Pamukkale

Pamukkale ıs a small town that reputedly has nothıng goıng for ıt but the travertınes and Hıeropolıs. I´m not sure I agree. People lıve ın small houses that are not ornate but have ınterestıng ways of addıng terraces and arbors to them. There ıs also the love of color wıthout botherıng to match the neıghbor´s house...and ıt works well. The tourıst strıp wıth the usual vendors ıs pretty domınant yet one can fınd people actually lıvıng normal lıves. We walked a bıt and found a lady spread out on her Turkısh carpet strıngıng peppers. She ınvıted us to sıt and talk. We dıd, language barrıer and all.

I came for the Travertıne Terraces which are ıncredıble. Its a huge whıte mouıntaın wıth ıt´s character formed by a great deal of runnıng water just loaded wıth mınerals. Over the years the mınerals collected and became rock, beautıful whıte rock wıth the most ıncredıble patterns. There are a serıes of pools I'm not convınced aren´t man made ´that have become terraces of the most ıncredıble aqua water. Many many tourısts go up every day ın theır bathıng suıts to bathe ınt those pools. It´s forbıdden to walk on the travertıne ın shoes, not slıppery but hard on the feet. And ıt´s HOT!

At the top ıs the old Roman ruın Hıeropolıs. There ıs an amphıtheater under reconstructıon that ıs quıte ıncredıble. I get dızzy just lookıng at all those steps...and I'm wonderıng where the lıons are. There are remnants of the castle wall complete wıth arches and columns lyıng around all over the place, very few complete. There ıs also a museum but I was too tıred to bother. Ah, regret.

Pamukkale town photo.

Fairy Chimneys and Such

On our first day we went to an  underground village museum a good couple bus rides away. They are natural caves built into the sides of formations that remind me a lot of Badlands in  S. Dakota. The rooms are not large, some have been enhanced, shaped and decorated,  with stone-cutting tools. People actually lived in  these many many caves as early as the 11th century and probably well before. The underground village museum was a pretty complete example. It had rooms they call stables for a few horses, rooms for cooking, food storage, study, worship, and I suppose they had rooms to sleep in. There were many small tunnels from room to room, some with huge round stones that were rolled into the walkway in the event of attack. They are said to all move completely underground in the event an invasion. Ventilation and drainage tunnels were also built in to these underground complexes as are burial spaces.

This morning we went to the open air museum which seems to concentrate on churches, tiny ones. These have domes cut in, columns, naves, crypts, and icons. Some of the churches have designs drawn in red and yellow ochre. Most of these are pretty primitive: symbols, zig zag borders, often a cross in a circle design. The icons are frescoe, much more primitive than those in the big Orthodox churches I visited in Eastern Europe. Some are faded but others are still fairly bright. What seems sad is the destruction to them. There are the usual initials carved into them for who knows how many centuries. A lot of the figures have had their faces scratched on or completely scratched off in what seems to be a very deliberate manner. I asked about it but was unable to get any answers as to why. I wondered if it was encouraged by the coming of a different religious group. I think these little chapels were Orthodox churches, probably Greek judging by the lettering. 

In the evening we took a bus up to Kale Castle, actually a large cave with lots of 'apartments' in them and housing built all around. It is actually a tiny town but I can't recall the name. We walked downhill back to Goreme taking pictures until the shadows were too deep, arriving back at the hostel after dark. The next morning we walked across the road into the formations in search of 'fairy chimneys', tall, more needle like formations, many with little caves in them that once served a function rather than being simply caves. We found one that was a chapel where a little dome had been shaped above and a couple other tiny rooms. This one had designs of ochre painted inside. We turned back when the trail got too steep for the little old ladies among us to navigate. Off to a good lunch and an afternoon bus to Pammakule.

Cappadocia

Here in Cappadocia it is hot hot hot but not as humid as it was in Istanbul. Still, the heat saps my energy. We are staying in a hostel room cut into the side of a pretty nifty formation. It could be a natural cave with a little chiseling out. There are a lot of those around. In fact, That's what Goreme is all about. I don't care how natural it is as long as its cool...and it is. Unfortunately, it is also dark so I have to write outside  under this relentless sun. 

