As Ace mentioned, our time in Cappadocia was gorgeous. Getting there was frustrating (see Ace’s previous comment on going to the wrong airport and a very expensive cab ride- other highlights of the short trip included a non-existent shuttle pickup and several more expensive cab rides) but as soon as the terrain outside the bus changed from normal, dry hills into the exquisite, weird, beautiful rock spires, layered, multicolored valleys, and fairy chimneys, all of our tension melted away. We just felt overjoyed and incredibly fortunate to be in on of the most beautiful and interesting places on Earth. I really wish I had words to describe it, but I can’t- you’ll just have to look at the pictures.
We stayed in a lovely little village, Goreme. As it wasn’t tourist season yet, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. We stayed in the Kelebek Pension, a cave hotel perched on the side of a mountain, with a terrace with a stunning view of the village. Come to think of it, pretty much all of the views in the entire region are stunning. We adored Kelebek- I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to dirty, cheap hostels now that I’ve stayed in a cave room carved out of solid rock in a fairy chimney that was still luxurious. Our room was awesome- windows, shelves and closets carved out of solid rock, Turkish carpets on the floor, and our own piping hot shower. The staff was lovely, and the main area was great- free apple tea, board games, a fireplace, and, in the mornings, the best hotel breakfast I’ve encountered. Ace and I stuffed ourselves with the cheeses, olives, veggies, breads, olives, dried fruits, and baguette French toast each morning. YUM! The stray dogs and cats in Goreme seem to have a very happy relationship with the locals, and happy, healthy dogs and cats roamed the terraces waiting for loving and snacks from visitors. Ace and I were only there for two whole days and nights (we got to our hotel about 10:30 Wednesday, and left at 6:00 a.m. on Friday) but we managed to pack a lot into our time there.
On Wednesday, we got settled, then headed out to nearby Uchisar for some hiking in the famous valleys. We clambered around on Uchisar castle, a huge, cave-riddled stone chimney which is the highest point in Cappadocia. Next, with the help of about a million helpful locals, we finally found the unlabeled Pigeon valley, which we could hike through until it returned us to Goreme. We enjoyed a very rugged, 2-hour-or-so hike through the valleys, which were riddled with ancient dwellings carved out of the rock. Most of them had little cubbies carved into the walls, which we later learned were pigeon houses- keeping pigeons and using their droppings for fertilizer was one of the most common ways of earning money there before good ‘ol tourism kicked in.
On Thursday-the most perfect day I can ever remember having- we got up at the crack of down to a van pick-up for our hot-air balloon ride. Cappadocia has a unique terrain that makes it very balloon-friendly- there’s very little wind- and hot air balloon tours are a popular way to enjoy the breathtaking views. I was obviously THRILLED, as I’ve been dreaming about hot air balloons constantly since I first went up in a tethered one with my brownie troop in elementary school. We rode about 30 minutes outside of the village, where we saw our inflating balloon peeking over the ridges. We got there just as it was filling up, and hopped into our cozy little basket with a few other tourists. The balloon lifted a few inches off the ground and cruised right over the very steep edge of the valley, and we were off. I was surprised at how steady the basket felt, and thoroughly enjoyed dangling my arms over the edge and snapping pictures. Watching the 20 or so other balloons in the air at the same time as us, while floating over such stunning, unique terrain, made it the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was AWESOME! After we’d been in the air for about 45 minutes, our pilot announced that we were over a valley nicknamed “love valley”- and that’s when Ace proposed! He asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. I was pretty shocked, as I wasn’t expecting that any time remotely soon. We returned to the ground very shortly after, a very happy engaged couple.
