Turkish Fog

Being in a foreign land where you don’t speak the language and where customs are so different means living in a perpetual fog. Take for example Evan’s and my attempt to sit at a restaurant in Istanbul. It was on a pedestrian street in a part of town not too often visited by tourists. They had rigged up a TV outside to watch a soccer game. There was only one table free and it was set for four, so we wanted to make sure it was ok to sit there.

When faced with non English speakers, Evan is a fan of extravagant hand gestures and elaborate explanations. He believes, perhaps correctly, that it builds trust to try to explain the situation in English even if the recipient can’t understand. That the listening and trying to understand creates empathy.

(For example, when our cell phone was not working and we wanted to use someone else’s, my strategy was to simply say, “Broken,” with a long face and maybe a little pantomime. Instead, Evan explained that he had bought the phone in another part of Europe and that European phones only work for two weeks in Turkey because there is a high tax on phones in Turkey and they don’t want people smuggling them in to avoid the taxes, but we did not know this so our phone was not functional, but our SIM card was so if we could borrow their phone we could put our SIM card in and they would not be charged.) (In the end we just gave them our phone and they saw for themselves that it was not working.)

So we arrived at this restaurant and in a frenzy of flying arms, gesticulating hands and lots of English explanation, Evan asked if we could sit there even though we were only two people. To my astonishment, it seemed to work and the proprietor cleared away the extra two plates. As we waited for our menu, the proprietor returned with the two beers we had unintentionally ordered. After accepting the drinks, we also got a menu. Faced with a Turkish menu, we chose three dishes that had delectable sounding names that we did not understand. After twenty minutes, the waiter brought out our two dishes which we accepted in our ever present fog.

Natural Beauty

There are tons of great day hikes around the sculpted landscape and small villages of Cappadocia. Evan and I did one in the Ilhara valley. The guidebook called it one of the top 40 places to see in Turkey for its steep cliffs that towered two hundred feet over the river valley. (It was also cool because Christian hermit monks lived all over the valley before monks moved to communal monasteries.) (Back in the day each of the monks had their own mini monastery and cave for shelter.) While it was gorgeous and a really nice hike, what struck me was comparing it to home. The Valley would not even be on the radar screen in America. We are so blessed with natural beauty that a 12 mile valley as pretty as Ilhara Valley would not even register. It surely would not be an international attraction, like Yellowstone or Yosemite. It would not even be a national attraction, like Glacier or North Cascades, or even a regional attraction like Big Sur or the Marin Headlands. It would be a very nice local park that draws from the surrounding cities and county.

Obviously the US parks do not have millenniums-old churches, but those are not the draw for the Ilhara valley (there are better examples nearby), what draws people to the site is the nature.

So, I came away feeling very lucky that within a short way of my house are such amazing parks and wilderness.

Underground Cities

It was not so easy being a Christian before the Roman empire accepted the religion. There were also other battles about who-knows-what that made life difficult. The Cappadochians wanted a place that they could take shelter when maurading armies came through. So, using what they had, they carved out entire underground cities where they could stay for weeks if need be. Up to 1000 people could fit into the one we visited. It was very well planned with massive ventilation shafts, a well, a communal kitchen and eight floors of living space. The entrances were through long narrow passageways and the Cappadochians set up giant circular stones that could be rolled into place to block the tunnel. So, from the inside of the tunnel there was a side room, so a bunch of people could wedge this door across the tunnel, but from the direction that led to the outside, only one person could squeeze in at a time, so the invaders could not move the piece of rock and therefore could not get in.

For more protection, several of the underground cities were linked with tunnels that were several miles long.

What I thought was most amazing was the amount of organization that was needed to keep the underground cities at the ready. They had to be stocked with wood and food and everyone needed to know which living niche was theirs. There are no written records about how it was all organized so it remains a mystery.

