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David Nathaniel Berger | Crea il tuo badge

I boarded my bus to Cappadokia much to the displeasure of my guide – frustrated that I wouldn’t stay the night in Selcuk and take his tour to Panakkale (hot springs with extensive calcium pools) and then stay the night there and take another bus to Cappadokia. I’d decided that I would do the nightbus directly to Cappadokia, as it is a 100% unique experience. The foto’s of the Panakkule reminded me of the natural springs in Colorado springs. big calcium and salt formations filled with hot spring mineral water. not so unique. Cappadokia is actually a region not a specific city. I covered about 500km of it by booking two tours and staying the night in Goreme (where the cone houses are) I managed to see around 60% of it. Or at least see the Major parts.

There are three really major sections of Cappadokia to see. The first are the cone shaped houses formed by erosion of ash from the three major volcano’s that last erupted in 3000 BC. The cones, with a basalt cap form the mushroom type of rock formations which have a softer stone underneath. The softer stone yields itself to carving and has been carved into Monasteries, homes, castles, and even a colossal underground city.

The second major thing to see are the Christian churches carved into the valleys following the river. These churches are set into the stone high above in the cliff sides. they are like the cliff dwellings in Arizona but without external building materials, everything is literally carved into the stone.

The final thing to see is the fabled underground city. Consisting of 10 floors, only 10% of is open to the public. With cramped narrow passageways, it is complete with kitchens, stables (underground) secret rooms, giant stone wheels set into the rock as doors and gates… its like a dwarfish castle in real life. hunched over to fit into the tunnels, the deeper we got the smaller they got, a great defensive strategy and a good time for me to work on my lunges and walking squats. At major defensive points the smallest areas of the tunnel opened into large rooms, with the stone door on the small tunnel and then open space for the defenders. At most defenders could live inside the city for 1 month if attacked.

Earlier that day we’d seen the cone houses and monasteries cut into the rock. we’d had a tour of an Onyx refinery which both carved the rock and sold jewelry etc. Onyx is the major stone export of the Cappadokia region. I won an onyx egg (light tan, much like alabaster but with deeper hues). In addition we had free time to run around and explore through the ancient dwellings carved into the rock. unfortunately due to erosion most of the areas are closed due to safety issues, but even so, the area is so huge that there is plenty to see.

We hiked through one of the valleys and got a chance to see the remains of some of the lower churches carved into the valley walls. at the end of our beautiful hike alongside the river, surrounded on each side by cities carved into the cliffs we arrived for lunch. Lunch was excellent, Beef Kabap enjoyed on the riverside with Efes beer and cool shade.

Then we boarded our van and headed for the Underground city.

we entered at the kitchens, and then headed down past the stables and the winery into the dark depths. cold air, orange emergency lighting and the cool breeze from the ventilation shaft accompanied our decent. From the bottom floor (we followed the ventilation shaft down into the city and then around to the church, confession area and temporary cemetery (around my estimation is about 70-100 feet underground) but it was so hard to tell.

We started the long climb out. with the occasional tunnel leading dangerously along the ventilation shaft reminding me of Moria. we found our way out of the City and headed on to our next destination – a panoramic view of that section of Cappadokia.

Boarding my night bus, munching away on my stuffed mussels I found my seat next to the window and settled in. Wedging my backpack against the cool glass, adjusting the vents to make sure I’d get some fresh air during the trip and sliding my feet up to my shins under the seat in front of me. Then I grabbed my long sleeved shirt and waded it up to make up the difference between my lower back and the seat.

The bus departed and we started winding our way out of Istanbul. Two hours later we boarded a ferry and started across to the Asian side of Istanbul. and hour after that we left the city. we made one final stop and picked up a full fledged family. starting at what must have been 5 months old and going to eight five children and their beleaguered parents boarded the bus. Thinking nothing of the occurrence I wedged myself closer to the window and fell back asleep. less than 10 minutes later the choir began. it started as a gurgle, then proceeded to two full hours of screaming. pacifier or no, this kid had lungs the size of the Hindenburg, and just like that fabled airship, this voyage had just crashed and burned in terms of enjoyability. After the first 10 minutes, realizing I was in for a long night I grabbed my Ipod and maxed the volume.

an hour later my Ipod died. batteries exhausted, as I had forgotten to charge it for over a week and a half. an hour later the first child finally quieted down, and then as if on Que the second half of the opus began. between the screams of the two older children fighting and the wails of the second youngest, I had the pleasure of being kept awake by screeching, screaming, yelling, and arguing Turkish children. 8 hours later I’d nearly lost my mind – I climbed off the bus and ran as fast as I could from the station. 8 AM and already tortured.

