Day 19 - Istanbul - 24 October, 2015

Accommodation - Hotel Amethyst

Weather - Rainy and cold

After the last couple of days of rain we realise how fortunate we were with the good weather we had whilst we were on our tour. It has turned quite cold and everyone has got their rain gear and coats on. The price of umbrellas sold on the footpaths has doubled since it has turned wet! They are still very cheap as is everything else is in Turkey. 

We had a slow day but our mission was to head back to the Grand Bazaar to buy a few things we had on our lists. It didn't seem too busy but maybe we were a bit early. 

There are two common things we have seen at the bazaar. There are always many men including some quite elderly ones pulling trollies with huge boxes on them. It seems to be a hard job and it is the only way that the goods can be transported from the trucks and taken into the hundreds of internal shops throughout the bazaar. 

The other sight is the many deliveries of Turkish teas on silver trays to the workers at the shops. The men weave in and out of the crowd with full trays and don't seem to spill a drop. 

We had a coffee at a little shop outside one of the Bazaar's many gates. It was good to "people watch" as they went about their business. 

There are many German tourists and this seems to have been common throughout the country. They are great travellers the Germans! 

This will be the last post on the blog from our Turkey tour. We have had a fantastic time. The country is far more sophisticated than we realised, the people are very friendly and helpful and the food is delicious. We seen a lot, learned a lot and we will have many fond memories of our time in Turkey. 

Day 18 - Istanbul - 23 October, 2015

Accommodation - Hotel Amethyst

Weather - Rainy and chilly

We met Funda at 9.00am at our hotel and worked out our tour plan for the day. We were keen to go to the Chora Church which is located just outside the historic old city walls. It took thirty minutes by local bus to get to the Edirnekapi district. Once again the traffic was chaotic. It was good to be away from the tourist precincts and see the local Istanbul districts. We passed many shops with bridal dresses and the more popular western white gowns were on display rather than the traditional red dresses and veils. 

The Chora Church became a museum in 1948 after originally being a Byzantine church and an Ottoman mosque. The museum is undergoing major restorations but thankfully the majority of the beautiful mosaics and frescos were still available for viewing. It was only after it was declared a museum that the original mosaics and frescos were unearthed. It was well worth the visit.

From the Chora Church we walked up a steep street between old wooden houses to the city's old walls known as The Walls of Constantinople. These very tall, wide defensive walls were initially built by Constantine the Great and circle the entire old city on land and around the sea edge. 

I climbed the wall on very narrow steps and had fantastic 360 degree views over the city and the Golden Horn Bridge. 

We returned by bus to the Sultanahmet district and walked to The Pudding Shop which is the nickname for the Lale Restaurant. Carol was wanting to try this eating place after reading reviews and finding that it was popular with beatniks and hippies travelling between Europe and Asia in the 1960's. The restaurant is still popular as it offers quality Turkish food at good prices. 

The restuarant was heaving with tourists but we managed to buy our food from the large selection and find one spare table on the first floor. I had a tasty eggplant stuffed with onions and capsicums. It was delicious and I think I'm becoming addicted to eggplant! 

Our afternoon was spent at the nearby Istanbul Archeology Museums. The site has three museums being the main Archeological Museum, the Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Museum of Islamic Art. There was so much to see that it was, once again, hard to take it all in. There were hundreds and hundreds of artefacts from Greek, Roman and many other eras. We enjoyed seeing the Iznik tiles and ceramics in the building known as the Tiled Kiosk built in 1472. It is one of the oldest standing buildings in Istanbul and is in very good condition with blue coloured tiles on its exterior.

After leaving the museum grounds we returned to the damp streets of Istanbul to catch a tram back to our hotel. The street food vendors who were selling chestnuts and corn weren't deterred by the rain.

We said a final goodbye to Funda at the tram stop. We were very pleased to have Funda as our knowledgable guide for the day. 

Day 17 - Istanbul - 22 October, 2015

Accommodation - Hotel Amethyst

Weather - Rainy and chilly

We decided to have a slower day after the completion of our tour yesterday. We didn't head out until about eleven o'clock after farewelling some of our group as they headed out to the airport. Barbara joined Brian, Carol, Henk and I on a slow, damp and chilly walk down to the harbour. 

