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You are here: Home / Archives for Destinations / Middle East / Turkey

Cruising the Mediterranean

August 26, 2010 By Jillian

IMGP6283Cruising the Mediterranean should conjure up imagines of deep turquoise and blue waters, yachts, drinks at sunset and fresh grilled fish. Add in a few Italians, a cadre of Australians, some itsy bitsy man bikini’s and lots and lots of ice cream and you’ve got our cruise along the Med.

Needless to say the four days on the cruise weren’t exactly the hardest days on the “road.” Joined by our friend Baris, we sailed from Fethiye to Olympos, stopping at nearly ever beautiful blue, turquoise lagoon along the way. Our boat was crowded, the temperature was hot and no matter how many times we swam in a single day, usually around four, we couldn’t get enough. We lingered in the water until the meal bell rang, ate traditional Turkish food, and jumped right back in.IMGP6284

From blue lagoon to blue lagoon we went, exploring little inlets along the way, cold spring fed lagoons, a sunken city, small fishing villages and finally arriving like refugees at the treehouse village of Olympos. We slept under the stars, the waves rocking us in to a blissful sleep.

It’s hard to describe the pure relaxation on the cruise. The only concerns we had were to apply sufficient sunscreen, swim back to the boat before the Australian water polo team finished our lunch and whether the Italian in his little white calvin klein’s would catch a fish. For the record our Turkish friend Baris caught the biggest tuna on the boat.

Despite all the rest and relaxation, four days was about all I could take of bobbing in the Mediterranean. Although we looked somewhat like an overcrowded refugee boat with all our luggage piled on the dingy, we were glad to be back onshore.

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If You Go: Turkish “blue cruises” go from Fethiye to Olympos or in reverse. Go prepared for a lot of sun, even with the sunshades there isn’t much shade on deck. We went with V-Go Cruises. Our boat was slightly overcrowded with little room to sleep on deck, but overall it was a good experience. Check with your company to see if beverages are included in your package price- usually they are not. After four days even water adds up, so ask if you can bring your own on board. The practice was discouraged on our boat but some people did anyway.

Filed Under: Europe, Headline, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: boat, cruise

Foodie Friday: Kumpir

August 20, 2010 By Jillian

Imagine a stuffed baked potato with everything you can imagine inside of it: cream cheese, real cheese, bacon bits, whatever else you want to put in. Now imagine a hot dog with all the fixins: relish, ketchup, onions, chili sauce, and the list keeps going. Take your hot dog, remove the bun, and put it inside the potato.

I’ve just described what might be the American version of the Kumpir.

IMGP5588There are a few differences obviously but the general pictures is of a baked potato stuffed with all the goodness you can imagine. Start with your potato wrapped in foil, cut one side and open it up. Next whip shredded cheese and butter into the potato within the potato’s skin. Now add whatever else you can imagine being cooked in a Mediterranean kitchen. Our options were as follows: Yogurt sauce, beet sauce, chili sauce, peas, couscous, chopped hot dog, corn, pickles, black olives, green olives, shredded chicken, potato salad, and the list goes on. Once you’re done making choices go ahead and add some ketchup or mayonnaise and enjoy with a spoon.

Since you’re curious here is what each of us had in ours:

IMGP5590Me – Everything but beet sauce, olives, and chicken.

Jillian – Chili Sauce, corn, pickles, green olives, couscous, shredded chicken (unorthodox) and that’s about it. She refused, understandably, to put potato salad on a potato. (which was interestingly referred to as American Salad)

To all friends and family, this has the potential of becoming a staple of our future Fourth of July celebrations. That is if Jill lets me, of course.  Editors Note: Jill says no.

