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| best cheap food in Urfa |
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| protect your bike with an evil eye |
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| evil eye protection 2 |
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| new use for old donkey bags |
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| old use for new donkey bag |
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| girl by the side of the road |
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| her family donkey |
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sanliurfa and beyond
Harran, near the Syrian border. We stayed in a beehive house one nightbeehi
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| beehive house |
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| tools for cracking wheat |
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| Clare asleep in the beehive house |
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| ben too |
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| clare at the quarry- in use for 2500 years |
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| beehive house roof |
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| squiggly lines are rug weaving signature |
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| toe stubbing hazard |
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| our room |
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| Ibrahim telling us about the quarry, He is named for Abraham who lived near Harran |
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| mud houses used only in winter by semi nomadic people near Harran |
Driving in Turkey- Again
We have lots of miles to drive each day to get to Istanbul on the 29th. We'll be there until the 5th of Nov. Each day I am completely spent at night. It's been great but I have to say the Turkish driving is pretty crazy! People are routinely coming at you on your side of the road (if that's convenient for them).
Also, every road in Turkey is under construction. They are having an economic boom and all roads are being upgraded in a seemingly haphazard way (every few kilometers there's a kilometer of road under construction- dirt road with potholes,etc.). So, you just begin to make good time and then have to slow down to 15 mph for a while and avoid oncoming semis and potholes.
People also park backwards and forwards- ie: on a street, people may park facing you as you drive down the right side of the road! Plus, at least twice a day there is a herd of livestock crossing the, "major" highway (one lane each direction, toggling back between well-paved and dirt). The other day we saw a really funny sight- did I tell you? A donkey (no cart or person) trotting down the correct side of the highway in the middle of the lane going the opposite direction. Truly, driving can be like a hallucination!
Along with all of this there are amazing sights everywhere- castles on every high hill, Roman bridges still in use, swing/zip lines to houses across raging rivers, people threshing wheat, picking turnips, ox carts whole families riding on tractors coming back from the fields with unwieldy loads (women in long dresses and headscarves). Divine!
I'll post some photos now..
Jill
Monday, October 25, 2010
monastery
oct 25, 2010
AM visit to Sumela Monastery near Trabzon. Had the place basically to ourselves and it knocked our socks off. Drive up a mountain with waterfalls everywhere (including across the road) then walk up another ten minutes and then u are in an obviously holy spot first built on in about 300AD. White rock coming out of the mist and cliffs. Beautiful frescoes. Another example of "what were they thinking about" architecture. Tranquil meditation followed by six hours of crazed driving. Every road in Turkey is currently under construction, so the lane patterns and road surface change every minute and a half. Ankara tomorrow.
AM visit to Sumela Monastery near Trabzon. Had the place basically to ourselves and it knocked our socks off. Drive up a mountain with waterfalls everywhere (including across the road) then walk up another ten minutes and then u are in an obviously holy spot first built on in about 300AD. White rock coming out of the mist and cliffs. Beautiful frescoes. Another example of "what were they thinking about" architecture. Tranquil meditation followed by six hours of crazed driving. Every road in Turkey is currently under construction, so the lane patterns and road surface change every minute and a half. Ankara tomorrow.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
on the road to Istanbul
October 24, 2010
Somewhere near Sumela Monastery outside of Trabzon. Fun but fruitless fishing session in the AM. Shored up reservation for Istanbul Hotel and Pensione in Vienna.
We are probably the only people at this very large handsome inn in very quiet village. They have turned off the heat and hot water for the season, which did give us some bargaining power. Got price down from 140 TL to 70. Intended to sleep In Trabzon (nufus: 600,000) but spent an hour driving around trying to find the center of town. There are no street signs in Turkey except for the tiniest alleys. Verbal directions usually include various contradictory suggestions and amazingly kooky estimations of distances.
After many frustrating forays, Jill decided to abandon the Trabzon plan. We stopped at what looked like a restaurant, and walked in to find a butcher shop. Smelling grilled meat from the backyard we headed back there and noted some tables and grills. Nobody paid much attention to us as we moseyed about trying to suss things out. No menus anywhere. We were hungry and clueless so we attempted to leave and find something less intimidating. On the way out people started giving us an extensive explanation of the scenario in rapid fire Turkish. Jill and the kids went next door to the market. I finally figured things out with a lot of sign language. Go to the meat counter tell the guy how many koftas (meat patties) you want, he weighs them and then they grill them for you tableside. Sinfully good. Even Ben was happy.
Somewhere near Sumela Monastery outside of Trabzon. Fun but fruitless fishing session in the AM. Shored up reservation for Istanbul Hotel and Pensione in Vienna.
