Monthly Archives: June 2016

Day 318 – Istanbul the second

Our second, and last, full day in Istanbul. Flo postponed his interview for various reasons so I could relax a bit. Trying to be back for the interview without any time for real preparations was weighing down on my enjoyment of the city.

Breakfast in our hostel was delicious again. This time, cookies and tiny slices of cake were added to the buffet which gives a great range of chocolate spread, honey, jam, two different kinds of cheese, sausage, fresh cucumber and tomato, olives and hard boiled eggs.

in the inner courtyard

Our first visit was to the Blue Mosque. I prepared to wear hijab so I took Lina’s gifts with me to cover up as close to the mosque as possible…it was that hot already. Surprisingly, tourists are allowed to visit the mosque for free, outside prayer times. The tilework inside is pretty and it’s well worth your time but in comparison, some of the ones in Iran were even more beautiful. We shared the floor with many, mostly Asian, tourists. All of them had to cover up more and were wearing borrowed blue skirts and long cloths around head and arms. Even the men who came in shorts had to resort to blue skirts to be allowed in.

one of the 3000+ Mosques in Istanbul

From here, we walked through a large part of the old town to get to the ferry terminal. Cruise tours are offered for all sorts of distances and times but most seem to be at least 4 hours, which is sooooo long. One company offers Bosporus tours which literally take you up the river for the distance of two bridges and then back down again. For our level of enthusiasm for a boat cruise that was perfect. All in all it took 90 minutes, leaving the afternoon free for other things.

I enjoyed our time on the boat, looking at Istanbul from the water. Flo decided to take an audio guide so I also got some historic tidbits about the older buildings we passed.

Variety of lamps

Once back on land, we walked through the Great Bazaar. Spices, dates and every other food imaginable are on offer alongside golden jewelry, carpets and many, many çay cups. Having kind of skipped lunch, I ate baked bits on the way and Flo had the traditional spicy kebab for the last time.

Truly tired from a full day out and about, we relaxed in our room (and blogged) until dinner time. Then, we tried another little eatery that we’ve seen around, close to our hotel, which looked like a place for us: Arch Bistro. A tiny restaurant in an ancient Byzantine arch, nowadays about two meters underground so it has a wine cellar feeling. Slow cooked food and organic olive oil was right up our alley. Completely satisfied, we stayed up till midnight to watch a frustrating football game which ended with a 0:0.

: in the inner courtyard

: Most minarets in Turkey follow this style

: real low chandelier

: Last time to rock the scarf

: Lovely calligraphy

: One more time – The Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque are next to each other

: The Golden Horn is quickly getting beautified in recent years

: All set for the boat tour

: Many state and private palaces line the Bosporus

: the first bridge

: one of the 3000+ Mosques in Istanbul

: baroque Mosque

: The better part of town …

: The tower marks the narrowest part of the straight

: The narrowest point has a fort on each side.

: On the Asian side, mansions have been build in front of the fort

: The Asian side is line with more or less private Mansions

: One more mosque

: Dates in the spice bazar

: Also in the spice bazar, for some reason

: … and here are the namesake spices

: Looking along one of the alleys on the bazaar

: Variety of lamps

: Colourful bowls in different sizes

: This caravansary courtyard opened up in the bazaar

: Cafe in the bazaar

: I love what you can do with a little bit more relaxed rules

: Istanbul’s old tow is surprisingly hilly

: Oh look, this look snice …

: Ah, we are getting closer to home!

: Build 1700 years ago to harbour galleys.

: The sea has long gone, 100m further

: Now there is good food instead

: The olive oil was divine!

Day 317 – Holy Wisdom

Hagia Sophia, now a museum, from a distance

Istanbul, Byzantium, Constantinople … Rome of the East. More than any other city has this place sparked our imagination. Rulers like Emperor Constantine and Justinian, Sultan Suleiman and even Mustafa Kemal Atatürk have made their mark.

