Whirling Dervishes

We went to a performance of the traditional Whirling Dervishes.  They are an Islamic sect that believe that as the earth rotates one must whirl in order to get closer to God.  So they whirl in beautiful white  outfits that represent purity.  I would like to put up a video of it, but I left my camera behind at the performance.  The other interesting thing about them is they said that they were Islamists before and disliked anyone who wasn't a muslim.  Now in this sect they love everyone - even us!  Unfortunately, I don't think it is speading. LOL

We flew out to Istanbul early the next morning so I haven't got the camera back yet.  Tauck in their usual efficiency got my camera returned to me and it should be waiting downstairs at reception for me now.

We are staying in a beautiful old world boutique hotel, called the Pera Palace.  People used to ride the Orient Express and then get carried here by servants.  Agatha Christie stayed here whilst researching for "Murder on the Orient Express".  Probably got info on her book on the Whirling Dervishes as well.  That was my only information on Whirling Dervishes before this trip.

It is so nice to just relax now and not be on the go.  The tour has been great and we have seen so much, but we had to catch up on much needed sleep.

We have an afternoon flight to Santorini via Athens this afternoon.

Cappadocia and Balloon Ride



Balloons over Cappadocia

We went on the first balloon ride off our lives this morning.  We had to get up at 4.45am to get up before the winds came up.  This is the largest balloon area in the world launching up to 85 balloons in one morning.  I took this picture from our balloon.

We flew over the valley full of these natural "Fairy Chimmney" structures. Our guide called it Viagra Valley. See the pictures and decide for yourself.

More homes

Greek Orthodox homes in caves before the Greeks were shipped back to Greece in 1920's



Cappadocia

Hotel Room built into a cave

We have arrived in a delightful region of Turkey called Cappadocia. Translated it means the place of beautiful horses. It has natural rock formations called fairy chimneys.  They are made by volcanic ash compacted over thousands of years and then eroding from water, leaving these interesting formations.  It is strong rock but very light, like pumice stone. The most interesting thing is that ancient civilisations carved them out and lived in them, dating back to 7000BC.  There are still people living in these homes, with running water, electricity and plumbing installed. Our hotel is one such place.  It is absolutely fascinating and also very luxurious.

Turkey just continues to delight us.  It is so interesting and varied.  We drove through some pretty primitive villages today – not quite 3^rd world.  Tauck, our travel guides, have a foundation and help a school in one such village.  The bus stopped there today and the kids in the school – all 36 of them – were very excited.  More advanced than an African village but the similarities are there.  The big difference is that the Turkish government is doing their very best to modernised the entire economy.  Western Turkey is very western/European.  We are in the central region. The east where the Kurds live and they are a real problem  for the rest of the country.  In the past 10 years there has been a political drift to the right wing conversative Islamist parties and this is a great source of concern to the secular educated Turks.

Antalya

The Harbour of Anatoyla

Another day in the beautiful city of Anatoyla.
The highlight of the day was a visit to the Turkish Baths in the hotel.  This hotel is out of this world.  We just don't make hotels like this one in Australia.  It is like a marble palace.
Anyway, it's full of Russian and German tourists, but not many as it's not yet peak season. 
The mixed saunas and steam rooms were frequented by the Russkies in tiny g-strings provided by the hotel, and some were bollock naked.

Anatoyla with Taurus Mountains in background

It was enough to send Will on his way back to the room.  I felt that I had experience dealing with this kind of nakedness and I braved it out, albeit with  towel around me.  Some of the men were very good looking, not that I was looking if you know what I mean!

Ancient burial chamber - hundreds of years BC and the urn was put in their homes!!

We went to a museum and saw a heap of Roman and Greek statues taken from the ruins for preservation. 

This statue took our interest.  This one's for you Athena.  Your namesake has a great history.  We were told many interesting stories of the Greek Gods.  As usual, I always promise myself that I will learn more when I get home...  One story was a very interesting one about the decorations hanging on the Christmas tree.  Please remind us to tell you about it - you won't feel the same about a Christmas tree after you hear it!  LOL

Athena

Alexander the Great

Ancient Roman City of Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus is the largest Roman City that I have seen that has been excavated.  The archaeologists have only uncovered 1/10th of the city.
The people had beautiful homes with every modern facility of ancient times - heating, running water, ceramic tiled floors, internal toilets and bathrooms.
Damn the barbarians!  They ruined a great civilisation and put us in the dark ages!

Running Water

Decorated Walls

Wall decorations taken from Ephesus

Tiled floor in a Roman home

Decorated Walls in a private home

Izmir and Antayla

Kaminski Resort, Antayla

This is the view from our bedroom, taken using the panoramic feature of Windows Photo Gallery.  We always thought that the hotels in Beijing were the best that we had ever stayed in, but this place is spectacular. Turkey has many 6 and 7 Star Hotels, and with 31 Million tourists a year, no wonder.  This is overlooking the Mediterranean.

Ancient City of Sardis

Sardis Synagogue

We went an saw many Roman ruins and have had more education about the history of Turkey and the many civilisations that have conquered this place.

Sardis, partially restored

Istanbul

View from Hotel Room in Istanbul

 We arrived in Istanbul after a very comfortable stay in Abu Dhabi, compliments of Etihad Airlines.
The next day was May Day and the entire city area where we were staying was shut down.  There were thousands of protesters marching in the street.  We managed to get out and go for a 2 hour walk to see it all first hand.  We then had problems getting back into our hotel.  For some strange reason, they decided to congregate in front of the hotel before moving on to the square.

Protest in square on Mayday

 The next day after sight seeing, I decided to go down town to do some shopping.  I confronted more protesters, this time protesting about the football.  Apparently they were accused of fixing the games.  that was enough for them to take to the streets.  Again, thousand of them, dozens of riot police with their riot shields and tear gas to boot!!  Really, don't they have a  life?

Sultan's Palace - outside the Harem!

 Istanbul is a very interesting city. 17 million people.  Much more of a European city than we expected.
We toured the Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, the Sultan's palace and many other sights in the city.

Sultan's Palace

Hagia Sophia in the background

It is much colder than we expected.  We had to go out and buy jackets.  Apparently it is because of the cold water flowing from the Black Sea that keeps the temperature down.

Outside Harem

Cruising on the Bosphorus