Cappadochia

Cappadocia, located in central Turkey, is a land out of a cartoon. Millions of years ago, volcanic eruptions covered the earth with ash, which eventually formed into soft rock. On top of this, the volcanoes occasionally spewed lava, which formed small blobs of hard rock. Over time this led to the wonderland of Cappadocia.

One of the coolest results was how the soft rock erodes away, but places where the lava landed were somewhat protected from erosion. Eventually, “fairy chimneys” were formed, which look like mushrooms or phalluses, 50 or more feet tall. In other areas where there was not much lava, the multicolored ash was eroded into graceful sculpted ridges. As far as the eye can see the land was laid out in soft, gentle curves of yellows and reds.

Ancient residents of the region discovered that the rock that had formed from the ash could be carved. Many of the fairy penises, I mean fairy chimneys, were hollowed out and made into caves for homes (now mostly hotels) or churches (now historic sites). (It is fun to live in a cave for a week, but it is damp and prone to mold so not so good for long term living.)

(Caption - Drying grapes. Cappadochia was (and still is to some extent) a wine and grape growing region)

Troublemakers on the Bus

We made it to Cappadocia after a grueling 11 hour overnight bus trip. During the first 11 minutes of that trip we learned and violated several key rules about bus travel in Turkey.

Sitting next to us were two women from the US, which was unusual because very few visitors to Turkey are from the US. I guess we were a little too excited because the bus driver’s assistant quickly came over and told us to keep it down. I am not exactly the noisy sort, but maybe I was talking too loudly, so we continued talking in a much quieter voice. That lasted all of another minute before the bus operator came back and shushed us with more insistence. First, buses are for riding silently, not for talking. (This came up again in our bus ride out of Cappadocia when the person next to us got really mad at the people behind him for talking. Or at least that is what we assume because he kept looking back every time they talked loudly and finally said something and then they were quieter. But not quiet enough for him because he kept giving them the evil eye. I almost offered him my (unused) ear plugs but thought it would be too weird without being about to explain and maybe offering someone ear plugs would be another social gaffe.) So that was the first faux pas.

After the initial run in with the bus driver’s assistant we were eager to avoid any trouble and just wanted to go to sleep. They gave us the seats in front of the rear door, which it turns out do not recline at all. So we were sitting bolt upright next to each other with our knees touching the row in front of us. But luckily there were a bunch of empty seats. Evan got up to try to move to an empty row, which is evidently another verboten activity. The assistant rushed over and escorted Evan back to his seat, where he stayed for the rest of the trip.

Evan managed to sleep a fair amount, I managed to sleep a little, but we did get there eventually.

My Fortune

Back when we were in Istanbul, Evan and I had our fortunes told by a rabbit. There was a man with a pet rabbit. When he gives it the go ahead the rabbit will chose a fortune for you from a big pile. My fortune is

You are not a bad person (incidentally this is a very ominous beginning to a fortune) but your destiny is heavy so you are the enemy of yourself. You are trying to prove yourself but you are not so successful. You know what is your target but there are so many barriers in front of you.


Kind of depressing.

Lycian Way

About 5 to 10 years ago Turkey built a long distance hiking trail that goes for several hundred kilometers in the sparsely populated Turquoise Coast region.

Evan and I decided to do a two or three day hike near the town of Kas. After a fair amount of wild gesticulations we managed to explain to the inn keepers who spoke no English that we were going to return tomorrow but wanted to leave most of our stuff there. Our idea was to hike pretty lightly, and sleep and get dinner at a pension about 25 kilometers along the way. Little did we know it would be more challenging getting there than we thought.

The hike was beautiful, it weaved between inland craggy mountains full of olive and pomegranate trees and the coast, which is a shockingly bright shade of blue. This part of the coast has no roads, so it is isolated and really beautiful, with many narrow inlets framed by mountains on either side and islands in the distance. The inland areas were equally cool, with miles and miles of stone walls and ruins from over a thousand years ago.

