Guess what? I think I have struck a half decent tour group! They are not perfect, we have one family who may be three of the rudest people I have ever met, but we'll sort them out.
Hmm...just got very distracted by BBC news - they are interviewing a man that looks like a mix of Ted Danson and Lurch from The Adams Family...disturbing.
Anyway, given I don't have a tour group to bitch about, best to just move on to what we have done so far. As the title of this post suggests, I have been studying the map we were give and my three favorite Turkish towns (in terms of names) would have to be Batman, Lice and Philadelphia.
Day 1 and we headed out of Istanbul for Gallipoli. The Australians and Kiwis, along with out Turkish guide had to give a bit of a history lesson to the Americans and Canadians in the group. Many were shocked when they started hearing the numbers of people that died or were wounded there (they estimate 100,000 dead and a further 400,000 wounded). We visited Lone Pine to see the Australian memorial.
We also visited the New Zealand memorial, and went to ANZAC Cove. This is the view from up at the NZ memorial looking back over the cove.
We spent the night in Canakkale, and then in the morning headed for Troy. I was quite excited about going to Troy, but unfortunately the site isn't that well preserved, and for some bizarre reason is over run with stray cats. Still, there was a giant replica of the Trojan horse - and yes, you can climb inside!
We then had an ancient medical lesson and learned about the asclepion. Essentially this was the hospital you went to back in the BC times, assuming you were "well enough to go to hospital". In effect, it was a mental hospital, and not a place for people with a physical illness.
The following day was a bit of a highlight. We headed from Izmir (where Homer was born - not Simpson) to Ephesus. This was not only well preserved, but huge. We also went to the Virgin Mary's house.
Mary's house was interesting. Apparently it has been there since well, Jesus was born, but nobody knew about it til Mary came to a German nun in her dreams in the late 1800's and gave her directions. It is now a pilgrimage spot for Catholics.
Two points of interest at Mary's house. Firstly there is still a traditional water source of holy water that you can drink. I didn't have a bottle handy to gather some, but bought a small bottle at the gift shop on the way out. I have to drink it sometime in the next two weeks (as it is illegal to take it out of Turkey - and quite frankly if I was going to get arrested for something I am not sure that the illegal exportation of holy water would be my first choice). If I get struck down by lightning in the next week, you know why.
Most of them that I saw were for the usual - health, wealth and happiness. One person clearly had Mary confused with Santa...
It was then on to Ephesus. There was a little stall out the front that was surprisingly honest with it's marketing of it's wares..
We would be here forever if I showed all my pics of the site. There was well preserved ruins of everything from brothels to shops to houses to public toilets. This was the theater.
And this was the library (complete with secret entrance to the brothel in case the Mrs didn't believe you when you said you were headed to the library and decided to follow you...).
One interesting story we heard was about the carving below. Turns out Nike (pronounced Nikki) is the Greek goddess of victory. The shoe company took her name, and It is believed they took their tick symbol from the depiction of her dress.
We then traveled to Pamukkale, which is famous for it's thermal pools. The rock formations are all from the thermal water pouring over the side of the hill for centuries. Unfortunately, with so many hotels redirecting the water to their own pools the site is running low and isn't as pretty as it once was. It is however where one goes apparently to see Russian tourists in their bathing suits! (Tony Abbott style).
This is the view back over town from the top of the hill. The site also has considerable ruins you can walk around, and a pool and spa where they line people up and have the little cleaner fish eat their dead skin off.
No idea what the plan is today - I appear to have handed all organizational ability for my life over to the guide and simply wake up when I am told to (now there is a first).
Hmm...just got very distracted by BBC news - they are interviewing a man that looks like a mix of Ted Danson and Lurch from The Adams Family...disturbing.
Anyway, given I don't have a tour group to bitch about, best to just move on to what we have done so far. As the title of this post suggests, I have been studying the map we were give and my three favorite Turkish towns (in terms of names) would have to be Batman, Lice and Philadelphia.
Day 1 and we headed out of Istanbul for Gallipoli. The Australians and Kiwis, along with out Turkish guide had to give a bit of a history lesson to the Americans and Canadians in the group. Many were shocked when they started hearing the numbers of people that died or were wounded there (they estimate 100,000 dead and a further 400,000 wounded). We visited Lone Pine to see the Australian memorial.
We also visited the New Zealand memorial, and went to ANZAC Cove. This is the view from up at the NZ memorial looking back over the cove.
We spent the night in Canakkale, and then in the morning headed for Troy. I was quite excited about going to Troy, but unfortunately the site isn't that well preserved, and for some bizarre reason is over run with stray cats. Still, there was a giant replica of the Trojan horse - and yes, you can climb inside!
We then had an ancient medical lesson and learned about the asclepion. Essentially this was the hospital you went to back in the BC times, assuming you were "well enough to go to hospital". In effect, it was a mental hospital, and not a place for people with a physical illness.
The following day was a bit of a highlight. We headed from Izmir (where Homer was born - not Simpson) to Ephesus. This was not only well preserved, but huge. We also went to the Virgin Mary's house.
Mary's house was interesting. Apparently it has been there since well, Jesus was born, but nobody knew about it til Mary came to a German nun in her dreams in the late 1800's and gave her directions. It is now a pilgrimage spot for Catholics.
Two points of interest at Mary's house. Firstly there is still a traditional water source of holy water that you can drink. I didn't have a bottle handy to gather some, but bought a small bottle at the gift shop on the way out. I have to drink it sometime in the next two weeks (as it is illegal to take it out of Turkey - and quite frankly if I was going to get arrested for something I am not sure that the illegal exportation of holy water would be my first choice). If I get struck down by lightning in the next week, you know why.
The other interesting thing is the 'wishing wall'. There were lots of wishes that people had placed there.
Most of them that I saw were for the usual - health, wealth and happiness. One person clearly had Mary confused with Santa...
It was then on to Ephesus. There was a little stall out the front that was surprisingly honest with it's marketing of it's wares..
We would be here forever if I showed all my pics of the site. There was well preserved ruins of everything from brothels to shops to houses to public toilets. This was the theater.
And this was the library (complete with secret entrance to the brothel in case the Mrs didn't believe you when you said you were headed to the library and decided to follow you...).
One interesting story we heard was about the carving below. Turns out Nike (pronounced Nikki) is the Greek goddess of victory. The shoe company took her name, and It is believed they took their tick symbol from the depiction of her dress.
We then traveled to Pamukkale, which is famous for it's thermal pools. The rock formations are all from the thermal water pouring over the side of the hill for centuries. Unfortunately, with so many hotels redirecting the water to their own pools the site is running low and isn't as pretty as it once was. It is however where one goes apparently to see Russian tourists in their bathing suits! (Tony Abbott style).
The little pools you can see below used to be bright turquoise when there was more of the water.
This is the view back over town from the top of the hill. The site also has considerable ruins you can walk around, and a pool and spa where they line people up and have the little cleaner fish eat their dead skin off.
No idea what the plan is today - I appear to have handed all organizational ability for my life over to the guide and simply wake up when I am told to (now there is a first).
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