Barbara was keen to have a traditional fish sandwich which was recommended by her friends. It took us quite some time to get to the harbour as we had coffee and baklava on the way.

Fish sandwiches are very popular with the locals and are cooked and sold at three traditional fishing boats alongside the Galata Bridge in the Golden Horn area of Istanbul. They are also sold at the restaurants under the length of the bridge. The fish fillets are served on bread rolls with onions and lettuce. We found them to be tasty but unfortunately Carol had quite a few bones in her fish. 

We opted to have the fish sandwiches at one of the restaurants which looked over to the fishing boats and a large mosque. 

The three fishing boats rocked quite a bit as the ferries frequently came and went at the quay. 

As we sat at the restaurant we watched many fishing lines being thrown into the water alongside our restaurant from the bridge directly above us. They were using bread for bait and they regularly caught small fish. It was clearly a popular fishing spot.

We returned to the hotel separately using the tram system. It's very crowded, efficient and come frequently. We rested for the remainder of the afternoon. 

We had dinner with Barbara and tomorrow she joins a cruise ship to continue her holiday. Tomorrow we have engaged Funda to take us on a further tour of Istanbul. 

Day 16 - Istanbul - 21 October, 2015

Weather - Rainy and cold

Accommodation - Hotel Amethyst

This was our last day on the tour and it was our first day of rainy and colder weather. We have been very lucky to have good weather whilst touring Turkey. Because of the rain we used the tour bus to visit some sites rather than walking. In the morning we visited the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace Museum and the Grand Bazaar in the afternoon. Once again there were a couple of large cruise ships in the harbour and consequently there were many tourists visiting the same sites as us. 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque and we were wondering why it is called the Blue Mosque when it's not blue on the outside but it is the blue tiles on the lower interior walls where the name comes from. 

There are approximately 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles in the iznik style which incorporates a tulip design. 

The mosque was built in the early 1600's, has six minarets and is an impressive building dominating the old section of Istanbul. One of the minarets is being rebuilt due to structural problems. 

The queue to enter the mosque was quite long but Funda had it all under control and the line moved quickly. We arrived early to avoid the longer queues which build up during the day. Before entering we were required to take off our shoes and put them in the plastic bags provided and carry them throughout our tour. Women had to wear a head scarf. Even though the mosque is still a place of worship we were allowed to take photographs inside the mosque without using a flash. Here we are with our head scarves and as you can see we didn't quite get the scarf technique right! 

Close to the Blue Mosque is the very large Topkapi Palace Museum which was the major palace and residency for the Ottoman sultans for 400 years. To give an example of its size it is estimated that the palace could house 4000 people with the infrastructure to support this including some very large kitchens.

The location of the palace is excellent as it sits on high land overlooking the Bosphorus. We took the opportunity during our free time to have a coffee and take in the view and watch the passing boats. This turned out to be our dearest coffee on the entire trip at 13 liras ($6.50) for a cappuccino! Usually the coffees are about three lira. The view was worth it! 

We all caught the bus to the nearby Grand Bazaar. This was our second visit but the first for the rest of the tour group. It was as busy as the last time we were there. There is a lot of touting for business by the venders as people walk past their shops. The best line we heard today was "Let me help you spend your money!". Brian, Carol, Henk and I sought refuge at a small cafe for a light lunch. Even then the next door carpet shop owner came in and tried to sell us some carpets. We didn't buy anything again but will return before we depart Istanbul on Monday. The most prolific item on sale are scarves.

We had our final dinner at a fish restaurant which was part of a very long boulevard of restaurants. It was a busy and noisy area due to the local musicians and singers going from restaurant to restaurant. It was good to see the locals, mostly men, enjoying themselves. This was our last gathering as a group. Tomorrow morning some head back to Australia, some return the following day and others depart for other countries. We were fortunate to have such a great group of people to travel with and to have such an excellent guide with Funda. We would highly recommend the Bunnik tour as we have seen a lot in the past fortnight but at no time did we feel rushed. Turkey is a wonderful place to visit and Brian, Carol, Henk and I will be spending the next four more days exploring Istanbul further before we leave here on Monday. 

