Treasures of Turkey
7 to 21 September 2008

Tour Director: Rashid Ergener

Insight Optionals:
Cappadocia – Performance of Whirling Dervishes (US$30.00)
Istanbul – Farewell Dinner (US$45.00)

Non Insight Optionals:
Cappadocia – Hot Air Balloon Ride (€165)
Antalya – Cruise along the coast (25TL)

Hotels:
Istanbul - Hotel Conrad
Bursa - Hotel Kervansaray
Ankara - Hotel Sheraton
Cappadocia - Hotel Dedeman in Nevsehir
Konya - Hotel Dedamen
Antalya - Sheraton Hotel
Pamukkale - Hotel Colossae
Kusadasi - Sealight Resort
Izmir - Hilton Hotel
Kanakkale - Hotel Kolin
Istanbul - Hotel Conrad

Travelling Companions:
There were 2 coaches on the tour and our coach was labelled Tour Bus 1 with 37 passengers comprising:
Australia = 15
New Zealand = 7
Canada = 6
Great Britain = 5
South Africa = 2
Ireland = 1
USA = 1

Day 1 – Sunday 7 September 2008

Prague to Istanbul and start of tour

Weather: Overcast and warm in Prague. Sunny and hot in Istanbul.

Up at 6.45am and breakfast at 7.30am

This trip report starts in Prague as we had recently finished the 2 week Insight Bulletin Board tour of Germany, Austria and France and had been filling in 5 days in Prague while waiting for the start date of our Treasures of Turkey tour.

We checked out of the hotel in Prague at 8.30am, our transfer to the airport picked us up at 8.50am and it was only a 30 minute drive to the airport this morning because there was very little traffic. We arrived at Prague airport at 9.20am where we checked in for our 11:45am Czech Airlines flight OK430 from Prague to Istanbul.

Although there was a very large queue for the check-in, it moved at a reasonable pace and after receiving our boarding passes for the 737 aircraft we proceeded straight through immigration and walked to the departure gates listed (Gates B1 to 9) to sit and wait for our flight departure.

About 30 minutes after we sat down they announced that our flight to Istanbul would now be leaving from Gate A1 so we had to get up and walk way back over to the other area of departure Gates.

The flight was uneventful and departed only 10 minutes late. It was a two and a quarter hour flight and a time change of 1 hour. Lunch of curried chicken and rice was served after take-off and we arrived in Istanbul around 3.15pm local time.

Obtaining our Turkish Visa was quick and simple with hardly any queue at all and a cost of €15 each however the queue for immigration was huge and it took us quite a while to get through. One thing of note was a very large woman who walked straight down the side of our queue and pushed into the desk in front of everyone. No one said anything but there were quite a few raised eyebrows and shakes of heads. Incidentally, at check-in back in Prague a couple of women tried several times to jump the queue and each time I had to step out in front of them and block them. They said nothing to me but if looks could have killed I would have been dead on the spot.

Our bags were already going round on the carousel when we got there and we had to pull them with us as the trolleys were only available by inserting local coins of which we had none at this stage of our arrival.

Anyway our Insight transfer was waiting for us as we left and we soon joined about 8 other Insight arrivals and transferred to our Hotel Conrad in Istanbul where we arrived around 4.30pm and checked into our rooms after obtaining some local currency from the ATM machine in the hotel lobby. The transfer gentleman was also giving us instructions as to which rooms on which floors we were to go to for our “Meet ‘n’ Greets” that evening (we were all departing on a mixture of tours) but I later took the opportunity to check the message boards from the TDs and just as well I did as I found that the transfer agent had completely messed everything up. With 3 different tours and a couple of cruises starting he had mixed up all of the meeting rooms with the wrong tours.

Our “Meet ‘n’ Greet” turned out to be on the Ground Floor of the hotel at 6 pm and we were on time to meet our TD Rashid Ergener and a few of the other travelling companions. Various people wandered in at various times due to the confusion as to where they were supposed to be but eventually we were sorted out and sipped our provided drinks while Rashid went through his intro spiel etc. Our TD also handed out a sheet with forecast weather and temperatures for during our tour, a page on Turkish wines and also a page on the local currency denominations.

There were 2 groups doing the Treasures of Turkey tour and we both met in separate rooms. The meeting lasted about an hour, included drinks and nibbles and was very comprehensive.

