Cappadocia, Turkey - Part 2

We don't usually purchase "big" souvenirs when we travel.  We generally stick to postcards and fridge magnets as they're light, small and travel well.  We followed this practice for the first two months of our world trip but then we got to Cappadocia ...

The town of Avanos has been a centre for terracotta pottery and art since 3,000 BC.  We visited a gallery in Avanos where Vanessa made some pottery and then we headed to their showroom where they had lots of unique items.

Vanessa's creation from the pottery wheel

Our purchase - wine jug unique to Cappadocia

There's one other important thing to note about Avanos.  In ancient times, the town was named Venessa.  You still see Venessa in various spots across town such as this sign for a ceramics manufacturer.

After Avanos / Venessa, we headed to Goreme to learn about Turkish rugs.  Lots of folks who've visited Turkey said we'd definitely leave with a Turkish rug.  We didn't plan on buying one but once we got there ...

Vanessa trying out the merchandise

Our purchase

In our earlier post on Cappadocia, we mentioned that living in caves or underground used to be common in the area.  It's less common now but there are a number of cave hotels where you can have a cave experience while still having modern amenities.  Here are a few photos from the cave hotel we stayed at.

Inside our cave

Front of the hotel with rooms in the cliff

Soaking up the sun outside of the caves

A blog post wouldn't be complete without a cute cat photo.  Our cave hotel had lots of cats hanging around. Here's one having a bath.

This was the end of our one week stay in Turkey.  We almost had to stay longer as we headed to the airport but left our passports and cash behind in our hotel room.  Thanks to some fast thinking and even faster driving by our driver, Suleyman, we made our flight to Africa.

Next up - safari!

Vanessa and Blake

Cappadocia, Turkey - Part 1

Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey.  It has an interesting history that's closely linked to the land - specifically soft rock that's abundant both above and below ground.

In the second century, slaves and Christians made their way to Cappadocia when fleeing the Roman army. To hide from the Romans, they built underground cities by tunnelling through the soft rock.  The cities were a labyrinth of rooms and tunnels and had everything you needed to live underground for long periods.  The cities were difficult for the Romans to find and difficult to invade if discovered.

We visited the underground city in Kaymakli.  It is one of the largest of hundreds of underground settlements in Cappadocia.  It is several stories deep with the first four open to the public.

One of the underground rooms

Tunnels going in many different directions

Small tunnels made it hard for invaders to move around

Large stones were used to block off areas from invaders 

In Cappadocia, there's also extensive tunnelling above ground to form churches, monasteries and homes. Goreme is an area where there are a large number of monasteries and churches carved into the rock.

Monasteries and churches are inside this rock

Exposed part of a monastery where rock has eroded away

Eating area - stone table on the left

The most impressive church at Goreme is the Dark Church.  It has very well preserved frescoes (paintings) that were done in the 11th century.  You're not allowed to take photos or videos inside the church so we can't show you what we saw but here's a link to a video taken inside.  Here's hoping that whoever took the video (Canadians we believe) did so with permission!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br87jJNGNSI

People living in the rock isn't something that stopped long ago.  We visited Zelve which was an occupied area until the 1950s.  We also visited the town of Uchisar where rock structures are in use today.

Zelve - settlement and monastery

Inside a church at Zelve

Uchisar village with Uchisar Castle on the left

View from Uchisar Castle - highest point in Cappadocia

Some of the rock in Cappadocia has been shaped by nature rather than human hands.  There are places where the soft rock has eroded away and left behind harder stone in unique shapes.  Here's a few.

"Fairy chimneys"

A real big stone being held up by ... not much

Head of an "angry rabbit"

In addition to rock structures, Cappadocia also has an ancient Roman city called Sobesos.  It's a fairly recent discovery and the site is still under excavation.

Bath with heating coils on the bottom

Area that was originally a temple and then made into a church

We still have more to share from Cappadocia.  Stay tuned for part 2.

Vanessa and Blake 

Trabzon, Turkey

We are often asked how we decided where to go on our trip.  Lots of our destinations were picked from a book called "501 Places In The World You Must Visit".  The book was a Christmas present from our nephews Simon and Maclean and we loved flipping through the book as we built our travel plans.

