Turkey was amazing. While recovering from jet lag I whipped up a basic photo gallery page with 48 sample pics from my recent 18-day excursion in Turkey. There are individual pics, a slide show button at top right and a downloadable QuickTime movie with sound.
Thanks to my friend Lyle (who loaned me his digital SLR with a great zoom lens) I have more than 2900 images, edited down to about 1200 so far, so there is much more to come, but this will give you a flavor for this wonderful place.
In every city and town I found people welcoming Americans, and uniformly amazed/puzzled/annoyed by the guy in the White House. People in large cities and small towns had no problem distinguishing friendly American visitors from the man who happens to be running the government. At no time did I feel unsafe or insecure. Other than in central Istanbul, a major city, I never was aware of any more danger than I might face from a pickpocket on a subway in NY or the streets of Rome. Tourism in Turkey is way down since the events of 9/11 despite their status as an ally and American air base location. They are most eager to see US visitors in particular. Germans, Brits, Aussies, Italians, French and Bulgarians have discovered that Turkey is friendly and welcoming and safe. Can the US be far behind? The country is 99% Muslim but has a 100% secular government and none of the Shari'a laws that plague repressive Islamic governments like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Nigeria. Women work and drive and are unveiled, for example, though most wear headscarves by custom, especially outside major cities.
Turkish currency (the Lira, but not the Italian Lira) is about to go through a significant transition, dropping 6 zeroes from all bills, making 1 million old Lira equal to 1 new Lira. This makes life much easier. When I was there, 1 new lira was equal to about 75 cents. A bottle of beer was 4 lira, regular gas 2.5 lira per liter (about $7.50 per gallon), bottled water 1 lira and hotel rooms ran about 70 lira or about $40-50 a night. The transistion was a bit unsettling as I have grown up thinking there was a difference between 1 and 1 million. I bought a bottle of water for 1 lira on one corner, and the same bottle for 1 million about three blocks away.
Istanbul was incredible and you could easily spend a week or two there, but Ankara, and the smaller towns in Western Anatolia were delightful and a refreshing change of pace from the hustle bustle of Turkey's largest city. In 14 days we covered almost 5,000 miles by coach and stopped in the following cities and towns:
Istanbul: Amazing metropolitan city, filled with historic sites especially in delightful old town Sultanahmet at the center. Our hotel was midway between two of the city's arhitectural and historic marvels, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, an early (6th century!) Christian church turned to a mosque
Safranbolu: Tiny off-the-beaten path town near the Black Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage site with period Ottoman houses and a 14th century “hamam” or Turkish bath. If you have never experienced a real Turkish bath, you owe yourself one sometime. It was the perfect relaxation after a 5 hour bus ride over bad roads.
Ankara: Capital, though much smaller and less metropolitan than Istanbul, home to the wonderfully arranged Museum of Anatolian Civilization and a citadel at the city summit dating to 4000 BC.
Hacibektash: Home to the shrine to the founder of the most tolerant, diverse and welcoming Muslim sect, open to women as equals, encouraging diversity and acceptance of all. Opened my eyes to how vast the Muslim world really is, despite our narrowly drawn view of it.
Goreme/Zelve/Derinkyu: In the heart of the Cappadoccia region, the most other-worldly geography I have ever seen. Incredible lava towers, the “Fairy Chimneys,” cliff dwellings, and catacombs, including entire underground cities where Christians and Muslims hid from invaders at different times over the centuries.
Kizkalesi: This Mediterranean village was a bit of a seaside resort, but still charming. A Crusades era castle was just offshore, within swimming distance of the hotel beach.
Alahan: On the road to Konya, this 14th century monastery ruin is atop a rugged mountain cliff overlooking the Goksu valley. Spectacular architecture and views made this a great place for a picnic.
Konya is a most revered shrine to Mevlana Rumi, the founder of the mystical Sufi Muslim sect and their “Whirling Dervishes.” While the Mevlana mausoleum and shrine and the devotees it drew were awe-inspiring, the town itself is unremarkable and overgrown. Worth a stop, but not a place to stay if you have alternatives.
Pamukkale: Home to the ruins of Hierapolis and the “cotton castle,” calcified waterfalls of travertine created by centuries of flowing mineral-rich water. Hierapolis is well-preserved and home of the martyrium of St. Philip.
Ephesus: Nothing less than amazing. Founded between 1500 and 1000 BC, this was once a coastal seaport and includes a vast theater, agora, Odeon and basilica remains, and the incredibly well-preserved façade of the Library of Celsus.
We also stopped in small towns and villages along the way, including Mustafapasa, Egirdir, Sirince, Assos and Canakkale before returning to Istanbul. The little villages were often real gems, especially Assos, with its idyllic location on the Aegean Sea, with the Greek island of Lesbos just 6 miles off its shore. The Troas Motel in Assos/Behramkale (a small 17-room guest house really) was worth noting—fantastic food, delightful hosts and the freshest fish (caught and served by the owner and his family). All this and a 20-foot walk across the driveway to the Aegean Sea for about $35 per double room!
It was an eye-opening trip. From the first call to prayer I heard at 5am (and five times a day, every day) to the many mosques I visited, I was surrounded with and impressed by Islamic culture. I was forced, by immersion to expand and enlarge my personal definition of Islam and of Muslims. We are so colored here by news accounts that focus only on "troubles in the Muslim world" and the work of "Muslim Fundamentalists," but they are no more representative of Islam than the "Reverend" Fred Phelps is of Christianity.
I am reminded of what a co-worker told me years ago when I came out to him as a gay man: "Because of you, I have to redefine what I have always thought "gay" meant all these years." So do I have to redefine what Muslim has meant to me all these years, and I can tell you from my experience they are as varied and pleasant a group of people as any I have encountered.
All I can say is visit. Go someplace outside your comfort zone and see what you see, learn what you'll learn, feel what you feel, then decide for yourself.
When I told people I was going to Turkey for vacation, they almost always asked "Why?" Now I know.
