Michelle’s thoughts:
We are back in Istanbul for four days. We had originally planned to do a 8 day cruise from Fethiye, but it was suggested to just do 4 days (which I am glad we did); thus, the extra days in Istanbul. We arrived on Saturday from Cappadocia. If there was one area that I would stay in Turkey, it would be in Cappadocia. I simply fell in love with the place. The terrain is so different from anything I’ve ever seen before, it‘s like being on another planet.
There were great hiking trails that consisted of climbs on unique rock formations, entering hidden tunnels and creeping under brush. All this lined with grapes and apples in abundance for eating. The valleys were breathtaking. There were times when Craig and I were full of emotion and in awe of our surroundings.
Along with hiking, we went on a Hot Air Balloon ride one morning and I think the whole time I was just giddy! There were 24 of us in the huge basket. 6 in each compartment. I was very lucky and I was able to be in the compartment with the pilot during the trip. I even got to control the flames for the balloon!! It was so exhilarating! At one point we were in the clouds! So awesome!! I highly recommend a Hot Air Balloon ride to see the fantastic views of Cappadocia.
On our first day we rented four-wheelers to see the valleys with a guide. It was a great way to get an understanding of the area and see where we wanted to hike on later dates.
Craig and I also rented a scooter from Silk Road and we drove around the area to see the sites away from our town, Goreme. I think the drive was just as wonderful as the sites we saw. As we drove by the small villages and farms, everyone waved back as I had a big smile and waved while sitting behind Craig on the scooter. It was so much fun! When we asked for directions, everyone wanted to help! The Turkish people are so friendly and warm!! We love them!
One of the sites we saw was the Underground city. Hundreds of tunnels and tunnels of rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, churches, animal shelters, etc. were dug in multiple levels under ground. It was freaky and a little unnerving to go from one room to the next through these long low height tunnels and some of the rooms are dark and have low ceilings. It’s not good for those who are claustrophobic because if there a lot of tourists, you can be stuck in a tunnel for a bit! We were lucky because Craig and I entered when most tour groups were having their buffet lunches, so we had the city mostly to ourselves. There were only two tour groups when we visited. Even then, sometimes we ran to get to the next level. We weren’t sure how long this city was and after a couple of levels, you felt you needed to see the sun. When we left, there were buses full of tourists coming. Craig and I looked at each other then and we shivered thinking about all these people in the tunnels! Whew, that was close!
We also visited an underground city that the tourists don’t go to. It was recommended by the guys in Silk Road where we rented the scooter. It’s in the small village of Miza and we had a private tour with Ishrid. We like doing stuff that’s off the beaten path. I am glad we went because it was a relaxing visit in the underground and we had a great conversation with a local guy.
When you see our pictures, you’ll see these formations called Fairy Chimneys. Lots and lots of them!! I won’t tell you what I really call them! Aren’t they really cool?!
Also, I would like to say thank you to Peter, Maneesha, Neil and Josie for putting up with us in Cappadocia!! We had wonderful meals with them and of course, had great laughs! You guys are the greatest!
Next month- Jordan!!!
Love,
Michelle
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Beyond Istanbul
Craig’s thoughts:
Finally!!! A Blog update.
It’s not that there are problems finding internet access, it’s because we have been busy, busy, busy. Too busy to update for the fine people back in Canada.
We have only been in Turkey for two weeks, but it feels like it’s been an amazing month. Our days have been full of adventures which has kept us focused on the moment. “Yeah, your having a great time, so what have you been doing”? Glad you asked.
Before I write about our activities since the last blog, I just wanted to say that our first Turkish experience came when we first checked into our hotel and met a friendly couple from the U.K. They offered us some Turkish Delight. How appropriate.
List of activities since the last update:
Sept 14 : visit Ephesus and Serince
Sept 15: a relaxing day trip to the beach in Samos, Greece
Sept 16: visit Aphrodisias and Pamukkale
Sept 17-20: the Blue Cruise on the Mediterranean from Fethiye to Olympus
Sept 21: Fly to Cappadocia and visit the valleys on four-wheelers
Michelle’s thoughts:
Alright, I guess I didn’t write as soon as I wanted to. Currently, I am in my room in a cave. Not just any cave, but the Flintstone’s Cave Pension. Some of the accommodations in Cappadocia are embedded in the mountains. This is a must place to visit if you’re going to Turkey! Okay, where do I start. Under Craig’s thoughts, he listed the activities over the last week. I will just go over my thoughts about each experience.
