After our short tatile (holiday), we have returned to lovely Istanbul. We have spent the last week registering for our upcoming classes and applying for our residency permits. Turkish bureaucracy is not something to be trifled with.
Firstly a small rundown of the trip: We started took a ferryboat from Istanbul to Bandirma and then a bus to Cannakkale. There we visited the WWI battle fields at Gallipolie as well as the ruins of Troy. From there we bussed it to Bergamon where we saw the Pergamon Akropolis as well as the Red Basilica, one of the seven churches of the apocalypse. From there it was on to Izmir the third largest city in Turkey. Afterwards we made our way further south to Selcuk and the ruins of Ephesus. Then it was on to Pammukale and the lovely travertines on which sat the ruins of Hierapolis. Antalya was our next destination where we spent some time relaxing on the Mediterranean beaches. The cave churches of Kapadokya were next on our trip. We made our last stop in Ankara to visit our dear friend Lukas and pay our respects at the Ataturk mausoleum. This is just a brief over view of the trip, we will be sure to go into more detail. More than you might ask for but hey it was a fun trip.
From there took a guided tour of the Gallipolie Peninsula. It was incredible beautiful. The peninsula is 33,000 hectares and has been a national park since 1918. It was a famous WWI battle field that involved the Turks, British, French, Australians, and New Zelanders. It was the place where Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, made a name for himself. It is somewhat of a pilgrimage site for the Australians and New Zelanders or the Aussies and Kiwis as they are known around those parts. The tour was 7 hours long and we only saw half of the park. It was really beautiful but also really sad. A lot of cemeteries and memorials. The youngest person to die for the Common Wealth was 14 years old! The guide said a lot of Aussies and Kiwis lied about their ages to fight in the war.
The next day we took a bus to Troia, Troy. There wasn't a lot to see there but it was really interesting to walk around the ruins. There are actually 9 different Troys all built one on top of another. The earliest one dates all the way back to 3000 BC, pretty much the dawn of civilization. The Troy from the Trojan war and Homers Illiad is Troy VI or VII they think. It was really beautiful there as well. There was a roped off path around the city with signs describing everything. It was incredible how old everything was yet there were still clear signs of roads and walls.
We arrived in Bergamon early early in the morning and started to make our way up to the Akroplis. The entire hill is covered by the ruins of an old city called Pergamon. It predates Alexander the Great by thousands of years and was an extremely popular place during Roman times as well. It was sooo unbelievably gorgeous! It took us almost 5 hours to walk from the bottom all the way to the top but the entire journey was filled with amazing ruins of the old city that used to be on the hill. We followed the original road that was used before the time of Alexander the Great. Every turn had something more amazing than the last! The path to the top is sporadically marked by blue spray painted dots that you are supposed to follow. We got turned around quite a few times but it was an amazing exploration. Nothing is roped off so you are free to explore where ever you want and climb all over the old walls and towers. Dont worry we were really safe. The hill was chock full of old temples and gymnasiums and mosaics and market ruins. Since we headed out so early we were the only ones on the entire hill, except for a few archaeological students sketching and counting bricks in the walls. At the very top of the hill there is a 10,000 seat amplitheater carved into the side of the mountain. The builders wanted to preserve the view, which is breathtaking, so they just chuncked out a huge side of the mountain. The acoustics in it where still quite amazing. Above all of this and the crown atop the mountain was an ancient temple. They had partially reconstructed it and it was huuuuuge. Beautiful white granite columns that seemed to touch the sky! The whole complex could rival that of the acropolis at Athens!!!
Since Turkey is still somewhat considered a middle eastern country there are tons of these ancient sites around that havent been plagued to much by tourists. Most of it is located in small towns that are still largely farming villages. Some of the best preserved Greek and Roman ruins are here in Turkey. Its so unbelievable to be around all this history.
Stay tuned for more updates!
In the mean time check out our flickr for pictures!
www.flickr.com/teamturkey
-The one and only William Bey
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