We are probably the only people at this very large handsome inn in very quiet village. They have turned off the heat and hot water for the season, which did give us some bargaining power. Got price down from 140 TL to 70. Intended to sleep In Trabzon (nufus: 600,000) but spent an hour driving around trying to find the center of town. There are no street signs in Turkey except for the tiniest alleys. Verbal directions usually include various contradictory suggestions and amazingly kooky estimations of distances.
After many frustrating forays, Jill decided to abandon the Trabzon plan. We stopped at what looked like a restaurant, and walked in to find a butcher shop. Smelling grilled meat from the backyard we headed back there and noted some tables and grills. Nobody paid much attention to us as we moseyed about trying to suss things out. No menus anywhere. We were hungry and clueless so we attempted to leave and find something less intimidating. On the way out people started giving us an extensive explanation of the scenario in rapid fire Turkish. Jill and the kids went next door to the market. I finally figured things out with a lot of sign language. Go to the meat counter tell the guy how many koftas (meat patties) you want, he weighs them and then they grill them for you tableside. Sinfully good. Even Ben was happy.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
trout at the river hotel
October 23, 2010
after a week of sunny/warm weather, I am hearing a sustained hard rain. The first one of the trip.
It's always nice when u sort of mess up, take a risk and then everything works out for the best. We were heading for Yusufeli (nufus around 5,000) guidebook said our intended otel was easy to find. Naturally did not find it and continued on the road out of town at dusk. Forgetting, of course, to get cash from the atm. Continued driving up beautiful river valley and sort of stumbled on the River Otel. Scraped together enough turkish lira for lodging, dinner and upcoming breakfast. Needed to dip into Clare and Ben's souvenir cash but the spot is gorgeous. Sweet fresh trout and stuffed cabbage for dinner. We can fend the twins off no longer. Tomorrow we will fish with our 2 lira handline using a half eaten chicken kabob for bait.
"we're on the road to istanbul."
after a week of sunny/warm weather, I am hearing a sustained hard rain. The first one of the trip.
It's always nice when u sort of mess up, take a risk and then everything works out for the best. We were heading for Yusufeli (nufus around 5,000) guidebook said our intended otel was easy to find. Naturally did not find it and continued on the road out of town at dusk. Forgetting, of course, to get cash from the atm. Continued driving up beautiful river valley and sort of stumbled on the River Otel. Scraped together enough turkish lira for lodging, dinner and upcoming breakfast. Needed to dip into Clare and Ben's souvenir cash but the spot is gorgeous. Sweet fresh trout and stuffed cabbage for dinner. We can fend the twins off no longer. Tomorrow we will fish with our 2 lira handline using a half eaten chicken kabob for bait.
"we're on the road to istanbul."
Friday, October 22, 2010
bunny and the fox
On the road from Bahcesaray to Dogubayazit Ben and clare spotted a bunny and a fox. Jill spotted some nomads living in round yurts. She also noted a man driving a caterpillar pushing huge boulders from a cliff above the highway onto said highway. She froze as a mini-cooper sized missile bounced down the hill--then gunned it. The Lonely Planet does indicate that Turkey is not always too concerned about safety.
Last we pulled into Bahcesaray (nufus: 4,000) after dark. Our intelligence sources described the town as having a guesthouse. I 'm pretty sure that we ended up sleeping in teacher housing for the local boarding school.
Today we made it at sunset to the ishakpasa palace. Beautiful lighting for this amalgam of Seljuk, Ottoman, Georgian, Persian, and Armenian architecture. Ben and Clare were excited about the rooms designated as dungeons. Checked into the Otel Tahran and found a good local seafood spot which fired up a fadge of fried Hamsi (anchovies) which we washed down with some crazed purple concoction made from pickled turnips and carrots.
Tonight we sleep in the shadow of snowcapped Mount Ararat.
Last we pulled into Bahcesaray (nufus: 4,000) after dark. Our intelligence sources described the town as having a guesthouse. I 'm pretty sure that we ended up sleeping in teacher housing for the local boarding school.
Today we made it at sunset to the ishakpasa palace. Beautiful lighting for this amalgam of Seljuk, Ottoman, Georgian, Persian, and Armenian architecture. Ben and Clare were excited about the rooms designated as dungeons. Checked into the Otel Tahran and found a good local seafood spot which fired up a fadge of fried Hamsi (anchovies) which we washed down with some crazed purple concoction made from pickled turnips and carrots.
Tonight we sleep in the shadow of snowcapped Mount Ararat.
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