Ephesus: it’s a ruined city that is equally impressive as the ruins in Greece. It took us over three hours to visit the site because we took our time admiring everything. I was glad we weren’t part of a tour group because most went through it in an hour, not appreciating the site, but just quickly taking pictures. I am sure some of them would have liked to stay a lot longer. When I was walking through the area I was imagining what would it be like living there long ago.
Samos, Greece: Samos is an island about an hour and a half from Turkey. Samos was a nice break from seeing mosques, historical ruins and museums. We just needed a small break. We wanted to rent a scooter to travel to the beach, but we needed a motorcycle licence; but all was not lost because you only needed an International Drivers licence to drive a four- wheeler. It was so much fun driving along the coast of the island and the views were spectacular! The beach was not sandy, but more of a pebble beach. The clientele was mostly older Europeans who were so dark and wrinkly from worshiping the sun. Craig and I used both a beach umbrella and a tree for protection!!
Aphrodisias: this was a shrine as early as 5800BC. At one point it was owned by the Romans and then survived during the Byzantine era. Craig and I thought that this ruined city was more impressive than Ephesus. It also helped that Craig and I had a private tour of the area with a guide before any other tourists appeared. John was an excellent guide. He was an older gentleman born in Macedonia, lived in Germany for awhile before staying in Turkey. He hopes that all the Canadians reading this will come to Turkey to help with tourism.
Pamukkale: This place have these awesome white travertine terraces next to the Hierapolis. You have to see the pictures to believe this phenomenon. For it’s protection, you are now only allowed to walk on a section of the terraces. The water that runs through it is a pleasant temperature of 39 degrees Celsius. I thought I was in another planet walking through the area. It was soooo freaky! Another freaky thing about the area was that there were hundreds of young Russian girls coming out of the tour buses only wearing their bikinis. I have never seen so many bikini clad women walking around and there wasn’t even a beach. They were even walking around at the ruined city of Hierapolis in these skimpy outfits!! There is a small pool called the Cleopatra pool, but that’s where the older and Non-European tourists would be seen. I can’t even describe the poses they were doing when taking pictures. It was hilarious! Craig and I, with another young Canadian couple went into the Cleopatra pool. It was a different pool because the bottom had some ruins you had to climb over. Awesome!
Blue Cruise: We took a cruise on a gulet ( a small yacht) along the Mediterranean. There were 14 people on this cruise. Catalonian couple: Carles and Astrid; Another Canadian couple from Vancouver: Neil and Josie; American newlywed: Peter and Maneesha; UK students: Ruth, Yvonne and Rusmus; Vancouver, B.C. girl: Kim; a Korean travel agent: Sin Jin; and an American College Student: Soo Jin. Our group was amazing and we all got along quite well. We had so many funny conversations. If there was a group to go cruising with, these guys were perfect. We stopped at the Butterfly island and hiked/rock-climbed to a waterfall. We did other stops along the way, but mostly we just did some swimming. I think one of the highlights for me was when the Cook surprised me with a birthday cake!! Everyone on the boat, but me, knew he was making a cake. After dinner, the boat crew turned off the lights and a cake with sparkle candles was presented while everyone else sang Happy Birthday! I almost cried. It was so touching! The funny thing was when Rusmus announced that he had the same birth date as me; so the cook brought out more candles and we sang Happy Birthday again!
Well until next time!
Love, Michelle
Finally!!! A Blog update.
It’s not that there are problems finding internet access, it’s because we have been busy, busy, busy. Too busy to update for the fine people back in Canada.
We have only been in Turkey for two weeks, but it feels like it’s been an amazing month. Our days have been full of adventures which has kept us focused on the moment. “Yeah, your having a great time, so what have you been doing”? Glad you asked.
