Gallipoli & Troy, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey - Back Again

James - Dogubayazit, Eastern Turkey

James' mom emailed him. In the email, said she was glad he was on the trip and not sitting at home drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, waiting to enroll in university this autumn. Well part of his' mom's statement is true... he's not sitting at home. Behind James, through the window of the restaurant, is the town of Dogubayazit in Eastern Turkey. We overnighted in the town before crossing the Iranian border.

Monastery – Akdamar Island, Eastern Turkey

The view from this island was amazing...the snow covered mountains framed by the blue of the sky and lake. The island from the mainland didn't look like much. Prior to visiting it, I even wondered why the monastery was built on the island. It seemed like a very inconvenient place to build a monastery. Once visiting the island, I understood why they built it there, the views were spectacular. The monastery is not operative, but when it was, I'm guessing it was an remarkable place to worship.

Self-portrait – Akdamar Island, Eastern Turkey

Hazel – Eastern Turkey

Washing clothes by hand has become a frequent chore. At most hotels a laundry service is available, but the variability in workmanship tends to vary from hotel to hotel. Most of the time the clothes come back clean and sometimes ironed. However, at times the laundry has been return either still wet, dirtier then when originally given, a few items short, or ruined. To avoid the gamble, I've also started to wash some of my basic clothing items by hand. Hopefully, we'll have better luck in India with the laundry services.

Group – Akdamar Island, Eastern Turkey

Emma, JoAnna, Yumi, and Roberto (l to r) on the boat to the Akdamar Island

Frank’s Tent Set-up – Eastern Turkey

This is a candid shot of Frank right after setting up his tent. The rain fly (green) provides the tent (blue) added protection from the rain. Albeit, the zipper on the rain fly is supposed to match with the zipper on the tent. As you can see, it's twisted around. Baffled, it took a bit of time, before Frank could figure out what happen. Just another day in the life of Frank...

Mt. Nemrut – Eastern Turkey

Cappadocia - Goreme, Turkey (Central)

This area of Turkey is famous for its fanatic’s natural rock formation. Over the centuries people have carved houses, churches, fortresses, even complete underground cities, where early Christians sought refuge in soft eerily, eroded volcanic stone.

Group Photo - Goreme, Turkey

Group photo in front of the Fairy Chimneys (l to r) Frank, Bob, Hazel, Sonja, Tour Guide, Yi-Ching, myself, Andy and Roberto.

Bob and Hazel - Cappadocia, Turkey

Bob and Hazel are the senior members of our group. They are both retired and roaming the world. This is their third overland trip. Previously they “overlanded” in African and North America (Alaska to Panama Canal).

Rock Formations, Cappadocia- Goreme, Turkey

Rock Formations, Cappadocia- Goreme, Turkey

Balloon Ride- Goreme, Turkey

A small group of us took a sunrise balloon ride. While it was my second balloon ride (first one was when I worked for a propane company as a teenager) the scenery this time was much more spectacular (i.e. as compared to N.J.), as we floated over the Cappadocia rock formations. Best words to describe the ride…peacefully, silent (when the gas burner was off) floating.

Balloon Ride

Balloon Ride

View from Balloon of the Rock formations - Goreme, Turkey

View from Balloon of the Rock formations - Goreme, Turkey

Ephesus - Turkey

Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean and is one of the best places in the world to get a feel for what life was like in Roman times. I copied that sentence for the Lonely Plant Tour Guide. I though it was a good of an introduction as any. We will be seen many Roman ruins during our travels in the middle east. On April 1st we’ll be going to Baalbek in Lebanon, then after that ( don’t know the exact dates, but) we’ll be seeing Jerash and Petra in Jordan, as well as Palmyra in Syria.

Library – Ephesus, Turkey

This library was amazing. It was built in 114 C.E. (Common Error a.k.a. A.D.) and used to hold 12,000 scrolls in the niches around the walls. Architectural trickery was used to make it look bigger than it really was. In general, the sophistication of the Roman Civilization was amazing. Likewise, it somewhat dumfounding that once it was lost, it took so many years to duplicate the sophistication.

Overland Truck – Turkey

Here we stopped for lunch. The overland truck also converts into our kitchen. It’s equipped with two tables, a four burner gas grill and all the kitchen utensils to cook a meal. We take turns cooking. The capability to cook on the truck saves on the cost of meals and allows freshly cooked meals. We shop daily at local fresh produce markets. At first I thought shopping was going to be a pain…haggling on the prices, not speaking the language, etc… but our first experience went off without a hitch. And actually, it was a great way to experience the markets. The markets are always colorful and vibrant.

Shopping – Turkey

Shopkeeper, myself and Roberto (l to r) shopping at a local market in Turkey. Roberto and Frank (not pictured, he’s taking the picture) comprise our cooking group. There are total for four cooking groups which results in us having to cook every four days or so. Depending on whether we are camping or staying in hostels. When staying in hostels, which we usually do in cities, we generally eats at local restaurants to experience the local foods. Typically, when we camp, we cook off the truck.