Turkey

I can't believe we didn't originally plan to go to Turkey. What were we thinking? We were packing our bags to go to Nepal as we felt the earthquake from our hotel room in Delhi. The room shook for about 20 seconds, but we didn't think much of it. An hour later we were having a coffee across the road when Aaran checked the news. It was still in the early stages so there wasn't much information, but it seemed clear that getting on our train to the Nepalese boarder was out of the question. We spent a good 3 hours looking up every possible flight out of India, trying to find the cheapest possible option. After researching the cost of travelling in a dozen different countries, Turkey became the winner. We booked a flight and left India that night. 

Every day we spent in Turkey it became increasingly clear that we made the right decision. How did we not know about this place?

Since we had only a few hours before our flight, we really didn't get the chance to research anything about Turkey. The only thing we looked up was the Australian Smart Travel website to make sure that it was safe to even go to that part of the world. Turns out that it was perfect safe (although when we were there Istanbul had a riot scare that shut half the city down.. but don't tell my mother). The first thing we did when we arrived was to park ourselves in a coffee shop with wifi and plan an itinerary. 

Studying our free map of Istanbul.

We were surprised and excited to find out that Turkey had a variety of unique places to visit. Not only that, but they have a very organised long distance bus system that can get you almost anywhere in the country. After a bit of debating we settled on a rough 2 week itinerary. 2 days in Istanbul, 3 days in Selcuk, 2 days in Pamukkale, 4 days in Cappadocia and 3 final days in Istanbul. We found a reliable looking bus company called Kamilkoc and booked all of our bus tickets at once from their office in Istanbul's Taksim Square. 

Istanbul is very easy to get around on foot. The only transportation we took during our time there was a bus to and from the airport. We spent most of our time walking around the streets, stopping for the occasional Turkish coffee. One of our favourite things was hearing the Islamic call to prayer throughout the day. After being in so many Buddhist countries it was nice to experience something new. We visited the interesting Hagia Sophia, a Greek basilica that was converted into a mosque and more recently into a museum. It was very different to see the mixture of Catholic and Islamic symbolism. Our favourite place in the city was the Spice Market where we splurged on some delicious Turkish Delight. 

A Catholic painting on one of the domes of the Hagia Sophia. 

A small piece of a beautiful mosaic on a wall in the Hagia Sophia Museum.

One of the numerous spice and tea shops at the Istanbul spice market. 

The delicious pomegranate Turkish Delight we bought at the market. You're suppose to cut them into squares to eat them, but we didn't have time for that. 

We found this amazing garden by chance. We saw an old looking wall and thought we should see what was behind it.  Turns out it was lots and lots of tulips. 

Istanbul's Blue Mosque. We didn't get to visit inside since we arrived just as prayer time was starting. 

To get to our next destination, Selcuk, we took an 11 hour bus which left early in the morning. We had the option to take an overnight bus, but we thought it would be nice to see the Turkish countryside. The main reason for visiting Selcuk is it's proximity to the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, built in the 10th century BC. It's so close that we were able to walk there from our hotel, although most people take one of the many buses. It was an incredible place to explore. They have done a lot of restoration to the city, but a lot of the sites remain in ruins. From Selcuk we were also able to visit the charming town of Sirince just a few kilometres away.

The ruins of an ancient church in the city of Ephesus.

The main road in Ephesus which once lead to a port.

Newly restored terrace houses in Ephesus. They are still in the process of sorting through thousands of broken tiles to restore old mosaics. 

Traditional Turkish pancakes with cheese and spinach for lunch in Sirince. 

We try to avoid carbs when we can. It's easy to stop watching what you eat when travelling because you rarely get to make your own food. It was impossible to say no to the bread in Turkey. Impossible. 

Aaran ordered a coffee at a traditional coffee shop in Sirince. We were amazed when the man at the counter placed the tiny coffee pot in hot sand for it to brew. 

Aaran's traditional Turkish coffee served on a beautiful tray. Most importantly, it was served with Turkish Delight!

Marble carvings recovered from Ephesus and displayed at the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk. 

Or next stop was the town of Pamukkale. The only reason to come here is to see the strange calcium pools that have taken over an entire mountain side. The calcium gets deposited on the mountain when water from the several hot springs runs down. Even up close it looks like snow, but to the touch it's as hard as rock. As the water runs down it forms pools of warm water that you can swim in. To preserve the whiteness of the mountain you have to remove your shoes if you want to climb up. Once you get to the top you get to visit ancient ruins of the city Hieropolis.

Walking up the very hard calcium deposits.

The ruins of Hieropolis on top of the mountain. 

You can easily mistake this for a snowy hill. 