Afterwards my wife and I walked down the hill to the main road, turned left and walked about half a block, and had dinner in KFC before returning to our hotel room by about 8:15pm.

A leisurely read through some of the documentation provided by Rashid, time to write up our diaries and then it was a reasonably early night for us (about 10:30pm) ready to start our Turkey tour in earnest the next morning.

Day 2 – Monday 8 September 2008
Istanbul to Bursa (240 klms)

Wake up call at 6:30 am (we were up at 5.45am anyway)

Breakfast from 6.30am and bags out by 7am

Departure at 8am (although on this first day we had to all be down at the coach by 7.40am to confirm our bags before they were loaded on the coach)

Weather: Fine and hot.


A fair bit of confusion ensued this morning as everyone was down at the coach by 7:40am but most of our bags were not. The second coach was loading first and was missing 2 bags so they had not brought all of ours down while they searched for the other coaches missing ones. In the end they had to shift the other coach to allow ours in to load and the porters eventually brought all of our bags down.

After we all identified our bags and saw them loaded on our coach we departed only 10 minutes late at 8:10am.

Leaving the hotel our coach drove straight to the boat for our cruise of the Bosphorus (a natural straight divides 2 continents, Asia and Europe). Our cruise lasted from 8:40am to 9:50am and cruised up to where you could see the entrance to the Black Sea. During the trip we cruised past beautiful mansions, Ottoman Palaces, a large fortress, sailed under the suspension bridges and had a great view of the Dolmabahce Palace.



Reboarding our coach we then drove back across the Faith Sultan Mehmet Bridge and, after a short drive, took the car ferry for the half hour trip across the Bay of Izmit to Yalova where we stopped for lunch from 12:00 to 12:45 and Rashid explained the different foods available to us. For lunch I had Lentil soup which cost 11TL and oh yes, it cost 0.50 to use the toilets.

After lunch we continued on to Iznik where we had a 15 minute photo stop at St Sophia which was once a church then converted to a Mosque and is now being renovated. We also stopped for 10 minutes at the Istanbul Gate which is one of the 4 gates of the original Roman Wall around Iznik. It is called Istanbul Gate because ……….. it faces Istanbul. The wall is very thick and the Gate actually consists of 3 gates so that if an enemy got through the first gate they found that there were still 2 more. Iznik was originally called Nicaea.

Back on board our coach we drove to Bursa where we arrived at 3:45pm and were taken inside the Great Mosque before being given free time to explore the Silk Market and Bazaar (over 800 shops). We had an hour and a half here before being taken to our Hotel Kervansaray where we arrived at 5:40pm. The hotel was quite nice, very large and had 5 coaches in for the night. From our balcony we could see the Old Turkish Baths which are now part of the hotel.

Dinner tonight was at 7:10pm and comprised a large buffet with a large range of choices. Wine was quite expensive at around AU$12 a glass.

We were finished dinner and back in our room by around 8:30pm.

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Day 3 – Tuesday 9 September 2008
Bursa to Ankara (400 klms)

Wake up call at 6:30am (we were up at 6am)

Bags out by 7am

Breakfast from 6:30am

Departure at 8am

Weather: Fine and hot

The coach left the hotel at 8:10 am and we had a short drive to the Green Mosque in Bursa where we were taken inside and spent about 20 minutes with a talk by our TD. At this time of the morning it was not busy and in fact we were the only ones there. We were allowed to take photos and Rashid gave us a detailed history of the Mosque which was built in the 15th century. There are lots of green tiles on the walls inside and outside was originally covered with green tiles as well but the outside ones have disappeared over time.

At 8:50am we hopped back aboard our coach and leaving Bursa behind had a relatively short drive to the Cumalikizik Village where we were given 30 minutes to wander the narrow cobblestone streets of traditional wooden houses. Quite an interesting visit as this is one of the few traditional villages left in Turkey today.



Back on board our modern day chariot we drove on to a roadside café for a 20 minute rest stop before hitting the road again at 10:40am and continuing on to a shopping centre at Eskisehir for lunch at 11:55. During the drive to our lunch stop, Rashid told us lots of Turkish and Muslim history. He also told us that the population of Turkey is now 73 million of which 12 million live in Istanbul. The population is also 99% Muslim and has grown dramatically in the last 30 years because of displaced Muslim immigration from nearby countries.

After lunch we had a 2 hour drive through extremely dry and open country until at 3pm we arrived in Gordian where Alexander the Great cut the famous Gordian knot.