Before I write about our activities since the last blog, I just wanted to say that our first Turkish experience came when we first checked into our hotel and met a friendly couple from the U.K. They offered us some Turkish Delight. How appropriate.
List of activities since the last update:
Sept 14 : visit Ephesus and Serince
Sept 15: a relaxing day trip to the beach in Samos, Greece
Sept 16: visit Aphrodisias and Pamukkale
Sept 17-20: the Blue Cruise on the Mediterranean from Fethiye to Olympus
Sept 21: Fly to Cappadocia and visit the valleys on four-wheelers
Michelle’s thoughts:
Alright, I guess I didn’t write as soon as I wanted to. Currently, I am in my room in a cave. Not just any cave, but the Flintstone’s Cave Pension. Some of the accommodations in Cappadocia are embedded in the mountains. This is a must place to visit if you’re going to Turkey! Okay, where do I start. Under Craig’s thoughts, he listed the activities over the last week. I will just go over my thoughts about each experience.
Ephesus: it’s a ruined city that is equally impressive as the ruins in Greece. It took us over three hours to visit the site because we took our time admiring everything. I was glad we weren’t part of a tour group because most went through it in an hour, not appreciating the site, but just quickly taking pictures. I am sure some of them would have liked to stay a lot longer. When I was walking through the area I was imagining what would it be like living there long ago.
Samos, Greece: Samos is an island about an hour and a half from Turkey. Samos was a nice break from seeing mosques, historical ruins and museums. We just needed a small break. We wanted to rent a scooter to travel to the beach, but we needed a motorcycle licence; but all was not lost because you only needed an International Drivers licence to drive a four- wheeler. It was so much fun driving along the coast of the island and the views were spectacular! The beach was not sandy, but more of a pebble beach. The clientele was mostly older Europeans who were so dark and wrinkly from worshiping the sun. Craig and I used both a beach umbrella and a tree for protection!!
Aphrodisias: this was a shrine as early as 5800BC. At one point it was owned by the Romans and then survived during the Byzantine era. Craig and I thought that this ruined city was more impressive than Ephesus. It also helped that Craig and I had a private tour of the area with a guide before any other tourists appeared. John was an excellent guide. He was an older gentleman born in Macedonia, lived in Germany for awhile before staying in Turkey. He hopes that all the Canadians reading this will come to Turkey to help with tourism.
Pamukkale: This place have these awesome white travertine terraces next to the Hierapolis. You have to see the pictures to believe this phenomenon. For it’s protection, you are now only allowed to walk on a section of the terraces. The water that runs through it is a pleasant temperature of 39 degrees Celsius. I thought I was in another planet walking through the area. It was soooo freaky! Another freaky thing about the area was that there were hundreds of young Russian girls coming out of the tour buses only wearing their bikinis. I have never seen so many bikini clad women walking around and there wasn’t even a beach. They were even walking around at the ruined city of Hierapolis in these skimpy outfits!! There is a small pool called the Cleopatra pool, but that’s where the older and Non-European tourists would be seen. I can’t even describe the poses they were doing when taking pictures. It was hilarious! Craig and I, with another young Canadian couple went into the Cleopatra pool. It was a different pool because the bottom had some ruins you had to climb over. Awesome!
Blue Cruise: We took a cruise on a gulet ( a small yacht) along the Mediterranean. There were 14 people on this cruise. Catalonian couple: Carles and Astrid; Another Canadian couple from Vancouver: Neil and Josie; American newlywed: Peter and Maneesha; UK students: Ruth, Yvonne and Rusmus; Vancouver, B.C. girl: Kim; a Korean travel agent: Sin Jin; and an American College Student: Soo Jin. Our group was amazing and we all got along quite well. We had so many funny conversations. If there was a group to go cruising with, these guys were perfect. We stopped at the Butterfly island and hiked/rock-climbed to a waterfall. We did other stops along the way, but mostly we just did some swimming. I think one of the highlights for me was when the Cook surprised me with a birthday cake!! Everyone on the boat, but me, knew he was making a cake. After dinner, the boat crew turned off the lights and a cake with sparkle candles was presented while everyone else sang Happy Birthday! I almost cried. It was so touching! The funny thing was when Rusmus announced that he had the same birth date as me; so the cook brought out more candles and we sang Happy Birthday again!