This part of Turkey is desert and there are few large cities. From the bus I see that it's an agricultural area and groups of people are working in the fields. I watch the trucks coming into town loaded with watermelons, another bright orange and green melon the same size and shape, and potatoes. I don't see how anything can grow here because it seems so dry but am enjoying the fruit from the apricot trees that appear to wild or left over from a long gone homestead. We also found olives, grapes, and a white mulberry that is really sweet.  

There are a lot of rural dwellings that look like they were built on the walls of very old buildings, possibly ancient ruins, then the wall goes up with the use of yet another era of stone or brickwork and is sometimes capped off with yet another material, finishing off with a red tile roof. Those to me are the most picturesque. These are located in the older, quaint parts of town. They also have downtown districts that look like any comparable town worldwide. I'm not all that attracted to those so don't take note of them unless something makes them stand out. Let us not forget the homes of the well to do. There are lots of those. There is also the little tourist shops, very make-do, that pop up all around any tourist site. Very colorful.

Breakfast consists of slices of cucumber and tomato, feta cheese, olives, bread and jams, sometimes rose petal jam or cherry with bits of fruit in it. Today we also had the option of honey and a hazelnut spread that I didn't want to try first thing in the morning. For lunch I got a blackberry smoothie and a watermelon-feta salad. Dane had something like our quesadillas but filled with potato seasoned with mint. Our heavy meal is often the usual Middle Eastern dinner, never with pork.

Goreme, Turkey

Vendors outside the Underground City Museum.

Showing off a find of apricots...yum!!

Potters tree.

Kucukcekmece Festival Photos

To wrap up the dance festival, I can only think to post more photos. At first I knew which team wore which costume but several teams had numerous costumes and I lost track. It didn't even matter anymore. Cultural and national divisions didn't matter as much as having a good time together, taking photos of ourselves with the other dancers, better yet, dancing and partying with them. Yes language slowed us down but we got more comfortable with the struggle as time passed. The language was dance and it really has no borders. Did we have fun? You bet.

Trekking In Old Town

We had a free day and I went into the old town tourist sector with one of my roommates. We started out in the Hagia Sofia where there are a couple really big mosques, the Sultan's hamam (bath) and a million tourists for the local hawkers to prey on ...and do they ever! We took one up on it for the experience of being led to his leather coat business, served delicious apple tea and given the old sales pitch. I really enjoyed the tea and air conditioning but didn't buy any of his beautiful coats. 

Our next stop was the grand bazaar, the largest of its kind in the whole wide world or so they say. It is huge full of everything imaginable, very crowded. Oh, is it ever colorful! Too bad I am not a shopper. After a turn or two, we exited the bazaar and had no earthly idea where we were. Outside the streets were old, funky, once again filled with shops but this time not a tourist area. We pointed ourselves downhill and rambled through the most fascinating section of all, even though the shops were leaning toward household good rather than the usual carpets and ceramic slipware. The streets were cobblestone and followed an old wall that I thought might be part of the castle, but could be almost anything. After all, this is a very, very, very old city.

We came out with the Bosporus in sight and the Galata Bridge right across the street. Through the arch was the courtyard of a huge mosque that people keep telling me is the New Mosque, or something like that. I hate knowing for sure because I have so much fun not knowing. Anyway, we went inside and were wowed by the intricate designs that covered everything, domes, walls, just everything. These are repetition designs rather than the icons of the Orthodox churches of Romania. I understand that the repeating of these designs has to do with infinity and that the calligraphy is not simply writing but began as a form of worship oh so long ago. It was well worth taking my shoes off and putting on a head scarf for. Women are not allowed in the cordoned area to worship with the men.

After elbowing our way across the Galata Bridge, huffing and panting our way up the hill to the tower, we pointed ourselves downhill again and accidentally found the local fish market where the tourists don't go. The usual: covered stalls with lots of fish on display, maybe freshly caught since fishing boats moor very close by. Some people had little booths set up and were cooking fish to sell. I didn't dare try them but did find a stand with some cherries. There was much discussion in our group about how scary it would be to eat the fish from that nasty looking water. I would if I was particularly fond of fish. 

Scene from the old sector.

Inside the mosque.

View from below the tower.

