Trip to Turkey (Click on any image to load a larger copy)
Introduction
My parents moved to Ankara, Turkey near the end of 1999 and spent the next year there. I was invited to visit
them and and tour part of Turkey. As all of my family and I have an interest in history, Turkey is a great place
to be. You can see the ruins of many different civilizations and empires (Hittites, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine
and the Ottomans) in one part and quickly go to another part of the country and see the ruins of a different
empire. For my father, Turkey was interesting as the home of early Christians. For me it was an intriguing place
as I studied Middle Eastern/Islamic History while in university and now had the opportunity to see some of the
places I had studied about.
I arrived in Ankara on April 20th, 2000 (The Saturday before Easter). While I made my connection in Frankfurt, my luggage had not. Luckily I had my parents phone number on me so I gave that to the airline who would deliver my luggage to my parents flat the next day. I left the luggage area and soon found my parents. After some pleasantries we got into my father's SUV and headed to their flat. This would be my first experience with driving in Turkey which makes any complaints about road rage in the US to be meaningless.
The next day my father and I toured Ankara starting at the Hisar (Citadel) and the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. After having lunch, we met one of my father's coworkers who's father owns a rug store. We visited a few other stores before going to the father's store where I bought a rug. I was surprised by my father who also bought a rug. My father's coworker then took us to see Ataturk's Mausoleum. (Ataturk was the founder of Turkey and its first President). We headed back to my parents flat and soon my suitcase was delivered.
The next day we loaded up the SUV and began our 4-hour drive to Cappadocia. Cappadocia is a very strange looking area in the center of Turkey. Volcanoes erupted several million years ago and created a landscape that reminds one of either the Flinstones or some Science Fiction novel. The volcanic ash has formed interesting rock formations that look like fairy chimneys. The ash is quite soft and many dwellings were created in these chimneys and nearby cliffs.
We arrived in one of the towns in Cappadocia, Goreme and soon found our hotel - The Ottoman House. After checking in, we took a walk around the town. We turned down one small street and saw a girl making a Turkish rug. It was quite interesting to see how rugs are made (See pictures below). After our walk, we stopped for dinner where I treated my parents to a meal with wine which cost me 11,000,000 Turkish lire (which while it looks like a very large amount of money is only 18 USD quite cheap in my opinion). The hotel room was also cheap at 24 USD a night.
The next morning we took a guide tour of the area, which included seeing the fairy chimneys, the cave/cliff towns of Ortahisar & Zelve and the pottery town of Avanos. I have liked Turkish plates for a while and I bought one in Avanos. The tour was quite interesting but was marred by the weather at times.
Tuesday, we headed off to Istanbul, the only city to be on two continents. Istanbul had been the capitol of the Ottoman Empire and is home to many historical spots. I was looking forward to seeing some of them. The trip took most of the day and ended when we stopped off at the office of my father's company in the Asian side of town. There one of my fathers coworkers drove us to our hotel (on the European side) and took the SUV back to the Asian site to be stored at my father's company's parking lot. (I was also able to see a different coworker of my father at the office - she was an attractive woman who was Miss Turkey a few years earlier).
We spent Wednesday in the Sultanahmet area of the city seeing the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, and the Hippodrome. All these places are within easy walking distance from each other and are quite remarkable. The Hagia Sophia is almost 1500 years old and is in remarkable shape. It is quite amazing to see such a large domed structure that is that old. The Blue Mosque is across the street from the Hagia Sophia and is quite beautiful. The Cistern was where the water of the city was stored and is probably best know as the part of the background in the James Bond movie "From Russia With Love". In the afternoon, we spent several hours looking at the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum.
On Thursday, my father had to do some work at the Istanbul office so my mother and I went to see the Topkapi Palace. The place was home to the Ottoman sultan for nearly 400 years and home to the infamous harem. We arrived early at the palace and decided to tour the Harem first. The word Harem means private place and refers to the part of the palace that the Sultan and his family lived in. It is an interesting place to visit. After the harem, we toured other parts of the Palace including the museum. We had lunch at the palace and headed back to the hotel. We were expecting to meet my father, but his work was taken longer than expected. Rather that sit in the hotel, we walked over to see the Book Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.
Friday was my last day in Turkey and we spent the day take a ferry up and down the Bosporus. The Bosporus is an important sea route connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. It has been fought over many time in history and is now a controlled by Turkey with a guarantee to access for everyone. Along the shore of the Bosporus are houses that reminded me of Venice. After the cruise, we stopped at the Spice Bazaar.
I arrived in Ankara on April 20th, 2000 (The Saturday before Easter). While I made my connection in Frankfurt, my luggage had not. Luckily I had my parents phone number on me so I gave that to the airline who would deliver my luggage to my parents flat the next day. I left the luggage area and soon found my parents. After some pleasantries we got into my father's SUV and headed to their flat. This would be my first experience with driving in Turkey which makes any complaints about road rage in the US to be meaningless.
