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!