We stopped at the site of what is believed to be the Tomb of Phrygian King Midas. The burial chamber was covered with logs, then rocks, then more logs, then more rocks and finally dirt so that it forms a large dirt mound above the ground.



There are other tomb mounds visible in the area but the tomb of King Midas is the largest. A tunnel had been cut into the mound and we walked through the tunnel to view the burial chamber. After visiting the tomb we had a look in the museum that was located opposite and which contained some of the artifacts found in the tomb. We had 45 minutes in total at these two places.

On the road again we drove on to Turkey’s modern capital of Ankara (the landscape during the drive was quite barren until we were close to the city) and arrived at our luxury Hotel Sheraton at 5:25pm. Our room at this hotel was quite cool and a pleasant change to the previous night’s accommodation.

Dinner tonight was a 3 course table service dinner at 7:30pm comprising an entrée of cooked vegetables (Turkish style) with a main course of Veal Medallions and a desert of something similar to a flummery. Quite a nice meal.
We were finished dinner and back to our room by around 11pm.

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Day 4 – Wednesday 10 September 2008
Ankara to Cappadocia (280 klms)

Up at 6:15am and wake-up call at 6:30am

Breakfast and Bags out by 7am

Departure at 8am

Weather: Fine and hot

Once again we were 5 minutes late which was hard for us to get used to after our recent Bulletin Board tour which had departed early every morning.

A short drive took us to the Hittite Museum of Ankara (full name is Anatolian Civilization Museum) where our TD Rashid took us on a guided tour. The museum was not open when we arrived just before 8:30am and Rashid banged on the door. When they opened the door a crack and saw it was Rashid they opened up and let us all in and then closed the doors again.

The displays in this museum are laid out in chronological order and included a statuette, from Catalhoyuk, of the Mother Goddess. Rashid was extremely detailed covering just about every item in every showcase and explaining its history. So much so that, although we were the first group in, the 2nd tour bus and 3 other tours entered the museum and passed us with their explanations and then left while we were still progressing. It was all very interesting but frankly a little overkill and several, including myself, broke away from the group and wandered off on their own.

At 10:10am we left the museum (after nearly 2 hours of explanations) and drove up the hill to the Mausoleum of Ataturk (Turkey’s greatest leader of modern times) where we spent from 10:30 to 11:45 on our visit. It is a very impressive site and first we were taken to his tomb before being given free time.



During our free time we had a quick visit to the museum and it was extremely well done and interesting. The museum included dioramas (with sound effects) of the various battles that Turkey had been involved in over the years as well as many other displays. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos. After the museum we walked around the massive area of the Mausoleum Square and down the long Boulevard of stone Lions that lead up to the square.

Leaving the museum it was only a short drive to where we had lunch in Ankara from noon to to 12:55. The coach dropped us off near a street with a few cafes etc and my wife and I sat outside at a Pizza place. My wife had pizza while I had tomato soup (with a drink each) for a cost of 28.50TL.

Back on the coach and on the road again we had a couple of 10 minute rest stops en route to a 40 minute stop at the memorial tomb of Haci Bectas who was a Sufi Philosopher and spiritual leader.



We arrived at the Haci Bektas Museum (or Foundation House) at 4:35pm and the whole complex consists of courtyards, cells, pools, dining room (with authentic cauldrons) plus other rooms. The tomb of Haci Bektas is in the third courtyard.

After TD Rashid had guided us through the complex, while explaining some of the history, we returned to the coach at 5:15pm and drove on to Nevsehir in Cappadocia and our Hotel Dedeman where we arrived at 6:05pm. From our room I counted 10 coaches in the hotel parking lot.

Dinner was an included Buffet at 7pm comprising salads, soups, fish, chicken, pasta etc together with lots of pastries, cakes, watermelon and fruit salad. We finished dinner at approximately 8pm and at 8:45pm those taking the Whirling Dervish optional met on the coach.

At this point we were delayed about 10 minutes because our TD failed to show up. Our driver rang his room and found he had fallen asleep after dinner. Of course he was very apologetic. As soon as our TD arrived we drove straight to the Whirling Dervish Venue and arrived at about 9:20pm.

We found the evening quite interesting and were glad that we went but would not want to go a second time. The setting was good as it was located in a Surahan Caravansary that was built in 1249. The performance takes place in the centre of a square and our group were seated in the first 4 rows of one side of the square.