Few places stand for the colorful history of this region like the Hagia Sophia. It was the third imperial church built on this spot. Later converted into the imperial Friday mosque for the Ottoman empire and finally turned into a museum in the new found Turkish Republic. If I ever had something of a bucket list, seeing this monument was definitively on it. So today, we did. It was only tainted by our apparently eternal sight-seeing companion, the scaffold. Well, needs must and renovations have to happen at some point.

The inner sanctum: Built as a church, used as a mosque, now a museum

All in all, those were two hours well spent. This building more than any other for me showed the marks of its impressive history. From the Roman era over the crusades up to the Ottoman times, each century has left a mark and left a piece that became part of the whole of what we see today. It feels like a great analogy for the city as a whole.

We went for a quite disappointing lunch afterwards, the second time in a row, and promised ourselves to ignore the Lonely Planet for the rest of the stay. We would rather check out the lovely looking places near our hotel on the southern end of Sultanahmet.

It ended up being just that for the rest of the day. After an afternoon rest in our room, we could not really muster the energy for more sightseeing today. Instead, we did check out a beautiful place up the road called mitara cafe & art. We had brilliant mezze and I had a huge glass of good Turkish red. A beautiful way to let the day fade out.

: Wednesday market with fresh fruit in Sultanahmet

: An original obelisk from Egypt

: A detail of the ceiling of the German fountain

: The Hagia Sofia, now a museum, from a distance

: Sultanahmet Camii or the Blue Mosque

: A remain of the second Hagia Sofia: The 12 apostles as sheep

: Beautiful ceiling in the entrance hall

: The inner sanctum: Built as a church, used as a mosque, now a museum

: Emperor Justinian’s monogram on the capitals

: Looking up at the Upper gallery

: Intricate inscriptions on the stained glass windows

: The walls are clad in marble; each panel framed and separated from the next one

: One of the places at the ceiling were the erased cross shines through

: Half of the main nave and one of the aisles were taken up by scaffolding

: The view from the Upper Gallery

: Part of a rediscovered mosaic from the 13th century

: Most of the Hagia Sofia is painted in yellow with different pattern but at some places the underlying mosaics have been freed

: Inlays in the Upper gallery arches

: Again, the crosses have been erased leaving some uninspired sticks standing

: Ablution fountain in the courtyard

: Inside one of the sultan’s tombs

: Mother of pearl inlays in a window shutter

: Great splashes of colour in this sultan’s tomb

: Our tiny looking up excellent hotel

: A piece of the old city walls with hiding holes

: The second level of a beautiful cafe which we had all to ourselves

: Food arrived and it tasted as delicious as it looks

: Three of the mezze in a blaze of light

Day 316 – Bridge between two continents

Rain. That thing. The slight annoyance that you forget about after camping in sunshine for a week. Well, this morning, it was raining. It slowed down our daily morning routine and it dampened our mood. Packing a wet tent is also not fun. Enough whining, we got on the road and today, we’d make it to Istanbul. 🙂

stupid toll system, still not working!

The GPS routed us on a giant 6 lane motorway. Flo, scrolling ahead, said there seems to be a ferry which will shorten the trip considerably. However, the next signs told us that Istanbul is only 90km away and that there will be a bridge. That sounds great! Yeah, nah. As with the museum in Troy, people got ahead of themselves. The motorway led right to the sea…but the bridge isn’t finished yet. From this point, Istanbul was still 120km away and we had to circumnavigate all of the Sea of Marmara. To make things worse the toll road ended with a secured gate this time and instead of waving your paywave card, they wanted cash from you. We still have about 30 Turkish lira on the card which we will probably never use up so paying cash now felt like we had to pay twice. Flo was not amused, to say the least.

Time to move on. Rocinate still looks like a demo bike 😉

Didn’t matter, we were still on track for Istanbul. Our first stop was the Touratech Türkiye shop, just for a visit. As with almost all Touratech shops we have been in, it was lovely. The staff is good for a chat, we got free tea and coffee and we looked at what’s new. We didn’t need anything but I didn’t say no to the visor cleaners we were offered…insect goo is one of the constants of our trip.

