Many years back, Xueling, Jiayi, Huizhen and myself went to Taiwan. That was my first long trip with friends. There was no budget airline then, and we took China Airline. After so many years, we decided to go for another long trip together. Huizhen was unable to join us, and so 3 of us went ahead and we chose Turkey! The flight took us 13 hrs.
Oh, Turkey is very different from what I thought. I had a good history lesson in Turkey! Its history dated back to 10,000 years ago and has been ruled under 3 different empires (Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman) at different times. If you like to see ancient Greek and Roman ruins, Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques, you will sure like Turkey! The present Turkey is the vision of Ataturk. He is a well-respected leader who led Turkey to adopt a secular democracy.
The country is strategically located between Asia and Europe. It has a mix of Asia and Europe culture.
Turks are warm people. It is summer now, weather is good. As for food, the one that impresses me most is the lentil soup. I was not used to it initially, but grow to like it gradually. The Turkish coffee and tea are strong! I have only tried once for the Turkish coffee. It’s like a strong Espresso, perks one up immediately.
Strictly speaking, we have only covered Western Turkey.
Upon landing at the airport at Istanbul, we went straight to Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia Museum, Blue Mosque and Hippodrome.
This is followed by a 6 hr drive to Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
At Ankara, we visited the Anatolian Civilisation Museum, Ataturk Mausoleum, Salt Lake.
Next is a 4 hr drive to Cappadocia, a beautiful city with beautiful natural landscapes.
Jiayi and myself tried out Turkish bath here. Oh, it’s quite an experience!! We got ourselves scrubbed thoroughly. At Cappadocia, there are many cave houses, castles, Grand Canyon look-alive landscape, beautiful sunset and chilly. The hotel that we stayed, Peri Tower Hotel, was like a castle!
There are 50++ underground cities in Cappadocia, only a few are opened to tourists. These underground cities have chapels, wineries, kitchens, and certainly well-designed to confuse enemies. The stones in these cities are volcanic stones that can literally breathe!! The dry constant temperature in Cappadocia is suitable for growing potato, pumpkin and other crops.
Other places visited in Cappadocia are the Pigeon Valley, Goreme Open Air Museum, Fairy Chimney.
We went to see carpet centre, in which we saw how the carpets were made from growing cocoons to weaving to the finished product. One carpet, which is silk on silk woven, is US$61,000!!
We watched the Whirling Dervishes Ceremony in the evening.
On Day 4, we made our way to Konya. On the way, we visited the Sultanhani Caravanserai, a “hotel” for the ancient traders and travelers. Konya is the most religious cities in Turkey. It is also a training ground for F16. In Konya, we visited the Melvana Mausoleum, in which we saw the smallest Koran in the world. At Pamukkale, well-known for its Hierapolis (cotton city) due to the presence of calcium carbonate landscape and thermal water, it is commonly visited by locals and tourists for its health facilities. Jiayi and myself soaked ourselves at Pamukkale, followed by a swim at the thermal pool in the hotel.
On Day 5, we moved on to Selcuk in which we visited Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary. We went on to Kusadasi.
On Day 6, we bypassed Izmir and Aliaga. Aliaga used to be a small fishing village but oil-refinery is one of the core business now. We visited the Pergamon City and Troy at Canakkale.
On the last day, we visited the Grand Bazzar and Spice Market.
We took a Bosphorus cruise from the European side of Turkey and saw the palaces, houses along the European and Asia sides of Turkey. The day ended with a belly dancing performance at Gar.
On the day of departure, guess what happened, I had food poisoning with diarrhoea and even vomited at the airport. Good thing Xueling was well-equipped with medicines to allow me to survive through the 13 hr flight back. My thanks to Xueling and Jiayi for being so sweet and caring!!
It’s a good learning trip, a good break from work, and a good time catching up old times with Xueling and Jiayi.
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