Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan ended up being quite a logistical issue for us during our travels through Turkey during the month of September.

During the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the month in which the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad the Muslim faithful follow through on one of the pillars of their faith by fasting during the daylight hours. It is meant to teach patience, sacrifice and humility. Most wake up before sunrise for the Suhoor or pre-dawn meal, then abstain from food, drink and smoking during the day. Right when the sun sets the Muslim faithful drop what they are doing and eat (normally with their families and friends). This continues every day during the month (which this year falls in September). If someone would break the fast during one day they could make it up during one of the 3 make-up days during the celebrations at the end of Ramadan. In western Turkey people weren't as strict about this, but in eastern Turkey it was strictly followed. All restaurants were closed during the daylight hours. We read reports that there are lots of health problems during Ramadan because people work all day without eating then eat, drink and smoke lots in the evenings. This led to lots of people having indigestion and cardiac problems.

For us this cycle was rough on our travels because we were not waking up that early to eat breakfast so we were routinely missing breakfast, then we were eating junk at lunch because all we could find to eat was whatever chips or snacks were available at the local corner store, then dinner at Ramadan at most restaurants was a limited Ramadan menu.

For a week or so this was OK but after that the extended time with meals we were missing or the junk we were forced to eat started getting us down physically. This was especially tough as we were walking and hiking so much. We started buying fruit at the local fruit stands the evening before for our breakfasts and that helped a bit.

The most amazing thing for us was to be in a city like Diyarbakir, Turkey at sundown and see a city of 700,000 people be completely deserted because everybody was eating.

Being in the Muslim world during Ramadan is really quite an experience. We strongly recommend it for a short time (especially if you are trying to loose some weight). But as for us we were ready for it to end by the time it was finishing up.

Steve

Our Mt Ararat Dilema

One of the sites that we really wanted to visit in Turkey was Mt Ararat (Turkey's highest peak), where Noah's Arc came aground.

Mt Ararat is in the Kurdish area of Turkey and with the Kurdish rebels setting the August 13Th bomb at the US Embassy in Istanbul and the kidnapping of 3 German tourists in Ararat, our plans had to change.

The US Government site issued a warning about traveling to the area and we inquired among several people in the west as we traveled and everyone raised an eyebrow and suggested we stayed away.

In Selcuk we ran into a Canadian guy who said to be coming from the Lake Van area and was enamored with the place and the people, this piqued our interest again.

We continued to talk to locals about it and one by one questioned our ideas or immediately started talking about the kidnappings.

We were at the bus station ready to leave Trabzon and we were still unsure about our next destination. We were an hour west of the Republic of Georgia, so we figured it was safer to head south.

Dogubayazit, where Ararat is, was pretty much on the way to Lake Van but a local doctor we met at the station was the one that convinced us to purchase tickets straight to Van (a 12 hour bus ride) and avoid problems.

We tried to see Ararat from the road but was not possible and we both felt we were missing out on something very special.

At that time we didn't know that things were going to change and that we wouldn't leave the country without seeing it.

Gaby

Trabzon and Sumela Monastery

We were on to Trabzon and the Sumela Monastery.

We took a morning bus and were again cruising the dry, mountainous, high altitude steppe. An hour outside of Erzurum we started climbing into the mountains. At first the mountains were completely devoid of vegetation, then we started seeing scrub brush, then bushes, then small trees. We passed through mountain villages made of mud and surrounded by sheep, the only defining characteristic being the mosques which presided over the villages.

The terrain became more rugged and the vegetation turned to pine trees. The air was getting more humid and dense. We climbed up a high pass and when we hit the other side we were in a lush, temperate rain forest with towering trees. The change was marked from one side to the other. We spent the last hour to Trabzon heading down the mountain until we hit sea level at the Trabzon bus station.

