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Peter & Melissa in TürkiyePeter & Melissa in Türkiye
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Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

May – June 2024
  • Fred Dinn
  • melissa dinn
A 30-day adventure by Fred & melissa Read more
  • Fred Dinn
  • melissa dinn

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  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Sultanhani Seljuk caravanserai

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Oh what a day! Every day is better than the last as we learn and appreciate türkiye’s complex rich history.
    We drove part of the actual silk road today which was made up of a series of routes 2nd century to 15th century and connected east with west for traders of silk, spices, rugs, ceramics, homewares, gold, animals and food predominately. In Türkiye, a series of buildings were set up every 28 km in a portion of the route from Konya to Aksaray province to increase the safety of traders travelling with their loot and thereby increase local economics, expand tools and increase farming ability. Called caravanserai, the largest is called Sultanhani Seljuk caravanserai and is the best preserved. They were like safety houses for traders and their families travelling by with animals/loot and the first example of an insurance policy on offer as a record was kept at entry and exit. If a trader was missing his loot/animals he was reimbursed and the culprit found and punished. As a result traders liked to come to türkiye and brought many goods, especially the chinese. It has incredible architecture, tiling, room zoning, rugs and engraved stones. whilst there we met some lovely women who were weaving a new rug. there were many beautiful turkish rugs on display in what was once the old internal winter space for the traders in the caravansei. truly truly beautiful.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Fairy Chimneys

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    On route to the Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia we stopped and shared turkish baklava, pistachio goat milk ice cream and delicious coffee. Cappadocia is unbelievable. Millions of years ago volcanoes distributed many many layers of ash across the rough hilly landscape which resulted in a top layer of bassslt which over time was eroded in parts by the wind and rain. A group of people called the Hittites in 1800 bc who used the silk road dug out homes in this harsh landscape which resembles clay mushrooms caves rising from the hills. They are now referred to as Fairy Chimneys - see the photos. The last of these caves was closed down in 1960, to conserve them and also protect people as the top section of basalt often blows off, and the remains are protected under UNESCO. We were lucky enough to actually walk inside one as it is owned by a friend of our guide. His wife, babi, gave us tea and also used my head/hair to demonstrate the scarves and socks she makes. They live a very simple life.
    Peter and I later found a place to have a beer and sit and take in the incredible rose and red coloured mountain sides of this unique place.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Master potter of turkish jugs, wine deca

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    An absolute highlight - again! We visited a master potter and sat with him as he spun his wheel with his feet and threw his red clay to make traditional turkish pottery. his cousin spoke with us explaining the process. was really interesting. later we met with the master artists who paint using different techniques and mediums to create turkish pottery. peter and i considered buying a large turkish plate by one of these masters but it was US$15,000 so we didn’t. Truly wonderful seeing this and hopefully you will see how special it was from the photos. We will have to stick to the turkish pottery made by non masters which we love and can afford!Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Whirling Dervishes

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Tonight we attended a very special suffie ceremony with the whirling dervishes. During the 40 minute prayer, we are completely silent and no media is allowed in the castle room. This prayer is conducted at birth, weddings and funerals by Suffies who are devote Muslim’s. Their costume signifies many things - hat /their tomb stone, black coat/death, white uniform/birth, twirling/life is constant motion, eyes closed/faith, hand positioning hand up/receiving Gods will and hand down /giving to others. The dervishes twirl and chant as two ancient instruments are played - the reed flute/signifying that we are nothing and a multi string instrument signifying chines influence in philosophy. A person chants as the koran is read. It was very peaceful, meditative and interesting. After the ceremony was finished they left and then returned with lights on to dance for two minutes and allow the small audience to film. we were not to talk with them and respect was paramount.

    we have finished the night with a hearty meal of lentil soup and chicken curry for peter. early start tomorrow - 4 am as we are due to go hot air ballooning!!!    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Bizarre small world

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We drove to a cafe in a village near cappadocia as it makes traditional cappadocia clay pot stew. It is served and the pot smashed, a bit like taking the top of a boiled egg, to reveal a slow cooked lamb vegetable tomatoe based stew which peter really enjoyed. Whilst in this remote place a women approached me and asked me if I was melissa dinn from CIT? Turns out I taught with this lovely woman for about two years in the same faculty however she left, married a turkish man and they opened this cafe! We sat and talked for ages! She was only there by chance as normally does not work on this day !Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Hot air ballooning Cappadocia

