Turkey 2024 tour
I have split the tour into two (long) pages. This is part one of the trip.
Barbara and I decided that the next adventure would be Turkey. I was going for the pictures, but our main take-away was a great educational adventure – worth it. (And got lots of good pictures). We signed up for the Road Scholar “From Legends to History: Turkey’s Legacy of Civilizations and Culture” tour. We also decided that we liked arriving early, booking our own flights and leaving late. We even signed up for the extension! I mean if you are going to Turkey, might as well stay for as much as possible. (Hindsight – we should have scheduled two or three days less – three weeks is a long time to be away from home!)
We took Turkish Airline from San Francisco to Istanbul, then a connecting flight to Ankara. This tour had a lot of inside-Turkey experiences AND it ended in Istanbul. Our reason for choosing this particular tour. We spent a lot of time on a very comfortable bus. It gave us an opportunity to go to many historical and archeology interesting places along the way. It was a LOT of time driving, but I was able to picture process while on the road! We did a lot of walking as well…
The Trip
But enough of the preamble – the tour is all about the tour guide. That person makes or breaks the adventure – from scheduling to information to managing the various personalities on the trip. And did we have a winner!! Yunus Ozdemir was a gem! He is working on his PhD in Archeology and is an instructor for other guides. We had a running joke that every other guide was a friend of Yunus and Yunus was their instructor.
Yunus has a skill of not giving us too much information, setting the stage for understanding what we were about to see and giving us answers to all our questions was so much appreciated, even by those (Jerry) that at first was not very interested.
I can’t imagine how anyone could be better than Yunus in guiding our tour. An outstanding gem! Even if our bromance had to end. Get over it. Yunus was good. Well Great. Don’t let it go to his (very large) head.
Ankara - Capital of Turkey
First night in Ankara – a lovely sunset from the hotel
Did I mention it was an old castle? Sometimes / always nature wins.
The second of many Mosques
Everyone takes selfies – even the security guard at the castle (from my hotel window).
Random guy in our hotel hallway
We spent 3 days of random walking around Ankara. Went down lots of little streets. Some Mosques, lots of ruins / now shops.
The hotel was at the top of the hill next to the Castle. A tourist place with shops and great views.
Want to display your clothing – best to use a mannequin. Even for strange clothing.
Simit sales on the street
The regions around the city seem to specialize in one or another type of ware. A section of wedding dresses, another of light fixtures, another of rugs, towels, hardware, kitchen gadgets. Very fascinating. I got excited by all the mannequins of all sorts of sizes and types. Very odd (IMHO).
Lots of Turkey flags!! Everywhere. Then again it was a celebration week for some political holiday. Still the Turkish are proud of their country.
Found this delightful horror doll shop (shop of Chucky) that ended at the top of the castle with great views. Then through the Russian art shop to the top of the other side – more alcohol (Russian moonshine – Samogon) and a bromance with the shop owner.
It’s clear that this is a country that likes/tolerates cats and dogs. They are EVERYWHERE. Many dogs have a ear tag, cats have a notch out of their ear. We were told this is to mark those that have had their shots and have been fixed. All of the dogs we saw were big – sort of Labrador big. But not. Cats of all types.
On the last “free” day we signed up for “Food Tours with Locals.” We all met at a metro station and experienced a 3 stop ride on the metro (with a guide). Had a delightful experience in the University side of town – much younger folks and more “hip” (We didn’t fit in.) Tried some new foods – not so excited by “Wet Hamburger,” but most of the other ones were very good.
The official Road Scholar Tour started!
Finally the Tour started. We met our new leader – Yunus Ozdemir. He is a very skilled leader – studying for his PhD. Our group of 20 folks from “America.” (That’s the way to identify ourselves when we are asked “where are you from?”) A good group this time!
Dr. Thomas and Yunus
We went to the first tour at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations – just a short walk from the hotel. Thomas Zimmerman was our specialized leader – he fit the part! Those shoes! Took us from the beginning of mankind to the ancient beginnings of the area now known as Turkey.
It was really interesting to get the understanding that Turkey was a key strategic place / crossroads for so many civilizations. There are layer upon layer of people that lived and controlled the region.
The afternoon we went to the Ataturk Mausoleum. So many people visiting and so many people taking selfies. And trying to be influencers. So many pictures of groups. There was an official group going into the mausoleum – turned out they had something to do with the pharmaceutical industry.
It must be graduation day and so many young people were all dressed up – some in graduation gowns – taking pictures.
Ataturk Mausoleum. Ataturk is the founder of modern Turkey – revered like George Washington. He died in 1938 and set the stage for what Turkey is today. The Turkish people seem to have incredible respect and appreciation for how he guided the country.
Then met our bus driver (Selim) and off we went on the journey…
Our fearless leader describing the old city – and what a city!! Huge area with 10’s of thousands of residents thousands of years ago…
First stop Hattusas
Lions Gate
The other gate
On the way to Hattusas. Quick stop for a tour of a sacred “building”
Cappadocia
New day off to Cappadocia. Actually there isn’t a town of Cappadocia, it’s a region. Sort of like Napa Valley. The rock formations in the area is very suitable for digging tunnels and creating homes. We visited a number of churches carved in the stone. Our hotel was one (of many) “Cave Hotels.” In theory it was a controlled temperature space, but for some of our group it was claustrophobic.
