After arriving in Istanbul we soon realised this place was a
bit more off the beaten track when it took us around 3 hours to get to our
accommodation from the airport. We had quite a bit of trouble finding street
signs as the Turks don’t tend to use them much. After two hours of walking and
asking a few locals (who were all trying to be helpful without speaking
English) we made it!
We stayed in the Gelata area, down a big hill from Taksim
Square and about a 10 minute walk to all of the main attractions in
Sultanhamet. Accommodation was cheap and included a full Turkish breasfast each
morning. The breakfast was definitely something different and consisted of
bread, tomato, cucumber, soft cheese, hard boiled eggs and olives.
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| Ramadan getting the better of one of the locals near our place in Gelata. |
On the first day we checked out the Sultanhamet area. We
walked over the Gelata Bridge through the spice markets where we picked up some
tasty Turkish delight – made with pomegranate & pistachio. From there we checked
out the Blue Mosque & Hagia Sofia. The Hagia Sofia is known as the 8th
wonder of the world and has quite an interesting history. It was built as a
Roman cathedral back in the day before being converted to an Islam mosque when
the Ottoman Empire took over. It was designed with over 30 million gold tiles
and marble from all over the world – all taken from other temples that the Romans
had conquered. We spent a bit of time walking around and found the
door which is apparently made of wood from Noah’s Ark.
There are quite a few street vendors in Istanbul, selling
either sweet corn or grilled chestnuts. The chestnuts did smell pretty good so
I decided to get some when I was hungry one day. Worst decision I made, they
tasted like shit.. Just a warning – don’t ever buy chestnuts in Istanbul!
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| Buying some chestnuts from a street vendor |
We went to see the famous Grand Bazaar on our second day and
spent a good couple of hours walking around the largest covered markets in the
world. There are 3000+ shops selling
everything from cheap souvenirs to expensive carpets. It was a laugh seeing how
the different vendors tried to persuade us into their shops. After saying we
were from NZ to one guy, he replied ‘Kiaora, are you from Te Puke?’ That was
pretty random. In the afternoon we took a cruise up the Bosphorus Straight –
which separates Europe from Asia. This is one of the world’s busiest waterways,
and we had a nice 2 hour cruise. This was a good way to see many of Istanbul’s
sights from the water.
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| Carpets on sale outside the Grand Bazaar |
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| Inside the Grand Bazaar - the biggest & one of the oldest covered markets in the world |
We had a good night out in Taksim with a few mates who were
in town, going to a bar that had a live band playing the latest pop tunes. They
were surprisingly good. There was quite a lot going on in the streets with one
guy offering to put monkeys & chameleons on us for photos. I reckon you
could quite easily film the next hangover film here.. The Taksim area is the new part of town where
all of the good restaurants & nightlife is in Istanbul. Gezi Park (just off
Taksim Square) is one of the nicest green areas around and has been the centre
of controversy – with the government wanting to put up a mall in place of it. I
think people here are getting fed up with the government’s strict control over
them. There were still riots going on in this area while we were here, and we
saw all the police lined up in their riot gear a few times getting ready for
battle.
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| Old school trams still working up near Taksim Square |
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| Police in riot gear getting ready to attack near Taksim Square |
From Istanbul we headed 5 hours west on a bus to Gallipoli
for a couple of nights. We stayed at Crowded House in Eceabat (close to the
battlefields) and they ran daily tours of the area. The tour was very good,
with our guide (Bill) explaining each place really well and telling a few
stories along the way. The war here in Gallipoli is known as the last
gentleman’s war – where both sides had great respect for each other. It was a
real eye opener seeing this place in person and it has given me a new
perspective of the ANZAC soldiers who fought here back in WW1.
