So were back in Istanbul.
It’s good to be home. I loved the road, but the road can be exhausting. We only once stayed in one hotel or hostel for more than one night and that was the first stop.
We traveled the country by bus (except we left Istanbul on a Ferry and arrive back in Istanbul on a train). The bus service is incredible. From any place you can get anywhere else in the country. Some buses have personal TVs (think JetBlue… yeah that good) at every seat. All the buses had attendants that serve Fanta and snacks. The roads in Turkey are rough at times, but the buses are comfortable and give you a great scenic trip of the Turkish Landscape.
Turkey’s Landscape is incredible. I never imagined how varied the geography would be. At our furtherest point East we were maybe a little further than halfway across the entire country. In that time we saw massive empty plains, pine forests, steep rock mountains both directly on the ocean and inland, deserts and dried up salt lakes and tropical palm tree filled areas. We traveled from sea level to 4,000ft elevation (Cappadocia).
The places and sites we saw were the reason we toured the country for two weeks, but for me the most enjoyable and unpredictable part of the trip was the people you meet along the way. Between both locals and fellow travelers we met some “characters.” And since you’re meeting and leaving people so fast (like my love life) its hard to keep track of names so everyone gets a nickname.
Canadian Jeff (did I mention he likes to party bro),
New York Mary (who we shared a room with in Cannkkale… separate beds of course… to start),
New Zealand couple (who we seemed to keep running into all over the country. Really cool story: they owned a restaurant on top of a mountain in N. Zealand and had one daughter who just married a dairy farmer. In an admitted joint middle aged crisis they sold their business and are now traveling the world until their money runs out and they need to get jobs. They say they’ll be out of Kiwi Land for 1-3 years (really specific).)
Baggy Pants Salesman (tried to sell us everything from morning disco cruises and sun glasses to hookers, but also tried to leave us with a lunch bill),
Crazy Lithuanians (Hardest drinking people in history.)
Erasmus girls 1, 2, 3, rice restaurant guys, Serbian you-bombed-our-country girl, etc. etc. etc
Russian Tourists: What happened behind the Iron Curtain? Russian tourists are noticeable from the rest of the world tourist in one distinct way, they are all amateur models. It doesn’t matter if they’re old, young, beautiful, ugly, thin, fat, short, tall, male, or female it is a never-fail sign of the Russian Tourista that they will pose in some manner for every photo. The candid photo is non-existent. Now this was exhibited chiefly in the southern regions of the country where Russian tourist make up a significant and growing number of the tourist in the area. But it was perhaps best displayed at the travertines of Pammakule. It was like a non-stop photo shoot, and the poses lets just say got ridiculous. For some of the girls it was great, for others (many others) it was just questionable if they should have been wearing that string bikini (and we’re talking about men now too). Would standing straight and smiling for a picture be too much to ask?
Pammakule is a small town at the base of ancient city of Hierapolis. The reason Hierapolis was built there and people continue to some is because of the travertine’s, mineral springs at the summit of the mountain that deposit white powder across the entire mountain making the whole thing look covered in snow. Pammakule in Turkish means “Cotton-Castle” and standing close to the white walls the name seems more than appropriate. We snuck into the travertines one night and got the chance to explore before the mob of visitors arrived. There were however some stray dogs that were pretty entertaining. It’s one of the incredible natural occurrences you can imagine. The whole thing looks like a big pile of sugar. At night when it’s all lit up with the water running down it is really awesome. You need to take your shoes off when walking up the hill, but the warm water rushing past your feet is a great feeling. Pools along the walkway on the way up are almost like hot tubs of mineral water. At the top is the ancient healing center of Hierapolis. Ironically one of the main and most celebrated features of the city is the massive necropolis or Roman graveyard. Hierapolis has a good amount to see including a great theater and the place that St. Phillip was killed. Also exploring the tombs and sarcophagi of the graveyard is a good time.
The bummer of the place is that the pool to end all pools is the “antiquity pool” at the center of the city. Here as advertised across Turkey’s vast tourist world you can swim with ancient buildings and destroyed columns. The pool is at the center of a club med like café plaza that is built directly in the middle of the ancient city next to the pool. To swim in the pool you need to pay 25tl on top of the 20tl you paid to enter the site at the base of the hill!!! So we took some pictures and our money and left. By the mid-day, Pammakule can feel like a classically-themed water park. That said it deserves the attention it gets as both a freakishly cool natural display, with the historical ruins, and its a lot of fun to play around in the pool and watch Russian Tourists.
My favorite place had to be Cappadocia. The mix of untouched and endless natural landscape and the most incredible manmade “cave” buildings and cities made the area an incredible combination. We spent three nights in the area, mostly around the town of Goreme. Most buildings are carved out of rock and the hotels feature cave rooms to stay in.
Cappadocia is an incredible place for anyone who likes to explore.
One night we wanted to save money and decided to stay in one of the numerous caves dotting the country side. We settled on staying in a tenth century church that we stumbled across earlier in our hikings. Just before sunset we set out into the wilderness. We packed all the essentials: booze, candles, tablecloth to lay on, and um yeah that’s it. Oh wait we brought chips as well. What we failed to account for is that at a high elevation in an arid climate that reminded one of a South Western united states, the 90 degree days become extremely cold nights. Although I would suggest to anyone who goes to Cappadocia to definitely go cave sleeping; please remember your warm cloths, sleep bags, blankets, thermoses, and wool caps, and a pillow wouldn’t hurt. If you forgot these “essential” items like we did don’t be surprised if you leave that cold, dark cave just little closer to your companion then when you entered. With the exception of our exceptionally poor supply planning, I must say that staying in the cave was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. And we had a jolly good time.
Traveling the country was the trip of a lifetime.
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