I found my way to my tour guide’s office, had three huge glasses of tea and waited for the bus that would take me to Ephesus. Already exhausted and ready for some reprieve, the calm and tranquility promised by the walk and guide through Efes was at the top of my list.

I had my Turkish breakfast, a hard boiled egg, cucumber, salad, olives, and carrots all mixed together. With the egg as a stand alone centerpiece.

The bus arrived and I boarded with six girls from Malaysia two girls from the east coast and another American. The tour rumbled the 4 klicks out to Ephesus and then we disembarked and headed through the entry to the park: Our first view was of the royal part of the city, then we walked down past the baths toward the temples, and the great central fountain.

From there we headed down into the commercial area of the city and found the reconstructed library of Celsius –

The theater:

Pillars leading toward the Port:

Brothel:

Dock street:

Ephesus was a quick run through taking a little over two hours to see the entire city. from there we headed out for buffet lunch and then we visited the Artemis temple. after seeing the ruined columns of Artemis temple (burned down on the day of Alexander the Great’s birth) we headed up into the hills to visit the home in which Mary, Mother of God was said to have spent her final days in St. Johns care.

Traveling by Nightbus is a special experience. Special… yes that most definitly the correct word haha. The nice part about it in Turkey is that you have a hostess, like an airline a host/hostess walks the aisles bringing Chai tea, Cola, Water, or Coffee on request. In addition they provide access to Twinkies. Making them an essential part of enjoying 12 hours cramped in a small plastic and metal tube with crying children, masked women, and smoking men.

Have I mentioned that to be Turkish there is a prerequisite that you smoke? all joking aside if you’re easily offended by cigarette smoke, make sure you’re prepared for a rough time traveling in Greece and Turkey. There are very few places (mosques, historical building etcs) where it is prohibited, that list excludes buses.

The Night buses stop twice on their journeys… that is once they’ve left their cities. Out of the four nightbus trips two have been 12 hours, one 13, and another merely 7. A twelve hour trip made three 30 minute stops about once every four hours. Not too shabby!

The buses themselves are comfortable to an extent, but unless you’re able to sleep sitting up your in for a rough ride if your on the isle. as a larger person I don’t fit properly in the seats, when I sit up straight (IE comfortable) the head rest hits squarely on my shoulder blades. thus said the trips for me are hunched over stuffed against the window as a pillow. slouching for 12 hours can do some serious work on your back and as such stretching and sprawling has become an art form.

A 12 hour ride – Istanbul to Efes for example is around 50 lira or 25 dollars. That said its cheaper than a hotel. so making the trips at night saves in two ways, one you’re not trapped in a bus on a valuable day, and two you save the cost of your hotel for the night. now if they could install showers it would be perfect.

Well, Day three in Istanbul opened up cloudy and threatening. Rain and wind were on the schedule for the day. I wandered about the city walking and taking the metro system around parts of the central city I hadn’t had a chance to see. I wandered down through the Park around Topkapi Palace, discovered walls covered in beautiful street art, some of the best examples of positive graffiti I’ve seen yet. These fotos are from the outskirts of Topkapi palace:

I bought some popcorn and enjoyed sitting on the Bosporus feeling the cool sea breeze while sunlight filtered down through the trees into the carefully manicured flower gardens. One of the Gardens was being assembled and the boxes of flowers waiting distribution was a great picture oppotunity:

The view of sprawling Istanbul infront of me, gardens and grass on all sides, the breeze and Turkish people wandering about… wonderful. some of the muslim women wandered through the park, stealing flowers from the gardens and then trying to sell them to lovers who were sprinkled throughout the park. the police far from stopping them would blow a whistle in warning and make a threatening movement but wouldn’t spend the effort to actually prevent the harvest.

I took this foto of a group of the women resting and wrapping their flowers in tin foil:

Then I headed back to Sultanahmet and found an internet cafe did a foto upload and talked to a friend of mine who lives in Istanbul. she was sick and couldn’t meet up.

Foto upload complete I headed out into Istanbul once again. then walking along the side of the street I made an impromptu decision to head into a restaurant and have a nice lunch. I got an Adana Kabap with a salad and enjoyed the passing populace. I sat drinking the free chai tea and interspersing sweet apple tea into the mix.

From there I followed my instincts and made a decision on the spot to head to Efes. I hiked back up to the University and across to my hotel, passing one of the cutest street merchant gimmicks I’ve seen yet:

I grabbed my bags, checked out of the hotel and made my way back to the bus booking station. I booked a bus and then after paying discovered that my travel agent had forgotten to book my ticket for the transit bus that would take me direct to Istanbul’s Otogar. I had him write out the directions using local transport and set off immediately to make the hour and a half journey to the Otogar. I found my way by tramway and metro to the Otogar. Stocked up on Stuffed mussels and then boarded the 12 hour ride to Selcuk – south of Izmir and prepared to see Ephasus.