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| The hill that the ANZAC's had to climb on 25th April 1915 |
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| Lest we forget.. |
After another night in Eceabat we caught a bus back to
Istanbul for one night before heading inland to Cappadocia. It was good to
catch up with some Turkish friends we had met on our travels, who took us to a
bar with the best view in Istanbul! We had our first bad experience in Turkey
when we were scammed at the bus station on our way to Goreme. A guy standing
next to a bus company convinced us (and our Turkish mates) that there was only
one bus to Goreme that night – with only a few seats left. We got our tickets
through him for 65 Turkish Lira each only to find out after that he was lying
through his teeth. There were several companies heading that way and tickets
were only 50 Lira. Ah well it is going to be hard to trust a Turk again after that..
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| Bar with the best views in Istanbul! |
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We arrived at the small town of Goreme in the morning after
a pretty average bus ride. Our bus was packed full of Turks who didn't like it when we tried to recline our seats. Our hostel was awesome with the staff being very
friendly and having a good common area to meet people. We got to know 4 kiwis
and an Aussie while staying here and explored the area each day with
them – finishing off with a few drinks after of course. Cappadoccia is a region
in Turkey with really weird rock formations, because of this it is a UNESCO
world heritage site. They have been created over time by wind eroding away
valleys of sandstone, which has left some interesting shapes. Also over time, people
have carved houses into the rocks – some which still get used today. We walked
through a few different valleys while we were here, each with different types
of rock and different shapes that have been left behind. The Rose Valley and
Fairy Valley were our favourites, check out the pictures below..
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| Camel ride in Goreme |
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| Checking out the rock formations in the fairy valley |
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| Watching the sun set with some new mates in Goreme |
Haylee & I had been pretty keen to go in a hot air
balloon while we were here and were stoked when we found out our hostel offered
rides for only €90 (most other companies charged €120-150). Cappadocia is rated
number 1 in the world for hot air ballooning due to the favourable weather and
amazing views. We decided if we were going to do this, it might as well be
here! It was an early start that morning, getting up at 4am to get in the air
before sunrise. It was a cool feeling floating up into the air, and going where
the wind took us. Our driver was a bit of a character, naming his balloon the
titanic and joking that this was his first flight alone. He controlled the
balloons height so we were able to get close to the rock formations and then
rise up to get a different view. The whole ride only lasted for just over an
hour but felt like ages. We even got champagne after we landed – I hope it
wasn’t to celebrate actually landing! What an awesome way to start the day, an
experience we won’t forget! We went out for a nice meal on our last night to a
place called Fat Boys. Can’t go wrong with tasty NZ$5 mains – so if you are
ever in Goreme this place is worth a visit!
We didn’t have a solid plan from
here so made a last minute decision to go with a couple of kiwis we had met
(Duncan & Danni) to Olympos on the south coast. This place is close to some
really nice beaches and apparently the home of the gods back in old times due
to its awesome scenery. It is quite small and a bit out of the way and most of
the hostels/pensions here having tree houses to stay in. Our place (the Sheriff
Pension) proved to be a winner as we got nice 2 bed cabin, buffet breakfast and
dinner – all for NZ$23 each per night!
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| Our cabin in the trees at Olympos |
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| Sheriff Pension - best place to stay in Olympos! |
When we arrived the temperature hit 38
degrees so was nice to get back to the beach. We spent most days by the sea
and checking out the Greek ruins around the area, but the highlight had to be
visiting the famous flaming hill one night. The Chimera is up a steep hill from
Olympos and has had continuous flames which have been burning for over 2500
years. This is caused by methane (and other gases) seeping out of the ground
from the rocks below. Apparently this is where Hephaistos (blacksmith of the
gods) once lived. We sat and toasted a few marshmallows over the natural flames
before we had to head back down the hill. This was such a unique experience
which made our trip to Olympos well worth it!