Day 15 - Canakkale - Istanbul - 20 October, 2015

Weather - Fine and mild

Accommodation - Hotel Amethyst

We are now back in Istanbul where we started our tour fourteen days ago. It seems such a long time since we were in this large city as we have covered so much since our initial tour of Istanbul.

We had an early morning call at five thirty and we were promptly on the bus at seven o'clock. We left by vehicular ferry from the Canakkale, Dardanelles, Asia Minor and thirty minutes later we had crossed the narrow Dardanelles Strait and we were on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the  European side. We saw the sun rise over the Dardanelles and it was a lovely view.

We drove across to the northern side of the peninsula and stopped at Kabatepe which was the intended site of the ANZAC landings and is southwest of ANZAC Cove. Funda gave a detailed overview of the outbreak of World War I from the Turkish perspective and it was very interesting and informative.

From Kabatepe we drove a little further east to Ari Burnu where the ANZACS came ashore and faced the sheer cliffs instead of the low countryside at Kabatepe. 

It was incredibly sad to see all the commemorative plaques of men so young and with many heartbreaking messages from their families on their plaques. We were all very moved as we each silently walked amongst the site. 

We were the only visitors and it was a very quiet morning with the calm water gently lapping onto the shore. As we walked on the stony beach it wasn't lost on us how very different it would have been 100 years ago. 

On a memorial at ANZAC Cove are the words by Mustafa Kemal, the first President of Turkey and the commander who led the Turkish defence. Part of it says, "You, the mothers, who sent their sons far from their countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well." 

A short distance up the road is the ANZAC Commemorative Site which is the location of the annual Dawn Service on 25 April. It is a much smaller site than what it appears to be on television. 

The strategic position of Lone Pine was our next area to visit. The plateau had extensive views over the coastline. Here again there were many plaques of the soldiers killed during the eighth month campaign. A large pine tree sits by the cemetery which was planted on 25 April, 1990. 

The seed of the tree came from a pine tree in Australia grown from a cone sent back to Australia by a soldier at Gallipoli. The tree commemorates the 8,700 soldiers who lost their lives at Gallipoli and especially those who fought and died at the Battle of Lone Pine 6 - 9 August, 1915. 

We also visited Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's statue with a description that outlined in his own words how he led one particular battle. He was saved from a bullet entering his heart by his pocket watch. Turkey would be a very different country today if he wasn't wearing the watch. There are also many Turkish memorials on the Gallipoli Peninsular including one large one dedicated to the 57th Regiment. 

Our journey back to Istanbul took four hours. We had a number of stops including lunch to break the journey. We drove through large areas of farmland. It seems that any land that is available is used for crops. We also followed the coastline of the Marmar Sea during many parts of the trip as well. Funda was keen to arrive at Istanbul as early as possible to avoid the heavy Istanbul traffic but this seems to be difficult as there is chaotic traffic everywhere. 

People are allowed to sell their wares in between the cars and we saw bottles of water and mobile birds being sold. In winter they sell car tyre chains. We also saw some minor accidents! 

We had a free night and most of us went to bed early after the early start. Tomorrow is our last full day of sightseeing. It's come around very quickly. 

Day 14 - Kusadasi - Canakkale - 19 October, 2015

Weather - Fine and sunny

Accommodation - Hotel Kolin

Our wonderful tour of Turkey is fast coming to a close as we only have two days left. Tomorrow evening we will arrive in Istanbul having completed 3000kms in a clockwise route around the central, southern and western part of the country. The final day will be a further tour of Istanbul. 

There was a fair bit of driving to be done today so our wake up call was for five thirty. We visited the ancient site of Pergamon in the morning and Troy in the afternoon. The bus departed at seven thirty and headed north for our three hour journey which included a morning tea break and we arrived at Pergamon by ten thirty. We passed through Funda's home town of Izmir which is Turkey's third largest city with four million people. Once again it was a dense city of high-rise buildings of six to eight stories high. In the country we passed hundreds of acres of olive trees. 