Istanbul is big. The GPS calculated another 28km from the shop to our hotel. And there is a lot of traffic, especially because we wanted to use one of the two bridges over the Bosporus. Driving from the Asian continent over a bridge onto the European continent was our idea of ending the trip. Of course, we will have a look around the city for a couple of days but afterwards, it’s pretty much straight to Frankfurt. Europe will have to wait for another journey. With those thoughts in mind, the crossing was actually quite emotional. It took us almost 11 months to get here.

The last meters in Asia!

Our one room apartment, once we found it, turned out to be exactly what we’d hoped for. Hotels in Istanbul seem very cheap at the moment and the online offers are very good. We got our room for three nights for 62€ including breakfast. And it’s in the center of the city.

But riding through rain and traffic, skipping lunch and being emotional about this last part of our journey had left us exhausted. We had an early dinner and otherwise enjoyed the comforts of our room.

: stupid toll system, still not working!

: small but nice shop

: The two of us with kind Kubilay and the owner.

: Time to move on. Rocinate still looks like a demo bike 😉

: The Bosporus bridge coming into view

: The last meters in Asia!

: Crossing over the Golden Horn to old Istanbul

: perfect for days nights of exploration. 20.50€ a night!

: Çay after dinner!

Day 315 – Troy untouched

Peeking into the archaeological site you see a…horse

Well … we thought to mix it up a bit and visit the local museum instead of another set of ruins. This time especially, since there is really not much left to see of the ancient cities of Troy (yes, there were actually 7 cities on top of each other built over the ages). The museum got early praise in the guide book and was due to open in mid 2015. But it turns out this is one more thing Turks have in common with Germans: It was still not done yet.

Not too sad, we hit the road and got on our way to the final city to be explored on our trip: Istanbul. Now the logical thing would be to take the ferry from Çanakkale to Gallipoli, have a look around and then go to Istanbul. That way, going home would be a single long line on motorways. But alas, we can not. Because Gallipoli is in Europe, and we had had this idea of riding from Asia to Europe over the Bosporus pretty much since the start of our trip. We are probably adding another 300km to our trip that way, but who is counting?

So close! But you still have to take a ferry across, so we’re taking the long way around

So we flew along the coast, ready to do a round trip along the entire coastline of the Sea of Marmara. Without taking a ferry, Istanbul was a little bit outside what we would comfortably ride in a day. Plus, we wanted to pay a short visit to Touratech Türkiye. So, in preparation, we booked a (surprisingly cheap) hotel room in the Sultanahmet area of Istanbul and checked for good camp spots along the way.

The spot we found turned out to be one of these unbelievable jackpots we hit from time to time. It was almost brand new, dead cheap and the camp warden was the kindest fellow we had met in a long time. He spoke not a word of English or German, but helped us carry our gear and invited us for çay. Ten minutes after I said I would have to go off now to cook food, he served us with an amazing platter of fresh bread, soup, yogurt and grilled chicken breast, free of charge. Such a sweet guy.

There was another reason this day would stay in our minds for a long time. When I checked my emails, I found an invitation there for a job interview! The work in Kaş had paid off already. Minor detail about this, though: The invitation is for the 23rd … ten days from today, in Frankfurt. But then, this is only 3000km away now, is it not?

: Peeking into the archaeological site you see a…horse

: So close! But you still have to take a ferry across, so we’re taking the long way around

: Riding along the Sea of Marmara

: Lovely warden gave us a whole tray full pf delicious food! So kind!

Day 314 – Pergamon, for real

Ruins of the big Egyptian temple

This morning, we were ready for another ancient site. Leaving the tent up for now, we started early and rode to the Red Hall in town. These are the remains of a giant temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis and Isis. It is so big, in fact, that it hasn’t been converted into church, instead a church was built inside the temple.

When we arrived, after a pleasant ride through a picturesque village, no one else was around. Approaching, the big scaffold around many of the walls were visible. Another site being renovated at the moment. Good for it, bad for us. Since it also costs an entrance fee, we took a look from the outside and left again for the acropolis.

