Egypt & Türkiye

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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Ephesus
October 20, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Today was a wow day!
Wow because what we saw was just……….…insane 🤯 and wow because I had no idea this place even existed; which I’m embarrassed about to be honest.
We began at a carpet weaving centre that still makes carpets by hand in the traditional way using looms - the skills that these women possess - are so impressive. Unfortunately it is a dying art because of mass production factories etc. The Turkish government is doing what it can to maintain the practice.
Whilst the carpets were just stunning, we didn’t buy anything but plenty of people did.
Next we went to The Virgin Mary’s house which was pretty ok but it was the city of Ephesus that completely blew me away.
We walked over 2km up and down, in and out of the ancient city buildings, ruin’s and roads. Every road was marble and very slippery (nope, I did not fall). There were bathhouses, public latrines (there used to be a pond in the middle filled with frogs so people wouldn’t be embarrassed “making noises”), a massive library, theatre, loads of columns (♥️), remnants of shops and houses, a huge wholesale market place and a government building kinda like a Parliament House. Ephesus was massive! I couldn’t believe the size. Even though it was mostly ruins, it was so easy to imagine it as a thriving place. The amphitheatre here fits 24,000!!
The city was originally built in the 10th century BC making it over 3000 years old.
Crazy.
Lunch was at another local place and this time we had pide which was amazing.
Next stop was a mountain village called Sirince which was super cute and famous for its wine and olive oil. The mountains are filled with olive trees as far as the eye can see. I bought some local magic oil which apparently cures every skin ailment, is great for menopause and will make me look 50 years younger. For $2 I thought I’d give it go 😂😂
My hands feel amazing and our guide was impressed I bought it even asking for some for a skin cancer scar he has. He said it is famous and revered. It seems I should have bought a litre of the stuff!
Our final stop was at the Temple of Artemis which once boasted 130ish columns but unfortunately there’s only one remaining. It is, however, one of the original Seven Wonders of The World!! (ancient world).
I think today may have been my favourite day on this tour so far.Read more
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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Thermal pools
October 21, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After stopping at a leather shop we had a big drive out to Pamukkale which is the home of extremely impressive calcium terraces, some which have water in them where you can bathe. The stark white of the terraces was so impressive against the blue sky. I would’ve loved to have “paddled” but unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot of water, which is apparently common for this time of year, and there were stacks of people. But just walking around them was so intriguing and beautiful.
We then went to the ancient thermal pools which were lovely AND there was a bunch of ancient fallen columns scattered around within them as a result of an earthquake. The water was 35°c and Jim had a swim - I opted out but according to those who did swim, it was delightful, sitting on submerged marble columns and taking it all in.
This entire bathing complex has been here for around 2000 years! Imagine the people in their toga’s roaming around and bathing……🤔
Lunch was magnificent! I’m not sure are what mine was called but I loved it!!Read more
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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Road trip
October 22, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Today we had our biggest drive of the trip, from Pamukkale to Cappadocia - over 600km
We stopped several times and kept our bellies full without much effort. I really enjoy trying our new foods and today was Turkish yoghurt, a big dollop of local honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds - who knew that could be so scrumptious!
On our way we stopped at Konya which is the birthplace of Rümi who founded The Whirling Dervishes!! They are those men who wear flowing white outfits and big turbans and spin around and around and around. It’s a form of physical meditation and the training to become an official one is quite rigorous and takes 3 years!
The ones you’re likely to see at a restaurant are more often entertainers rather than official Whirling Dervish’s.
Fascinating!Read more
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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Cappadocia
October 23, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C
What a place!
This would have to be some of the most unique landscape I have ever seen. Seeing it from a hot air balloon made it even more special. There are columns of rock formations called Fairy Chimneys everywhere. Just stunning! You’ll have to check out the photos to understand what I mean because it’s just too hard to explain.
Over 160 balloons went up this morning - what an amazing sight it was.
19 days ago I had never been in a balloon; now I’ve been twice 😂😂
Our pilot was soooo clever - went down almost touching the ground in order to get a real sense of the valley, then high up to get an overall view. He was soooo impressive that he even landed our basket onto the trailer!!!
Afterwards we returned to the hotel and had breakfast before heading off to explore the rest of Cappadocia.
Imagination Valley lived up to its name - like lying in the grass looking at clouds and seeing all sorts of weird and wonderful animals etc, so too could you see things amongst the rock sculptures. Most obviously we saw a couple dancing and a camel. We hiked through the rock formations and had fun exploring. Next we went to an underground city. It was kinda like Coober Pedy but a fair bit prettier. Like an underground labyrinth complete with massive wheels that were used to roll across the doorway in the event of an “invasion”. The locals could then escape via another exit whereas there was no way to roll the wheel from the other side. Very clever.
There were rooms that were kitchens, a cellar, all sorts. In places it goes down up to 150m but they are no longer open to the public due to the number of times ambulances were called after people had anxiety attacks etc.
What we saw gave us a good enough idea of just how amazing the whole city is.
We explored several other locations all around this phenomenal region and I had to stop myself from wowing at every turn.
We visited churches inside the rock formations and all saw people’s homes and pigeon houses and all sorts of interesting and unusual places. You could explore for days, if not weeks around here!
Needless to say, lunch was also delicious 🤤Read more
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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Back and forth
October 23, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Before we left for dinner last night we opened the window in our cave because the floor heating had made the room so steamy hot.
Dinner was in flaming pots and was delicious! It was at this point we heard about the terrorist attack in Ankara. So sad that this happens and hopefully it doesn’t impact our flight home tomorrow.
Anyhow, when we returned to our room it was filled with smoke and smelled acrid. There was a guy there who explained that the hotel combustion heater, which was in a room next to ours, was burning something that created the smoke.
We couldn’t get rid of the smoke no matter what we did because the rooms didn’t really have ventilation.
Anyhow, within 10 minutes the hotel had arranged a car to pick us up and take us to another hotel down the road because ours was fully booked.
We were very impressed by both the new room and the speed with which our dilemma was handled - another adventure!!
In the morning we learned that Türkiye had retaliated by bombing Northern Syria and Iraq!! It’s probably best that we are headed home tomorrow.
Off to the airport for our flight to Istanbul. I am extremely impressed with us; we have both managed to keep our luggage under 15kg!!
This means we can buy 16kg worth of stuff in Istanbul tonight 😂☺️😂☺️