The Sumela Monastery, located near Trabzon, is in the 501 Places book.  The photo in the book is incredible and it's the reason the monastery was a stop on our trip.

The monastery is built into a wall of rock and it sits 300 metres (almost 1,000 feet) above the valley floor.

Lucky for us, a road has been built to take you most of the way up to the monastery.  After a short climb, we walked through the monastery.

Overlooking the monastery with the wall of rock on the left

Looking down to the valley below

Steps down to the monastery's central courtyard

Rock Church - built into the wall of rock

Inside the Rock Church with paintings on the rock

The monastery is amazing to look at but it's also an important part of the Greek Orthodox religion.  The monastery used to be home for an icon (small painting on wood) of the Virgin Mary that is believed to possess miraculous properties.  The monastery was closed in the 1920s and the icon is now located in a monastery in Macedonia in Greece, however, Sumela monastery remains an important religious site and services held there attract large numbers of worshippers. 

Here are photos from the rest of our short stay in Trabzon.

Overlooking Trabzon and the Black Sea

Square next to our hotel

Hazelnuts are a major export from Trabzon

We've now had two great stops in Turkey and we still have one more to go.  Why didn't we visit Turkey sooner? 

Vanessa and Blake

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul was our first visit to an Islamic city and we were there during Ramadan.  It was a great learning experience and we really enjoyed the city.

We stayed 'on the beaten path' to start - literally - there's a walking path that links three of the most significant sites in Istanbul and the sites are a very short distance apart.

Our first stop was Hagia Sophia.  It was built as a Catholic church in the 6th century and was converted to a mosque in the 15th century.  The result is a building that includes both Christian and Islamic elements.

Hagia Sophia

Inside

Stone floor at entrance worn by centuries of use

Mosaic of Virgin Mary and Jesus between two Islamic plaques

Mihrab (part of the mosque) with Virgin Mary and Jesus above

Next up was the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.  It is also known as the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles used in the interior.  It is an amazing building and it was interesting to see how it differed from a church.

In the courtyard in front of the Blue Mosque

The amazing interior

The last of our three stops on the beaten path was Topkapi Palace.  It was built in the 15th century and was home for 400 years to sultans who ruled over lands that now include Turkey.

Intricate tiles cover rooms in the sultan's residence 

Meeting area - nicer than any boardroom we've been in!

We then stepped off the beaten path but not too far - just across the street to the Basilica Cistern.  The cistern was built almost 1,500 years ago to provide a permanent water supply to the areas that now make up Istanbul.  The cistern isn't used anymore and only has a few feet of water in it but it could store 100,000 tons of water.

Columns lit up in the cistern

Vanessa's photo art - note the ceiling reflected in the water below 

Medusa's head used as a base for a column

Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting but it's also a time of celebration.  Fasting is done during daylight hours and there is a fast breaking meal at sunset each day.  Mosques, parks and streets are decorated with lights and everyone is out in the evening with family and friends.

Ramadan occurs at a different time each year.  It was in August in 2011 so we got to see how it's celebrated in Istanbul when we visited in late August.

Blue Mosque at night

Carnival in front of Blue Mosque

Getting together after sunset

Ramadan wasn't the only celebration taking place while we were in Istanbul.  Vanessa's birthday was on our last day in Istanbul.  Dogum gunun kutlu olsun - may your birthday be blessed!

Birthday lunch - nothing fancy but hey we're in Istanbul!

Birthday present - a scarf from the Grand Bazaar

Last but not least we want to say a big thank you to our friends at the Sirkeci Konak Hotel where we stayed in Istanbul.  They were a big reason why our stay in Istanbul was a wonderful experience.  When we arrived, they were very welcoming and provided the best orientation to a city that we've ever had.  They invited us to a fast breaking dinner where we enjoyed Turkish dishes.  They also gave Vanessa a birthday gift.  We've stayed in plenty of hotels during our travels but the staff at the Sirkeci Konak are the best we've ever met.

Blake and Vanessa