A tour of our cave hotel:
Sunset as we arrived in the region. The region is made up of all these wonderful volcanic spires.
The Cave Hotel – one of many. One thing to notice is the lighting. The Turkish people know how to do lighting right!! In museums, for rooms, for facilities…
Our room was HUGE and very interesting, but stuffy and a bit hot. But we had a dining room plus sitting room and bedroom. The cold water ran hot and we had to run it for a long time to get cold water.
Looking down at the town as we floated. The white dots are street lights.
Our flight path in 3D from Google Earth. The track shows us going underground near the museum. Don’t think that happened, but it was close! Interesting that they could circle the area when the balloon only has up/down and rotation control.
We signed up to do the hot air balloon ride – something like $200 each for a one hour in-the-air experience. But we needed to get up at 4am, ride to the launch point at 5am, in the air and enjoying the ride. And what a ride!! Our pilot was really good. Took us up to about 2,500’ elevation and down to within inches of the ground. There must have been over 100 balloons in the air. Each holding about 28 passengers – each at a minimum of $200 (some $500). It was some sight! Really glad we signed up – many come to do the ride and they cancel due to weather.
Given the number of balloons taking off, it’s not surprising that they have some close bumps.
We dipped down into the open air museum – a place we visited later in the day. 100’s of balloons in the air!
Looks like a wicker basket, but it’s a full metal frame. The pilot was in constant contact with his ground crew – maybe the other balloons, but it’s Greek (Turkish) to me.
Sunrise in Cappadocia.
I uploaded a segment of our flight to YouTube.
After our balloon ride, off to touring. We visited a church carved into the stone – one of MANY built. We began to understand the friendship of the Turkish people in being open and sharing.
We went to the town where Yunus had an office. As usual it’s guarded by a friendly dog.
Across from the office.
We went underground to begin exploring the underground cities. So long ago the people needed a place to hide to protect from the passing troops – possibility of loosing all their food supply or becoming one of the slaves.
A few of us went for a few mile hike in the hills.
We were not alone – many others were there and some were set up to camp (with the VW Bugs) and some riding camels.
Yunus needed to protect his head and played the role of Lawrence of Arabia.
The next morning we were off to the Goreme Open Air Museum (the same one we flew the balloon through). Unsettled weather!
The terrain was amazing. Felt a bit like the southwest, but more varied and more people.
Open Air Museum
We had a visit to a pottery factory where they demonstrated throwing pots, then the gift shop was a full press sales “opportunity.”
It was Ann’s Birthday. Very common to have sparklers on the cakes.
We went on a field trip to a Whirling Dervish ceremony at a 13th century caravansary. This seems to be the real deal and not modernized for the (many) tourists that come to witness the ceremony. It was very somber and deep in symbolism.
Elizabeth made a video and sent me a copy… I posted on YouTube.
Konya
Walking the streets of Konya
We never grow tired of all the fresh fruit in front of stores…
We drove the 3 hours to Konya – including a “Japanese Stop” to take pictures and arrived at the Mosque/Museum – the tomb of Rumi / part of the Whirling Dervish. Our hotel was across the street and it gave us some time to walk around the city.
Barbara at the “Japanese Stop”
In the distance it appeared to have a photographer taking pictures of a couple. I’m really just showing off that I had a decent long lens…
From our hotel
In the museum one of many of the art on the wall
We stopped to chat and meet with the “mystic liar” Celalettin Berberoglu. He was a former whirling dervish and has a delightful take on life. His shop was making felt products – wall art and hats. He described some of the fabric, but mostly talked about life.
And on the bus to trek to Antalya. We first stopped at a delightful wood mosque.
There was a group of students visiting and (of course) they needed a group photo.
We did a quick stop at the Roman Aqueduct then visited a wonderful old Roman Theater – REALLY BIG.
Roman theater of Aspendos
A different Roman Theater
Lunch stop
Road Scholar 2024 – missing a few of our group
Antalya
Sunset from the deck of the hotel
The water access for swimming
We went to the Akra Hotel – a fancy hotel right on the beach. Barbara and I went down and did a quick swim in the sea. Check that off the list!
Dr. Gul Isin and Yunus – She gave us the tour of the Antalya Museum
After the Museum and lunch, we walked along the shore to return to the hotel. More ruins and a view of light rain in the mountains.
The weather has been somewhat hazy – until today and it opened up to be able to really see the mountains! We had lunch on the right side of the picture.
Pamukkale
After a 3 hour journey from Antalya, we arrived at Hierapolis where there was a city next to hot springs. The hot springs was really an attraction with a “Cleopatra Pool” that was full of swimmers and professional photographers taking pictures – mainly influencer type photos.
After the last big earthquake the water flow was different so they change the flow to fill these on different days. Anything to keep the tourists happy.
Sunset from our hotel window. The hotel had a hot mineral pool and an indoor regular pool. Very stylish hair caps.
Sometimes the buffet bars were incredible!
Afrodisias
Another group photos of (again) almost everyone.
End of Day 14 ... Next stop Kudasi
I have split the tour into two (long) pages. This is part one of the trip.