After our lovely balloon ride, we took several buses to a different area in the Cappadocia region- Kaymakli. It’s another small village, home to one of two major underground cities in the region. The first three floors were probably carved out by Hittites about 2000 B.C., and were later used and enlarged by early Christians who hid in them for months at a time to escape persecution. The city was pretty awesome- 4 stories underground of stables, churches, living rooms, wineries, etc. carved out of solid rock and connected by narrow, winding, sloping tunnels. While a tourist route was clearly market and well lit, Ace and I found ourselves wishing we had a flashlight so we could explore the numerous pitch-black tunnels that sloped off of the main drag. We loved seeing the place, but ceilings so low that at times we were crawling made me thankful that I’m not claustrophobic.
We returned to Goreme, and after a delicious lunch, we took a 1 kilometer walk on a small road towards the Goreme open air museum. We got distracted on the way by the stunning cliffs, caves, and valleys off the road, and took about a 2 hour detour from the road to climb up rock outcroppings, snap photos, explore caves and scoot down the steep valley walls. We felt like little kids on a giant, gorgeous playground. The most amazing thing is that the entire region is like that- the opportunities for awesome exploring and adventuring are virtually endless. We finally made it to the open-air museum, and checked out some really cool cave churches first used between the 300’s to 500’s. You could see different layers of decoration on the walls- really ancient red die in geometric patterns revealed where the “newer” frescoes had peeled off.
After such an eventful day, we were exhausted, so we headed back to a restaurant in the village to recline on huge cushions while we enjoyed an amazing dinner, orange tea, apple hookah, and Turkish rice pudding- perfect. We returned to Kelebek, played a few games of backgammon ( a very enthusiastic staff member helped us figure out the rules) and collapsed in bed.
The following morning, we returned to Istanbul to enjoy our last full day in Turkey.
The only thing left to mention is that Ace and I are now looking for teaching jobs in Istanbul. Needless to say, we absolutely loved the city. We were planning on spending another year in Korea, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got about the prospect of experiencing another (totally different) country and culture. The city is gorgeous and fascinating, the people are really nice, the arts scene is great, and the history is just incredible. I would love to finally live in the same city as my dear friend again, too. Ace is particularly excited about the culinary prospects (surprise surprise ). Ace managed to squeeze in an interview at Malynda’s school on Friday, which he really enjoyed, and I’ve been scouring the internet for a decent language school ever since we returned to Daegu. Wish us luck!
Lots of love,
Kait
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Impressions of Turkey
For any who didn't hear, Kait and I took a vacation to Turkey just over a week ago, so here are my impressions of our visit there, including some of what we did and saw.
ISTANBUL:
Landscape-
Perhaps the first thing I noticed was how Istanbul stood out when looking at the cityscape. There was one area near central Istanbul in particular - just across the Golden Horn River - that was definitely the most beautiful sight in Istanbul. When you see it, it is a collection of normal-looking buildings (such as apartments, city buildings, etc.,) but there are also incredible, large mosques and churches that usually have a bulbous main building with some spires that go high in the air. The main buildings of course are where people go to worship, and the spires are for broadcasting the call to prayer (more on this later). So in the area across the Golden Horn, there are several mosques and churches with similar construction, so the cityscape is one with breathtaking beauty. The construction of many of these buildings are impressive, to say the least.
Call to Prayer-
This is a regular practice that mosques broadcast over loud speakers from their spires so surrounding neighborhoods can hear it and begin their prayer. The call to prayer is done several times a day at regular intervals, and it is done in a distinct, harmonious, chant-like voice that sounds something between singing and talking.
People-
In Istanbul we found the people to be so friendly that we we were actually a little bit surprised. Often Kait and I would be a little lost, and someone would just walk up to us and to ask us what we were looking for. At first I thought such people would try to scam us somehow or sell us something because this was a very common occurrence in Thailand, and it was very hard to avoid. However, if someone came up to us to help us find our way, that is exactly what they did.