There is a cable car going up to the acropolis, although it didn’t seem to run this morning. All the cabin were hanging motionless on the cables. So we rode Rocinante up the steep street to the entrance. Again, except for the staff of a café, a souvenir shop and the ticket booth, no one was around. By now it was 9am and the site was definitely open. Flo decided on an audio guide this time and didn’t regret it: Different information than on the signs and all in British English.

Nice look-out point

We followed the audio tour for the most part. Starting with a walk past the remains of palaces with a great view of the valley below, we came to the barracks and the arsenal. Here, the remains of an aqueduct could be seen in the valley. It is very impressive; they used pressure to get the water from the mountains up into the hill of the acropolis. Around the bend of the hill, we came past the library which is just a faint outline of the foundation now to the Temple of Trajan.

The biggest reassembled part of the temple

The Temple of Trajan is partly reassembled. The work had been done by Germans and there is a lot of documentation around about how they worked, how the deduced what it must have looked like and how they secured the site in case of another earthquake. It is art historian porn, really. Luckily, Flo was also interested in it. Two things made the re-imagining difficult: First, Byzantines had used and repaired the site, using marble pieces randomly in brick walls and second, locals burnt marble pieces lying around to get chalk. That seems unimaginable now but, I guess, marble ruins were useless at that time.

Found built into a Byzantine wall

We spent quite some time here, reading and looking at things. When we moved on, the path leads you down below the platform with the temple on it and you realize for the first time that the area you’ve been standing on is actually artificial. There are vaulted tunnels underneath trying to extend a level area out from the hill slope. Here, all of the metal links have been taken out of the walls… another case of ‘this is more useful than an old wall’. You can’t enter the vaulted section but a row of arch leads you along them.

The next highlight is the Hellenistic theatre carved into the hill side. It is incredibly steep but must have been awe-inspiring at any performance. The Temple of Dionysus is off to one side but we didn’t feel like going down all those steps in the sun just to have to climb them back up again.

The theater with the Temple of Dionysus at the bottom

The Altar of Zeus is not a lot more than rubble with trees on it as most of it is in Berlin now. The Ottomans made very generous deals with the German archaeologists, allowing them to take it to Germany.

At 11am, we were ruin-ed out. It was also time to call my mum so we hurried back to the camp ground. Flo prepared lunch while I called and afterwards, we packed up. Our next destination was Troy. Very tired again, we weren’t sure if we would make it today. Once on the road though, we pushed through.

The camp ground was about 700 meters from the archaeological site which would give us an early start tomorrow. For today, we showered, made dinner and wound down before cheering for the German football team. The game ended at midnight and we dropped into be like dead.

: Ruins of the big Egyptian temple

: Looking over the Middle City into the valley

: Isn’t that a grand view?

: Pretty ruins

: Nice look-out point

: Three consequtive ruins

: The city below

: Fragments of an aqueduct

: Going around the bend

: Reassembled columns

: These three columns have capitals, a piece of an architrave and a tympanon

: The biggest reassembled part of the temple

: Found built into a Byzantine wall

: Steep theater on the slope of the hill

: The whole rebuilt area

: Underneath the temple

: Lizard friend

: The theater with the Temple of Dionysus at the bottom

: Most of the Temple of Zeus is now in Berlin

: We were the only ones camping here

: Using the pavilion to be comfortable while calling home

: Gas station giving out tea to tired customers

: At one traffic light, we were surrounded by another bikers

: At the coast, once more

: Ready for the first German game

Day 313 – Le tired

impressive flag collections these nice Aussies had there

We had long days lately with half a day of riding and then visiting sites afterwards. Today was planned as exactly such a day: Ride to Pergamon, visit the ruins, camp. The plan, as always, is only correct until it has the first encounter with reality. We slept in a little as both of us are really tired. Flo was out and about last evening and I read until he was back… rather late for our terms. After breakfast, we started packing up. When I came back from brushing my teeth, Flo was talking to our neighbours in the big yellow truck.

