.
Tombs of some of Rumis students.
More tombs.
Script.
Rumis tomb, a very moving place to visit.
Above Rumis tomb.
Even more tombs.
Ancient book on display at the Mevlana Museum (Rumis Tomb).
Another amazing ancient book.
And another one.
Wow! How did they put that together 800 years ago?
Dome over Rumis tomb.
Another amazingly painted dome.
How the dervishes lived.
The turquoise dome again.
Suckered into a local carpet gallery.
Carpets everywhere!
Shoeshine man.
Street corner meeting.
Hmm...
Maciej on one of the more unique benches weve ever seen.
Love those benches!
Cay (tea). Ubiquitous in Turkey.
A taxi with Turkish rugs as seats! Perfect!
Those are the loudspeakers that wake us at 4:30 a.m. daily!!
Seljuk architecture.
Another fine Seljuk building.
Fine tile work inside a mosque.
Only in the Middle East does a tram terminate at Alaaddin.
Konyas towers arent only mosque minarets.
The town of Goreme sits in the heart of Turkeys famous Capadoccia region and is built amongst the fairy chimney volcanic tuft cones for which the area is most known. Its also the backpackers choice for places to stay in while visiting Capadoccia.
Capadoccia landscape.
For centuries people have made cave homes inside the soft volcanic rock.
Today, its still easy to stay in a cave. This was ours.
Ashe enjoying the warmth of the wood stove in our cave.
Hot air balloon over Goreme -- a popular excursion but way out of our budget.
Fairy chimneys.
What do you see?
More of the Capadoccia landscape.
Peering out the window of one of the hundreds of ancient cave homes that fill the valleys around Goreme.
Looking out the window of one of the abandoned cave dwellings.
The only way in and out of this one cave: a small portal in the floor and a very thin tunnel.
Beautiful.
Great valley!
More fairy chimneys.
View out the door of one of the more ornamental cave homes.
Ashe by the entrance to one of the homes.
Maciej on the second floor balcony.
Ashe looking out a cave home window.
Another cave home.
Umm... no.
Capadoccia is also known for its innumerable rock-cut churches from the Byzantine era.
High in the hills.
In Goreme town old cave dwellings have been converted into modern homes and hotels.
Older couple in Goreme.
Cave dwellings.
Pots in a tree. Why? We dont know.
Another ancient cave church.
Inside the huge Topkali Church the frescoes have survived the centuries quite well.
More of Topkalis frescoes.
More Topkali frescoes.
Frescoes.
Waving hello to ourselves.
Another great view from another cave home.
More cave homes and tunnels.
Love those fairy chimneys!
Lots of homes.
Inside a home with sunset light streaming in.
Sunset door.
Sunset light over the valley near Goreme.
Beautiful sunset in the valley.
A distant hill.
Volcanic tuft cones.
Moonrise.
Us at sunset.
Sunset over the valley.
A new day in Capadoccia.
View over Goreme as we began our 200 km. day tour around Capadoccia.
The beautiful town of Uchisar with its rocky citadel.
Distant volcano, a reminder of how the Capadoccia landscape came to be more than 8 thousand years ago.
Our first stop of the day, Derinkuyu Underground City, one of the best of the many underground cities in Capadoccia.
Along the tunnels and stairwells leading eight floors underground are ancient stone doors used in times of defense.
A long stairwell deep into the underground levels.
Ashe in a tunnel.
Maciej in one of the ancient graves that were unearthed in the deepest of the underground levels.
Ducking low in those tight tunnels.
Ashe falling through one of the portals that leads from one level to another.
Maciej falling through the same portal.
The Ihlara Gorge, one of Capadoccias most popular excursions.
The Ihlara Gorge is actually the rift valley that was created by a huge, ancient earthquake.
The Ihlara Gorge is most known for its many rock-cut churches, Byzantine era retreats for meditating monks.
Frescoes in one of the cliff churches.
More wonderful frescoes from the 11th century. Wow!
