Last scraps of Turkey...

From Katranci we headed further inland to visit the legendary cliffs of Pamukkale, by this point though we were more & more aware of our dwindling finances and decided not to walk up along the top of the calcium formations but instead we went for dinner in a little restaurant which had a balcony overlooking the cliffs. It was lovely and once the sun went down there were lights which illuminated the cliffs with a soft blue glow.
We got up bright & early the next morning and by the afternoon had arrived at a campsite in Ephesus.
Adam suggested we visit a local village _ Sirince _ which is famous for it's vineyards & fruit wines. Never one to shy away from an opportunity to sample the local tipple, we made it a priority to go straight up there! As Adam was driving lucky me go to go for the wine tasting - which was very pleasant - there was a range of different flavours, all incredibly sweet - from a plain white wine through to a dark cherry flavoured one. Also strawberry and a lovely peach flavour. We indulged in a box of 3 and retired to the campsite for our dinner of pasta with tuna and a whole lot of wine. A lovely evening. We had every intention of going to visit the ruins at Ephesus and could actually make out the amphitheatre from our campsite but on reflection, once we saw the ticket price to go in we decided that we had really seen enough ruins in the past 2 or 3 weeks and that Turkey isn't that far away should we wish to go back and visit another time.
Another factor in the decision was a little accident i had at the campsite in Pamukkale - when i somehow managed to fall out of the back of Treacle when she was stationary and i was sober. I cracked my shin on the little step that drops down to enable me to get into the back of the car more easily - and it was starting to swell up by this point and was fairly uncomfortable to walk on.
We left just before lunch on the 19th Aug our destination was Istanbul via Iznik but that was a few days drive away so we took it steady until mid afternoon when we got stuck in the biggest traffic jam we had seen since Poland! It must have been a regular occurrence as there was an elderly lady wandering up and down the three lanes of stuck traffic with a wicker basket full of warm freshly made gozleme. mm yum. Everyone pretty much was out of their cars stood around chatting, picking berries from roadside shrubs and walking up the long hill to try to establish what the delay was. We got chatting to a friendly group of lads in the car next to us - who were also on their way to Istanbul. One, Ozkan, could speak pretty good English and after rooting around in the boot of his car came over and presented us each with a different book. We were chuffed and rather bemused to note that they were in English too. Mine was entitled "Nature:cause or effect?" and Adam's tome was called "The Fruits of Belief". They are by Bediuzzaman Sais Nursi & go some way towards explaining some of the beliefs and by ""demonstrating the essential truth & reasonablesness(sp)"" of the Qur'an. He was a great guy and was in no way trying to do a roadside conversion but just succeeded to shed a little light on a mysterious and intriguing subject.
He gave us his e-mail address so if any of you have any questions about Islam or the Qur'an, i know just the guy to ask!

Iznik was a lovely little village & we camped right beside the lake there, which was as clear as glass. Had a look at & bought some of the pottery that they are famous for, enjoyed some wonderful cakes and as it was the night before then month long Muslim fast - we got some absolutely delicious Ramadan bread. Lush.

We were lucky enough to be in Istanbul for the start of Ramadan - so one evening popped down to the area near the blue mosque and the Aya Sofia as we had heard that there is sometimes a light show projected onto the walls of the mosque. When we got down there it was total carnage!! It seemed the whole of the city & it's family were out for a twilight picnic and a stroll. To say it was packed would be an understatement. Everywhere we looked were groups of people with huge feasts spread out on blankets or on the many little picnic sets which had appeared for communal use. It was lovely, such a great atmosphere.
We went to a little snack stall to get something to eat - something we had both been craving for a while - a jacket potato. But this, dear readers was no ordinary jacket potato, oh no.... it was the sexiest spud ever. With not one not two but 12 fillings :o) some of the more unusual being chopped gerkins, cous cous & olives...