The Whirling Dervish “Sema” ceremony was performed by followers of the Sufi sect of Islam and starts with a prayer. Then a single flute plays mournfully, as it represents the flute’s reed as it longs to return to the reed beds, and gradually the drums and other musicians join in. The performers stand and then slowly move around in a circle bowing to each other before starting to spin with one hand held upwards towards the sky and the other hand facing down towards the earth. They whirl for quite a long time and do so in 4 sets with a different person moving into the centre each time.

After the performance we sat with some of our group on cushioned lounges in one of the alcoves off the courtyard and sipped cinnamon and cloves tea before leaving at 10:50pm to return to our hotel. Some people have described the experience as the best sleep they have had while others have enjoyed it. Most of our group that attended the performance, including my wife and myself, found it interesting and, as I said earlier, we were glad that we went.

On the way back to our hotel we drove past some of the Fairy Chimneys in Goreme, which were all lit up, but we didn’t stop as our TD said we would see them again tomorrow night and stop for photos then when the rest of the group were also with us.

We arrived back at the hotel around 11:20 and were in bed by midnight.

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Day 5 – Thursday 11 September 2008
Cappadocia

Up at 6:15am and wake-up call at 6:30am

Breakfast at 7am and Departure at 8am

Weather: Fine and hot

As usual we departed about 5 minutes late and then we had a short drive in this incredible volcanic landscape to visit the Goreme’s rock carved churches with their ancient frescos in the Goreme Open Air Museum. We arrived about 8:20 and spent about 2 hours or more in this unique location of fairy like chimneys and rooms carved out of the rocks. A scenery dotted with caves and troglodyte dwellings and churches.



Rashid gave us a guided tour through the area and we visited a number of the ancient Christian churches including Karanlik Church, Elmali Church and Tokali Church which were built inside the rock and contained many frescos.



It was a long walk up the hill to start but after that it was all downhill (except of course for the steps up into the churches). We also visited an extra church that was not included in the tour but, as Rashid thought it was worth it, most of us paid the extra 8TL to go in. It was called the Dark Church, was well preserved and probably the most colourful of those that we visited. We then had about 15 minutes free time before walking down the hill to the car park where our coach was waiting for us.

At 10:45am we drove to a Carpet Factory where we arrived at 11:15 and had almost 2 hours of demonstration of carpet weaving by hand, extracting silk from the silk cocoons and exhibitions of various carpets.



During the carpet exhibitions we were served drinks and Turkish pizza. Some of the carpets were quite expensive and one was US$60,000.

We finally left the carpet factory at 1:10pm and drove to the Underground City of Kaymakli (1:35pm) which is the 2nd most important underground city in the region. It is believed to have housed thousands of people from the 6th to the 9th century. We had a local guide take us down 3 levels and through the intricate maze of tunnels, compartments and old living quarters where in years past the locals would hide for extended periods from attacks and invasions. Some of the tunnels were very low so that you were bent double to traverse them and some were fairly long as well. A very interesting tour and being a person who likes either descending into caves or climbing towers it was one I enjoyed.

At 2:30pm we drove to the Cone of Uchisar for a 15 minute photo stop then on to another photo stop of 10 minutes looking out over the Matina Valley. Our final photo stop was 20 minutes at the “Fairy Chimneys” were several of us climbed as high as we could to view this strange landscape.



These were all fantastic viewing points and the whole panorama of Cappadocia was an incredible experience and definitely the highlight of the trip for me to this point. At 4:30pm we then drove back to our hotel where we arrived about 5pm.

Our included dinner at 7pm was again a buffet and at 8:30pm we met at the coach for a 30 minute drive to Avanos (near Goreme) for a colourful folklore show in an underground cave and on the way we had a 5 minute photo stop at the Fairy Chimneys which were lit up at night.

At the folklore Show we sat at long tables in alcoves. My wife and I couldn’t see very well as our backs were more or less towards where they performed and we had to twist around to see. Drinks were unlimited during the evening and an ensemble of male and female dancers performed various styles of dance throughout the evening finishing with Cossack dancers. The definite highlight however was the Belly Dancer who was one of the best that I have seen and took about half a dozen men from the crowd, including one of our group, to get them to imitate her movements. Very entertaining. I thought it rather odd however that the belly dancer wore stiletto heels – they generally dance barefoot.