Some of the Gorges churches have sat empty, isolated, and virtually unvisited for centuries.
Most frescoes are begging for some restorative work.
Others have withstood the tests of time remarkably well.
Great!
Fantastic angel!
Good looking Jesus.
The wall of the Ihlara Gorge above us as we followed the river in the bottom of the gorge.
Cliffs over the river.
Inside another one of the forgotten cave churches.
Jesus, again.
Apostles.
Angel.
More apostles and/or saints.
Looking out into the valley from one of the cave churches.
View over the town of Belirsima, one of the Gorges best and our stop for lunch on our tour.
The town of Belirsima.
Passing another village in the gorge.
Very impressive rock formations at the foot of the fantastic monastery at the end of the 14 km. Ihlara Gorge.
Climbing through a series of tunnels, steps and caves on our way up to the main monastery buildings.
Views from the monastery.
Turkey, Ihlara Gorge, Capadoccia
Ashe by the entrance to the monastery missionery school.
Looking out over the valley.
Valley views from the monastery.
Inside the monastery chapel.
At the monastery.
Very impressive church.
Chapel.
Inside the very impressive monastery church, all carved from stone.
Arch with frescoes.
Stairwell in stone.
Great views!
Dolls for sale.
More dolls. Only 2 lira for one!
Even the local men sell dolls to tourists.
View over Uchisar at dusk. Goodbye Capadoccia!
On our way to the amazing and amazingly remote Mt.Nemrut. We stopped at an old tomb surrounded by pillars at each direction of the compass.
Tomb pillars.
Pillars.
Bleak landscape all around.
1800 year old Roman bridge.
Ashe crossing the Roman bridge.
Maciej on the bridge.
Boy in car during one of our tea stops.
There are a few rivers that run through this arid region.
Old frieze that stands by another tomb in the area.
Ancient face.
Ashe at the tombs entrance. Will she go in?
Old script an a very impressive ancient frieze showing the king shaking hands with the god Heracles.
Nice to meet you, god.
The handshake. Note that the king had himself made taller than the god.
The king.
The god Heracles. As you can tell, we really enjoyed this piece of art. We spent a long time staring at it and wondering how and why it ended up here in the middle of nowhere.
A village below.
Finally at Mt.Nemrut itself. On top, King Antiochus I Epiphanes created a shrine to himself around the time of Christ. The shrine honors him on par with the Roman gods. Here, one of the giant stone thrones with the headless King sitting in it.
Below the headless seated figures sit the giant heads of Roman gods and the King himself.
Us by one of the heads on the East Terrace. Theyre huge!
Lion and platform on the East Terrace.
View from the East Terrace. Nothing by dry hills.
Now on the West Terrace where the sun was setting. Here, the King?
The King and the Queen?
The King with an eagle.
One of the gods with the King.
The Queen.
Another god.
Heads, scattered.
Heads.
The bearded head.
What an expression!
A row of friezes lie nearby too.
Amazing place.
Maybe the best of the heads.
Staring out into the mountains for more than 2000 years already.
Eagle.
Lion and headless frieze.
Lion and eagle.
Those eyes.
Us with the heads.
Ashe with the Queen.
Nice beard.
Lion.
The dry hills around Mt.Nemrut. As we said, its in the middle of nowhere.
The King had the top of the flat mountain piled with stones. Many speculate that his tomb lies somewhere amongst those rocks.
Traffic jam on the way back to Kahta from Mt.Nemrut.
A morning dose of cay (tea). A Turk will not begin the day without one.
Ladies bathroom.
Mens bathroom.
Fried sweets for sale.
Food cart.
Tea break in Sanli Urpa, a true Turkish city that hasnt yet been overrun by tourists, in the southeast of Turkey.
Man on the bus in Sanli Urfa.
Lady by Sanli Urfas Fish Lake.
Another lady by the Lake.
Ashe feeding the fish.
Passing through an arch along the Fish Lake promenade.
