Thoughts on 10 Days in Turkey

Turkey is an incredible, beautiful, historic place and an important destination for all people to gain a better understanding of the origins of mankind. Turkey is partly in Europe, partly in Asia. It is bordered by many countries including Iran and Syria. However, all the Turkish people live in peace. Before leaving on our journey, some friends asked us if it “was safe” to come here…happy to report we never ever felt uncomfortable.

Irene and Steve at Ephesus

 

 …We were so lucky to have worked with TSC (Turkey Specialist Company) and Mr. Okan Kutlu (www.traveltsc.com) who custom designed our itinerary. We had some charming guides with wonderful local knowledge, accurate Christian and Islamic history, friendly personalities, and the ability to be flexible. We encourage all our blog followers to consider their own Turkey adventure with TSC.

This is a 95% Islamic democracy (founded in 1923) – the economy is good, women have equality, and tourism is strong – drawing Europeans, Australians, and Asians. Turkey is a melting pot of many histories – Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, Arabs, Christians and Jews; the Silk Road carried goods through Anatolia for trade throughout the developing world. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was built as a Christian Byzantine church before becoming a mosque. Within a block radius is the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace (home on the Sultan), and the “Center of the Center” … the place from which all distances in the Ottoman Empire were measured.

Steve at the Center of the Center

About the food – we’ve already posted some foodie pictures, but we must say we’ve had 10 days of fresh produce, fresh seafood, and non-GMO grains. Local restaurants all boast of their specialties from fish markets to fine dining - and presentation is just as important. And, except for the cities, no McD’s or Burger Kings.

Manti - stuffed ravioli in cream

 

Turkish people are trusting, friendly, and have a great refreshing sense of humor. On our 2-hour tour bus ride to Pamukkale, a few of us took turns telling jokes on the microphone…and then trying to ‘translate’ the idiomatic stuff so that it made sense.

On the 2nd day of our Gulet boat trip, we stopped for mud baths - along with our new friends  from Colombia Patricia and Maria:

 

 

We got a set of ‘worry beads’ carved from travertine – they are used as prayer beads in Islam, but are so culturally rooted -- Irene found that they work well even when you’re stressed and need calming – especially when we drove a narrow mountain road at 110 kmh with a driver who liked to challenge the oncoming traffic.  Also, everywhere in Turkey you find a “blue eye” symbol – it is considered to be the eye of Medusa – it both protects against the evil eye and also it will attract good karma. Irene received a special gift from one of our drivers of the blue eye he used to keep his vehicle safe – it was a real honor for him to trust us with it, and as Steve says, “it couldn’t hurt!”

 

From Istanbul and the Bosporus, to Cappadoccia, to Izmir, to Pamukkale, to Kusadasi, to Fetiye, we saw rich agriculture, strong energy conservation (and geothermal generation), great recycling programs, and good roads. In short, Turkey is a place of many adventures – history, culture, caves/underground cities, sailing, wonderful people … and yes, gastronomical delights.

Geothermal generation

We're off to the airport - about 24 hours via Istanbul, Bangkok to Siem Reap Cambodia - next is Angkor Wat and then Sihanoukville on the beach.