Trabzon has a population of 215,000 and it is located on the north coast of Turkey, an hour from the Republic of Georgia on the black sea. It is Turkey's biggest port on the eastern coast. The town was full of Russians on packaged holidays and there were lots of signs in their Cyrillic script there.

Our guidebook described the town as slightly seedy and hectic and said that most hotels doubled as brothels.

I left Gaby with our packs at a cafe and looked for a hotel for the night. The two "budget" options in the guidebook were so expensive that we could not afford them. I checked every hotel in the downtown over the next 2 hours and they were all awful. I finally decided on the "best" of the worst and exhausted and disgusted with Trabzon we crashed in the Russian Hotel.

The next morning Gaby woke to her entire body covered with bug bites.

We decided to take the day tour to the Sumela Monastery (or Virgin Mary's Monastery). A minibus took us to the path where we hiked up the 2453 steps to the ancient site with its ancient frescoes, which was hanging off of the mountain in the lush forest.

That night we took the night bus out of Trabzon in the pouring rain. We had seen quite enough of Trabzon, thank you.

Steve

Erzurum

After enjoying Gِoreme it was time for us to head to the Eastern part of the country.

We knew that the east would be totally different experience from the more touristic west. From here on we would be dealing with fewer fellow tourists, the people would be more conservative and more religious and would speak much less English. We would also be dealing exclusively with squat toilets.

From Goِreme it was a 16 hour train ride to Erzurum, in the northeast of the country, which we enjoyed from a pretty nice sleeper train cabin. The scenery along the way was high elevation mountainous steppe which was extremely dry and lightly populated. It looked very similar to the northwest of Argentina.

After arrival at the train station we decided to walk to the hotel where we wanted to stay at (bad decision). We ended up lost in the middle of an open air market with our packs on our backs and a crowd around us as we tried to figure out where we were going. After shaking hands with half the crowd we got someone to show us our hotel.

Erzurum has a population of 360,000 and is at a windswept 6115 feet above sea level. It apparently has brutally cold winters and even in the summer it has little to offer besides some old buildings, but we decided to stay there for a few days to recharge our batteries and rest up a little.

Most of the women in this part of Turkey wore head scarves and many of the men had on Islamic hats. We found most of the people to be pretty devoutly Muslim. The shorts and the short sleeve t-shirts we were wearing in the West got us stared at so we had to cover up more.

Ramadam had started on September 1st. With the west being heavily touristy, we would always find places to eat during the day but now being in the west it became quite an issue for us as all the restaurants in town would stay closed during the daylight hours and right when the sun went down the city would literally shut down and everyone would eat. Thus our food during daylight hours became snacks bought at the supermarkets.

Very few people knew any English so we bought an elementary dictionary and used and abused sign language to try to communicate with them. This led to some confusing situations including some memorable restaurant mess-ups but we just tried to go with it.

After a few days in Erzurum we were ready to move on and cross the mountains and visit Trabazon on the Black Sea.

Steve

Mountain biking Göreme

It was our last day en Göreme and we had to catch a bus at 4PM to take us to the train station for an overnight train ride to Erzurum in the east of Turkey.

We checked out of our cave room at the Flintstones and left our packs in the lobby. While Gaby went and checked her e-maiI I went to bike Rose Valley.

I grabbed a meatball sandwich and a big water to take with me and rented an OK but not great front suspension hard tail bike. As Göreme was the location of the European Mountain Bike Championship last year I felt comfortable that I could get a pretty good ride in. The owner of the bike rental place rode ahead of me on a scooter and led me out to where the best biking was.

From there it was mile after mile of trails through the grape vines and sculpted valleys and beautiful formations. Some of it was on dirt roads and some of it single track. The trails went in all directions so you could literally spend the whole day biking the hilly trails in the area and never go over the same part twice.

Whenever I would come across an area wiwith doors cut into the stone I would go check it out. Most of those were pretty unexciting no longer habitated cave houses but occasionally I would stumble across an old church cave wiwith graves in the ground and fresco's painted on the walls and ceiling. The special part of it was the unknown factor of is the place you are entering another old habitation or is it a church with beautiful fresco's?