There was actually one instance I remember when Kait and I were looking for a cab, and a guy called us over to a line of parked cabs that were waiting for customers. We knew the guy who called us over would probably get some of the profit from our fare, but so we were sure to be careful. Sure enough, the driver told us that our 5-minute destination would cost a lot of money because there was a "traffic problem." He mentioned that he would cut us a deal by charging us a set fee of roughly 35 lira (which is like 21 dollars or something). Luckily, we just looked at each other and politely left the cab because we knew that when anyone offers to give you a flat fee on cab fare, they are usually trying to rip you off. Anyways, once we got out of the cab, the guy who was standing by the cabs asked us what was wrong, and we told him what the driver told us. It was here that I thought he would try to make us get back into the cab, but instead, he told us how to get to our destination by using the public metro. We were very surprised that even someone who was definitely trying to make money off of us had the kindness to show us our way around, and we walked away feeling a little better about the situation.
Malynda-
(Kait's friend who has lived in Turkey for over a year)
Definitely one of the biggest highlights of our trip was someone who knew the city and could show us around a bit: Malynda. It was not merely her wonderful knowledge of Istanbul that we appreciated, however; we appreciated even more her determination to ensure that our stay there was as pleasant and smooth as humanly possible. She did many things such as pay for some of our meals while we were out; she invited us to stay at her house to save on hostel prices; she came with us to the Grand Bazaar to ensure that we got fair prices on things; she took a day off from work in order to show us many of the main parts of the city; she set us up for a couple of nights at her sister's place near downtown; and she even paid for a museum ticket for Kaitlin, herself and me. (I could go on.) All of these things she seemed to do with the utmost joy at simply having us there, and for that we were very grateful. Thanks Malynda!
The Grand Bazaar/Spice Bazaar-
This was a covered (mostly) market in Istanbul that contains over 1,000 shops that sell anything from clothes to jewelry to food. It was here that Kait and I wandered around for a good part of one day just looking for things we might like to take home. True to it's name, the Spice Bazaar specializes in spices and herbs, such as those used both for cooking and for tea. This is where Kait and I bought a whole bunch of dried fruit, some teas that we definitely could not find in Korea, and a hookah.
We originally looked for hookahs in the Grand Bazaar, but we found that the prices ranged considerably higher than at the Spice Bazaar. Plus we found a very unique hookah with a turquoise-colored, ceramic base; after shopping around, we realized that this was quite the find because we did not find another one like it at any of the other shops.
Turkish Delight (or Lokum)-
This was a sweet that neither Kait nor I had ever tried before, and much to our joy, we found that at local markets and at the Grand Bazaar, this was given away as samples for us to try. The texture is very marshmallowy, and it can come in fruit, honey, nut, chocolate, and coconut flavors (many of which are mixed, of course). The outside is covered with a powdered sugar. The fruit flavors in particular are almost like a gummy. Needless to say, it was very delicious.
The Bosphorus-
This is a river that is indeed a wonder. It is literally on the brink of Europe and Asia, so if you asked which continent Istanbul was on, you would get these two answers. We only crossed over from Europe to Asia twice - both under unfortunate circumstances. We crossed over the first time when we accidentally took the ferry boat instead of a boat that takes people out to touristy islands. The other time, we crossed over when we had to take a VERY expensive cab ride to an airport. (We were running low on time because just before that, we went to the wrong airport...I don't want to talk about it...)
Also worth mentioning is the Golden Horn River, which branches off of the Bosphorus. We crossed over this several times when we were touring around Istanbul. It has fishermen who line up and presumably fish for a good amount of time during the day, but when you look at the fish they have caught, they are no longer than 10 inches long...It also has a place just off of the river where you can sit down and have a fish sandwich - fresh caught from the river! Delicious.