Lady wearing lavender scarf, the local color and design.
Man in the market.
Two more lavender scarf ladies.
Another lady by the water.
People come from far and wide wearing their very best to visit the very sacred cave of Ibrahim, the place where the Prophet Abraham was born.
Wild dresses for sale in the local market.
Walkway and mosque along Fish Lake.
Man looking out over Fish Lake.
Inside the mosque at the place where Abraham was tested by fire.
Fish in a small pond that is connected to Fish Lake.
Coming out of the garden.
Fountain.
The mosque of the Prophet Abraham.
Preparing for the noon prayer.
We saw the most conservatively dressed Turkish ladies weve yet encountered in Sanli Urfa.
Headscarf.
The noon prayer. Thousands prayed at the Mosque of the Prophet Abraham.
Ladies at the mosque.
Man in the market. Another first for us in Turkey: lots of men looking like sheiks. Maybe its the proximity to Syria.
Boy in the market.
Bread man.
Buy your Mecca wall hangings and odd nature scenes here.
Ladies in the market.
Hot pepper!
Man in the market.
The fruit and veggie guy.
An odd man we ran across over and over again who insisted on carrying rope around with him even while eating.
The rope guys meal.
Fly in my soup! All these years I thought that classic complaint was just a myth.
The afternoon prayer.
Fancy seat cover.
Man in the market.
Boy in the market.
Even the men wear the those lavender scarves in Sanli Urfa!
Doner and kebab guy.
Bearded fellow in the market.
Sitting down for lunch.
These cay (tea) delivery guys run around from shop to shop keeping everyone satisfied.
Heres where everyone gets those lavender scarves!
Another lavender scarf salesman but he prefers not to wear his product. Maybe lavender is not his color.
Bread boy.
Man in the streets.
Playing games.
Another bread delivery.
Looking at watches.
Somewhere amongst the huge bazaar in Sanli Urfa we found a large plaza full of men having their afternoon coffee and tea.
What a character.
Busy streets of the Sanli Urfa bazaar market.
Lady with baby in the market.
Teapots and water pipes for sale in the bazaar.
Bread boy in the market.
The ubiquitous sweets shop -- always the same desserts.
Nothing beats the afternoon meeting, on the roof.
Buying a banana, the old school way.
Gun shop right in the middle of the bazaar. Inside, rifles, semi-automatic weapons, and lots of ammo. A little scary, yes.
Fabrics for sale.
More colorful fabrics and scarves.
The market was well divided into different districts. Here, a man in the sewing quarter. He was one of many busily working at the machine.
Girl in the market.
Mosque minaret.
Kids. So excited to get their photo taken and without asking for money! We havent seen that in a long, long time and it felt great.
A local family who wanted to get their photo taken too. After the photo, the father asked to have the photo. He didnt understand how we couldnt take it off our digital screen and give it to him. Internet? he asked confused.
Cay. They LOVE their tea in Turkey!
Ladies paying a visit to the Cave of Abraham.
More ladies heading for Abrahams Cave.
Kids at the mosque.
We didnt even know this when we came to Sanli Urfa so you can imagine our surprise when we saw it. No wonder there were so many visiting this site and mosque!
Dome over Abrahams Cave.
Mosque minaret.
Inside the Mosque of the Prophet Abraham courtyard.
View over the Mosque of the Prophet Abraham and the city of Sanli Urfa.
Another view over the city.
A family we met in the hills and had tea with.
The mosque and castle wall.
Sunset sky over the Corinthian columns on the grounds of Sanli Urfas citadel.
Giant flag over the city on the castle grounds.
Us with the flag.
Column and flag.
Enjoying the sunset over the city.
Ladies at the castle.
View over the old part of the city from the castle.
Fish Lake is called Fish Lake for a reason. Just put your hand over the waters and the fish go nuts!
Sunset over Fish Lake.
