Touring Through Turkey

Theatre at Aphrodisias

Darlene and I enjoyed a three-week trip to Turkey earlier in April.  Our first twelve days was with a small group tour booked through Explore Worldwide that was mostly focused on visiting many ancient historical sites and ruins in western Turkey.  All of Anatolia (including western Turkey) is actually an amazing crossroads of ancient civilizations, including Hittite, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences across several thousand years that are still clearly visible and continue to be uncovered in archeological sites.

A six-minute video montage of our entire trip across Turkey.

We had a great, fun group of nine for the Explore tour and a particularly exceptional local guide, Timucin Sahin.  Tim is wonderfully enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable about the rich and complex history of Turkey, tracing it all the way back to the earliest civilizations in a way that is easy to follow and understand.  He was also able to share insights on other topics like flora and fauna, as well as present-day politics and culture.  I think having Tim as our guide really made the trip for everyone in the group.

Pamukkale Hot Springs (and travertine terraces)

After completion of the Explore tour in Antalya, we flew to Keyseri and caught an airport shuttle to our hotel in Göreme to spend the next four days exploring the Cappadocia region, known for its otherworldly landscapes, wind-sculpted rock spires, and centuries-old underground cities.  We had a tour guide booked through Intrepid Travel for two of those days and were accompanied by another couple for one day.  Unfortunately, while our local guide was well-intentioned, he tended to ramble a confusing stream of details and anecdotes that was even harder to understand through his heavy accent and somewhat broken English.  Also, we didn’t notice that our trip planning brought us to Cappadocia on Easter weekend and the crowds were very heavy at the primary tourist attractions.

Still, we had a wonderful time in Cappadocia and very much enjoyed taking in the amazing sights and scenery.  Even the hotels in the area are fascinating as many are built into the surrounding rock, mimicking the thousands of older dwellings carved into the rocks throughout the area.

Sunset overlooking Göreme city

The definite highlight was soaring over Cappadocia on a sunrise hot air balloon flight – it was gorgeous and magical.  It’s amazing that so many dozens of balloons (apparently upwards of 150) are launched by dozens of companies almost every day (weather permitting).  It’s an incredible sight – and an impressive logistics challenge.

A five-minute video featuring our sunrise hot air balloon flight over Cappadocia.

The other activity I was really looking forward to on this trip was getting to spend a day mountain biking some of the many trails in the area.  Unfortunately, after we booked the bikes for the following day, I got sick with a nasty cold the night before.  I decided to try to push through it anyway and take on the captivating 18-mile route that was mapped out for us by the bike shop.  What we did get to see and experience was really great but as I became ever more exhausted by the illness, we had to cut the ride short.


After four days in Cappadocia, we flew to Istanbul to spend three days in the old city district, visiting famous sites like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the underground Basilica Cistern.  We managed poor timing again with crowds by inadvertently choosing to visit on a national holiday, but then there was a significant earthquake midday which closed all of the historical sites and sent everyone away for the day.  Still we managed to squeeze in visits to the sites on our following final day in Istanbul and Turkey.

 
The Blue Mosque interior (left), Basilica Cistern (right)

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Northern India: Delhi, Agra and across Rajasthan

Darlene and I joined a small group trip in Northern India in late January, booked through Explore!. The tour began in Delhi and traveled across much of the Rajasthan region of northern India before finishing off in Agra and returning to Delhi after two weeks.  We then took a little extra three day excursion to Rathambore National Park in search of tigers to cap off our visit to India.

We had a fun group of the nine of us (everyone from the UK but us), plus our wonderful Indian tour leader Inder Singh (“Indu”).  We also had an additional local guide at many of the historical sites we visited.  India proved to be quite the experience – from the crazy anything-goes, honk-to-be-heard traffic of every form and size to the innumerable historic sites and temples to the massive crowds of super-friendly Indian people everywhere.  Oh and of course so many curries and other Indian dishes to try!

Here’s a taste of our adventure in the form of a 10-minute video montage:

A 10-minute video montage of our trip. (Smaller/lower quality version here)

Starting in busy Delhi, we visited a number of temples, tombs and a mosque over two days before traveling by train into Rajasthan. In Ajmer, we visited one of the oldest mosques in India and, not being a place visited by foreign tourists, we were approached by lots of folks wanting to take selfies with us.  That evening we stayed at a rural Maharaja’s palace now converted into a heritage hotel where we were treated to an ox cart ride into the neighboring village.

We visited the massive Chittorgarh Fort the next day on our way to Udaipur in the south.  In Udaipur, we saw a performance of Dharohar folk dancing and toured the City Palace before Darlene and I succumbed to a tiring cold and missed out on the boat tour across Lake Pichola as well as a demonstration of miniature detail painting.  We were feeling better the next day as we continued on to Jojowar, stopping off at a beautiful Jain temple.

Our next stop was to see a demonstration of handcrafted Dhurrie rugs by Roopraj Prajapat – and have the whole group tempted into buying some rugs!  We then continued on to visit the Mehrangarh Fort and Palace as well as visit another busy street market in Jodhpur.

Then we were on to a long drive and our deepest point into the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, to Bikaner.  Along the way, we visited the Karni Mata “Temple of Rats” where tens of thousands of rats make a home and are cared for, worshipped and given offerings.  (While Darlene waited in the bus. ;-)  In Bikaner, we were given a tour of the Junagarh fort and palace, saw some havelis (traditional highly decorated mansions) while exploring a street market, visited another miniature painting artist and the girls got painted in henna while the boys played foosball.