I woke up a little later than usual, rousing myself around 10am instead of 8. It felt good and I wasn’t worried. I had 3 nights here and on Monday morning I would head down to Izmir to see Ephesus. I then plan to take the long trek back to Bulgaria and the lands where the dollar is stronger.

I haven’t done so well financially on this part. Each day it costs me more to travel and eat on different currencies. In addition, I discovered that although the Turkish signs say there is a student rate, in high season (that would be now) it is not the case. Often, right next to the sign proclaiming 5 YTL instead of 20 for students, there’s another that proclaims in a larger font ‘THERE IS NO STUDENT DISCOUNT’… Unfortunate for my wallet. Still 20 YTL for the Hagia Sofia is nothing compared to the memory that will last for my entire life. The 10 to see the cistern that has fed Istanbul water since the 5th century is a price I gladly paid. However, the 40 YTL to see Dolhambaca Palace was something I couldn’t bring myself to do… especially when the student price was listed at 1 YTL …right next to the sign proclaiming in large white letters that there wasn’t a student discount. It strongly discouraged my entry.

Hagia sofia is 20 times as shocking as the Blue Mosque. Even though it was under restoration and the dome was covered in scaffolding, the parts of it that were open were magnificent. Ancient tile work extolling the detail and beauty of flowers, calligraphy, and flowing designs are plastered into the wall and where they have faded, simpler designs have been painted over their remnants. Finding the ancient beauty breaking through the simpler newer work is an adventure with beauty and satisfaction as its reward. The most startling thing about Hagia Sofia is that as you walk through the sections of the church you see its transition to a mosque…the hanging of giant pendants of Islamic calligraphy and in the darkened marble you notice that the crosses have been etched off the walls. The large orthodox and crusader crosses have been scratched or dissolved off the walls, leaving a ghostly image of them in the marble…a thoroughly chilling effect. In addition, Hagia Sofia is a much darker edifice than the mosques surrounding it. Darker paints, metals and imagery surround you in the walls.

Hagia Sofia and the Blue mosque are must sees!

From there I ventured out to the Burned Column and then took the metro across the new bridge north toward the Bosporus bridge. I got kumpir at Otakoy…a huge baked potato stuffed with whatever you want…and then took a ferry across the bay into Asia. The Asian side didn’t offer much to see but it did give me the chance to watch the sun set behind the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. Another experience that has been unparalleled.

As the sun settled into the haze of the city the horizon lit up. Orange tendrils broke from the earth like serpents during rain. They climbed into the sky and soon their reddened brothers followed their path. The blood red sun changed the horizon into a glowing bed of embers settling behind the mosques and etching them into the horizon. The colors changed from orange, to red, to deep dark burgandy to black. Then the city erupted in its own light, replacing the warmth of the sun with cold industrial lighting.

I headed back across the Bosporus bridge and have now crossed into Asia by land and by sea. The next time will be by bus as I head to Izmir and then I hope by Plane when I head for the Orient.

I returned to Istanbul’s nightlife, found myself a waterpipe and tea bar, settled in, and enjoyed the atmosphere until I started back toward my hotel. I decided on a taxi feeling a little lightheaded after the hookah and when I told the driver to take me back to my hotel he asked if I had a card. I gave him the card with a map on the back and he said no problem no problem… little did I know that he had no idea where we were going. We sped off into the Turkish night until we returned to the University area. There he proceeded to ask every other cab driver he passed for directions.

I couldn’t help but laugh the entire trip chuckling about how much fun it was to be in Istanbul taking a cab ride with a cabby who had no idea where he was going.Something about the situation just made it entirely too entertaining. I finally recognized another hotel and told the cabby to stop. I paid him 3/4 of the fare telling him that he had wasted at least 3/4s of it asking for directions and driving around trying to find the hotel. I then headed off on foot back toward my destination. I reached the hotel, grabbed my key, climbed up to my room and fell sound asleep.

Istanbul is a wonderful city. Compact but sprawling the european side of the city is chock full of humanity and stuff. every corner every window every store is stuffed full of trinkets, bronze, silver, pewter, tin, steel, plastic, glass, anything you can think of theres a store with thousands of it.