Bus ticket office for cities in Turkeys Batman province and the city of Batman itself. We were tempted to stop in Batman to see if the city has made any strange attempts to connect itself with our favorite hero.
Lake Van, Turkeys largest and a village over it as we headed for the city of Van.
Lake Van.
Ancient mausoleum on the shore of Lake Van.
Very old cemetery.
Lake Van and the mountains over it.
Boats on the Lake.
Local boatman.
Lake Van mountains.
Akdamak Island, home to a 10th century Armenia church we came to visit but found out that the church is closed for restoration. Next time!
The harbour for Akdamak Island was in the middle of nowhere (39 km. from the city of Van) so we were left with only walking and hitchhiking as options.
We almost went in the direction of Iran but decided to stay in Turkey instead.
Snowy mountains.
Minivan bus boy in Van. Working at too young an age.
One of hundreds, thousands of teashops in Van with its miniature tables and chairs out on the sidewalk.
Ashe with some of the girls playing in the streets outside Van. Later we found out that these grungy looking kids with nothing to do but spin around in the street are Kurdish children. Southeastern Turkey is predominantly Kurdish and the people still suffer from discrimination and neglect as they do in the other countries theyve tried to make a home in.
Kurdish boy.
Part of the wall of Vans huge, 3000 year old castle.
Van Castle wall and mountains.
Mosque below the castle ruins.
Van Castle.
The Castle sits very high on a huge rock that sits by Lake Van.
Great views all the way to Lake Van.
Ashe walking the castle wall.
View over the city of Van from the castle wall.
Maciej on the rock that is Van Castle.
Ashe on the castle rocks.
Far below, an old tower and grazing sheep.
Sheep.
The final castle tower and a boat on Lake Van
Van Castle -- beautiful.
Much more snow in the mountains and valleys as we went far west in Turkey to the mountain town of Dogubayazit very near to the Iranian border.
5137 meter high Mt.Ararat, one of Turkeys highest volcanos and whose peak is said to be the spot where Noah landed his Ark while the valleys below were flooded.
Three Kurdish boys in Dogubayazit. Most of these children either sell tissues or carry a scale or shoeshine box around asking if you want your weight or shoes shined.
Mountains surround Dogubayazit on two sides.
Another volcano in the distance.
Pink home under Mt.Ararat.
Sheep in the mountains.
Herder with his flock.
No children on these swings.
Sure, this way up the Palace will do.
Passing the Palace wall as we climbed up the its gates. Great views of the Dogubayazit valley and hills below.
Even further above us, an ancient fortress wall and craggy peaks.
A nearby mosque.
Up high and just beyond the fantastic Ishak Pasha Palace.
Ishak Pasha Palace, an amazing place.
Mountain dog wearing a very scary looking collar.
View out the window of a crumbling building beside the Palace.
The Palace mosque beyond the small buildings door.
Ishak Pasha Palace sits high in the mountains overlooking the Dogubayazit valley.
By the Palace, an old cemetery.
Snowy tombstone.
Snowy tombstone.
Beautiful peaks above the Palace.
Front gate to the Palace.
Gate carvings.
Looking through the gate of the first courtyard to the second.
Gate carvings.
Mosque tower.
Us looking into the deep dungeons under the Palace and seeing only our shadows.
Beautiful gate connecting the second courtyard and the inside of the Palace.
Palace windows.
Windows and mosque dome.
Great carvings surrounding a gate window.
Trees.
The palace even has ancient doghouses! Actually, we couldnt figure out what they were. They had no floors and we couldnt see into the abyss below.
Palace windows.
Windows and mountains beyond.
Palace baths.
Maciej looking out one of the Palace windows.
Great views from every room in the Palace.
Inside one of the Palace rooms.
At the entrance to the Palace mosque and looking up.
Palace shadow in the mountains beyond.
Another room, another great view!
The harem had plenty of rooms and we could only imagine the many ladies the prince once chose from.
The roof-less dining hall.
Arches.
Arches.
Checkered walls.