Cheryl and Guy turned out to be lovely people. We kept them from cycling to the ruins of Ephesus for a while but it was great to talk to overlanders again. One of the cute and curious things we have in common is that our vehicles are yellow… and rather big for their types. Thus, bumblebee is a logical thing to call such a vehicle. 🙂

it is huge!

Starting after 11am, we made it to Izmir just in time for lunch. From riding through parts of it, Izmir might be a city for us. There are cafés and eateries at every corner and it has a relaxed vibe. Kumpir, baked potatoes stuffed with fillings, were recommended by the Lonely Planet. Ordering one of them for each of us, we faced the challenge of finishing the huge portions. We would have loved to explore Izmir further, but running out of money and of time, now is not the time for it. Might be a good city to visit for a short holiday in the future.

From here, we reached Pergamon in one go. The camp ground looked amazing: Grassy area with trees for shade, a pavilion, power plugs all around and a pool. Again, however, we were the only ones staying here. So we put up our tent in the most awesome place, next to the pavilion which we claimed. This would be the time to get ready for visiting ruins. We just couldn’t. Maybe the camp ground was too awesome or we are just too tired… we decided to have the afternoon off and visit the ruins tomorrow.

It felt like a short holiday from traveling. Sitting in the shade, watching some football, having ice cream. I had a nap during the second half, Flo had a nap right after the game. The rest of the day went by with me blogging and then great dinner with fresh bread and mezze. Tomorrow, Pergamon, I promise.

: impressive flag collections these nice Aussies had there

: powered beach camping, how cool is that?

: are they not too cute?

: it is huge!

: One would have been plenty, I guess …

: leaving Izmir … too early

: All 6s was back in Oman!

: Chilling – Switzerland won 🙂

Day 312 – Marks of Empires

The boring part…riding the motorway

There was not much left to do for us in Pamukkale other than pack up and move on. From here on, there were four more points of interest for us: Ephesus, Izmir, Pergamon and Troy. Ephesus was only some 250 km away and had three campgrounds for us to pick from nearby.

The ride was pleasant and smooth, with the exception of the motorway of all places. The automated system is kind of a nice idea, but it does not work at all in practice, at least for motorcycles. Out of the four times we passed toll gates so far, it has worked only a single time. We went to the post office twice to check and pay before we would get a fine, but they could find nothing in the system. So either we slip the cracks, or more likely we will get an unpleasant surprise at some point.

Great selection of all vegetarian börek

We had a really nice lunch in a town along the way. We just pulled into a random börek shop on the main road and scored. Outside any tourist region it was dead cheap, tasty and filling. Plus, the staff was real nice, too.

We reached Ephesus around 2 pm. According to our guide book, the crowds should soon loosen up. We were “adopted” right away by an enterprising fellow on the parking lot. He was nice enough that his sales pitches were never too annoying. Plus, he was genuinely helpful. The site is set up in such a way that the ‘right’ way to explore it is to start from the uphill entrance and then walk down the main road towards the southern entrance, where we currently were. There are shuttles going up. One that goes straight up for 15 lira and one that drops guest off for a “tour” at a local leather factory, but is free.

Maybe something to look at in the future

We opted for the free variant, of course, even though we were a bit anxious about what to expect. Well, it turned out that our “guide” just so happened to be one of the drivers. He dropped us off and we soon found out. It was not too b

ad – a straight beeline into a super high class showroom full of lambskin leather clothes in the $500 and up region. It dawned on us that we might even be interested in this stuff, would we not currently have been broke and on this trip. I might check this out once back in decent employment, I guess.

Close-up of the arch

It was over after 10 minutes and we could start the tour. Ephesus turned out to be the most expensive place yet. It was made all the worse by the fact that just about now, we would have been better off buying the 185 lira all-of-Turkey museum pass – with at least 100 lira still to come in Istanbul. Still better than a piece of wire in the eye, I guess.

The place itself was fantastic, though. Heaps of solid info on boards throughout the ruins and loads of uncovered and reconstructed marble architecture. All quite impressive. The ruins stemmed from a huge time period from the 3rd century BC into the middle ages under Byzantium, but most remaining (and impressive) architecture is from Roman times between 133 BC till the Roman schism.