After exploring the trails for a couple of hours I started climbing a singletrack trail into the high mountain of Rose Valley. It wound up and up until there was a sign pointing up to to a church on top of the mountain. I followed it up, sometimes carrying my bike up the steep stairs until I was at the top. The views up there were amazing.

A local had a cafe stand at the church and over a tea and my sandwich and I exchanged notes with a couple of Spaniards and a Dutchman who had biked from Holland and was on his way to Syria (by bike!) Afterwards I paid the entrance and checked out the fresco's of the church (see picture) which were in great shape with the exception of the eyes which had been scraped out by the Muslims in years past.

It was time to get back to Gaby so I screamed down the mountain singletrack and found another way back to town, then turned my bike in.

Between the biking, exploring the caves and chatting with the people on the mountain I was gone for 4 hours. And the biking and the views were amazing!

From there we made our way to the train to go to Erzurum......

Steve

Cave People - The Flintstones

So there we were, in a town called Göreme, that is mostly carved our of the rocks and strange formations and Steve had already requested that he wanted us to stay in a cave room, so we found "The Flintstones". It couldn't be more appropriate! I totally felt like Wilma!!!

Our room was a cave, carved out of the side of a mountain. There were turkish rugs on the floor, a fire place (for decor only - since there is central heating) and a pretty nice bathroom with a jacuzzi! (Ok, that is a huge difference between us and the Flintstones, if I were to go back and watch th cartoons again they would probably have a dinosaur or some prehistoric creature pouring water out of their mouths so they could shower).

Anyway, the views from our windows were spectacular and we had a huge terrace where you could sit and enjoy the sunset after a whole day of hiking. So rough being a cave man!

To make the whole "cave people" concept more real we decided to do our own laundry (in the jacuzzi), that was quite and experience! It reminded me of college days when with Vicky and Guille (my roomates) we use to try to save some money by doing our laundry on the bathtub and we would use our feet to wash them as if we were stomping grapes!

The place also had a nice swimming pool and a nice traditionally decorated area where you could watch TV, use internet, play pool or meet people. We met some really nice people from New Zealand, Spain and the US. We really enjoyed our stay in Göreme at the Flintstones!

Gaby

Cappadocia - Göreme

After traveling all night from Kaş, through Antalya, we finally arrived in Göreme, in the heart of Cappadocia.

Cappadocia has always been a heavily volcanic region, and over the years volcanic ash and pumice accumulated in layers, its color depending on its specific geologic content. As time passed the malleable ash was eroded down by the elements, causing strange geologic shapes where the ground was harder. The people who inhabited the region took advantage of the soil, which is hardened when in contact with the air but soft otherwise and dug out cities for themselves from the stone. The area was inhabited by Christians, Hittites and Asyrians who all took advantage of the caves for shelter.

The effect of the geologic shapes and carved cities is quite surreal and looks like you are on the moon. Many of the towns in the area had completely subterranean cities which the inhabitants dug out for defensive purposes. There are 36 in the area and most were dug around the 7Th century BC. In times of peace the people lived and farmed above ground. When the cities were attacked though, the men would stay and fight while the women, children and elderly would hide below for up to 6 months. The caves had huge rolling stone doors to close the caves off and had holes from above where they could dump hot oil on attackers. These underground cities had housing, food storage, animal stables with mangers, communal kitchens and wineries.

When you go down into these cities, it is like you entered a large and complex Swiss cheese. Windows from room to room, paths going this way and that and more levels of rooms above and below. It is quite and experience and as the rooms are quite small and enclosed the large tour groups that go through make everything quite crazy. Not recommended for those that are claustrophobic.

