Back from vacation!

Ace and I just got home from a week-long Christmas/New Year’s vacation, which we spent traveling around to a bunch of different cities in Turkey. We’d originally planned to visit a few cities in the middle of the western coast and then work our way around to the southwestern area along the Mediterranean, but once we discovered it would be much easier to get our tourist visas for our India trip in Antalya (the capital city, more or less in the middle of the country) we changed our plans a bit.

We flew from Istanbul to Izmir on Christmas morning, then bussed straight down to Selcuk and Ephesus to visit the amazing ruins there They’re definitely the best I’ve seen in a long time- I’d say they rivaled the beauties I saw in Tunisia! We had a great Christmas dinner with a bunch of other travelers at our cozy hostel. We also bought our first kilim (beautiful flat-weaved Turkish carpet) at a neighboring shop. I’m afraid I may be feeling an addiction coming on…I’m already wondering where in Istanbul I might be able to find a good deal on some smaller ones. Uh-oh. The following morning, we bussed 3 hours east to the gorgeous mountainside covered with hot springs and a pure white, rock-solid coating of calcium (Pamukkale). It was pretty cool to climb up barefoot through the pools and what looked exactly like a bank of snow. It was another pretty big attraction, so we were able to find a nice hostel and plenty of transportation, even though it was the off season. Two of the nicest things about travelling in the off season- being able to bargain hotels down, and people-free pictures of places that are usually swarming 

The next morning we bussed back to Izmir and caught a cheap domestic flight to Ankara, where we went straight to the Indian embassy with our paperwork and applied for our tourist visas. We weren’t able to pick them up until Thursday evening, so we had to stay in Central Anatolia for the week- no Mediterranean for us! While there aren’t a ton of attractions in the area, and there isn’t much tourist infrastructure in high season, let alone low season, it was really interesting to see some new parts of Turkey. We did manage to find a few really lovely museums, a cute village, more ruins, and we got to visit the Rumi’s tomb in Konya, which was really cool for me. However, by the time we picked up our visas in Ankara (success!!) we were pretty tired of buses- we were travelling at least 3 hours a day. We’d caught up on sleep enough for months, as it got dark pretty early and there wasn’t a ton to do at night- after our millionth game of backgammon we usually ended up giving up and going to bed at 9. So after our visit to Konya we decided to change our flight and come back a day early (Saturday). We’re both pretty happy to be home with tourist visas and India tickets secured!

It’s looking like a pretty average week for us- the high school is keeping Ace plenty busy, and he’s trying to get in a few workouts a week after work, too. I’m tutoring an average of 4 hours a day, but with travelling to and from the businesses, homes, and schools, I stay busy enough. It’s a good life  Between tutoring and prepping, I’m attempting to keep up on my personal stuff- journaling, working out, and my rather feeble attempts to blog and study Turkish regularly. I’m also starting to plan for India- reserving overnight train tickets and hostels- as well as doing some wedding planning. We’ve gotten most of the big stuff done, and the next project is the registry- fun! We’re going to start up some Turkish lessons again on Thursday, I’ve been hitting up a really nice Cuban Salsa class when I have the time and energy, and I also have the guitar Ace bought me for Christmas waiting dejectedly for me to come and learn a chord on it. I’m sitting in Starbucks now, sipping a tea and enjoying some quiet time- my journal and India plans are calling, though, so that’s all for now. Love and peace to all our family and friends- and Happy New Year!