Well, we had hiked about 6 hours when we saw a sign for the pension where we were planning on staying. It said it was 20 kilometers (12 miles away). Even though we had a map of the trail and our guide book confirmed the map, I guess it was not right and the hotel was too far.

When we figured this out, we had to change course, following a dirt road back to the town where we started. One of the redeeming features of the wrong turn is we walked by a shepherd woman who shimmied up a pole to give us some grapes.

We got a lift part of the way and ended up back at the inn where we had started. The shop keepers seemed very confused and a little amused to see us back. Without speaking the same language, we can only wonder.

Butterfly Valley

A few days ago, Evan and I decıded to take a boat to a secluded Valley near Fetiyhe. İt came hıghly recommended. A bunch of Turkiısh people and our guıde book described it as a quiet retreat for hippies and young Turks.

Butterfly Valley ıs a small flat notch of land backed by clıffs several hundred feet hıgh abuttıng the ocean. There ıs a waterfall and supposedly many specıes of butterflıes.

As wıth everythıng we do, ıt was a bıt of a questıon what to do wıth the bıkes. We were told by the tıcket salesman that we could lıkely brıng our bıkes on the boat. However, as soon as the boat showed up we realızed that ıt was not feasıble. So we set off on a mad scramble to fınd a place to leave the bıkes overnıght. Luckily someone suggested the taxı statıon. It ıs a perfect locatıon because ıt ıs manned 24 hours a day. So we dumped our bıkes there and ran back to the boat, gettıng there just before the scheduled departure tıme 6:30 pm.

There ıs no dock so the boat, maybe 25 feet, has a gangplank/ladder that goes towards the beach, and you climb on from a couple feet of water. The waves were a lıttle rough so the plank went up and down and up and down and you had to jump on board when ıt was at a managable heıght.

Then we waıted. Evıdently, the captaın was waıtıng for some frıends so we sat and sat and sat on thıs boat goıng up and down and up and down 10 feet from shore. Fınally after 45 mınutes! some guy came and we took off. İ was amazed that the Turkısh people on the boat dıd not make a fuss, because ıt ıs not the type of culture where people stay quıet about thıngs, but no one seemed to complaın.

Unfortunaly, because we waıted so long to leave the water had gotten rougher. So ınstead of goıng dırectly there we had to angle ın and out and ın and out and avoıd really bıg waves. It was supposed to take about 20 mınutes but ıt took us close to 1 hour and a half. By whıch tıme a few people had gotten sea sıck. Also, Evan and I were gettıng nervous because ıt was gettıng dark and the captaın really needed to see the waves to turn ınto them or slow down. The bıggest waves were about 8 feet! What a mess. Evan and I had our lıfe preservers out and at our feet. (None of the Turks dıd even though some could not swım!) We knew we would be ok because we were only 100-300 feet from shore and the water was warm, but ıt would have sucked to flıp over.

Anyway, eventually we got there, just before sunset and the waves were too bıg for the boat to pull up to shore, so we all jumped out and swam to shore (some wıth lıfe preservers on)
Once we were there ıt was pretty nıce. Much lıke camp. Accomıdatıns were platforms wıth thatched roofs and places to camp. They gave out sleepıng rolls and sheets and cooked breakfast and dınner for everybody.

They felt bad about the whole thıng so they put us up ın staff lodgıng, a stone house. Whıch was great untıl at mıdnıght we were woken by loud musıc and told ıt was quote party tıme.

We crawled away and found a platform and went back to sleep.

The sad part of the whole thıng was that all the development and party tıme and tryıng to grow food on thıs very small valley meant that the butterflıes were scared away and now lıve hıgh up ın the mountaıns. I guess the staınale tourısm thıng can be tough to fıgure out. The same goes for ruıns. It ıs very hard to strıke the blance of access for tourısts and protectıng the resources.