Kucukcekmece Lake Festival and More

I'm with the Kucukcekmece Lake Festival now. There are folk dance groups from a good many countries here including Palestine, Hungary, Poland, Taiwan, Canada, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, and Columbia. We are in a luxury hotel by the airport, a very dull neighborhood. It doesn't matter because the is little time for any outside travel. We go to the big bridal hall for luncheons, sometimes with speakers, then off to whatever is on the agenda. I took part in the dragon boat practice and rowed my poor arms off. Then the boat race got cancelled due to wind and choppy water. Leave it to youth and dancers to turn the event into a sidewalk party. We had a parade in downtown Istanbul in almost 100 degree heat. The two non-dancers were assigned to carry the flag and USA sign. That's me. The onlookers were very enthusiastic, mixing with us, taking photos with us, telling us about their experience in our country, or just wanting to connect. No sense of order there but lots of fun.

Last night was our opening performance. Mark, the flag carrier, and I had to go onstage for the flag ceremony. The girls carrying the signs had to memorize a line in Turkish, not an easy language to our tongue. I had to say Tesekular Kucukcekmece and practiced it over and over for two days. There was literally a sea of faces out there and it was terrifying. The Polish girl, suffering severe stage fright, bungled hers and they didn't give me the chance to do the same so I got away with saying the easy word. Then there were huge sparklers erupting from stage fron, colored lights and silvery confetti raining down on us but not before we stood through a few speeches, always the speeches. I thought I'd fall over before it ended, or maybe just pass out. Then the dancers performed and we got to watch. We left to the sound of a follow-up rock band. 

There is a bus for each country and we get police escorts that other drivers don't pay any attention to. From the bus I observe life in Istanbul. People crowd into the parks with their rugs, whole families. They bring their little cookers and barbecue meat while the women are preparing what I assume is the rest of the meal. It isn't unusual to see big tea kettles, though kettle isn't quite the right word. Vendors are out en masse. I noticed a couple men with wide shallow pans of what smells like roasted chestnuts balanced on their heads. People, even kids, are out in the traffic, even very heavy traffic, selling bottles of water and sometimes flowers. Drivers are very tolerant of them.

Speaking of drivers, this is a friendly sort of chaos. I am reminded of the old days in Manhattan when nobody paid attention to lines. They grab whatever spaces they can very aggressively. I like to sit behind the driver and watch him vie for space with other cars, each trying to keep the other from moving into the tiny space created when the vehicle ahead moves up. Surprisingly, the bus doesn't always win. So much for tonnage rights. Horn blowing doesn't even seem unfriendly but is more saying "I'm here". I can imagine driving here would be a lot of fun.

Lining up for the parade.

First performance but not our group.

Our high-steppin' dancers.

Turkey Trek First Impressions

Day one in Istanbul wasn't so bad. Finding the hostel seems to always be the biggest challenge. Our hostel is tucked away on a tiny side street, more like an alley. Directions tell the hapless one to continue up the hill to a certain mosque that isn't well labeled yet several streets go up the hill from the tram stop. And there are more mosques in Istanbu than Christian churches in Yancey County. The streets follow no pattern but worm atound as if they were intended to get one lost when they were laid out centuries ago. So we got lost but not for too long.

The neighborhood is great, right in the center of the old section. The Hagia Sophia is close by and the world's biggest market is just up the hill. All over, shops sell the same thing. There are sections  for carpets, jewe;ry, clothing, ceramics...you name it. Intricate designs are the mode here. With so much competition, the shopkeepers are very aggressive but not in an unfriendly manner, So far they are tolerable.

We hiked out to the Galanta Bridge with all the fish sellers and fish restaurants below it. They say the fish is the freshest here, believable because the top of the bridge is lined with fishermen, I can't even handle the smell. I can't handle the crowds, either, Too many tourists, I'd be a lot happier just scouting out inner city neighborhoods.

The next day my nephew, Dane, joined us and we went to the old Roman Cistern. They told us it was forgotten for eons until someone finally paid attention to the locals who told of being able to lower buckets below the street and come up with fish. It was reopened and restored as a tourist attraction. It really is an interesting composition of coulumns, supposedly marble but too decomposed to be able to tell. There are two columns with heads of Medusa taken from some other older Roman structure, presumably. One is turned sideways, the reason a mystery.

Roman Cistern

Carpet Vender at the Grand Bazaar