Food-
After coming from Asia, our west-acclimated taste buds celebrated with joy with all of the foods Turkey had to offer. Surprisingly, Korea does not have a ton in the way of just salad, unless we really go out of our way to buy all of the ingredients (at least half of which go to waste because they come in such large quantities) and mix them ourselves. We also enjoyed all of the "village" cheese, butter, and yogurt, which are all actually made in a village outside of Istanbul. (Malynda said they were made in the old style - by hand/churn/whatever.) The cheese was a white cheese akin to Brie or Camembert, and the yogurt tasted very un-messed with, like Nancy's Yogurt back home. There was also an abundancy of western dishes in general such as pasta and sugar-dense desserts. (Korea has rice cake, which is like cooked, ground rice that is very lightly sweetened - but not much - and it has the consistency of marshmallows. So we sometimes do miss a nice, sweet dessert.) Baklava was easy to come by, and we definitely took advantage of that fact while we were there.
Teas were also in abundance. It is a sort of Turkish custom to invite people into your house for tea, and Turks drink tea in the outdoor markets, in the airport, and even in a large square where you can find vendors walking around with large thermoses and plastic cups for you to use. The most common was black tea, but apple tea was also very popular. We took some apple, mint, cinnamon/clove, mixed fruit, and rosehip tea with us before we left.
We were delighted to find a large amount of fruit and nuts there. We even picked up a good deal of dried fruit, like figs, apples, dates, apricots, and more. Walnuts and almonds could be found for very cheap.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. I did not cover Cappadocia, so expect a post soon from Kait about what we did there. It was gorgeous and VERY fun!
ISTANBUL:
Landscape-
Perhaps the first thing I noticed was how Istanbul stood out when looking at the cityscape. There was one area near central Istanbul in particular - just across the Golden Horn River - that was definitely the most beautiful sight in Istanbul. When you see it, it is a collection of normal-looking buildings (such as apartments, city buildings, etc.,) but there are also incredible, large mosques and churches that usually have a bulbous main building with some spires that go high in the air. The main buildings of course are where people go to worship, and the spires are for broadcasting the call to prayer (more on this later). So in the area across the Golden Horn, there are several mosques and churches with similar construction, so the cityscape is one with breathtaking beauty. The construction of many of these buildings are impressive, to say the least.
Call to Prayer-
This is a regular practice that mosques broadcast over loud speakers from their spires so surrounding neighborhoods can hear it and begin their prayer. The call to prayer is done several times a day at regular intervals, and it is done in a distinct, harmonious, chant-like voice that sounds something between singing and talking.
People-
In Istanbul we found the people to be so friendly that we we were actually a little bit surprised. Often Kait and I would be a little lost, and someone would just walk up to us and to ask us what we were looking for. At first I thought such people would try to scam us somehow or sell us something because this was a very common occurrence in Thailand, and it was very hard to avoid. However, if someone came up to us to help us find our way, that is exactly what they did.
There was actually one instance I remember when Kait and I were looking for a cab, and a guy called us over to a line of parked cabs that were waiting for customers. We knew the guy who called us over would probably get some of the profit from our fare, but so we were sure to be careful. Sure enough, the driver told us that our 5-minute destination would cost a lot of money because there was a "traffic problem." He mentioned that he would cut us a deal by charging us a set fee of roughly 35 lira (which is like 21 dollars or something). Luckily, we just looked at each other and politely left the cab because we knew that when anyone offers to give you a flat fee on cab fare, they are usually trying to rip you off. Anyways, once we got out of the cab, the guy who was standing by the cabs asked us what was wrong, and we told him what the driver told us. It was here that I thought he would try to make us get back into the cab, but instead, he told us how to get to our destination by using the public metro. We were very surprised that even someone who was definitely trying to make money off of us had the kindness to show us our way around, and we walked away feeling a little better about the situation.
Malynda-
(Kait's friend who has lived in Turkey for over a year)
Definitely one of the biggest highlights of our trip was someone who knew the city and could show us around a bit: Malynda. It was not merely her wonderful knowledge of Istanbul that we appreciated, however; we appreciated even more her determination to ensure that our stay there was as pleasant and smooth as humanly possible. She did many things such as pay for some of our meals while we were out; she invited us to stay at her house to save on hostel prices; she came with us to the Grand Bazaar to ensure that we got fair prices on things; she took a day off from work in order to show us many of the main parts of the city; she set us up for a couple of nights at her sister's place near downtown; and she even paid for a museum ticket for Kaitlin, herself and me. (I could go on.) All of these things she seemed to do with the utmost joy at simply having us there, and for that we were very grateful. Thanks Malynda!
