Turkey Part 2

The Food

Aleja says, "Being fat is very delicious but not very good for you." 

Bobby responds: "But what if we just scarf this Turkish delight until we have diabetes and stop before we get fat?"

The Turkish delight, the Baklava (AB pronunciation: “Blackblahblah) the Dondurma ice cream (Chewy - Made with Salep which is the tuber of the orchid and going extinct)… They are very good at desserts. Then there is the chicken. Listen closely: The Argentinians are the best at beef, the Spanish at pork, and the Turkish have a pact with the god of poultry because whatever they are doing to the chicken is phenomenal. I was there for 3 months and I never had a chicken dish that was less than superior. Harps sounded and angels sang when the chicken was brought to my table. Every time. 

The liquids on the other hand - Want a hot beverage in Turkey? You have three choices. You can have sludge mud coffee, or Nescafe or tea, that's it. Very hard to find good filtered coffee

The Driving Experience

The roads were far better than I was expecting. Big, maintained, safe…The signage on the other hand… Turkey has achieved the trifecta of road signage stupidity. They do the same thing that Norway does: they give you a “Not 70” sign. So, your immediate question should be, "Ok – So what's the speed limit?" Why waste a sign on “Not 70” when you can just state the actual speed? It's so dumb. "Let's keep them guessing!" It costs exactly as much to make a sign with a speed limit on it as it does to make a sign that says “Not 70”. 

Then there’s the 90 70 50 signs in close proximity. 

This is their way of slowing you down. 3 times the amount of unnecessary signage. Someone needs to lose their job, because the 3rd error in their trifecta of signage stupidity is the sheer lack thereof. I drove for long long stretches without ever seeing a sign. Not wanting to risk a ticket I slowed to 70. I was the slowest vehicle on the road. I sped up to 90 and was still passed. After a month of trying to figure it out I just drove whatever felt right. 

Then there's this. What an oddly specific number to drive. Weird right?

They go to the trouble of making this fake cutout of a cop car and a fake cutout of a police officer with a radar gun and they even install flashing lights, which is not cheap. They have to wire up a power source and pay for the lights. But you know what's missing? An actual freaking number for the speed limit! That's proof to me that the whole thing is just a game for them to burn you. They want to act like they are being helpful as they write you a fine. Helpful is driving a sign in the shoulder with an exact number on it. Come on Turkey. Do better. Now I’m done. Everything else was fantastic

Pinara 

I have compiled a check list of criteria to denote the greatest Archeological sites. It is very rare that you can get all 3.

1. Never excavated – The archeologists bring order and in so doing eradicate the mystery of self-discovery

2. Never restored – Even if they’ve rebuilt it exactly like it originally was there is always that fill in modern concrete or a replaced base that doesn’t fit. It throws me out of my fantasy time.

3. Most importantly – Abandoned and never returned. That means modern structures that are currently inhabited are not covering the antiquities (like Demre). This is extremely rare. The original humans chose that spot for water and defensibility, and if it was good enough for them, it is almost always good enough for the next civilization and the next. It’s why Troy is 9 levels deep. But they walked away from Pinara in the 9th century AD and never went back.

Look closely and you can see the sarcophagus, dry ashlar walls and the rock cut tombs above them

How did they cut those tombs into the side of that cliff?

You would have to experience Pinara first hand and spend the night in its silence to understand. It used to be one of the largest cities of 400BC and now … nothing. What a treasure. Nothing has been lifted and restacked, no megaliths have been moved and the ground beneath – never excavated. There are museum quality fluted columns lying half buried on the side of the road, and arches still standing. The seats of the amphitheater have been shifted by earthquakes but it’s all there. Ruins yes, but so much left in place that your imagination doesn’t need any coaxing. 

Absolutely megalithic!!!

I would drive all the way back to Turkey just to sleep there again.

The monster Kangal dogs were an added bonus

We did manage to get in some beach time in a place called Kas

Demre (Ancient Myra)

This place doesn’t check any of the 3 criteria but it’s still worth the visit. We spent the night but you could get in and out in an hour.  We hopped a barrier in the oft neglected rear and took these pix so you don’t have to break the rules – Look at the size of those stones!

After the last tour bus leaves you have it all to yourself. The joy of motorhoming

Goynuk

All Russian. Even the street signs are in Russian. The campground was owned by Russians. We heard only the Russian language. Very odd. This war has created some strange happenings. You don’t even need to travel to Russia, just go to Goynuk and Bali Indonesia.