It was a lot of fun to explore the area around Göreme and check out the weird formations with the ancient houses dug out of them. Most were just carved out of the rock and had windows and holes for storage, but no other decoration. Occasionally though you would find old churches that had hundreds of years old Byzantine fresco's painted on the walls. Most fresco's depicted biblical scenes. Many are in pretty bad shape as the local Muslims purposely defaced the christian paintings. They especially scraped off the eyes as they believed the power of people is in their eyes.

The town of Göreme where we stayed is really magical. It is a town of only 2100 situated among the fairy chimneys where daily life co-exists with all of the tourists without loosing its authenticity. From Göreme various valley go off in different directions each with its unique eroded characteristics. You can join tour groups in the area to check out many of the major sites, or you can rent scooters to explore on your own. We did both and had two very different but equally memorable experiences.

We had been looking forward to exploring this region of Turkey and it was every bit as amazing as we had expected. If you ever visit Turkey we strongly suggest seeing the Cappadocia region and specifically around Göreme. It is really special.

Gaby

Kayak Tour

One of the things we wanted to do most while in Kaş was to visit the Kekova sunken city and swim in the blue waters off of the coast. This can be done in big tour boats but we decided to book a sea-kayak day trip from Kaş that would visit all of these sights in a day.

We were picked up at our hotel by a minibus early in the morning and had a one hour bus ride over the mountains to the harbor where we would set off. Our tour group had the usual mix of travelers from around the world, some of who you hit it off with and others that you just cant stand. We hit it off with a trio of Aussie girls who were visiting Turkey together on a packaged tour and chatted with them quite a bit over the course of the day.

Upon arrival at the harbor we were given our kayaks and gear, trained on what to do, then launched in the waters. As there were only a few one man kayaks that were heavily fought over the Terrill's shared a two man kayak.

From the harbor we kayaked about an hour across the open water to an island that was our destination. Clear skies, ideal weather, calm seas, few boats and a gorgeous location all added to the beauty of the trip. Upon arrival at the small beach on Kekova Island we beached our kayak with the rest and got out. It was time for a swim so many in our group jumped in the water and swam around for a bit. The water was cool and clear.

We were back paddling after drying off and launching the kayaks again and from the beach we rounded Kekova Island to get to Byzantine ruins of the Sunken City.

The Sunken City is the result of an earthquake in the Second Century AD that leveled and submerged the ancient city of Simena. Foundations of buildings, staircases and the harbor can still be viewed as you paddle throughout the ruins. Viewing it all via kayak was nice because you were in the middle of everything and able navigate though things at your own pace.

As we finished seeing the Sunken City on Kekova we paddled away from the island back toward the mainland. We got to the picturesque village of Kaleköy which is reached only by boat and stopped there for a seafood lunch. After lunch we walked the narrow streets and climbed to the medieval fort overlooking the city. The fort was totally underwhelming and a huge rip off for the entry fee but the views at the top were fantastic.

After lounging around Kaleköy a while the shadows were starting to get long and it was time to get back. We had a relaxed hour of pictures and paddling before we got back to the starting dock where we turned in all of our gear.

A day of sun and paddling led to a tired and subdued minivan ride back to Kaş and arrival at our hotel meant a goodbye to our new friends.

Steve

Culinary Information

We had read in many books that if you were on a diet you shouldn't come to Turkey but we have to say that overall we find the food quite fresh and healthy and also that we've eaten more fruits and veggies in the last four weeks here than in the last couple of years in the US.

I usually take cooking courses in every country we visit, food is such an essential component of each culture and says so much of the people that I find it fascinating (plus let's be honest, Steve loves it when we are home and I cook something that I learned in our travels!).

So these are some things that we've enjoyed so far.

Most of our breakfasts consist of fresh home made baked "Ekmek" (bread), jam or honey, black olives, slices of cucumber and tomato, watermelon, a hard boiled egg, "Beyaz Peynir" (a super fresh feta cheese) and lots of "Çai" (tea - some Turks claim that it's normal to have about 20 cups a day) it is served in a small tulip shape glass.