And so that's it from Turkey, a wonderfully diverse country with so much to offer and they truly know how to treat a tourist & the meaning of genuine hospitality!!

Turkey - PT 2

So here we are in Turkey Again but this time its only a flying visit.

A great caming spot by the sea and next to a old castle.

A Classic!


A picture of a landy whos owner had a landy garage here. Its a 300 tdi!!!

What a great shot of the mountains.

Chimera/Flaming Rocks ( N 36 25.778, E30 27.907)

Things that are not allowed on the motorway! - Like say if your car is on fire!!!!!!

Camping by the lake.

These yellow arms are everywhere!!! - Istanbul.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Can i help you with anything?????

As it says on the tin Aya Sofia church/mosque!!!

Aya Sofia.

The Obelisk from egypt.

All seeing eye and some water pipes.

Aya Sofia at night.

The Blue Mosque.

Well thats about it from asia and now we are heading for home.

More Turkey Anyone??

The end of the Middle East, heading back into Turkey signified the turning point in the trip & from this point on it was homeward bound!
It felt a little strange to be back in Turkey where although still Muslim, the country and people felt much more Western than it had previously. We decided to take the coastal road which was absolutely gorgeous, winding up through the hills and down again, passing lush green forests always with the sea on our left.
The first night we stopped at a roadside campsite in a small village, the name of which escapes me (N 36 04.853, E 32 53.555) and for the bargain price of 25YTL we camped in the bottom of a garden campsite " Campsite Paradies" owned by a fluent German speaking Turkish gentleman. It had a stunning view of a castle on the shores of the Med and the campsite ran right down to a sandy beach, so we took full advantage and went for a dip in the sea. Fab! After our dip as we trudged up the beach we noticed some small metal tepee constructions and once we had deciphered the sign realised that they were to protect sea turtle nests.


Then next day we drove on to visit Chimera - also known as the Flaming Rocks ( N 36 25.778, E30 27.907) We arrived fairly late in the afternoon, then waited till just gone 7pm before we started the ascent up the mountain. I didn't know what to expect as i hadn't really heard or read anything about the area, but i was in for an amazing sight. The climb up took about 20 minutes or so and by the time we reached the top it was dusk and in the fading light the flames looked so dramatic. There are clusters of rocks, and almost like little fireplaces where flames are flickering out from the ground. A sign at the bottom of the mountain says that no-one is quite sure of the exact mix or make up of the gasses which seep out from the ground, and it is such a strange sight. We found some areas where there were no flames but scorched rock and Adam produced a lighter from his pocket and in the manner of a sorcerer conjured up flames from the rock much to the amusement of some of the other visitors. On his 2nd attmept at doing this, in an area of rock that was a little bit more recessed, the force of the ingnition was such that he managed to singe all the hair off his hand!! :o)

Our next stop was to be Olu Deniz where we had planned to spend the majority of our time in turkey on the way back through but on arrival it was heaving & i took a bit of a dislike to the only campsite in town - vastly overpriced with arrogant, rude staff - so we headed out of town a little disappointed an uncertain of what to do next. Adam saved the day - as per usual - by following a tiny sign as we came up and out of town, towards a place called Katranci.
What a lovely place it was. It was the locals alternative to the big resorts, cheap camping,a nice cafe, a small section of beach & loads of families just enjoying the weekend. I am pretty certain from what i could see that we were the only non-locals. It was great - music playing, groups of men out in the sea, ladies on the shore in the full hijab looking after the kids, and some ladies wading out into the sea in theirs - which was quite a strange sight. Lovely just to see everyone enjoying themselves. Another benefit of coming to this place was that the prices were not outrageous and so we enjoyed a late snack of gozleme & efes on the cafe terrace overlooking the sea (N 36 42.618, E29 01.949)
We spent 3 or 4 days just lazing by the beach, swimming, reading & drinking efes. A mini holiday!


Just like xmas - there's still more Turkey, the next update sees us in Pamakale, Efes & Iznik...