The next day my father and I toured Ankara starting at the Hisar (Citadel) and the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. After having lunch, we met one of my father's coworkers who's father owns a rug store. We visited a few other stores before going to the father's store where I bought a rug. I was surprised by my father who also bought a rug. My father's coworker then took us to see Ataturk's Mausoleum. (Ataturk was the founder of Turkey and its first President). We headed back to my parents flat and soon my suitcase was delivered.
The next day we loaded up the SUV and began our 4-hour drive to Cappadocia. Cappadocia is a very strange looking area in the center of Turkey. Volcanoes erupted several million years ago and created a landscape that reminds one of either the Flinstones or some Science Fiction novel. The volcanic ash has formed interesting rock formations that look like fairy chimneys. The ash is quite soft and many dwellings were created in these chimneys and nearby cliffs.
We arrived in one of the towns in Cappadocia, Goreme and soon found our hotel - The Ottoman House. After checking in, we took a walk around the town. We turned down one small street and saw a girl making a Turkish rug. It was quite interesting to see how rugs are made (See pictures below). After our walk, we stopped for dinner where I treated my parents to a meal with wine which cost me 11,000,000 Turkish lire (which while it looks like a very large amount of money is only 18 USD quite cheap in my opinion). The hotel room was also cheap at 24 USD a night.
The next morning we took a guide tour of the area, which included seeing the fairy chimneys, the cave/cliff towns of Ortahisar & Zelve and the pottery town of Avanos. I have liked Turkish plates for a while and I bought one in Avanos. The tour was quite interesting but was marred by the weather at times.
Tuesday, we headed off to Istanbul, the only city to be on two continents. Istanbul had been the capitol of the Ottoman Empire and is home to many historical spots. I was looking forward to seeing some of them. The trip took most of the day and ended when we stopped off at the office of my father's company in the Asian side of town. There one of my fathers coworkers drove us to our hotel (on the European side) and took the SUV back to the Asian site to be stored at my father's company's parking lot. (I was also able to see a different coworker of my father at the office - she was an attractive woman who was Miss Turkey a few years earlier).
We spent Wednesday in the Sultanahmet area of the city seeing the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, and the Hippodrome. All these places are within easy walking distance from each other and are quite remarkable. The Hagia Sophia is almost 1500 years old and is in remarkable shape. It is quite amazing to see such a large domed structure that is that old. The Blue Mosque is across the street from the Hagia Sophia and is quite beautiful. The Cistern was where the water of the city was stored and is probably best know as the part of the background in the James Bond movie "From Russia With Love". In the afternoon, we spent several hours looking at the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum.
On Thursday, my father had to do some work at the Istanbul office so my mother and I went to see the Topkapi Palace. The place was home to the Ottoman sultan for nearly 400 years and home to the infamous harem. We arrived early at the palace and decided to tour the Harem first. The word Harem means private place and refers to the part of the palace that the Sultan and his family lived in. It is an interesting place to visit. After the harem, we toured other parts of the Palace including the museum. We had lunch at the palace and headed back to the hotel. We were expecting to meet my father, but his work was taken longer than expected. Rather that sit in the hotel, we walked over to see the Book Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.
Friday was my last day in Turkey and we spent the day take a ferry up and down the Bosporus. The Bosporus is an important sea route connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. It has been fought over many time in history and is now a controlled by Turkey with a guarantee to access for everyone. Along the shore of the Bosporus are houses that reminded me of Venice. After the cruise, we stopped at the Spice Bazaar.
Photo Info
I took these photos with a newly purchased Minolta Point & Shoot camera and used slide film. The photos were
digitalized using Kodak's Photo CD and were cleaned up a bit with Adobe PhotoShop Elements. I have few photos of
Istanbul as I was uncomfortable taking pictures there and we had bad weather for a few days. Additional Camera Information
Cappadocia
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| Some ones house | Another person's home | A different view of the second home |
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| More homes in Cappadocia | More homes in Cappadocia | More of the strange landscape of Cappadocia |
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| A camel in Cappadocia. Note the sky | The strange landscape of Cappadocia | More of the strange landscape |
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| Me in front of a monks home | Homes in the Pigeon Valley in Cappadocia | More homes in the Pigeon Valley in Cappadocia |
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| More of the strange landscape of Cappadocia | What everyone needs, Viagra |
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Rug Making in Cappadocia
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| These pots are used to color the wool | This girl is making a rug | More of the girl making a rug |
Istanbul
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| The Blue Mosque in central Istanbul | The courtyard of the Blue Mosque | To the left is Europe, on the right is Asia. Istanbul is the only city on two continents |
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| A house along the Bosporus. It reminds me of Venice. | More Venetian Style houses along the Bosporus | A really fancy house |