The best thing about Pamukkale was watching the dozens of women weirdly posing for awkward photos in and out of the pools. Some of the poses where too inappropriate for us to photograph. 

Our last stop in Turkey was the amazing region of Cappadocia. The entire area is covered in unique rock formations created by volcanic eruptions. The strange rocks are very soft, which lead people to dig them out to create houses. When the Christians were being persecuted in Turkey, they were able to dig secret churches and cities to remain protected. We stayed in the town of Goreme which is the best place to be to access all of the popular sites. We decided to take a tour on our first day to get accustomed to the area. On the other days we used Aaran's superhuman compass skills to get around. 

The entrance to a cave in Goreme.

Walking down on of the several underground cities in Cappadocia. This one went down 10 levels (80m below ground). 

A cave painting inside one of the churches in the Goreme Open Air Museum.

The outside of a cave church in the Open Air Museum. 

It's surprising that we didn't get lost considering how poorly marked the hiking trails were. Thankfully the locals are friendly and willing to point you in the right direction when needed.

Walking through one of the Valleys around Goreme. 

The scenery was so beautiful we could have stayed in Goreme for a whole month and not have gotten bored. 

Aaran climbed up every possible cave opening.

An ancient Christian settlement and religious site, now known as the Zelve Open Air Museum. 

Two weeks in Turkey was not enough. We can't wait to go back, and we think everyone we know should go visit. We honestly had no idea that there was so much to see there. Turkey sits right in the middle of Europe and Asia giving it a unique vibe. Add that to the fact that the country has a history that dates back to the 11th century BC. Istanbul is very modern in a way, but still retains so much culture and character. It's possible that we loved Turkey so much because we could finally eat raw vegetables without fear of being poisoned. Or maybe it's just because Turkey is the best place in the world!

India

Of all the countries on our itinerary we were looking forward to India the most. I guess we had romanticized picture of what the country would be like. The food, the colours, the cities that are full of life. In a way, India was exactly what we expected, it was just all the extra things that were starting to wear us down at the end of our 3 weeks there. The never ending haggling over prices, the food poisoning, the constant stares from strangers. Don't get us wrong, the overall experience was unforgettable, but it has definitely hardened us as travellers. 

Barely keeping it together as we are battling food poisoning while trying not to miss any major tourist attractions.

We took a direct flight from Sri Lanka to the laid back province of Kerala in the south of India. Our first destination was the town of Alleppey, famous for it's backwater canals that act as highways connecting several cities. It was low season but there were still dozens of boats out on the water while we were out on our 1 day tour. This was without a doubt our favourite stop in India. The locals were friendly and every single meal we had during our 3 days there was amazing. Our preferred dish was mutton biryani, served layered in a bowl with the meat at the bottom, followed by rice and nuts. 

On our second day in Alleppey there was a province wide vehicle strike. Apparently this is a common thing in the south and everyone joins in to support the strikers. This means that from sunrise to sunset there were no vehicles on the roads (except for the occasional motorbike) and all the shops and restaurants were closed. The owner of our guesthouse was very hospitable and cooked us both breakfast and lunch. He also let us use bicycles for free since it was the only way to get around. For a few magical hours we had the streets of India all to ourselves. 

Palm trees in the backwaters of Alleppey. 

Some of the other boats cruising through the backwaters. It's a very popular activity, even among locals. We hardly saw any other foreigners while we were on the water.

From Alleppey we took our first Indian train up to the beach state of Goa. The journey took about 12 hours and was reasonably comfortable even though Aaran and I were in different carriages. We then made the long journey to our hostel on local buses from the train station. We stayed near Anjuna beach which we had heard was a bit less touristy than other locations. Apparently the Goan beaches are becoming like small Russian tourist settlements along the coast. We were told on more than one occasion that restaurants and market shops have elevated prices specifically for Russians. 

Our train from Alleppey to Goa. We stayed in a 3rd class carriage which means that the beds are stacked three high. To climb to the top you have to awkwardly step on people's beds as they are sleeping. 

 

Anjuna Beach in the province of Goa.

You can't talk about India without talking about food. We LOVE Indian food. Actually even in countries like Malaysia or Laos we were stopping at every Indian restaurant we could find. Luckily, we were not at all disappointed with the food once we reached the real deal. For every meal we would order 2 dishes (usually vegetarian to avoid questionable meat) and at least 3-4 of whatever bread they were serving. Our absolute favourite was the buttery paratha bread. Unfortunately this culinary bliss came to a screeching halt when we both got a horrible case of food poisoning. 

As in most countries, the best food comes from rather average looking restaurants. The less decor, the better the food. If the restaurant doesn't have a name on the outside, even better.

  

Indians eat with their hands, always. I saw a man on the train butter his bread with his fingers even though a knife was provided. Luckily most waiters were very quick to give us whatever utensil they could find, usually a huge serving spoon.