At Pergamon we visited the Sanctuary of Asclepius (the god of healing) which sits on the plain below the Acropolis. In this place people with health problems came to bathe in the sacred waters and whilst sleeping Asclepius would appear in their dreams to tell them how to be cured. These three here look like they might be looking for a cure! 

The site had a theatre, a healing spring, an underground passageway and library. This was another site which I had learned about at uni. It has been good to see these ancient sites and try and remember what I used to know!

After yet another delicious lunch (diet starts at the end of this holiday!) we spent a couple of hours driving to Troy. After climbing a steep mountain for quite some time we arrived at the strategic site at four o'clock. There were very few tourists around as it was so late in the day.  Funda once again excelled in describing the site and its nine layers of ruins which date back to 5000BC and have been uncovered during the past 150 years of excavations. The numbers in the photo indicate the layers uncovered. 

There was a very large modern-day wooden sculpture of the Trojan horse at the entry of the site. This was made by a Turkish sculptor. Henk and I climbed to the top of it. You might be able to see Henk looking out of the top left window! 

When we arrived at our five star hotel at five thirty we found that the electricity was turned off. We were on the fourth floor and as the lifts and lights weren't working we thought that this was a very good excuse for us to proceed directly to the very stylish outside bar area. We were given complimentary drinks as we overlooked the strait to the European side of the Dardanelles. 

We were soon joined by a very large group of German tourists. It confirmed for us that a small group tour is the way to go! The buffet dinner at the hotel was outstanding. It was hard to choose what to eat as there was so much to choose from. Tomorrow morning we will catch an early ferry and spend time at the Gallipoli site before heading back to Istanbul. 

Day 13 - Kasadasi - 18 October, 2015

Weather - Sunny and warm

Accommodation - Hotel Kismet

Our day revolved around the movements of the 3000 passengers which came onshore from the large cruise ship in the Kusadasi harbour. Funda decided it would be best to visit the House of the Virgin Mary in the morning and Ephesus in the afternoon to try and avoid the crowds at Ephesus. 

It only took us twenty minutes to drive to the House of the Virgin Mary which sits high on Mt Koressos. It took us another twenty minutes to wait in line to be able to walk through the very tiny Christian and Muslim shrine as there were wall to wall tourists. The house was discovered in the nineteenth century as a result of visions by Anne Catherine Emmerich and she was Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. 

Pilgrims visit the house believing that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was brought to the house by St John and it is the last house of the Mother of Christ. Outside the shrine is a wishing wall and I wrote a note and placed it amongst the thousands of others and wished good health for our family and friends.

For something very different we visited a leather factory. We were given a sophisticated fashion parade of beautiful leather coats and information on their quality. The factory also sold bags and other leather goods but no one on the bus took the opportunity to buy anything. 

Lunch was at a locally patronised village restaurant. It was very busy as it was a Sunday and many families were relaxing over long breakfasts and lunches. We had tasty Turkish bread filled with either meat or spinach and feta. Two local women were making the bread for these dishes. 

The afternoon was spent at Ephesus and as it was quite warm we needed our sunscreen, hats and protective clothing. Ephesus is so large that it was difficult to take in all that is there. It was an ancient port city but is now quite some distance from the Aegean coast due to silt accumulation. Excavations have been taking place over the past 150 years and only about 20% has been exposed. I was very impressed with the Library of Celus which was completed in 135AD by Celus's son. It housed 12,000 scrolls and served as a mausoleum for Celus. The facade lay in ruins until the 1970's when archeologists reconstructed it. 

Near the end of our walk through the ancient city is the large theatre which could seat up to 25,000 spectators. 

Before heading back to our hotel we visited the site of The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which now is represented by one lonely column. 

As our hotel has a private swimming area on the Aegean coast we decided to make the most of the late afternoon and have a swim. Henk, Brian, Carol, Sue and Mike were brave enough to enter the chilly water. 

We ended our wonderful day in Kusadasi with drinks on the front porch of the hotel overlooking the harbour. It was a very pleasant evening with our fellow travelling companions. The large cruise ship, "Celebrity Reflections", made its way out of the harbour at sunset.