For lunch , snacks or dinner you can find "Gözleme", which is a thin pancake, more like a mexican tortilla, filled with cheese, spinach, potato with mint sauce or mushrooms, your choice! They actually cook this on a concave griddle over an open fire.

You can also go for "Mezze" (or Tapas). Although most tımes you get to choose the ones you want, some restaurants have the combination ready. Some of our favorites are: "Baba ghanooj", a puree of grilled eggplants with tahini and olive oil and "Yaprak Sarma" (or Dolmeh), vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat and slow cooked in olive oil.

There is always salad. They either stuff it on the sandwich or you get it on your plate. The most popular salad is the "Çoban Salatasi" (or Shepherd's salad), a colorful mix of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion and peppers. Some also add mint leaves or coriander to it.

Soups or "Çorba" are very popular and we've been particularly enjoying the "Mercimek Çorbasi" (lentil soup).

It ıs never a bad time to get a döner kebap - strips from a vertical spit of compressed meat or chicken and mixed with tomatoes and lettuce and stuffed into a pocket of bread.

"Pide" is the local pizza and they bake them in the shape of a kayak. The best one we've tried is the mixed one, with veggies and minced meat.

Steve has fallen in love with two things: 1- "Köfte" (square shape meatballs - super tasty!) and 2- "Iskender Kebap", a plate full of kebap meat mixed with chunks of flat bread, a pile of natural yogurt on the side and topped with tomato sauce. Not so bad for a guy that as a kid had to be braved by his mom to eat anything but hot dogs! can you believe he didn't like pizza either?. That's when my mother-in-law came up with the "No, thank you helping" which constitutes of a spoon-full of whatever was being served and I think it is a great way to get kids to at least try!

And talking about trying ... a few weeks back we went for dinner - and Steve is trying very hard to be adventurous when ordering food, but as most Americans, he doesn't eat innards. Reminding you that language is definitely a barrier, he pointed at a stew that looked really good. Half way through his dinner he asked me to try it, he wasn't sure of what it was. I instantly knew but played dumb and he must have realized it, he called the kid that was cleaning up tables and it only took for the kid to point at his liver for Steve to decide that his appetite had vanished.

I can't write about Turkish food without dedicating a couple of lines to desserts. Turks know how to make them and anyone with a sweet tooth is in deep trouble here. I'm more of a "lemon meringue pie" kind of girl but I have to admit that they have the best "baklava" and "pistachio baklava" I've ever tried, although they are extremely sweet.

Alfiyet Olsun! (Bon Appetite!)

Gaby

Kaş

Luxury yachts, white houses climbing up the hillsides, clear blue waters, hillside tombs and lots of European tourists.

We wanted to visit one of the resort towns on the Mediterranean and chose Kaş mostly because it was an ideal base to see and do lots of interesting things in the area and also for the chance to explore the small islands and coves in the nearby coast.

Kaş had been at one time a small quaint, idyllic fishing village. That went by the wayside decades ago as the area was "discovered" and luxury resorts were built for people to enjoy the beautiful setting. Now Kaş doesn't try to be a typical Turkish small town, it is a playground for jet setters with luxury yachts and its narrow streets are filled with boutique stores and booming dance clubs for the tanned bodies to party. With the Greek Island of Meis right off the coast, and the local tourism agencies selling lots of adventure tourism options, there is a lot to do in Kaş. The overall effect though is of a very mellow and picturesque place to eat, drink, swim, relax and just enjoy life for a while.

We showed up at the bus station after a long bus ride from Selçuk and got a room with Süleyman and his family at the Hilal Pansiyon. Our room was spartan but good with a nice balcony and a wonderful plant potted terrace with hammocks and gorgeous views over the harbor.

The first day there was all about R & R, a little shopping, a swim at the pebbly beach, good food, some people watching and a long nap.

It was not so bad...

Steve