The mosque.
Wood carving - a face.
Mosque and castle as seen from the Palace.
Palace mosque.
Ashe in the priests pulpit inside the mosque. If she had a copy of the Quran she would be reading from it.
Mosque dome.
Doorway carvings and stars.
Mountain home.
Castle tower.
Over the mountain mosque and looking at the Palace.
Two girls at a nearby historic Armenian church, now a mosque.
Great view of the Palace from the window at the Armenian church.
Church dome. Nice!
Some important holy man must have once studied here...
Old lady at the mosque.
Local boys having probably their tenth tea break of the afternoon.
Ladies walking up the hill to the Armenian church/mosque.
Moon over the Dogubayazit valley as the sun began to set (at 3:30 p.m.!) and we began our descent back to town.
Mt.Ararat looking very impressive at sunset.
Ataturk, Turkeys liberator and beloved leader following WWI. Posters and fancy holographic images like this one of him can be found everywhere in Turkey.
Boys in the street.
View of Mt.Ararat as we drove out of town.
Waiting at the side of the road.
One of several very impressive Seljuk buildings in Erzurums old town.
A very eastern hand inside the local museum.
One of Turkeys best Seljuk buildings.
Flower shop. All fake and very tacky.
View over Erzurum at sunrise.
Mosque minarets and mountains in the morning cold.
The moon over Erzurum.
Erzurums 5th century castle.
Minaret and white mountains.
Morning scene in Erzurum.
One more look at one of the citys Seljuk designs.
Trabzon, called the most interesting of the cities on Turkeys Black Sea coast. Interesting it is. Its also extremely polluted and home to more inner city slums than weve yet encountered in this country.
Shack home on the roof of a larger building with fine views to the highway and the Black Sea beyond.
The oranges and pinks of the sunset were obscured by the blackness of the smog the smothers the city.
Separated from the rest of Turkey by high coastal mountains, the Black Sea Coast is said to be very Russian as it highly depends on trade with that region. It does feel different.
Trabzons very happening market.
Bread guy in the market.
Lots of oranges. Thats about how many of these cheap mandarins we eat daily.
Fish guy. They love their fish in this coastal town and we say plenty of anchovie pizzas already.
A large load.
Lots to choose from.
Scene at the local doner and kebab (one of hundreds) restaurant.
3 p.m. visit to Trabzons historic Aya Sofia Church. Yes, the sun had almost set completely by 3 p.m.
Ashe in the church window.
Frescoes.
More frescoes at Aya Sofia.
Morning in the streets of Trabzon.
View over Trabzon.
Morning minaret.
Selling jackets under the mosque.
A couple of Trabzons older buildings.
Not much remains of Trabzons medieval old town except a few stone bridges and towers.
Just in case a bit of patriotism needs to be stirred up.
Mountain barn in the Pontic Mountains as we hiked towards Sumela Monastery.
Winter is here in the mountains.
The Pontic Mountains have been a very welcome surprise for us. Lots of pine, snow, and beautiful peaks.
Ashe hiking up the road toward the Sumela Monastery.
More of the valley as we approached the Monastery.
First glimpse of the Sumela Monastery built into the cliff high above.
Approaching the Monastery.
Pontic Mountain peaks.
Pine forests and craggy peaks.
The aqueduct that once fed water to the Monastery.
Old monastery buildings built into a cave in the cliff.
View from the Monasterys library. Nice.
Ashe in the library window.
Beside one of the Monastery buildings and looking up the cliff face above it.
The ancient church at the Monastery.
Monastery frescoes.
Giant Jesus inside the church, painted right onto the cave which makes the roof of the church.
Mary and the baby Jesus on that same cave roof.
More great (and intact) frescoes.
Whos this guy?
Another of the frescoes that covers the inside and outside walls of the old church completely.
Flying head.