Turqoise Coast

This was one of the few days we actually got to ride. We had hoped to do more biking but the bike I rented was almost un-rideable (the breaks, gear shift, handle bars and who knows what else were not working). The biggest problem was the seat kept sinking all the way down to the lowest position).

At least the coast was gorgeous. This is a little beach east of Fetiyah surrounded by cliffs on either side (with a staircase going down). I climbed on the rocks (which was safe to do because the water underneath was super deep) while Evan swam around.

Notice the rich person's yacht in the distance. (So what happened is the trap door (black smudge on the bottom left of the boat) opened and someone came zooming out in a motor boat and set up the chair and umbrella in the other picture. Then the boat returned and later came back with mister big bucks. Later the boat returned with Mrs. Bigbucks and their child and their dog. Mr Private Security Guard sat on the rocks watching all.)

Turkish Barber

Here in Turkey they know how to do it right. Evan got a shave/shave (they repeat the whole process twice for good measure), haircut, shampoo, blow dry, haircut, ear hair trim, ear wax cleaning, and massage.

I decided to get a shave, the first time I have been clean shaven since college.

I will try to get some video up today

Josh

Turkish Language

The webpages like google and blogspot, have all the background information in Turkish until you sign in. That makes sense. Well, while trying to sign in to write this entry I accidentally clicked the flag this blog for inappropriate content. I figure the sign in button would be on the upper right, but I was wrong. Ha ha.

One of the things that is interesting about Turkish is that they use a variation of the Latin alphabet. When the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk, kicked out the Greeks and formed the modern state, he switched the written language from Arabic script to a variation of the Latin alphabet. (This was part of his drive to westernize Turkey). Evidently the country supported him so much that it went over relatively smoothly. Imagine that, the entire country being turned functionally illiterate over night.

The other thing that is interesting is that Turkish uses lots of American/western words for things that they I know there was a historical root for. Like music (musik), clearly there was a Turkish word for it because the Sultans made their harems learn music 1000 years ago. And barber (berber) where brings me to my next blog entry.

(Caption - Maybe they should have stuck with Turkish)

Pamukkale

We took a detour to Pamukkale, an area where water is naturally rich in calcium carbonate which precipitates out when the water cools.

It is looks like snow or cotton or a cauldron depending on how it cooled, and felt like soft smooth concrete. And, like everything in Turkey, was the cite of an ancient city.

Ruins Everywhere

Like most historic sites in Turkey, Ephesus was built and rebuilt many times. It started with the greeks in 356 BC and was conquered many times before the harbor silted up 800 years later. It is the home of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

What I thought was most interesting was that it was intact enough (rebuilt enough) that I could imagine living there. The main street was lined with columns, and at night torches. You can still see the road, the column, and the notches for the torches. There was a bath house where they quarantined visitors so they would not spread disease and you can see (what remains of) that structure. The fact that many figures that seem mythical, like Alexander the Great, actually visited, make it even more impressive.

(Caption - You see Evan getting frustrated because I was having trouble with the automatic timer on the camera, but got a good picture in the end)

Ramadan

So I want to try to do a couple of short posts. We will see how long I can stay on the computer here at the youth hostel before someone else bumps me.

It is Ramadan here, a month where Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. Ramadan is the month where Muslim's believe that the Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad and it is a time for reflection on being a better person, and avoiding excesses. In Turkey, a country with many secular Muslims, people still fast or else do some other action to think about issues that are on their mind. One of the shop keepers gave up alcohol (which of course observant Muslims would not drink anyway) for Ramadan and other people make an effort to volunteer or do things like that.

Ramadan is also a time for partying after sundown. Throngs and throngs of people come out after sundown and stroll the streets and go to the parks to have picnics, buy street food or listen to music. There were whirling dervishes dressed in all white doing their endless spinning thing and so many types of food and drink. I will try to post a short video clip or two, but it is great, like an amusement park every night.

(Photos are a crowded street in Istanbul and 10, count them, 10 people in a car trying to get somewhere before sundown (number 10 is in the trunk)