Great place to build a theater on the first place

All in all, we spend about two hours exploring the place. Happy but exhausted, we got back to the bike. Our enterprising friend had one more up his sleeve: Authentic silver coins of varying ages. Of course, for a real good price. We passed on that golden opportunity to get in trouble with customs and were content with a look through. I mean, how often do you get the chance to hold 2000 year old silver coins?

We checked the camp grounds in Kusadasi. One was full, the other one was packed in what seemed to be party central of the town. We considered for a second and then decided to go back to Pamucak and check out the last place in the area. That one was a score. A super laid back area right at the beach, with almost no one around. It sure had seen busier days, but right now there were maybe 10 of the 100 spots taken. We could place ourselves right next to a power outlet to get all the goodies charged again.

perfect sunset over the water here we come

After our sunset walk along the beach, there was one more vehicle on the ground and it sparked my interest. A closer look revealed a Queensland licence plate on a bright yellow overlander truck. The travellers in question turned out to be a real nice couple, Cheryl and Guy, with many a country flag already decorating the truck. I got invited in for a brief chat and ended up staying up way too long …

: Great selection of all vegetarian börek

: The boring part…riding the motorway

: The high end leather showroom we were driven to

: We thought our kiwi friend Tina would enjoy a pink sheep leather jacket

: Maybe something to look at in the future

: I am a fan of honest advertisement

: The first run when you enter from the ‘correct’ side

: Lots of pieces seem to just be lying around

: The space is about as wide as Flo’s reach

: Assembled bits and pieces in the Upper Agora

: A cross chiseled over a door

: Trying to imagine the old times

: The acoustic is still very good

: Capitals…something for the art history (and archaeology) students

: Close-up of a frieze

: Pomegranate tree

: A tablet with Greek letters

: A cubist artwork from the 1920s, using found bits and pieces

: Relief panel

: Pieces on the ground

: Another capital

: “To be pr not to be…” Well, that was later

: Fragment of a capital

: Very intricate

: Assembled pieces of the Trajan Fountain. It originally had two stories

: Mosaic on the ground

: Close-up of the arch

: Close-up of a capital and the architrave

: Part of the architrave and the pediment

: The whole street had been cobbled with marble

: The library is built on his tomb

: A different view from the outside

: Lower Agora

: Inscripted piece

: The huge ‘Great theater’

: Must have been so impressive in the old days. It still is today

: Great place to build a theater on the first place

: Met these two super friendly kiwi guys waiting on their overlander truck

: perfect sunset over the water here we come

: it was a bit windy …

: the light was lovely, though

: smooching endermen

: i liked the silhouettes of the guys fishing

Day 311 – Pamukkale

On the last stretch of coastal road

Breakfast right at the ocean was still nice even after having had it three times in a row. Pamukkale was the destination for today; it is one of the top experiences in Turkey according to the Lonely Planet. It wouldn’t be a long day on the bike as it is only 200km away from Kaş. So we packed up and left. Flo grumbled about the “service” of the camp ground which meant we couldn’t take the bike to the tent. Instead, all our stuff was transported on a tiny pick-up to the bike…and then we had to strap everything to the bike for the next 15 minutes, in the sun.

Beautiful but rather chilly place

We followed the Mediterranean Sea for another 100km before turning inwards to get to Pamukkale. As soon as we started to go up into the mountains, it got much cooler again. Flo actually started to feel cold with the compañeros letting the wind through. For lunch, we decided on a picnic once more and all we needed was some bread which was easily found. Then, we turned off the road at a promising looking dirt track, went up a hill and had a great spot with a view. Because of the wind, we both felt like having a nice cup of tea. A bit of organizing later, the cooker was out of the pannier and we got to have a great break.

About an hour later, we were in Denizli, the big town before Pamukkale. The couple from twentyonesteps.net had recommended a camp ground so we knew where we were going. Buying groceries for dinner was all that was left to do. I slightly overdid it when I went into a bakery for bread and left a while later again with baklava and bread. Well, at some point we will not get baklava anymore and that time is approaching fast.