We returned to the hotel by about 11:15pm, repacked our suitcases and were in bed by around midnight.

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Day 6 – Friday 12 September 2008
Cappadocia to Konya (225 klms)

Although it was not an optional offered by Insight, our TD arranged a hot air balloon ride for about a dozen of us so it was an early start this morning for those of us who were taking the balloon ride.

I was up at 4:30am and packed my suitcase for my wife to put out later as she was not doing the Balloon ride.

At 5am we were waiting in front of the hotel to be picked up and the 20 minutes or so drive in the mini busses took us to Cappadocia Balloons where we checked in, paid our €165 and had tea, coffee and biscuits. Our group all made sure we were in the same balloon with Mike as the pilot and after a short drive up the valley we watched the balloon being inflated before we boarded the large basket. There were 20 people plus the pilot in the basket which was divided into 5 compartments. The pilot in the centre compartment and 5 people each in the other 4 compartments.

After a brief safety run through of the positions we had to take when landing, the balloon gently lifted into the air and, as we rose above the 2 other balloons from Cappadocia Balloons that were taking off in the same valley, the sun rose over the distant mountains. A beautiful sight. But more was to come because as we rose higher we watched the fantastic sight of dozens and dozens of brightly coloured hot air balloons rising from all over the valleys and areas of Cappadocia. Almost as far as we could see were hot air balloons rising to various heights.



Mike truly was an incredible pilot and watching the many other balloons soon convinced us that he was the best. It was a truly awesome journey as he flew the balloon so low through some of the valleys and between huge monoliths.



As you approached a cliff face towering over the front of you Mike would raise the balloon so precisely that it just cleared the edge of the cliff face with the bottom of the basket actually brushing across the grass.

After about 30 minutes of this low flying Mike took the balloon up to around 2,000 feet for a truly panoramic view of the valleys, mountains, volcano and river. The flight lasted about an hour altogether and touched down without tipping the basket. The support truck drove up and, with us still in the basket, Mike turned on the burners again and gently lifted us back off the ground, across and then down onto the trailer.

After disembarking from the basket we were served champagne and cake to celebrate our flight before being driven back to our hotel where we arrived about 8:40am. This was a fantastic experience and one that I would recommend to anyone touring Turkey. It still remains as my favourite experience of the entire tour.

The majority of the group, who had not gone ballooning, had a wake-up call at 7:30am, breakfast at 8am and departure scheduled for 9am. We “Ballooners” just had time to duck up to our rooms before going back down to check out and board the coach.

At 9:10am the coach left to take us first to Firea Pottery and Ceramics, at Avanus near Gorema, where we had about an hour for a demonstration of pottery making including the old kick wheel type and where one of our ladies was chosen to attempt to make some pottery. After the demonstrations we were taken into the showrooms where a number of our fellow travellers made purchases but we did not. The shop and pottery studio is all in a group of interconnecting caves and is a family business that has been in the same family for a very long time.

At 10:30 we reboarded the coach and headed to Konya. First stop was a roadside café rest stop at Agide. Then on to Aksaray where we had lunch at a roadhouse from 11:45 to 12:35 before continuing on again.

Next stop was at the Caravanserai of Sultanhani which was built in 1229 and was one of the stops on the Silk Road from China. This was a 50 minute stop with a detailed guided tour by our TD Rashid before having 10 minutes to take some photos. We left the Caravanserai at 1:55pm and, apart for a brief rest room stop enroute, drove straight though to Konya.

Konya is Turkey’s most religious city and was once the home of the mystic sect of Whirling Dervishes. It was also the old capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire.

First we visited the Mevlana Museum with its beautiful fluted turquoise dome. We had to put plastic bags over our shoes before entering and Rashid gave us a guided tour. The museum is actually an enlargement of the original dervish lodge and contains the tomb of Rumi who was the 13th century founder of the Mevlevi Dervish Sect – better known as the Whirling Dervishes. The museum contains some very old manuscripts, books and carpets on display in glass cases. Another building in the grounds was where Sufi used to live) and it had rooms set out with models to show what it was like back in the days of Sufi. We also saw the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret. We were there from 3:40 to 4:20 and then drove the short distance to our Hotel Dedamen where we arrived at 4:30pm and, after checking in, we walked across the road to a shopping Mall where we found an ATM to obtain some more local currency.

