Turkey

I spent an afternoon exploring the Prophets’ City. Legend has it that Biblical Abraham was born in a cave here. I admired the Throne of Nimrod fortress and feed the carp in the sacred pools. Apparently if you catch one of the carp, you’ll go blind. Hence there was masses of very well looked after carp [...]

I took a ferry across the Ataturk dam and then a trip to the small Kurdish village of Yuvacali, right in the middle of what used to be Mesopotamia. The village has been settled since the dawn of civilisation, over 6000 years. This is obvious when looking at the mound which towers over the current village and digging for [...]

Yet another very long travel day through amazing scenery deep into the East of Turkey to Nemrut Dagi (Mount Nemrut). The bus winded up the mountain and I huffed and puffed my way up the last 500m to the top. It was freezing up there and I was glad to have some warm clothes. The sunset from the [...]

Following a very long travel day (12 hours), we arrived in the fairy tale town of Goreme. The landscape was formed 30 million years ago when erupting volcanoes covered the region with volcanic ash. Volcanic rock covered the ash and it solidified into what is known as tuff (soft rock).  Erosion from water, wind and temperature have worn [...]

I stayed in Fethiye and caught a minivan to Karakoy, which is now a ghost town of 2000 stone houses. It was deserted by its Christian (Greek) inhabitants after WWI. The Greek and Turkish governments agreed a population swap to force the Greek Christians in Turkey to return to Greece and the Muslim Turks in Greece to [...]

Ephesus is known as the best preserved classical city in the Eastern Mediterranean. It’s history spans 1500 years and there is everything from a hospital to a brothel, to a library to an amphitheatre. The amphitheatre holds 25,000 people and is still used for concerts. Sting, Elton John and Tom Jones have all performed here. Thunder [...]

It was a long overnight haul in what was unaffectionately named “the sauna bus”. It was an epic experience I won’t go into but let’s just say for someone who can normally sleep anywhere and anytime, even a sleeping pill didn’t help. As usual with long haul travel….it was totally worth it! I spent the morning [...]

I joined a day trip from Istanbul to the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was a 5 hour drive to get there but I am really happy to have been. The local guide made the trip very interesting and we spent the afternoon visiting various cemetaries and memorials, walking along Anzac Cove, seeing the Lone Pine Australian memorial, seeing the New Zealand memorial, exploring the trenches and visiting the Gallipoli museum. It was rather nice tranquilly wandering around the area. I’m [...]

The thing that has struck me the most about Istanbul is how densely populated it is. The streets are in a constant traffic jam and no matter where you go the pavements are milling with people. It is impossible to walk quickly as there just isn’t the space. It was quite overwhelming to begin with, but I am starting to adjust. I think I’ll find Wellington positively empty by comparison when I return. The second [...]