A geese pond in front of Pamukkale

The camp ground was nothing special except that you are right at the terraces of the Pamukkale sight. So even from our tent, we could look onto the white mass on the hillside. However, both of us were so tired that we needed two hours just for relaxing before we thought about anything else again. Starting, we first went to the Nature Park below the hillside. It looked like the entrance might be in there and you got to play around a bit. Looked like fun and it was. 🙂

Entering the real site, we nearly turned around. 35 lira per person is the most we have paid for an “attraction” in Turkey. Flo decided that we’d still do it and I am glad that we did but it hurt our budget. Also, all the tickets had been adorned with “35 lira” stickers and when you looked underneath it said “25”. *hmpf*

More still to go

Pamukkale. From a distance, it just looks like a blindingly white hill. The path and the people on it are visible but the beauty lies in the details. The whole hill has or has had water flowing down over it, depositing calcite on every surface. The so-called terrace walk lets you walk up. As soon as you hit the calcite, you have to go barefoot as shoes would destroy the intricate patterns that the flowing water has carved into the surfaces. Some water is still flowing down the hillside and additional pools have been created so getting wet feet is expected. And much fun. I really enjoyed the look and feel of the calcite. Where it is in standing water, it is slippery and soft. With just a little stream of water flowing over it, it is rock solid. Flo claimed that we will have baby-soft feet once we’re back down.

Ancient theater of Hierapolis

On top of the hill are the ruins of Hierapolis. We tried to see some of them but first, the museum had an extra entry fee of 5 lira per person and second, the ancient pools had an entry fee of 32 lira per person. Annoyed about not being properly informed at the gates on the base of the hill, we skipped all of it and made our way back down again over the terraces. Still great fun…even the second time around. 🙂 Back on the camp ground, the usual evening routine set in and we were both incredibly tired from a long day.

: On the last stretch of coastal road

: Towards the mountains!

: This is Flo’s favourite kind of landscape

: Turn after turn, going up

: Beautiful but rather chilly place

: And it comes with a view

: Plains behind the mountain range

: A geese pond in front of Pamukkale

: Getting close to the 10 year mark now

: Posing with the calcite

: Slippery slope 😉

: It looks so much like snow in the pictures

: Calcite covering the hill

: Tiny terraces on the ground

: More still to go

: Water gushing down in a channel

: The edge of one of the pools

: Looking like icing here

: View down to the Nature Park and our camp ground

: Dry terraces

: Part of Hierapolis’ ruins

: Ancient theater of Hierapolis

: The pools are actually quite shallow

: Epic, huh?

: Stream of water flowing over the calcite patterns

: Posing with the waterfall

Day 310 – I sink your … city?!

Looking back towards the harbour

All chores were done, the application sent – it was time to get back to that old travelling business. Nina was still supremely keen on visiting the sunken city of Simena. We could book a tour from here, but the guide book said that it is easier and cheaper to negotiate directly with the boat captains at the pier in Üçağız. We packed our stuff right after breakfast and were there before 10 am.

Negotiations went smooth and we quickly found a boat at a price that we were happy with. This year, due to lack of tourists, the locals had only licenced the larger boats, ignoring all the little ones. That meant the smallest boat we could hire was still huge, good for 8-10 people, but we had it all to ourselves. We did not bring swimming gear, and we did not really want to do much but see the ruins anyway, so we booked the “classic” tour: Sunken City, Kaleköy and back before lunch.

The first foundations visible under water

Now what’s the deal with the sunken city? Well, this was the site of the Lycian city of Simena, which got destroyed and submerged in the 2nd century AD. The ground sank about 6m, so a lot of the coastal buildings are now just below the surface along the new shoreline. Add to that the brilliantly clear water in the area and it makes for a pretty cool experience.