Our first taste of the REAL India was in New Delhi. We got off the train and were blown away by the amount of cars/bikes/trucks/cows on the road. It was hectic. In the rest of Asia there seemed to be a natural flow to the traffic, with a bit of practise crossing the road was no problem. Not in India. If you want to get anywhere you need to hold your breath and make a mad dash across the road. We had planned to explore the city independently, but once we got there we realised it would be nearly impossible to get around. We very wisely decided to book a bus tour instead. 

The highlight of our New Delhi tour was the Qutub Minar archaeological site. It was built in the 12th century and is said to be a great showcase of Muslim architecture from that time. 

From Delhi we took a short train ride to the beautiful city of Jaipur. There are so many places to visit in this area that we struggled to see them all in 3 days. Our favourite places were the grand forts that are perched on the mountain tops overlooking the city. They are hundreds of years old and surrounded by impressive fortress walls. 

This was our most interesting stop in terms of places to see, but it was also where we got scammed by a tuk-tuk drivers. We were very use to having to negotiate prices for a ride. We were told that the initial price quoted is usually 3-4 time what you should actually pay. Because of this we were always very firm with what we were willing to pay drivers before getting in to their vehicle. On our first day in Jaipur we took a tuk-tuk to the Pink City where we went into a mosque to take some pictures. When we exited we couldn't find our driver who was suppose to meet us outside. After looking for him for over an hour (we hadn't paid him so we didn't want to leave right away), we decided to just find another driver to take us to our hotel. Later than evening our first driver showed up at the hotel, demanding that we pay him for 5 hours of work since he had apparently been waiting for us all day... This was clearly impossible since we had looked for him ourselves. The problem is that in India arguments in public places quickly become out of hand with dozens of locals joining in and choosing sides. Aaran gave him half of what he was demanding and we left it at that. 

The impressive Amber Fort in Jaipur. 

The gardens of Jaigarh Fort.

Walking around Jaipur's Pink City. By law, all the buildings in this area must be painted pink. There is a heavy fine if you decided to paint your shop or house a different colour.

After spending a few days in Jaipur we took the train to Agra, the city that houses the Taj Mahal. We got there in the early afternoon and decided to leave our trip to the Taj for the next morning to avoid the crowds. It turns out that there are quite a few other things to visit in the Agra area so we hired a driver to take us around. We could have taken a bus but our stomachs were still recovering from days of illness. We asked him to take us to Fatehpur Sikri an old city 40km away from Agra. The location has several palaces and adjoining gardens and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) inside the Fatehpur Sikri complex.

The next day we were up at sunrise to visit the Taj Mahal. We were told that there is usually a long line up in the morning so we bought our tickets the day before. The whole area was absolutely stunning. It's not just the actually Taj Mahal but the gardens and surrounding buildings that make the it such a site to see. We entered and quickly walked all the way to the Western side of the Taj to be ready for the sun to rise above the walls. The big feature of the Taj Mahal is it's stark whiteness which can only really be seen with direct sunlight. When you stand on the unlit side it almost looks yellow. After getting are pictures we walked up to the entrance (wearing special white socks over our shoes..) and walked around the building. Everything was built with incredible detail and precision, it's easy to see why it took 20 years to build. 

The key to visiting any major attraction is getting there first thing in the morning before the tourist buses arrive. 1 hour after sunrise and this place was already packed.

A closer view of the Taj Mahal from the back. Everything is designed with close attention to detail.

Flower detailing on the side of the Taj Mahal.

On either side of the Taj Mahal are these beautiful buildings which perfectly mirror each other. You can get the best view of them by standing on the walkway around the Taj itself. 

Our best attempt at capturing the whiteness of the Taj Mahal. Apparently air pollution is causing the marble to turn yellow over time.

After visiting the Taj Mahal we scouted the streets for an honest looking tuk-tuk driver. We managed to find one who agreed to take us around for the day for about $8. He took us to Agra Fort, one of the top sites to see in Agra. It's a huge walled city that was built in the 16th century. We also visited the Tomb of Akbar and a place known locally as the Mini Taj Mahal. 

The entrance to Agra Fort

 

Inside the walls of Agra Fort. 

The Tomb of Akbar

Inside the heavily decorated Mini Taj Mahal.

In terms of places to see India has to be one of the more remarkable countries we have visited. There is so much history there and it's unbelievable that so many of these ancient sites have survived. While we really enjoyed ourselves it wouldn't be fair to omit how exhausting the whole experience was. Near the end of our time there we just didn't want to deal with it all. In our opinion the best way to see India would be to go on an organized tour. It's the best way to see all the amazing places without having to deal with the constant hassle.