Side

This whole peninsula has taken a novel approach to archeology. There are a few parts you have to pay admission to but mostly it’s an open air unreconstructed free site. The law says that stores, shops, restaurants, etcetera, can be built but they must conserve what is beneath, cover it with plexiglass and allow the tourists to roam at will and peek beneath the city’s skirts. There are plenty of areas where you can clamor over the fallen rocks and explore what is still standing. We loved it and stayed a week. 

Cappadocia 

I’ve already sold my buddy on vacationing in this place. He and his wife are there as I write this. It’s rare that I go out of my way to promote a tourist spot but this place has a lot of wonderful to talk about.

This was once a solid boulder. All carved by hand

This is arguably the oldest church still in existence. That paint has never been retouched. 1600 years old

The ancient churches. The incredibly odd landscape. The man-made architecture that in some senses enhances the natural. The infrastructure. Great restaurants and…We actually made friends! Real friends. I’ll let the pictures spark your imagination.

It's soft sandstone which is easy to carve but once painted,
won't disintegrate - so it was used for abodes. 

We rented a scooter and went everywhere we could and then some

Our campground had the perfect vantage point to enjoy the early morning balloon rides

Then there is the deep underground element to this whole area. Entire cities exist down there. This photo shows how a stone could be rolled to block a passage during attack

Our new friends! Aysegul and Muhlis. We met them on one of our ancient church hunts and they invited us to their house for a home cooked meal. Brass ring winners! Those are Aleja's patent pending spicy margaritas served in traditional Turkish tea glasses

Stunningly beautiful and highly recommended. 

Goreme is the center of Cappadocia. There isn’t a city called Cappadocia. It's a region. We stayed a week, rented a scooter, explored every corner and loved it. 

Gazientep 

We stayed an extra night and burned a whole day just so we could eat at this resto again. You weekers can’t do that but we can and did. Now let me save you some time - There is no reason to go to Gazientep. Skip it.

Gobekli Tepe

I’m really conflicted. This is the motherload of Archaeological sites but it was a bit of a letdown. Yes, it is over 11,000 years old and possibly rewrites the order in which anthropologist believe humans built civilization. It’s well executed but…. It’s a hole in the ground that you walk around on an elevated sidewalk and peer into. It’s small, noninteractive and just didn’t grab me. That’s a pity because I had read about and salivated over this place for years. After we left, we drove only a short way down the hill (it’s in the middle of nowhere) and camped for the night. I think the still of the night and the black stary skies with the enormous man-made awning of Gobekli Tepe in the near background was as good as walking the site. Plus, the wild Kangal dog love I got was free and priceless.

Almost 12,000 years old!

 

Mardin 

The whole town smells like a dumpster fire. They burn their trash in front of their entry doors. You walk through abject filth until you get to “The Tourist Street” and then it's all bling and barkers, but you know where these employees live. I found it depressing. I also heard myself mumbling “squalor disease, and pollution” on the walk back to the camper. I’m way beyond my 3rd world quotient.

Tortum Selalesi 

I don’t even think that’s the actual name of this town. I couldn’t really do better. Google maps wasn’t that helpful and I was even in the town when I looked.  The waterfall was rather spectacular.

Going to Georgia

The next day we drove through 60 tunnels to get to Georgia. That road was really incredible. 

Back in Turkey

You already read about Georgia. If you didn’t you can go back a couple dispatches and take a look. We then returned to Turkey and drove nearly the entire coast of the Black Sea. We had to pick up my brother in Vienna 3,000 KM away.

Nice temps, great views of a dramatic coastline but nothing was wow. 

Safranbolu 

Absolute cheesy tourist trap. You can skip it.

Istanbul/Constantinople/Byzantium

One of the most important cities in the world - historically speaking. Right up there with Rome & Athens. I’m over my 1,500-word self-imposed max but here are a few items to google if you want further reading:  The great chain of the Golden Horn & how it was defeated. The Cisterns of Istanbul. The Hagia Sofia (My pet theory that all mosques look the same because of this building. You’ll have to speak to me to get that take).

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque

Not the Blue Mosque. There are a few that look a lot like it.

Across the Bosporus from Europe to Asia. One of the most important cities of the ancient world

This city was already 1000 years old when Constantine declared it Nova Roma. It stood for another 1000 years before it fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.

This bridge now exists where the chain used to dip below the water line. Mehmed the Conqueror stood roughly here and surveyed what he would soon take.

One of the cisterns beneath the city. This used to be completely filled with water to hold them through a siege

I love history, but to really understand history you have to back up and understand geography. The best way to understand geography is to actually go there. So, that is what we’re doing. It’s probably what you should be doing. Sell your house, auction off your kids, liquidate your 401k. Start traveling before the couch consumes you.

Your man on point,

Blacktop Bobby