Turkey – the “WOW” rock formations of Cappadocia and Istanbul “not Constantinople”
After an incredible 2 months in the Middle East with its intoxicating rocky and desert landscapes and beautiful neutral hues, we traveled by bus into Turkey and upon crossing the border into Turkey returned back into the world of color and greenery and into a country whose culture provides a unique combination of the East and West.
I didnt realize how much I missed trees, grass and other greenery until we entered Turkey. The sight of so much green brought a sense of peace, relaxation, and elation that I hadn’t felt in months. Don’t get me wrong, the expansive and breathtaking desert and the rocky mountains and hills splattered with brush of the Middle East were fantastic, but there is something about good-old fashioned forests, woodlands and wildflower fields that brings a different sense of satisfaction and appreciation for nature. A similar comparison might be comparing the environments of the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest. Call me crazy, but the air even smelled cleaner, clearer and fresher (I have to believe that plant conversion of CO2 to O2 makes a huge difference).
There were other indicators that we’d entered a different region of the world upon our arrival in Turkey aside from just the landscape – the Western alphabet was everywhere (though we weren’t able actually decipher Turkish words, our minds appreciated just being able to recognize familar letters again), advertisments with logos and brands that we recognized began to appear, and our bus spent the majority of the time cruising down large, smooth, multi-lane freeways with organized traffic, painted dividers and even a shoulder along the side of road (examples of traffic infrastructure and concepts that were foreign in the Middle East).
After a day-long bus ride, we finally arrived in Cappadocia, land of the incredibly unique and crazy rock formations. Millions of years ago, multiple volcanic eruptions left a thick layer of hardened and porous volcanic ash (a.k.a tuff). Over time, nature eroded this layer into an awesome network of deep canyons, littered with a variety of crazy and unique column and cone-shaped rock formations, (a.k.a fairy chimneys). We did an incredible guided hike one afternoon thru a few of the famous valleys – White Valley, named after the stark white fairy chimneys; Honey Valley, named for the beautiful honey-colored valley walls, and finally, Love Valley – glance at the picture above and the name is self-explanatory. The inhabitants of the area learned to work with the tuff and carved houses, churches, temples and other facades into the fairy chimneys. We also visited Kaymakli, one of the underground cities in the area which extends 5 levels below the surface, which was an incredible example of the complex subterranean cities that used to house thriving populations of people. The complexity of the passageways and rooms were more impressive than anything we saw underground in Vietnam and the ventilation shafts were extremely impressive as well as the air down there was extremely clean and easy to breathe.
We stayed at the Shoestring Pension, which proved to be a great place to stay. All the rooms in the pension are cave rooms, carved into a tuff chimney and all surround an open courtyard, which was perfect for chilling out. The staff was friendly and helpful, breakfast ROCKED and every night they always offered an affordable and delicious local meal. The best part about Shoestring were the two dogs there – “Ugly” (a cruel name, but true), a little fat puffball whom we fondly named “F-uggles” (as just plane old “Ugly” didn’t seem to do him justice) and the most obedient German shepard, who didn’t have a name, but would accompany us out on hikes and walks around town.
Our next stop after Cappadocia was the great metropolis of Istanbul, which we immediately fell in love with for its rich history, its beauty, the culture, food and general good karma. The city itself is beautiful – with the Bosphorous Strait running and winding through the city, diving the Asian and European areas of the city, it feels very reminiscent of a combination of San Francisco, Vancouver and Seattle, all-in-one. Along the strait are hills covered with trees and houses with orange tiled roofs. Bridges, not unlike the Bay Bridge or unpainted versions of the Golden gate connect the two sides up along the strait. The city is mix of old and modern with hip and commercial areas like Taksim Square mixed in with old Turkish, Byzantine, Roman and Ottoman monuments and architecture and there are still many stone paved streets to wander around in between the modern paved roads.
The sights in Istanbul were pretty spectacular. Topkapi Palace, the former sultan’s residence, was great to wander thru, trying to imagine what it might have been like to live there as it is made up of multiple courtyards/gardens and sections, has extremely intricate and ornate decor, along the great views of the water. The Blue Mosque is one of the most grand beautiful buildings that we’ve ever seen. But the most breath-taking site was Aya Sofia, which was once known as the “greatest church in Christendom” before it was converted into a mosque with the conquest of Constantinople and then turned into a museum in 1935.
Aside from enjoying the sights, we had a great time in Istanbul. We met up with our American friends, whom we had traveled with in Lebanon and Syria and made some new friends too as we met another American couple from California who had been traveling since Jan. We had a few spectacular Turkish meals with friends in Taksim square where we ate many tapas-style seafood and veg dishes (the whitefish salad in basil oil and red pepper aoli were fantastic!) while talking over glasses of raki (an anise-flavored Turkish liquor very similar to ouzo). Afterwards, we found a club with a live Cuban-band where we shook our asses for awhile. One of our most enjoyable moments was resting our weary feet at a bar along the water and learning how to play backgamman while watching the sun go down. (By the way, now we’re hooked and just bought our own travel backgamman set – everyone should have one!)
In retrospect, Turkey was a really interesting “transition” place for us to visit as it very much has European and Middle Eastern flavor to it. After the overwhelming sensory experience of being in the Middle East, it was good for us to spend time in Turkey before making our way into Europe as there were still aspects of the culture and atmosphere that were very reminiscent of the Middle East woven in with aspects of the Western world. I wonder if we would have had severe culture shock if we had left Syria and landed in Germany right after.
Though we didn’t spend much time in Turkey this time thru, it is a destination that we will definitely return to one day as there is so much more to see outside of Istanbul and Cappadocia and much more of the colorful, vibrant and eclectic Turkish culture that we want to get the chance to see and experience.
For more pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72157594158853500/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72157594158877545/
Over and out,
Shan
Tags: Europe, Istanbul, Travel, Turkey
Shan