The Grand Bazaar/Spice Bazaar-
This was a covered (mostly) market in Istanbul that contains over 1,000 shops that sell anything from clothes to jewelry to food. It was here that Kait and I wandered around for a good part of one day just looking for things we might like to take home. True to it's name, the Spice Bazaar specializes in spices and herbs, such as those used both for cooking and for tea. This is where Kait and I bought a whole bunch of dried fruit, some teas that we definitely could not find in Korea, and a hookah.
We originally looked for hookahs in the Grand Bazaar, but we found that the prices ranged considerably higher than at the Spice Bazaar. Plus we found a very unique hookah with a turquoise-colored, ceramic base; after shopping around, we realized that this was quite the find because we did not find another one like it at any of the other shops.
Turkish Delight (or Lokum)-
This was a sweet that neither Kait nor I had ever tried before, and much to our joy, we found that at local markets and at the Grand Bazaar, this was given away as samples for us to try. The texture is very marshmallowy, and it can come in fruit, honey, nut, chocolate, and coconut flavors (many of which are mixed, of course). The outside is covered with a powdered sugar. The fruit flavors in particular are almost like a gummy. Needless to say, it was very delicious.
The Bosphorus-
This is a river that is indeed a wonder. It is literally on the brink of Europe and Asia, so if you asked which continent Istanbul was on, you would get these two answers. We only crossed over from Europe to Asia twice - both under unfortunate circumstances. We crossed over the first time when we accidentally took the ferry boat instead of a boat that takes people out to touristy islands. The other time, we crossed over when we had to take a VERY expensive cab ride to an airport. (We were running low on time because just before that, we went to the wrong airport...I don't want to talk about it...)
Also worth mentioning is the Golden Horn River, which branches off of the Bosphorus. We crossed over this several times when we were touring around Istanbul. It has fishermen who line up and presumably fish for a good amount of time during the day, but when you look at the fish they have caught, they are no longer than 10 inches long...It also has a place just off of the river where you can sit down and have a fish sandwich - fresh caught from the river! Delicious.
Food-
After coming from Asia, our west-acclimated taste buds celebrated with joy with all of the foods Turkey had to offer. Surprisingly, Korea does not have a ton in the way of just salad, unless we really go out of our way to buy all of the ingredients (at least half of which go to waste because they come in such large quantities) and mix them ourselves. We also enjoyed all of the "village" cheese, butter, and yogurt, which are all actually made in a village outside of Istanbul. (Malynda said they were made in the old style - by hand/churn/whatever.) The cheese was a white cheese akin to Brie or Camembert, and the yogurt tasted very un-messed with, like Nancy's Yogurt back home. There was also an abundancy of western dishes in general such as pasta and sugar-dense desserts. (Korea has rice cake, which is like cooked, ground rice that is very lightly sweetened - but not much - and it has the consistency of marshmallows. So we sometimes do miss a nice, sweet dessert.) Baklava was easy to come by, and we definitely took advantage of that fact while we were there.
Teas were also in abundance. It is a sort of Turkish custom to invite people into your house for tea, and Turks drink tea in the outdoor markets, in the airport, and even in a large square where you can find vendors walking around with large thermoses and plastic cups for you to use. The most common was black tea, but apple tea was also very popular. We took some apple, mint, cinnamon/clove, mixed fruit, and rosehip tea with us before we left.
We were delighted to find a large amount of fruit and nuts there. We even picked up a good deal of dried fruit, like figs, apples, dates, apricots, and more. Walnuts and almonds could be found for very cheap.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. I did not cover Cappadocia, so expect a post soon from Kait about what we did there. It was gorgeous and VERY fun!
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