Well until next time!
Love, Michelle
Monday, September 14, 2009
Happy 40th Birthday!
Craig's thoughts:
Happy Birthday to my Love! Happy Birthday to my Bunny!
You don't look like you're 40! Happy Birthday to my Honey!
Michelle's thoughts:
Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me!!
Enough said...
Happy Birthday to my Love! Happy Birthday to my Bunny!
You don't look like you're 40! Happy Birthday to my Honey!
Michelle's thoughts:
Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me!!
Enough said...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Istanbul Highlights
Michelle’s thoughts:
It’s Sunday, Sept. 13th and yes, I seem to have skipped a lot of days since the last entry into the blog. Well, I thought that though I wanted to do this blog, I didn’t want to spend my entire trip sitting in my room or at the main foyer of the hotel (some places had weak WiFi connections) typing away on our new netbook. In the past, I was pretty pathetic in journal entries trying to write what I did four days ago! Nothings changed!
Okay, day 1, we arrived in Istanbul, Turkey in the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 8th and checked into our hotel, Seven Hills. The hotel is very nice with an Ottoman theme and the people who work there are very friendly. The hotel is in an ideal location. We are walking distance to the major sites: 2minutes from Haghia Sophia, 5minutes to the Blue Mosque, 5 minutes to the Topkapi Palace and 10 minutes from the Grand Bazaar. We were also close to the tram, so going elsewhere is pretty easy. The roof top of our hotel had a beautiful view of both the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia. This first night we watched a crazy display of lightening while we had a wonderful fish dinner at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.
Day 2, Craig and I decided to take it easy and just walk around the city. We wanted to get familiar with our surroundings and check out places we wanted to see and places to eat. The old city was busy with tourists (most of them were seniors). It was amazing to see the number of huge white tour buses that continually drove by where ever we went. Although the streets are narrow, those bus drivers sure know how to squeeze through those alleys. Driving in Istanbul is not for everyone! We also went to the Grand Bazaar. It’s a fascinating place and something that must be experienced.
Day 3, we visited the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia. Thanks Saffiyya for the scarf!!
I also have to mention that it is currently the month of Ramadan. As you know, Muslims do not eat or drink between dawn and dusk during Ramadan. Fortunately, the restaurants, especially in the old town, remain open for the tourists. You wouldn’t even know that it was Ramadan now with all the cafes being busy. However, it is in the evening when the city comes to life! Most of the tourists have hopped on their respective buses and have been driven to their hotels or designated restaurants to be entertained and the locals now come out enjoying dinner and festivities with their families. Between the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia is the Sultanahmet Square. Along the streets of Atmeydani Sok, surrounding the square, are vendors selling food or Turkish handicrafts. At the centre, families have a feast at the picnic tables and listen to bands play or watch a fire breathing act. Also in the evening, some of the restaurants in the city even have a tradition of giving away food for free during Ramadan. I was worried about being here during Ramadan, but I think it’s now the best time to go!!!
Day 4, we cruised up the Bosphorus using the Turkish Maritime Line. This is taken at the Eminonu piers. We got off at the Saiyer pier, recommended to us by a nice UK couple we met at our hotel. We then took a local bus back down along the Bosphorus. Each way was a wonderful journey. The cruise was very relaxing and there were beautiful sites along the river. I just have to say that we knew which pier we had to take in Eminonu, because the night before we went to Eminonu and we asked a gentleman working there. But what was so great was that even though we asked only one gentleman, others came by to help, especially with the English-Turkish language barrier! We seem to experience this assistance every where. The Turkish people have been so kind and helpful! It also helps when you smile, use the translation glossary in your guides and laugh!
Day 5, we visited the Topkapi Palace.
Day 6, we flew to Ismir and took a cab to Selcuk. We checked into the Nazar Hotel. It is a budget family-run place. It is very clean and has a swimming pool!!!! We met with Lily. She will be our driver to Ephesus tomorrow. She also has a carpet store that we will be visiting after our site seeing. Craig and I won’t be buying any carpets, especially if we don’t even have a house!