Easy flight followed by bus trip into Istanbul for a spontaneous ½ day tour that we “designed” as a group.
We had our own boat for a Bosphorus Cruise which was just awesome; complete with wine and music and dancing and commentary. Absolutely awesome. Just us and our guide Ozgür.
He then took us to this crazy good, crazy cheap local restaurant where we had unlimited dips and salads with bread followed by a mixture of delicious mixed meats - all flavoured differently - chicken, lamb, beef 😋😋
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we scored so well having a guide who also runs gourmet food tours all over the country.

In order to get all of our last minute shopping treats, we were returned to the gorgeously chaotic Istiklal Street. I think most people found everything they were looking for 😊
Our last full day here in Türkiye has been delightful and once again we were blessed with an amazing group and guide.
Tomorrow we are homeward bound.Read more
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Egypt & Türkiye Traveler
Homeward bound
October 26, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
A lot of high ranking military were in our foyer as we met for our transfer to the airport this morning. Bodyguards and police were present in high numbers too. There are apparently “round table” discussions happening at our hotel about the next steps after Türkey retaliated to the recent terror attacks by bombing Syria and Iran. It seems we are leaving at the just the right time!

It has been an absolutely incredible trip. So many bucket list items ticked off, so many unreal places visited, so many amazing people met along the way, so much delicious food eaten and so many incredible memories made.
I am going to have to read back through my diary and spend some hard core time going through the thousands of photos I have taken in order to properly absorb everything we have done.
It seems like soooooo long ago that we first saw the Great Pyramid and a lifetime ago that we slept on a felucca.
I am insanely lucky.
Only two more hours until we land. I am so looking forward to hugs from Liam and Hayley
🥰🥰🥰
The next, and most exciting adventure of the year is yet to come; becoming a Nana 🥰🥰🥰Read more
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Trip end
October 26, 2024

Ephesus

Thermal pools

Road trip

Cappadocia

Back and forth

Homeward bound