Where the East meets the West

My summer adventure started with a rendezvous with Kerry & Chris in the capital city of Istanbul. This is the only city in the world which spans two continents – both Asia & Europe. We joined an “On the Go” tour for a seven day journey along the fairly well travelled tourist trail in Western Turkey.

Istanbul is an easy city to travel around and is full of culture. A few of the main sites we visited included the Grand Bazaar (top left), the Spice Market (bottom right), the Blue Mosque (above right) and Hagia Sofia (below left). The dome of this building is the third largest in the world, following St Paul’s Cathedral & St Peter’s Basilica. It was built in 537AD and was the largest Cathedral for almost 1000 years. It was converted a museum in the 1900’s after being a Mosque for 500 years.

From Istanbul we headed West following the Dadenelles strait, a narrow yet major thoroughfare for cargo ships travelling to the Black Sea. It is understandable why this area was of such strategic importance in the Battle of Gallipoli. Below are photos of Anzac Cove and the Lone Pine Cemetary, one of the many memorials in the area. It was a privilege to visit the site where the Brits, French & ANZACs endured an eight month long campagin in WWI and also to pay respect to the c40,000 fallen soldiers. We continued our journey south with a car ferry ride across the Dardenelles. After a morning stop in the ancient city of Troy, known for the Trojan wars in Greek mythology & the infamous Trojan horse, we drove to the ancient city Pergamum. The photo to the left is of the Hellenistic Theatre. With seating capacity of 10,000, this is the steepest seating of any known theatre in the ancient world. On the right we have the boys on tour (including the eldest member of our group affectionately known to all as Grandpa) posing as sculptures.

With our trusty local tour guide Erol leading the way we headed towards the coast, to the seaside town of Kusadasi. We had a great view of the harbour and the cruise boats from our hotel. In addition to visiting the ancient city of Ephesus (which is highly recommended for anyone in the area!) we treated ourselves to an authentic Turkish bath, including a sauna, full scrub & wash down and massage. Below is a photo of us drinking apple tea as we wait for our massage!

From the coast we headed inland to Pamukkale. This is an intriguing natural wonder. Over time the sedimentary rock deposited by water from the hot springs (known as travertines) covered the mountain with white terraced pools (see below left). People have bathed in the pools for thousands of years and continue to do so today. In addition to wading through the pool terraces, we walked around the ruins of the ancient city of Heirapolis which was built on top of this “white castle”. The photo below right is of the reconstruction Domitian gate.