Filed Under: Europe, Food, Headline, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: foodiefriday

Hierapolis and Pamukkale

August 18, 2010 By Jillian

IMGP5625One part natural wonder, one part thermal bath, one part ancient roman ruins that’s the recipe for Hierapolis and Pamukkale. Built in an area of significant thermal activity, I can only imagine what ancient people’s thought when they arrived at the site. Huge fields of cotton looking calcium deposits formed by mineral rich thermal water, Pamukkale is an impressive natural wonder even today. Like something out of ancient mythology, the pools look like hot springs in a cloud from the ruins of Heirapolis situated above. It’s not hard to imagine the pantheon of Roman Gods soaking in the pools. The ruins themselves are still actively being excavated and unlike Ephesus they have hardly been rebuilt. If Disney created an Ancient Roman water theme park, this is what it would look like.

IMGP5611Although you’re no longer allowed to swim in the actual calcium pools, they’ve done a really good job creating artificial thermal pools on site which give you the feeling of swimming in a cloud. Shallow and warm from the thermal spring water that flows down the hillside, the pools themselves are sort of surreal. Or maybe that was just the itsy, bitsy florescent speedo bathing suits being worn by a ridiculous number of former USSR citizens. Ahem. Like I said, thankfully the water was cloudy and the formations are bright white- harshly reflecting the sun.

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Thankfully there were fewer fluorescent man bikini’s in the antique pool. Having damed the thermal spring at Hierapolis at its source atop the mountain, in the middle of the ruins,the ministry of tourism has created a surreal little ancient feeling swimming pool. See I told you it was like Disney. Complete with pieces of fallen columns and buildings, bushes overflowing with fragrant flowers and lined with palm trees the pool felt like a secret oasis of the roman empire. The pool itself was warm (about 90ºF) and fizzy, due to the high mineral content. After an hour and a half of lounging on the columns, swimming over the ruins feeling like roman royalty we got out. Ok actually, they were closing otherwise I could have spent more time pretending to be Esther Williams bathing in hot seltzer water.

IMGP5649The ruins themselves aren’t as impressive as Ephesus mainly because they haven’t been restored and are still actively being excavated. Using your imagination at this site is easy, you already feel like you’re in an ancient castle in the clouds. Although most of the site is in ruins, the theater however is rather intact. It is absolutely magnificent and well worth the steep hike up. Much of the decoration remains in good condition, including architectural designs in the choral area and statues on the stage. Between this theater and the library of Ephesus it’s clear there was a lot of money coming through Asia Minor to Rome.
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If you go: Most tourists come only on a day trip, but we spent a very pleasant night in Pamukkale village. The archaeological site is open all night as are the artificial pools of Pamukkale, but the ancient pool closes in the evening. Like other sites in Turkey the entrance fees are steep and the ancient pool is additional. Sunset from the artificial pools at the top was magnificent and we highly recommend sticking around or not heading up to the site until the evening. Bring sunglasses as the glare from the white calcium formations is harsh. Unless you are a huge history buff you don’t need a guide for Heirapolis, the site is enjoyable on its own. Buses connect Pamukkale to all nearby sites (Feithye, Selcuk, Bodrum, etc) with almost hourly service.

Filed Under: Europe, Headline, History & Culture, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: ancient sites, natural wonders, pools, ruins, water

Ephesus

August 16, 2010 By Jillian

From Istanbul we joined the backpacker circuit of Turkey and made our way down to Selcuk and the ruins of Ephesus. You can imagine our surprise when we arrived in Selcuk not to the hassle of a thousand touts, but rather polite offers of just a few.

IMGP6083Our expectations were high for the Ephesus ruins. Since the eastern Mediterranean is a seismic zone, most of the ancient Greek and ancient Roman ruins found in Asia Minor are piles of rubble. The draw to Ephesus is that much of the city has been recovered in decent condition and significantly reconstructed. The unfortunate side of this is that some of the areas have been very poorly restored with poured concrete that detracts from the grandeur of the architecture and design.

Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor under the Roman Empire. That means it had a huge population, probably about 200,000, a large harbor and an immense amount of commercial activity. IMGP6108All of that translates to some very rich residents who built extravagant homes, and paid taxes to build an impressive library and theater. The terrace homes, covered in mosaics and frescoes are reminiscent of the homes at Pompeii and are being reconstructed and preserved as we speak.