Our included dinner was at 7:45pm as we couldn’t have dinner before 7:30pm because of Ramadan. Once again it was another buffet and it was some time after 9pm when we returned to our room.

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Day 7 – Saturday 13 September 2008
Konya to Antalya (340 klms)

We were up at 7am and wake-up call was at 7:30.

Breakfast and bags out by 8am

Departure at 9am

Weather: HOT

At 9:05 we departed the hotel and this was mainly a day of driving with the scenery changing from dry open grounds, to mountains, to the green of the coast.

In the morning we had a 20 minute stop at a roadside café at 10:20 and a photo stop of the Cedars of Lebanon tree as we climbed over the Taurus Mountains.

Lunch was a 45 minute stop at a roadside café at noon but instead of eating in the restaurant most of us walked across to a nearby tent where we sat around on cushions and rugs on the floor inside the tent while we watched a Turkish lady cook a type of pancake, over a small open fire, for each of us.



It was an interesting and different experience to eating lunch in the café and we were glad that our TD had suggested it. I had meat and cheese and my wife had cheese and potato.

Back on the road we drove to Aspendos for a visit to what is considered to be the best preserved Roman Theatre anywhere in the world.



We had 40 minutes here and at 2:50 we were once again on the coach to drive to the Hellenistic/Roman city of Perge where we stopped for a while to visit these extensive ruins (from 3:30pm to 5pm).

This one and a half hour guided walk in Perge was quite taxing for many on the tour as we were walking in the sun in very hot conditions and a number had to drop out and turn back before we had finished. These extensive ruins at Perge included the Great Theatre, The Stadium, the Bath House and the Gate Towers leading into a street where ancient chariot ruts can still be seen in the paving stones, the Bath House which had under floor heating and the colonnaded Agora.



Rashid gave his usual informative talk and there was quite a lot of walking in the heat. Some of the group even quit part way through and headed back to the entrance. By the time we eventually reboarded the coach everyone was exhausted and extremely grateful when it was started and the air-conditioning came on. The bottles of water that the driver kept in the small onboard fridge for us (2 bottles for 1 YTL) were raided heavily by our group.

Departing Perge at 5pm (the very first time on the tour that the coach had left anywhere on time) we drove straight to our Sheraton Hotel in Antalya where we arrived at 6pm. This was a very nice hotel.

Dinner tonight was an included buffet at 7pm, with a wide selection of choices, and we all sat out on the Patio area. Although it was still warm it had cooled down a lot after the sun had set.

We finished dinner at approximately 8:30pm and returned to our room to do some washing.

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Day 8 – Sunday 14 September 2008
Antalya

No wake-up call today but we were up at 7am anyway

We had breakfast at 7.45am and our departure was scheduled for 9:30am

Weather: HOT

It was a “free day” today but for those of us who were interested our TD Rashid had arranged a boat for the morning to take us for a cruise along the coast (cost 25YTL each) and almost everyone went. It was a short drive to the Old Town where we walked down some alleyways to the Old Harbour. Our boat was waiting for us and as soon as we boarded at 10am the boat departed.

This was a very pleasant morning indeed and lasted 2 hours and 38 minutes. We cruised east along the coast with cliffs rising from the sea, past a small waterfall and several grottos in the cliff that had been formed by the waves. At the furthest point of our cruise there was the Lower Duden Waterfall (at Lara) which was a large waterfall thundering into the ocean.



Our boat anchored off shore from this waterfall and some of us jumped overboard for a swim in the Mediterranean. The water was surprisingly warm, extremely salty and very buoyant. No need to tread water as you could just float or even remain in a vertical position without any movements of your hands and feet. This swim in the Mediterranean was thoroughly enjoyable and refreshing and afterwards our boat motored back to the Old Town Harbour where we arrived at 12:38.

Our coach was not scheduled to pick us up until 2:30 so we wandered off to explore some of the streets and alleys of the Old Town which were filled with souvenir shops etc. We then had toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch on a terrace at the top of the cliff (overlooking the Harbour and the Mediterranean), and then waited for the coach.



On the way back to the hotel the coach stopped at the museum to let 4 of us get off to visit the Anatalya Archaeological Museum. The rest of our group were all too hot and weary and anxious to get back to the hotel.

