Turkey adventures part 1

March 22, 2010 Turkey adventures part 1

(true to date!)
From Istanbul I have been traveling south along the aegean sea with a dreaded kiwi geologist. We met in Istanbul at a hostel on St. Patricks Day. Jodi and I have a similar timeframe and a similar list of things we wanted to see in our time here. So this american and the kiwi went south!
From Istanbul we got a 4 hour shuttle to the Gallipoli penninsula. In Gallipoli we dropped our things at the TJs hostel in the little fishing town of Eceabat. Our guided tour of ANZAC retrieved us from there.
ANZAC is the acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps and represents a legacy on this penninsula that was forged in bloodshed. In 1915 Australia and New Zealand joined WWI on the side of the allies and were the primary forces that invaded Turkey with the goal of taking the port of Istanbul. As Australia and New Zealand had just become federated, joining a war was their first large international act. At Gallipoli thousands of ANZAC soldiers died unprepared against Turkish machine guns over the course of 9 months. They never could take control of the Peninsula let alone Istanbul up the Dardanelles. To this day ANZAC at Gallipoli is an emotional pilgrimage site for Aussies and Kiwis.
My knowledge of ANZAC was limited to a Mel Gipson’s protrayl in the 1980s. What I learned from walking the visible trenches, touching the hundreds of grave stones and looking at pictures of soldiers was more than any course I have had in the US, which probably never mentioned Turkey in WWI. What sticks out to me the most from this education was the stories from the Turkish side and the acts of human kindness both sides showed each other in the bloodshed.
From Eceabat we had another tour the following day with the same tour guide to Troy. The city of Troy exists! I knew it must have and lonely Planet assured me that this was so but, would it really be there? I expected a hill with a sign post reading “believed site of the historical city of Troy. Stay off the grass.” What I found was an amazing and extensive set of excavated ruins. The city of Troy was built in 9 stages as it expanded or was Romanized or Greekified depending on who had control if Asia minor when. Yes, there is a fake wooden horse at the site for tourists such as myself to have a personalized photo taken of me waving down from a window in the horses’ ass. Sadly there was no Brad Pitt in site. There was however a good view of the tombs of Achilles and his best mate. These tombs are empty today due to Roman tomb robbers.
From Troy we had down time in Eceabat so josh and I took the ferry across the Dardanelles from Eceabat to canakkale 4 times. The Dardanelles divide the European continent and the Asian continent. In Canakkale we joined the hundreds of domestic tourists on the waterfront and ate sesame bagel like street food. This was disappointing in my list of street food experiences. Fantastic street food experiences:
Fresh orange juice (Marrakech)
Hot ginseng tea that stripped my throat of 7 layers of tissue (Marrakech) Chicken kafta sandwich with saffron rice (Marrakech)
Ham sandwich in a baguette (Paris)
Turkish delight (Istanbul)
Apricots (Marrakech)
Cup o’ pomagranate seeds (Istanbul)
There is more of course but now that I try and recall them, none come to mind.
From Eceabat we took the overnight bus 7 hours to Selcuk (sell-chuuk) down the Aegean coast. Selcuk is where I am now. In Sekcuk we have a brilliantly friendly small hostel that’s empty but for us. The intimacy of this has made it easy to learn about Turkey from Turkish people and to take adventures out just because the staff as bored and we had time. After a morning at the museum we hopped into the back of a jeep and drove to the 7 sleepers site. The 7 sleepers is a religious site that may be less sacred now that Jodi and I climbed up and into the “sleeping” caves for hilarious photo ops when no one was looking. Amusement aside we did not go to visit the 7 sleepers but rather to patron an open air resturant that has “the best Turkish pancakes in all of turkey”. Those of you who know me well know that I will travel for food. And yes, these we absolutely incredible. I cannot believe how delicious thin layers of pastry stuffed with onions, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, meat, eggplant and cheese stacked upon itself in layers can be. Even more delicious that this (if possible) was the desert pancake of chocolate and bananas served with hot apple tea. Gastronomically Amazing. All for 5 lira! I love Turkey!
After dinner we got back into the jeep and drove out to the panacuk beach 4 miles or so out of Selculk. The beach was warm and the islands of Turkey and Greece just visible behind the haze of a brilliant lowering sun.
Besides relax in Selcuk with the hostel owner we went on another tour, this time to Ephesus.
Ephesus was the capital of the Roman Empire in asia minir for centuries. There are more roman ruins here than anywhere else in the empire. This is crazy given that the site is only 30% excavated but not crazy when you consider that 200,000 people lives here thousands of years ago.
On this Ephesus tour I got to walk around the Temple of Artemis one of the old 7 wanders of the world. This would be impressive if there was anything there but two columns, one of which nests a family of storks. Also on this tour was a stop at a Turkish carpet cooperative where I drank Turkish coffee and sat on thousands of dollars of carpets trying not to spill. Not so exciting in this tour was the leather jacket fashion show? Um. Really a low point being forced to sit through a catwalk show with professional models and then followed around the shop by eager sakesmen trying to convince me I need a 1,200€ jacket.
When you travel things never go to plan. For example our trip to Pamukkale for it’s salt hot springs was not booked for the right day so we had to rearrange the rest of our time in Turkey to make sure I could still make my flight out to china. Hence why we had down time in Selcuk today.
Lonely Planet does not do Turkey justice; it’s beyond evrything described. The landscape is stunning: mountains, rolling hills of mulberry, almonds, figs and olive trees dot the land, golden beaches of the Aegean sea give speracular views of the Greek islands, and the white marble ruins of the Greek and Roman empires lay everywhere like ordinary pebbles in a quarry. The people are incredibly friendly as well. When a stranger come up to you and invited you inside their shop or on the street corner for apple tea and a chat, that’s really all they want. For me coming from Marrakech and Jodi from India, we have been unable to calm our skeptisim and weariness of smiling strangers. Here we are continuously and pleasantly surprised with the kindness of the people we encounter. I know a week is no time to discover if you love a country but I really love Turkey. Turkey only rivals Scotland as my favorite country because it is warmer. In truth I want to come back to Turkey as soon as possible.

Traveling! Sent from my iPod

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