Turkey, Christmas 2013

What a country! I had no idea Turkey had so much to offer tourists.  This country is geographically and politically right between Europe and the Middle East.  They had a President named Ataturk who is like our George Washington.  He converted the Turkish language to the western alphabet and laid the foundations for Turkey to grow into a modern liberal democracy.  Turkey still has its issues of course. While we were there all the news was dominated by a corruption scandal involving the son or sons of government ministers.  Also the civil war was already underway in neighboring Syria and refugees were streaming across the border into Turkey.  This was way before I had ever heard of ISIS.  Interestingly, we met a Harvard graduate who had just accepted a job for the CIA.  He said he was headed for the Syrian border to do some freelance journalism.  I have no idea if he was a legitimate spy or what became of him.

Anyway I almost forgot to introduce Sebastian.  Sebastian is a close friend of mine from 2011 when we both studied abroad in Mexico City.  During that semester abroad we did a week long trip to the south of Mexico and Guatemala.  We have stayed in touch and when I asked him to spontaneously skip Christmas and travel with me to a Muslim country for ten days, he was on board.  He flew from Germany while I flew from London and we began the trip in Istanbul.

We explored all the famous mosques, took a cruise on the Bosphorous and bought fake Ray-Ban sunglasses (well I did at least).  Next we took a bus down the coast to the beach town of Kusadasi, which was completely deserted and spooky since nobody goes to the beach in December.  No matter, Kusadasi served as a good launching point to explore Ephesus and some hot springs.  Following Kusadasi we had a big decision to make.  We could go back to Istanbul to relax, shop, and smoke Hookah for our final few days or we could make the trip epic.

I desperately wanted to see the hill formations at Cappadocia but it would involve a ten hour bus ride into the center of Turkey followed by a twelve hour bus ride back to Istanbul a day and a half later.  We are both tall and Sebastian didn't want to endure yet another cramped, third-world mode of transportation.  Fortunately, I convinced him and the bus rides weren't too bad.  Empty seats allowed us to stretch out a little and we were able to sleep for a few hours each way.  We disembarked in Cappadocia with some minor cramps and immediately agreed it had been worth it.  Cappadocia is unlike any place on earth and it was visited by George Lucas as a possible Star Wars film location because the geology is so alien.  The soft rock hills allowed ancient civilizations to build miles of interconnected cities and tunnels several stories deep underground and throughout the hills.  It would have made a great home for the sand people although Lucas decided against it.  Several businesses offer balloon rides for a great view of the terrain but ours was cancelled due to poor weather.  We both agreed we would return one day to ride in one of the balloons.

Outside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.  This massive building was a church before it was a mosque and now it's a museum.

Sighting Asia for the first time, age 23.  Nice hair, Sean.

I obviously ordered this.

My first Roman ruins.  This is where the trip started to get seriously good.

The library at Ephesus.  This place is called Efes throughout the New Testament and was a major center of commerce between the east and west.  It was buried under landslides and rediscovered in the 19th century.  This helped protect the city from looters throughout the years.

My favorite photo from the trip overlooking Cappadocia.  It was cold in the mornings but usually warmed up during the day.  There is a thin layer of frost on the ground, not snow.

Throwback: Sebastian and I in 2011.  Viva Mexico!