Whew, I caught up! Until tomorrow (well, maybe not)!
Love,
Michelle
It’s Sunday, Sept. 13th and yes, I seem to have skipped a lot of days since the last entry into the blog. Well, I thought that though I wanted to do this blog, I didn’t want to spend my entire trip sitting in my room or at the main foyer of the hotel (some places had weak WiFi connections) typing away on our new netbook. In the past, I was pretty pathetic in journal entries trying to write what I did four days ago! Nothings changed!
Okay, day 1, we arrived in Istanbul, Turkey in the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 8th and checked into our hotel, Seven Hills. The hotel is very nice with an Ottoman theme and the people who work there are very friendly. The hotel is in an ideal location. We are walking distance to the major sites: 2minutes from Haghia Sophia, 5minutes to the Blue Mosque, 5 minutes to the Topkapi Palace and 10 minutes from the Grand Bazaar. We were also close to the tram, so going elsewhere is pretty easy. The roof top of our hotel had a beautiful view of both the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia. This first night we watched a crazy display of lightening while we had a wonderful fish dinner at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.
Day 2, Craig and I decided to take it easy and just walk around the city. We wanted to get familiar with our surroundings and check out places we wanted to see and places to eat. The old city was busy with tourists (most of them were seniors). It was amazing to see the number of huge white tour buses that continually drove by where ever we went. Although the streets are narrow, those bus drivers sure know how to squeeze through those alleys. Driving in Istanbul is not for everyone! We also went to the Grand Bazaar. It’s a fascinating place and something that must be experienced.
Day 3, we visited the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia. Thanks Saffiyya for the scarf!!
I also have to mention that it is currently the month of Ramadan. As you know, Muslims do not eat or drink between dawn and dusk during Ramadan. Fortunately, the restaurants, especially in the old town, remain open for the tourists. You wouldn’t even know that it was Ramadan now with all the cafes being busy. However, it is in the evening when the city comes to life! Most of the tourists have hopped on their respective buses and have been driven to their hotels or designated restaurants to be entertained and the locals now come out enjoying dinner and festivities with their families. Between the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia is the Sultanahmet Square. Along the streets of Atmeydani Sok, surrounding the square, are vendors selling food or Turkish handicrafts. At the centre, families have a feast at the picnic tables and listen to bands play or watch a fire breathing act. Also in the evening, some of the restaurants in the city even have a tradition of giving away food for free during Ramadan. I was worried about being here during Ramadan, but I think it’s now the best time to go!!!
Day 4, we cruised up the Bosphorus using the Turkish Maritime Line. This is taken at the Eminonu piers. We got off at the Saiyer pier, recommended to us by a nice UK couple we met at our hotel. We then took a local bus back down along the Bosphorus. Each way was a wonderful journey. The cruise was very relaxing and there were beautiful sites along the river. I just have to say that we knew which pier we had to take in Eminonu, because the night before we went to Eminonu and we asked a gentleman working there. But what was so great was that even though we asked only one gentleman, others came by to help, especially with the English-Turkish language barrier! We seem to experience this assistance every where. The Turkish people have been so kind and helpful! It also helps when you smile, use the translation glossary in your guides and laugh!
Day 5, we visited the Topkapi Palace.
Day 6, we flew to Ismir and took a cab to Selcuk. We checked into the Nazar Hotel. It is a budget family-run place. It is very clean and has a swimming pool!!!! We met with Lily. She will be our driver to Ephesus tomorrow. She also has a carpet store that we will be visiting after our site seeing. Craig and I won’t be buying any carpets, especially if we don’t even have a house!
Whew, I caught up! Until tomorrow (well, maybe not)!
Love,
Michelle
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Preparing for Hunter's World Trip
Craig's thoughts:
I feel disorientated, my life has maintained a constant rhythm of work, paycheque, weekend, work etc... Now I’m moving towards something unfamiliar, something with unknown benefits but a dream never the less. There is growing pressure from others as they say “good for you - go for it”, “we will live through you”. I’m not sure they know what we have given up to live this dream, I’m not sure I know what I have given up to live this dream.