I arrived at the train station and gave a call to Senol a brother to a friend of Korhan, a friend of mine in the states. He sent someone from a hotel he had arranged for me to pick me up and I was guided through the city to the metro and then from the metro I was guided to the hotel lobby. After some fierce negotiation I arranged a room for 40 YTL (Very reasonable) and settled in. I dropped my bags changed my undershirt and headed out into the city. My first desire was to wander and I dropped the map at home and just walked. After getting myself throughly lost I found the University and the Mosque behind it.

I wandered through the mosque and then headed back to the University to get some pictures of the campus. unfortunately for me the campus is for students and faculty only… this is evidenced by the armed guards checking your student ID. having to settle with pictures through the great stone gates I wandered on toward the spice market. I found the spice bazaar and wandered through its narrow streets – stuffed to the brink with every type of item you can imagine, from fruit shaped soaps to pungent herbs and spices, even the occasional electronics store. I wandered through the market for about an hour before finally reaching the light of day. breathing in clear air I settled myself and headed to the New bridge and the bosphorus straight. from there I swung right and headed for the giant mosque near the train station. I entered the mosque and admired once again the clean geometric lines and caligraphy adorning the building. exiting I headed back out into the city I wandered back along the tramway and found my way to the blue mosque. I wandered inside and was blow away by the beauty and intricacy of it. I had to sit down and center myself to begin to absorb and understand the intricacies of the mosque and its writings. it is a beautiful, careful, and special place. Each tile seems etched as a goldsmith doing his finest life’s work.

I sat stunned for I don’t know how long before I walked through and then on. The other thing about mosques that I really enjoy is that they are all about Light and open space. I could admire and enjoy every facet of the mosque because it was well light and open, everywhere fell bright warm light reflecting from the interwoven blue and orange, tan, and white colours.

from there I headed out along the Hippodrome and the German fountain. I came across the Serpent pillar and the beautiful and perfectly preserved egyptian obelisk brought to Istanbul in 550bc.

From that point I headed back into the city searching for an Internet Cafe. I found one and did a cursory upload of Edirne and Istanbul 1. wrote a catch up blog and headed back out into Istanbul’s nightlife. I wandered home and crashed for the night satisfied and ready for a good nights sleep.

Well, for starters please excuse my grammer and typıng errors. Ill have to come back through when Ive got a word edıtıng program and fıx them but as ıt stands ım a lıttle SOL haha. So Im typıng ın the browser on a foreıgn keyboard. No excuse I know! Ahh well.

Edirne is a beautiful city, small and compact while having a strong turkish character. With its great mosque dominating the skyline, turkish bath and long indoor bazaar Edirne was a good entry point to turkey. Its just right to ease yourself into turkish culture without feeling overwhelmed and the population, dominated by the university of 20,000 students provides a younger crowd. Although there isn’t much nightlife in Edirne the beauty of the city and the strong turkish character combined with its historical value as the Turkish capital before constantinople was captured make the city a gem in northern turkey. in addition it has influences from both the greek ( the city was once called Adrianoupolous after its founder Hadrian) and its bulgarian borders.

I settled into my favorite spot in Edirne – the London Cafe centrally located outside the city’s bazaar and placed directly next to the memorial fountain. the bronze center piece is gorgeous. on each side facing down the main street are a man and a woman in casual-semi formal dress. one side they are offering an olive branch and on the other they are releasing doves. Beautiful. I had my first Turkish coffee there – served with its own tin and pewter service it was excellent. it far outweighs the coffee ive had in Istanbul. in addition I became a fan of the apple tea.

I spent a good portion of my two days louging in the chairs by the fountain and watching turkish children and adults wander through the main street. children playing in the water of the fountain and college age folks meeting, talking, playing, and eating. a great cultural introduction.

The Health museum in Edirne is something to see. Small and under restoration it is still a must. filled with period manniquins demonstrating the schooling and practice of medicine hundreds of years ago it is excellently designed and pieced together. I hope you enjoy my foto’s from my Edirne Album on Facebook.

The Mosque itself is simple but beautiful, clean clear caligraphy and geometric designs wash over the cieling and body of the mosque while the quiet carpeted floors offer a brief respite from the cold hard cobblestone streets outside.

the Turkish bath consists of the traditional rooms, cold, warm, and Hot. I got a tour and will definitly get a bath when I return to Edirne on my way to Sofia. it looks amazing.

I spent my last night in Edirne with two turkish girls, who had edged their way closer to my table as I enjoyed my tea. they abashedly asked if they could join me to practice their english. I was happy for the company and we talked for a good hour or two before they suggested we head to a blues club. I headed out with them and they treated me to a pint. On the whole, good conversation, warm company and good beer.

I wandered home around midnight and prepared for my 6am trek to the train station at the far reachs of Edirne. I was headed to Istanbul!