The ‘piece de resistance’ in Ephesus is the facade of the library, which has been rebuilt on site. Not just the walls, but even some of the statues in the niches survived the ravages of time in decent condition. It’s a beautiful look at what public buildings may have looked like during the Roman empire. For me it was remarkable to see it reconstructed on site in stead of in a Museum. IMGP6124The scale of the theater is spectacular, although much of the decoration has been lost. Unlike the ruins of other theaters, you enter from the stage level, rather than from above, giving visitors the unique actor’s perspective.

A small city adjoining the ancient site, Selcuk is a lovely place to pass a few quiet days. Many of the hotels and pensions have quaint courtyards to pass away the mid-day heat and the downtown area is bustling with little restaurants and shops. In the evening, the local park is full of men drinking tea and having a late night snack. The whole town is understated, which is rather unusual for a touristy place. Most of the tourists seem to be on day trips from their cruise ships in Kushadasi, which might be why the place has maintained its small town charm.

IMGP6112 Stopping into a textile shop to take a break from the sun, we were invited to tea, a rather common occurrence here in Turkey. Like in Istanbul, we were quickly in the midst of an unlikely discussion on politics in Turkey (specifically the eastern areas) and it was almost two hours later when we walked back into the sunshine having felt like we made a friend. Rather ironically, we later figured out that it was the same shop in which another travel blogging couple had purchased a kilim nearly a year ago!

If you go: Turkey’s cultural sites have rather steep admission fees and its not uncommon to have to pay additional for the “highlights” once you get in. The terrace homes for example, are an additional 15TL once you are inside Ephesus the 20TL site. As always, avoid the middle of the day. If you are spending the night in Selcuk, go in the late afternoon (2-3 hrs at the site is sufficient for the average traveler) to avoid the cruiseship tours which overrun the site in the morning. Marble ruins are gorgeous at sunset anyway! Most pensions and hotels in Selcuk have free transportation to the site, just ask to be dropped at the top. It’s a lovely and shady 3km walk back to Selcuk on the new bike path, which takes you passed the only column of Artemis’ temple, one of the Ancient World’s 7 wonders of the world. Buses connect Selcurk with all nearby cities and sites almost hourly and there is overnight service with several companies from Istanbul.

Filed Under: Europe, Headline, History & Culture, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: ancient sites, crafts, ruins

Foodie Friday: Late Night in Istanbul

August 13, 2010 By Danny

Everyone in the world likely has a different favorite after a night out on the town. Back in DC the late-night snack is usually a Jumbo Slice of pizza from the nearest greasy pizzeria. This is the case assuming you’re nowhere near GWU – whose late night of choice is Manouch.  Manouch delivers a greasy hot dog smothered in onions and relish and a philosophy lesson on your Id, Ego, and Super-Ego that you might have received in class had you not been up all night talking with Manouch the evening prior. But I digress.IMGP6048

We were lucky enough to Couchsurf for half of our time in Istanbul and this meant that we were in the company of locals who wanted to take us out to see the other side of the town. We heard English spoken everywhere but the number of Turks on the prowl that night, with Ramadan about to begin (it has now begun) was rather surprising to us. When the night was over though, it was time to try the two dishes many of our friends eat only when there is no sunlight and the hour is past midnight.

First was the Midye Polma. Back home, we call these mussels. Inside the shell is a cooked mussel mixed with rice. You pick one up, the proprietor squeezes some lemon juice on, and down the hatch the mix goes. The cost was around 35 US cents per mussel.

Next up, the Islak Hamburger or Wet Burger. This is a very basic (think White Castle) hamburger, with not too much meat. They are served off a tray, already in buns, hundreds at a time with tongs. They’re literally wet with greasy garlic oil. They’re fast, hot, cost a little more than a dollar, and go right down the hatch. The first night we each had one. The second night, I had two…our host had FIVE. This is greasy food at its most basic best but I must admit, the affect these had on my stomach was not exactly a positive one.

Filed Under: Europe, Food, Headline, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: drinks, foodiefriday, nightlife

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