Menderes, the army captain that picked us up on our way to the Monastery (saved us the 15 km. walk up the icy road) visited it with us, bought us lunch, told us lots of great things about Turkey, and drove us back down. East, west, home is best. he said. In other words, seeing the world is fantastic but theres no place like home. We agree.
More of the Monastery buildings.
Old chimney.
Looking up at the Monastery from the road below.
Loving the forests of the Pontic Mountains.
Peaks.
One more look at the Sumela Monastery.
And us once again in the mountains.
Sunset over Trabzon as we prepare to leave for Ankara.
This shopkeeper has a sense of humor, or he doesnt have any pants in inventory.
Ankara Castle wall and home within.
Laundry day inside the Castle.
View from the Castle wall.
Ankara homes in the hills.
Residential neighbourhood near the Castle.
Hill homes.
When we saw this scene from the Ankara Castle we couldnt believe that we were in the capital city of such a prosperous nation. These could be the slums of Calcutta. No where else in Turkey have we seen anything like this yet. (There is a modern new town that doesnt look like this, of course)
Walking through the old town below the Castle.
Anatolian sunset on our way from Ankara to Denizli.
Pamukkale, one of those must-see places in Turkey. It is the site of natural springs whose water, when exposed to the air, calcifies to create beautiful white rock. Thats right, thats not snow back there.
The thermal springs are still active creating warm pools of therapeutic water among that white rock.
Natural pools at Pamukkale. Fantastic!
Especially beautiful early in the day!
Very nice!
Ashe on the trail up the travertines.
By one of the thermal pools.
Perfect reflection.
Very cool.
Ashe chose the warm route up the ridge through the thermal water channel.
Maciej walking through the thermal channel.
Calcified rock.
As usual, the local stray dogs and puppies found us immediately. They know that we are one of their kind (probably by our smell).
What? A natural fountain of warm water, pouring from the rock? Sure, Ill spend an hour at this spot...
Ashe giving one of our new puppies some water.
One of our puppies. We couldnt get them off of Maciejs shoes.
Thermal pool.
Another pool. The Romans built one of their greatest cities right over the natural springs and they probably built some of these larger pools.
Our three puppies.
The new landscaping over the springs at Pamukkale looks great too.
Us at the pond.
More travertines.
An almost sheer drop.
Behind the travertines, the ancient Roman city of Hieropolis.
House-like tomb in Hieropolis necropolis, one of the best preserved necropoli in the world.
Ancient tombs.
Tumulus tombs.
More tombs.
Maciej posing like a cutesy lady we just saw in the gate to the necropolis.
Carvings on one of many sarcophagi discovered in the necropolis.
Another fantastically well preserved carving on a sarcophagus.
WHAT is going on here?
Another great relief.
Angel on sarcophagus.
The old Basilica.
Byzantine gate and tower.
The ancient Roman bathroom! Nice! It had toilets, plumbing and fresh water.
Along the old main street.
Statue.
Ancient walls.
Fantastic column carvings.
A beard of leaves.
Ruins.
Lions.
Tombs in the hills.
Another fantastic statue amongst the ruins of Hieropolis.
The amazing Roman theater (seats 24,000) at Hieropolis.
Inside the theater everyone has a great seat!
Ashe in the theater seats. Great for 10 minutes, maybe a bit hard for a 3 hour show.
Passing the travertines on our way back down to Pamukkale town. Not all are full of water year-round for preservation reasons the water flow is controlled.
Some of the flowing travertines.
More travertines. Beautiful!
What a landscape!
Selcuk, the historic small town nearest to Turkeys premier historic site; Ephesus. Selcuk with the ruins of the Artemis Temple, the Church and Tomb of St.John, and the Virgin Marys final home is pretty impressive itself!
We began our long day of walking around Selcuks countryside early and left prepared with bread and oranges.
Morning hill views as we began the uphill climb up to the home in which the Virgin Mary spent her final eight years.
Views over the Selcuk valley.
Orchards fill the valley making for very beautiful countryside around Selcuk.
Giant Mary statue on the way uphill to her home.