The other stop was in the hamlet of Kaleköy, where we had an hour to explore. The modern name is a remark on the Crusader fortress crowning the little island. Adding to the charm is the fact that it was build in the middle of the ancient Lycian necropolis of Simena, which was also partly submerged. Thus, we got a beautifully illuminated coastal village, with ancient sites and a fortress all in once. To celebrate, we went to one of the restaurants lining the shore and got ourselves a nice home-made ice cream.

Mediterranean-style lunch in our tent

I enjoyed the ride back along quiet country lanes. We picked up supplies for a beautiful little lunch and spread out in front of our tent to enjoy. With our to-dos sorted, the rest of the day was pleasantly filled with a mix of swimming, blogging and just generally enjoying life. To top it of, we went out that night to have another round of excellent pide in another Lonely Planet recommended restaurant.

: Riding the bike to Üçağız

: Having a cup of tea on board

: Looking back towards the harbour

: The picture perfect Mediterranean

: Simena’s ancient harbour on Kekova

: The first foundations visible under water

: Such a lovely day for a cruise

: The old harbour, now underwater

: Staring into the water

: The ground sunk about 6 meters

: Looking along the coast of the sunken city

: Must have been quite the quake to drown everything

: Flo looking out for ruins

: An arch, still standing

: This one’s almost still a house

: Stairs, now leading into the water

: The village of Kaleköy

: Time for a nice strong black coffee…mhhhh O.o

: The fort of Kaleköy

: On the way up to the fort

: What a lovely view!

: Kaleköy is frequented by a lot of boats

: Every flower is in bloom

: Home-made banana, hazelnut and peach ice cream

: Partly submerged Lycian tomb, just off Kaleköy

: A whole boat for the two of us…a bit of an overkill

: Jazz hands! Great mood on board!

: More Lycian tombs at the Simena necropolis

: Mediterranean-style lunch in our tent

: Great wood-fire baked pide

Day 309 – The Day of the Food Hipsters

The camp ground was lovely. The weather was lovely. And Flo had been pointed towards a job that he just needed to apply for. So we quickly decided to stay put another day so Flo could put his application together. Which in turn meant, I’ll have the whole day to myself…with my book. 🙂

Hipster food shot

After the food disasters yesterday, we carefully made sure to have appropriate food hipster food today. At 2pm, slightly late for lunch, we went into a vegetarian café close to the camp ground. It was brand new, in fact yesterday they had still painted some of the outdoor furniture, but it looked cosy and just like our thing. Which it was. 🙂 I had the bread platter while Flo took the falafel plate and we shared equally. It was fantastic food. It made us wonder a little bit on how much amazing food we were missing out because we cook ourselves when we camp.

Going back, more laying in the sun followed for me. In the evening, when Flo had finished his documents, we went out for a real dinner. The Lonely Planet recommends Saraphane which is the Turkish word for “wine house”. This seemed like the right place to celebrate that Flo started

Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

on the application process already. Again, it was amazing. The super friendly cook took me into the kitchen because the menu didn’t feature a vegetarian main and gave me option what she could make for me. She spoke more German than English so with a mix of languages I ordered a cold yoghurt soup as a starter which is refreshing and a great summer dish and got a custom-made pasta plate as a main. The pasta is home-made, too, and with cheese, walnuts and rocket…it was delicious.

But the main attraction is definitely the wine menu. Choosing chicken as a main which will go with red wine, Flo was superbly advised while picking the wine to go with it. A local Turkish red wine. Can’t get much better. It reminded us of so many evenings in Wellington but also in Frankfurt when you have good food and are able to share with friends. Slightly home-sick, we contacted at least one of the ones we thought of.

To round things off, we went for coffee and tea afterwards. Also, superbly done and yummy. Paying, we realized that those drinks were not on the bill and when I asked about it the lovely lady said it was on the house. Happy, we walked back to our tent.

: A vegetarian restaurant – very hipster, very tasty

: all fancy and new in this place

: Hipster food shot

: Lekker schnittchen

: This guy crawled past 1m behind our tent

: wohoo … the sea!

: Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

: That gives me memories of Greece from 20 years ago

Chaos roaming the world

random pieces of life of Nina and Florian