On the way to Jaipur, we took a driving break  to see some more havelis in Fatehpur.  With two days in Jaipur, we toured the Amber Fort and Palace, visited the astronomical observatory park of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace but also were treated to more Indian handcraft demonstrations – few came away from there empty-handed!

And yet on we continued to Agra for the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort of Agra and the Baby Taj mausoleum, with a stopover at another red sandstone fort at Fatehpur Sikri.

On our return to Delhi, the rest of our group headed home to England while Darlene and I boarded a train for Rathambore in hopes of seeing Bengal tigers in the wild.  Unfortunately, none were to be found on our three excursions into the park over two days.  Hey, but Darlene bought some more Indian handicrafts!

It was a great trip overall but I admit to being put off by the constant street crowds, the noise and air pollution and the garbage strewn everywhere – lining the streets and filling the river beds.  However, we’re both still happy to have had the opportunity to visit India and we very much enjoyed our group and Indu’s enthusiastic guiding.

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Visiting Vietnam and Cambodia

These are photos and videos from a twelve-day trip to northern Vietnam and northwest Cambodia from April 23rd to May 5th, 2013 with Darlene, organized and booked through BikeHike Adventures.

I’ve organized the pictures into five separate galleries:
Days 1-2: Streets of Hanoi

Our trip began with some sightseeing in Hanoi including a traditional water puppet show, experiencing the packed city streets and the crazy driving habits.  We also visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, The Enthology Museum and One Pillar Pagoda before catching the night train to Lao Cai.

Days 3-5: Villages of Sa Pa District

We arrived in Lo Cai on the night train from Hanoi and drove an hour to our hotel in Sapa. The Sa Pa district is populated with eight ethnic tribal minorities: including the Black Hmong and Red Dzao.  Our first day was spent on trail bikes and our second day on foot following roads and paths through and around terraced rice fields and small villages. We also visited the Ta Phin cave.  Our second night was at the lovely and secluded Topas Eco Lodge, overlooking the Sapa Valley.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware or prepared for what to expect in the Sa Pa region and how much these mountain villages have become a tourist trap/destination. Everyday large numbers of tourists follow the roads connecting these villages and everyday a similarly large number of village women come out to meet them and follow them for most of the day in the hopes of selling some of their homemade craft (clothing, blankets, etc).  I appreciate their effort to supplement their income and make the most of the tourist trade, but it does get sorely tiring to spend each day being constantly plied with requests to “be their friend” and “buy from them”.
Days 6-8: Islands of Halong Bay

After returning from Lao Cai via the night train, we had breakfast in Hanoi before setting off for the coast and Halong (Ha Long) Bay. We stopped along the way at one of several large government sponsored craft stores and factories (employing war victims). We boarded a luxury Indochina junk (a traditional Vietnamese boat) to cruise amongst the thousands of towering limestone islands in Halong Bay.

Our first stop was at a very crowded beach and overlook but later we were able to enjoy some more peaceful kayaking, swimming and exploring. The trip also included an evening paddle around a floating fishing village. Unfortunately our three day cruise was cut short after the first night due to an impending storm and we had to return to the mainland, but we were at least lucky to be able to get a hotel reservation. We spent our extra time on the third day visiting some more sights on the return trip to Hanoi and to catch our flight to Cambodia.

Days 9-10: Temples of Koh Ker

We arrived in Siem Reap the night before and started our adventure in Cambodia the next morning by heading out to Beng Mealea.  Along the way, we stopped to visit an active temple-monastery and meet a Buddhist monk.  Beng Mealea was easily one of my favorite temples because it has been left in much the state it was found, partial ruins overgrown with tree roots and being taken over by the jungle.

After this, we headed much further out to visit various sites of Jayavaram’s 10th century capital of Koh Ker.  We got to camp out overnight next to the step pyramid of Prasat Thom and continued our sightseeing of Koh Ker the next morning before returning to modern Siem Reap for a respite from the sun in the hotel river pool.  That afternoon we went to the dark pink stoned temple of Banteay Srei.  In the evening, we enjoyed dinner and a traditional folk dance show back in Siem Reap.

Days 11-12: Temples of Angkor

Our last full day in Cambodia began with a predawn start to get to the entrance of Angkor Wat by sunrise – with the rest of the huge tourist crowd – and this isn’t even high season!  After the spectacular sunrise, our guide knowingly guided us around Angkor Wat to see the other temples of Angkor while the rest of the crowds lined up to overrun Angkor Wat.  It was a wonderful plan: we got to enjoy the other splendid temples, particularly Ta Prohm, in relative solitude.  We also visited the walled city of Angkor Thom and the splendid temple of Bayon where each of its 54 towers are capped with four massive stone face sculptures.  After another midday break from the sun, we finally returned in the late afternoon to slip in and tour Angkor Wat before its closing.

At sunset, we visited a street market on the outskirts of Siem Reap where our guide demonstrated the enjoyment of some insect delicacies!  (Yuck!)  On the following morning of our departure, we visited a workshop and saw a large variety of crafts, including the sculpting of stone works used in restoration projects.

A Little Adventure in Thailand

(April 15th – 30th, 2005)

This is a collection of images from a two week trip to Thailand arranged through BikeHike Adventures.  Most of the trip was guided by Daniel and Scott of Smiling Albino but the last four days were on my own in the Krabi region.

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