The Virgin Marys final home where she spent the last years of her life (37-45 AD). A very small and simple home but moving nevertheless.
Inside Marys home.
A prayer for all those we love and think about.
Painting.
Mary image barely visible on the inside wall of the home. The home has long been recognized as her home and has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries.
Another image on the wall.
Urinals with a view. Great views in every direction from Marys hilltop home.
Misty valley below Marys home.
Another statue in the garden.
Ancient Ephesus was once Romes capital in Asia Minor. Today, the ruins along its long, ancient road are probably the best Roman ruins to be found anywhere.
View down the main street to the prize of Ephesus ruins, the beautiful ancient library.
Arch and column.
Happy amongst the scattered ruins.
Intact frieze.
Heavier than I thought...
Intact angel.
Headless Roman.
Temple.
Fantastic reliefs, still look good after 1700 years of wear.
Great mosaic floor.
Its been a while since one of these sunglass shots. This one worked out well with Ashes eye even visible if you look hard enough.
Another tablet we just couldnt read.
The fantastic Ephesus Library.
Beautiful!
The Library showcases the value given to knowledge and study by the ancient Romans.
No piece of the Library facade lacked detail and design.
Statue.
Great details!
Another great looking relief by the Library.
Two more figures.
The giant Roman theater at Ephesus.
Following a road through orange groves back to Selcuk and its hilltop castle.
Helping ourselves to a few mandarin oranges along the way.
Inside a cave in a hill along the way back to Selcuk is the church and tombs of the Seven Sleepers, seven persecuted Christians who are said to have fallen asleep in this cave for 200 years, awaking only when Christianity had become the accepted faith in the region.
Local chef preparing one of our favorites; gozleme, a Turkish pancake or crepe filled with meat, potato, spinach or cheese. We usually choose spinach.
Ashe in an atmospheric roadside restaurant with her spinach gozleme.
Old carriage.
All that remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, are these two columns and stone foundations. Beyond can be seen the Church of St.John (to the right) for which the Temples stones and columns were used when it toppled following an earthquake AND the Isa Bey Mosque (to the left) for which the stones were again recycled after another earthquake toppled the Church.
The remains of the Church of St.John, built over the tomb of John, one of the Twelve Apostles who settled in Ephesus to do his missionary work.
The arches of the Church of St.John.
St.Johns tomb.
Church columns.
Ashe inside the roof-less church.
Isa Bey Mosque, the final building for which the stones and columns of the ancient Temple of Artemis were used following the earthquake that crumbled the Church of St.John.
Entrance to the Isa Bey Mosque.
Rose inside the mosque courtyard.
Bergama, the most normal and true Turkish city weve visited on the West Coast. Locals live their lives amongst those streets without much concern about tourism except to say hello to strangers in their streets.
Bergama street.
Front step ladies.
The ladies we ran into along one of Bergamas old blocks were excited to get their photo taken!
Actually, they were asking us to take their photo!
Boys in the street.
A quick break from the soccer game they were having in the mosque yard.
Flower lady.
Historic Selcuk minaret.
Local bread shop. More white bread than wed like to eat in a lifetime but its all we have to choose from.
Hmm, which loaf should I get? (They may have different shapes but theyre all the same!)
Donkeys on the bridge.
A new meaning to living under the bridge.
Carpets, carpets, and more carpets!
Bergama is known for its two quiet ancient sites. The Asklepeion, with its great standing columns, is one.
Column shadows.
Underground homes at the Asklepeion.
An almost perfect ancient tunnel.
The ruins at Bergama receive few visitors. Probably more sheep than travelers come through annually.
Good looking marble column.
Weve seen these seed pods in many a country.
Ashe washing her face in the sacred well around which the ancient Asklepeion Temple site was built by the Romans.
Walking back through Bergama on our way to the second ancient site. Lady sweeping dirt from the street, an exercise in futility.
Bergamas Acropolis is the site of a massive ancient city dating back to 300 BC.