The Anatalya Archaeological Museum was quite interesting, cost 30TL each and we spent about an hour there. When we first entered the Museum we commented about how lovely and cool it was inside and then we saw that the temperature readings on the LEDs near the air-conditioning units were reading 27 degrees. We don’t know what the temperature was outside but it must have been at least in the mid to high 30s Celsius because it was so very hot and humid.

The museum had quite a lot of large marble sculptures dating from the 2nd century AD and many from Perge where we had visited the previous day. There were also a number of large sarcophagi etc and many other displays as well. It is one of the best Turkish museums and such a shame that so many of our tour group missed it.



Leaving the Museum around 3:40pm we walked along the cliff top path for a little way and then part way down the road to the beaches before walking back up and returning to our hotel at around 4:10 pm hot and exhausted. Coming back we entered through the back gate and walked through the nice gardens of the hotel and around the huge pool.

Our 7pm dinner tonight was excellent and one of the best meals we had on the tour. Roast Turkey, Beef, chips and lots of vegetables and pasta dishes. We returned to our room around 8:45pm and repacked ready to leave tomorrow.

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Day 9 – Monday 15 September 2008
Antalya to Pamukkale (260 klms)

Up at 6:15am and wake-up call at 7:30.

Breakfast from 7:45 and bags out by 8am

Departure at 9am

Weather: Fine and HOT

Today was essentially a day of travel over the Taurus Mountains and on to Pamukkale and we departed at 9:04, had a 20 minute rest stop at 9:55 and lunch at a Roadhouse from 12:06 to 12:50. We both had spicy lentil soup and a pepsi for lunch was quite nice and cost 11TL.

On reaching Pamukkale at 2pm we had a 10 minute rest stop then on to a photo stop at the village below the Cotton Castles at 2:20pm. After the photo stop the coach headed up to the top and we were half way there when it was realised that 2 people had been left behind (apparently gone into some shops). The coach turned around and drove back down to the village where we found the 2 women from South Africa waiting on the footpath. After picking them up we headed back up to the top where we arrived at the entrance to the ruins of the ancient Acropolis and limestone terraces at 2:37.

Pamukkale means “Cotton Castle” in Turkish and this is an apt description. The Cotton Castles are a series of dazzling white limestone terraces and Rashid took us through to where we could take our shoes off and wade in the top terrace but because of a rapidly approaching electrical storm he reduced our time there from 30 minutes to only 15 minutes.

My wife and I decided that meeting back at the top in 15 minutes would not give us time to get very far down towards where most of the people were (plus we had nothing to wipe our feet with afterwards), so we walked through a gap in one of the stone walls and went for a short walk along the rim instead. Looking back at the terraces from the rim we could see that there were some quite large white pools further down with people bathing in them but it was obvious that we would not have had sufficient time to reach there.



At this stage we were getting flashes of lightning and claps of thunder and within minutes of starting our walk the rain started in large heavy drops. We took a couple of quick photos in the rain and then sheltered against one of the ruin’s walls for a couple of minutes before heading back to the group who at this stage were sheltering under some trees (not the wisest place to take shelter in an electrical storm).

After a while the rain started to ease but there were still many lightning flashes. Rashid asked who wanted to go back to the coach and who would like to continue with him on a guided walk through the ruins of the Hierapolis…… all bar about a half dozen elected to go on even though none of us had any wet weather gear with us and it would take about an hour to walk down to the bottom entrance.

We started walking with the rain having almost stopped and within a few minutes it stopped altogether (although the lightning continued every now and then). We were actually grateful for the rain because it cooled things down quite a bit. The walk was fairly long but quite interesting as we walked through the Agora, the colonnaded streets, the main street and the Acropolis of Hierapolis (the graveyard). This is the largest graveyard in Antolia with more than 1,200 stone sarcophagi and tombs from the Roman, Hellenistic and early Christian periods. Our coach met us at the bottom at 4:35pm and the whole visit took us just over 2 hours.



At 4:40 we arrived at our Hotel Colossae and checked into our rooms. This hotel was more like a 2 storey motel and quite a contrast to the Sheraton Hotel where we had stayed the previous night. Although the rooms were small they were clean and tidy and really that is all you need. The hotel also had a mineral spring with temperature of 44 degrees Celsius as well as an indoor pool and a large outdoor pool.



Dinner tonight was at 7:30 and was once again an included buffet in an open air restaurant beside the pool. There must have been at least 6 tour groups in the hotel this night and we finished dinner at approximately 9:10pm.

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