Packing & moving: We are packing and storing stuff everyday. Why do we have so much stuff? Why the hell would anyone move? Michelle and I are doing it on our own. That’s the way we like it. We don’t like to bother anyone while pursuing this adventure (it doesn’t feel like an adventure at the moment). People have asked “You must be excited”, well no, we’ve been too damn busy. Yes, we have our airline tickets but we have no time to celebrate.
Doubt: Last day of packing and doubt is creeping in. How the hell did I get here? I’m fully committed now, no turning back. Michelle is amazing, she is excited, she looks more like a kid going to Disney Land rather than someone that quit her job and sold the house of her dreams.
I’ll be alright so long as I have her.
Michelle's thoughts:
Sold the house- check! Resign- check! Take all my stuff out of my work locker; stuff that’s been there since I was a student- check! Sort out the junk from my locker in the living room floor- check! Entertain wedding guests days before the closing of the house- check! Attend wedding and other family functions- check! Pack the stuff in the house -check! Send stuff to storage and Karen’s gorgeous house-check! Finally, pack for the trip-check! I know I forgot something!! Oh yes, buy tickets to Turkey- check!
It’s been a crazy month, but it’s been worth it. Craig and I have talked about quitting our jobs and travelling around the world for a year since forever! I am so ecstatic about this journey, it blows my mind just thinking about it!!!
Kind of weird doing this blog. We usually just write into a journal, but we thought that this journey deserved a unique way for Craig and I to document what we will experience. We hope our family and friends will enjoy reading our blog, but it is really for us to remember what we did, where we went, who we met, when we did things. There will be entries about the best way to get somewhere, where was a good place to eat and stay, and other tidbits that may bore others, but is important to us.
I hope people enjoy reading our experiences as much as we enjoyed living them!!!
Love,
Michelle
I feel disorientated, my life has maintained a constant rhythm of work, paycheque, weekend, work etc... Now I’m moving towards something unfamiliar, something with unknown benefits but a dream never the less. There is growing pressure from others as they say “good for you - go for it”, “we will live through you”. I’m not sure they know what we have given up to live this dream, I’m not sure I know what I have given up to live this dream.
Packing & moving: We are packing and storing stuff everyday. Why do we have so much stuff? Why the hell would anyone move? Michelle and I are doing it on our own. That’s the way we like it. We don’t like to bother anyone while pursuing this adventure (it doesn’t feel like an adventure at the moment). People have asked “You must be excited”, well no, we’ve been too damn busy. Yes, we have our airline tickets but we have no time to celebrate.
Doubt: Last day of packing and doubt is creeping in. How the hell did I get here? I’m fully committed now, no turning back. Michelle is amazing, she is excited, she looks more like a kid going to Disney Land rather than someone that quit her job and sold the house of her dreams.
I’ll be alright so long as I have her.
Michelle's thoughts:
Sold the house- check! Resign- check! Take all my stuff out of my work locker; stuff that’s been there since I was a student- check! Sort out the junk from my locker in the living room floor- check! Entertain wedding guests days before the closing of the house- check! Attend wedding and other family functions- check! Pack the stuff in the house -check! Send stuff to storage and Karen’s gorgeous house-check! Finally, pack for the trip-check! I know I forgot something!! Oh yes, buy tickets to Turkey- check!
It’s been a crazy month, but it’s been worth it. Craig and I have talked about quitting our jobs and travelling around the world for a year since forever! I am so ecstatic about this journey, it blows my mind just thinking about it!!!
Kind of weird doing this blog. We usually just write into a journal, but we thought that this journey deserved a unique way for Craig and I to document what we will experience. We hope our family and friends will enjoy reading our blog, but it is really for us to remember what we did, where we went, who we met, when we did things. There will be entries about the best way to get somewhere, where was a good place to eat and stay, and other tidbits that may bore others, but is important to us.
I hope people enjoy reading our experiences as much as we enjoyed living them!!!
Love,
Michelle
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