Pammukale to Canakkale. 27.7.2010

Troy

We drove towards north towards the coast and covered some distance. We skipped the Roman town of Ephesus as we had seen Palmyra (Syria) and Jerash ( Jordan) and decided to go to Troy instead. This year my son Thomas had actually done his school assembly about the Legend of Troy from Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad. In this legend (of which there are many versions) the city of Troy is besieged by the Greeks for ten years. Towards the end, the Greeks offer a present to the Trojans, a wooden horse and promptly depart in their ships. Even though some of the Trojans warn against it, the wooden horse is brought into the city. During the night, the Greek soldiers who were hidden inside came out to slaughter the inhabitants of the city. They set fire to Troy signalling the Greek war ships to come back. Troy was defeated.
Thomas pretended to be a Greek in his assembly and had to hide in the vaulting horse(used for PE).
In Troy, the kids enjoyed climbing in and out of the wooden horse replica and meandering around the ruins. These ruins were not discovered until the 19th century when a handful of historians were convinced that Homer had based his story on the events that happened to a real city.

Pamukkale. 26.7.2010

Travertines

We rose early to keep ahead of the crowds and walked up the hill alone. The glistening white rocks combined with the trickle of water underneath your feet had a very calming effect. It is beautiful and peaceful and one of those moments when you marvel at how nature is such a marvellous artist. The snowy appearance is caused by the calcium carbonate deposits created when warm mineral water cooled and deposited calcium as it cascaded over the cliff edge and down the hill. This substance is called travertine, a sedimentary rock that has a fibrous appearance and often white, tan, or cream coloured. It is used as a building material in Europe. Cool!




Romans
The Romans quickly worked out the waters of Pammukale have restorative qualities because of the calcium rich waters. They built the spa town of Hierapolis here and a sacred pool now the antique pool) in which many Russians come here to alleviate their aches and pains. You can also visit the sprawling ruins which prospered during Roman and Byzantine times and suffered a major earthquake in 1334 when it was abandoned.

Turkish Riviera to Pammukale. 25.7.2010

Simplicity
We drove inland again through the mountains towards Pamukkale and stopped for lunch at a little town called Korkuteli. If you want to experience the real Turkey this is where you must come. Women with headscarves walking with their children in the midday sun, backgammon playing old men sit together on street corners. A mountainous landscape, fountains and a mosque in the village square adds to the charm. As we sat on the restaurant terrace a convoy of cars tooting their horns from a local wedding passed by, the musicians playing on the back of the pick-up truck. The simple restaurant we chose had no menu but we were offered canoe-shaped meat or cheese pide(a Turkish version of pizza) chicken sis or lamb sis kebab with a huge portion of salad. Why is it that tomatoes taste so good when you are on holiday? The food was simple, clean and delicious. And to finish strong tea (cay) served in delicate tulip glasses.
Afiyet Olsun ! (Enjoy your meal)


Pamukkale







UNESCO
We assembled the tent and went to explore. We have been lucky on this trip to explore many world heritage sites and here was another one. In 1988 UNESCO awarded this stunning site with world heritage status. That meant hotels and roads were removed and a new system introduced to drain and fills the pools of water on a rotating basis. In this way the sun can bleach the pools to a glistening white, which only happens when the pools are empty. It also reduces algae and pollution. Guards are on hand to make sure visitors do not stray into restricted areas and that people have removed their shoes. All that said, the sheer amount of visitors coming here (over a million per year) threatens the beauty of the Pammukale environment. Even with UNESCO’s help Pamukkale is under significant environmental pressure year in year out.
The park below is filled with local Turkish families at 7 o’clock, hardly a tourist to be seen. There is a lovely vibe in the air as we stroll around. People say ‘Hello’ or ‘Merhaba’. They touch our kids’ hair and smile. Grandmas, aunties, mums and dads, picnic with their kids on the grass or stroll across the lower travertines with their toddlers.

The freedom of camping

Meeting fellow creative travellers and sharing experiences,
Like the German guy who resides in Iran and told us he had to replace his Arabic number plates for ones with European letters to enter Turkey,
In hostels and camp sites you share advice, get the lowdown on where to go and what to miss out,
Children meet friends easily around the pool
Every meal is eaten Al fresco
You catch up with your washing and tidy up your messy car
You sit around the table and play card games with your kids
You sleep early and rise with the sun
You answer continuous questions about where your car is from (a Qatari number plate is always a conversation starter)
And you find the nicest blogging spot
On the front lawn of a pension
Overlooking the beach
The waves crashing to the shore with their rhythmic melody.

Turkish Riviera 24.7.2010

Water, water everywhere

Today we visited the Alanya Aqua Park and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Numerous slides, tubes, pools, floats and rafting kept them amused for hours. Great fun!

Goreme to the Turkish Riviera 23.7.2010

Environment

We drove along another beautiful,forested road today. Turkey has 33 National Parks, 16 nature parks, 35 nature reserves and 58 ‘nature monuments’ which are mostly protected trees, some as old as 1500 yrs. Turkey has improved it’s protection of the environment in recent years, aspirations to join the EU may have had something to do with this. The parks are supposedly protected and hunting is controlled, however sometimes the regulations are enforced in the parks but at other times the litter dropping public is ignored. Hopefully, the situation will improve in the coming years as Turkey really does have some stunning national parks to preserve for the future.














Package Tourism

We drove through the mountains for hours and eventually reached the coast and a little camping on a quieter stretch of coastline between the tourist havens of Alanya and Side. The Swiss owner has a pension overlooking the sea. We camped on her front lawn 20m from the sea and 10m up. All the mod cons were available and 2 huge dogs inhabitated the place. To Amber’s delight they had just had 8 new-born puppies which were 3 days old. And the father dog was named Thomas! We drove to Side to eat dinner and experienced the hoards of holiday makers parading their newly tanned limbs.
Package tourism, concrete and convenience are all here to stay in this part of Turkey.

Goreme, Turkey. 22.7.2010

Goreme Open Air Museum

Today we rose early in order to beat the tourist buses that come into Goreme at 9 o’clock. Goreme Open Air Museum is a cluster of rock cut churches, chapels and monasteries. It was a Byzantine monastic settlement that housed some 20 monks and then it became a pilgrimage site from the 17th century. Most of these churches and chapels only have one source of natural light- the doorway. On the walls of these little chapels are frescoes, some of which are remarkably well preserved. We explored and meandered around the village and then in true hobbit spirit we went to get second breakfast, just in time to see the tourist buses descending on the museum!