The ruins of ancient Pergammum, Bergamas historic Akropolis site,are huge!
Ancient city gate and tower.
Floating steps.
Another ancient city, another huge ampitheater.
Floating head.
The most outstanding of ancient Pergammums structures, the temple on the Acropolis highest point.
Temple columns.
Maciej hasnt been able to get enough of those nut stores in Turkey. In Bergama, we found the nut truck and got pretty excited about it.
Turks love their meat.
Girl on the bus.
View over the beautiful port of Ayvalik as we passed it on the way to Behramkale.
Sunrise over Ayvacik. We slept on the roof of the one hotel in town on our way to Behramkale which was harder to get to than we anticipated.
The beautiful hilltop, coastal town of Behramkale.
Maciej on Behramkales old bridge.
Behramkale, all stone and wood.
Sunrise over the Temple of Athena high on the Acropolis hill in Behramkale.
Ashe enjoying the sunrise.
Ashe looks great, even in silhouette.
Behramkales Temple of Athena blends well with the surrounding rock.
A fallen column.
Sun in the clouds over the Aegean Sea as seen from Behramkales Acropolis.
Ancient city tower.
Peering into the abyss.
Ancient city wall.
Sarcophagus.
Lots of open sarcophagi sit in the uncovered necropolis in Behramkale.
We chased this goat and others for a good hour trying to liberate them from their chains.
Unable to liberate the goats, we fed them corn from a can instead.
Maciej, Live at Behramkales Theater. Usually, he fills the stands but today, an audience of one only.
Ashe doing her best Poison Ivy for all you Batman fans out there.
Fishing boat at the port 3 km. below Behramkales Acropolis.
Boat at the harbour.
Going out to sea.
Every day should include some time on a beach.
Canakkale. A quick stop on the Sea of Marmaris on our way to Bursa and Istanbul.
Some of the streets near Canakkales port maintain some historical ambience.
Fishermen along the pier in Canakkale.
Ferry boat.
Bursa, Turkeys Ottoman capital before Istanbul has an authentic and interesting historic feel.
Situated under Turkeys largest skiing resort Bursa, although huge, still feels a bit like a mountain town.
Beautifully landscaped park along the creek in Bursa.
Bursa was once a key point near the end of the Silk Road. The Silk Market (Koza Han) still exists today.
Bursas bazaar is lively day and night.
Bursas main mosque, the huge, 20-domed Ulu Camii.
The entrance to Ulu Camii.
Huge iron chandelier inside the Ulu Camii reminds us of what these giant mosques must have once looked like before electric lighting.
A first for us: a beautiful fountain right in the center of the mosque.
Inside the Ulu Camii.
Ulu Camii lantern.
Mosque painting.
View over Bursa as we climbed the hill towards the citys second most important mosque, the Green Mosque.
Nice neighborhood with traditional Ottoman homes near the Green Mosque.
The Green Mosque looks more green inside than outside.
Elaborate marble carvings around the Green Mosques windows.
From the Quran, we assume.
Mosque slippers. Leave your shoes at the door and enter wearing these.
Green tiles inside give the Green Mosque its name.
Great green tiles!
Green Mosque dome.
One of the few hans (ancient plazas with only one way in that served as markets for specific goods) within Bursas bazaar.
Empty cay glasses.
Lanterns and Ottoman homes.
Hacivat and Karagoz, famous in Bursa and we still dont know who they are.
Turkish sweets. Hundreds of identical pastry shops sell the same platters of ultra-sweet desserts in every village and city.
Fish market.
Wig store?
Bazaar scene.
Bursa is also known for its thermal baths. Here, the domes of one of the citys best.
Colorful Ottoman home.
As the former Ottoman capital, Bursa is also filled with these large tombs of former Sultans and dignitaries.
Mosque lost in the sprawl of the city but preserved and built around nonetheless.
Mecca!
As we said, Bursa is Turkeys ski capital.

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