    June 1, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We began our day at 330 am and went hot air ballooning with 99 other balloons over cappadocia - truly beautiful to watch the sunrise over this incredible place. So incredible as we went low over the fairy chimneys and volcanic landscape and high near the hills to see the sunrise.
    The balloons go up each morning, year round, with May and September being the busiest. During these times they also send another 60 balloons up 30 minutes after the first round. Each basket holds 25 people and two staff, a captain and communicator. We were up in the air for one hour. The balloons themselves are made in silk factory in türkiye and last, if well cared for, for 15 years. The balloons are checked each day for safety. When we landed on the ground, a truck with trailer reversed up, the balloon was up in air again and then we landed in the trailer!!!! It was quite the experience.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Carpets, gems, wine and icons

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We journeyed today to the open air museum called Goreme and part of the cave system dug into the volcanic rock of cappadocia. There are eleven seperate caves, some with rock-cut churches tables and benches, embedded in them. Each cave is associated with a church and reveal ancient paintings or iconic of the saints, Mary, Jesus and pilgrimage. Most of the churches in Goreme Open Air Museum belong to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. There was also an ancient multi storey Nunnery which we were not able to enter but which looked very serene side by side the monastery. Lots of religious tourist visiting this place and praying in front of icons.
    After this up hill heavy walking we went to a pigeon house look out and got some great snaps of the fairy chimney valley. A highlight of our day was visiting an authentic handmade rugs factory (very pregnant factory). We met two carpet makers and learned all about the knits, weaves, dyes and types of rugs. We were served turkish tea and raki (greek oozo) and all the rugs were laid out - so beautiful. Rugs were silk, wool and cotton and with ancient, traditional or tribal in design The woman carpet makers are paid by the knot and the average carpet has over a million knots. It is a disappearing skill due to girls/women’s availability and roles (education) changing. We almost bought a new turkish rug but then decided not to!!!! Off we went to a wine cellar and did some wine tasting. Of course it takes a lot to impress with our great australian wines and value. We had a traditional turkish pide that was yummy and managed to squeeze in a siesta due to our early start. Another beautiful day in cappadocia which ended with wine and whiskey over the valley from our tour leader and driver. A few group photos too.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Tomb of Mufasa

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Located in Ankara, this planned beautiful Anitibar museum is a mausoleum built to honor Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and leader of the Turkish Republic. It reminded us of the war memorial, in that it was guarded by military, every part of the building design held significance, for example towers represent freedom, sculptures reflecting turkish values and soil around the tomb collected from all of türkiye to represent her people. The Hall of Honour is the most significant place and is where Atatürk's tomb is located. It is a sacred place with many local muslim people visiting in silence to pay their respects whilst we were there. The hall is adorned with "words to the Army" and “The Fatherland has indebted you." The marble-clad walls and floor of the hall contrast with the intricately painted, kilim-style ceiling. The tomb of Atatürk sits by a beautiful window honouring other heroes. It is made from a single piece of marble without any decoration, and his final resting place is on the ground floor underneath it. Some arches and part of the dome ceiling above the tomb are mosaic tiled in gold/blues/reds and greens and are intricate and reflect the light. It was very beautiful. Keeping guard at key areas are four military men (service is compulsory for 6 months from age 20) and we watched them in 37C heat in their full military uniform stand so still we honestly thought they were wax models. The change of guards happens every two hours. Peter has a great video of it.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    museum of anatolian civilisation

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    This museum won best museum
    of europe and is surrounded by gardens, outdoor sculptures, walking paths, and whilst we were there many families, children enjoying the exhibitions. It is huge and probably needs a full day not the few hours we had to explore the ancient scrolls, tiles, statues, jewellery and re created homes of ancient civilisations ( entry via a roof to a windowless cottage where loved ones were also buried with them !). We found the artefacts used in death, preparation for burial and funerals particularly interesting and elaborate! Whilst there I had to go find a guard as a “museum cat” got stuck under a roman emperor statue - i communicated in a series of distressed meows and gesticulating movements to get the cat rescued due to our language barrier! phew! i thought of mike.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    kaymakli underground city

    June 3, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We road trip today to the incredible underground settlement of Kaymakli just outside of cappadocia in nevşehir, ancient anatolia. Built in 6-7 BC, it is an intricate series of tunnels, arches, nooks, ventilation system (central shaft and holes) with a possible 9 levels, 4 accessible to tourist, where the prime focus was to ensure safety for the ancient people, their animals (on first floor) and food/wine storage. At some points Peter had to crouch down to get through connecting tunnels which are also narrow to prevent bombardment of invaders. The rock is pale, clay like and the air was moist dust. Absolutely incredible skill. It is thought that there are about 200 underground cities in the area with exploration continuing today. Türkiye is so rich in history.Read more

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