From here we caught a bus along
the coast to Fethiye which was a good base to do some more exploring. We check
out the amazing turquoise waters of Oludinez Turkey’s number 1 beach, and
watched some more awesome sunsets across the Fethiye harbour. One day we day
tripped it to the famous Pammukale white terraces which was another awesome
experience! Pammukale means ‘cotton castle’ in Turkish and is another UNESCO
world heritage site. It is really a hill of white terraces made of travertine
(carbonate minerals) which are left by water flowing from natural springs above.
It was another hot day and after walking up the terraces we sat and cooled off
in one of the ponds up the top. This place was pretty impressive and deserves
its name as the 8
th wonder of the world.
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| Turquoise waters of Oludeniz |
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| The 'cotton castle' - Pammukale |
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| The white terraces |
We struck a bit of bad luck in
Fethiye as my passport got soaked by a leaking water bottle and both of our UK
debit cards stopped working one day. We were told by the NZ embassy in Turkey
that I should organise a new passport as it would be touch and go whether my
water damage one will be accepted. This proved to be too much of a mission as
we would have had to go to Ankara (10 hour bus trip) to get this done, and it
would likely take a week to get to us. We decided to risk it as we were going
to Greece in a few days – proved to be a good decision! The second problem was
our cards. After ringing Lloyds TSB from Turkey we found out that our cards had
been cancelled and new ones had been sent out to our UK address due to a merger
with another bank. This was the first we had heard of this and was definitely a
mistake on the banks part! Luckily we had our NZ cards to use in the mean-time
and we organised to pick up new cards on our way through London on the 12th
August.
Dalyan was our last stop in
Turkey, and the day we travelled there the temperature reached a record 42
degrees. Lucky we had air con on our bus! The town here sits right next a delta
that runs out the sea – making it the perfect spot for Caretta Caretta and
green turtles to live. We visited the Turtle sanctuary at Itzuzu Beach on the
first day which was an eye opener! The turtles looked pretty rough – some had eaten
fishing line, some beaten on the head by fishermen but most hit by propellers. What
was even sadder to hear is that only about 60 of the 500 plus boats in the area
comply with rules to have propeller protectors. Because turtles live for over
200 years they heal very slowly so most of the ones in the sanctuary were going
to be there for years. It doesn’t seem too much of a hassle to put on a
protector on to help look these endangered loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles
– but sadly most of the fishermen don’t care. We were also told how local
tourism operators are all feeding the turtle’s which is a bad thing. They are
supposed to migrate to warmer waters in winter but as they are getting fed
constantly the turtles stick around – altering the whole ecosystem. This is a
prime example of how shit Turkey is with some of its regulations – they need to have stronger punishments for sure!
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| One of the many patients at the turtle sanctuary |
We went on a tour around Dalyan
the following day with Kardak Tourism. For NZ$20 including lunch we couldn’t go
wrong! We stopped off by the famous ruins that are carved into the cliff before
heading to the river end of Itzuzu beach. The beach was stunning and had clear
blue water, and the best thing was that it wasn’t too touristy. Haylee and I
agreed that this is the new number 1 beach in Turkey! The tour-guide gave us
nearly two hours here which gave us plenty of time to swim and have a look
around. After our buffet lunch at a riverside restaurant we headed inland to a lake
for another swim. We finished up at the famous thermal mud-pools just outside
of Dalyan where it was nice to chill out after a big day.
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| Ancient tombs carved into the cliff near our place in Dalyan |
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| Underwater gate stopping the turtles go too far up stream |
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| Itzuzu beach - the best in Turkey.. |
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| Getting dirty at the thermal mud baths |
Turkey was definitely a different
experience than the rest of our European tour so far. The place is so big and
everywhere is so different. It is a pity that some of the people here are
scammers which was the downside to our trip. But... there have been so many
highlights – from the buzzing city of Istanbul to the ANZAC Gallipoli experience
to riding a hot air balloon in Cappadocia to seeing the awesome southern Turkish
coast and so much more!
Getting a bit behind on the blog
but up next is the Greek Islands for a week so hopefully will have
this up soon..
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