Wind, Wind and Wind

For several days, the wind blew onshore in our little hamlet, cooling things off significantly, but making a mess of the sea. We ended up walking again - frying ourselves in the midday heat since the ocean was too messy to swim.  At the end of one walk we happened upon a fisherman coming in with a modest catch, and bought one of his fish ($5). Talk about fresh! We took it immediately to Mehmet's, a quayside restaurant and had it cooked for us.  A lovely fish lunch with salad, stuffed squash blossoms and housemade bread for nothing at all.

That was my last day in Sogut. Not as water time as I had hoped due to the unrelenting wind, but a lovely warm time nonetheless.

Back in Time

Today was typical, a swim, a walk... somewhere out of time, the other side of the world. On our walk Helena casually pointed out the cows responsible for the yogurt we have been eating for the last 2 days; a local lady makes it from her own cows' milk and sells it at the market. Talk about farm to table! Turkey has always been farm to table, locavore eating. Fig trees overgrow in every nook and cranny, grape arbors shade every terrace and grow like weeds onto power lines, and wild herbs like thyme, oregano and bay leaf fill the roadside with their scents. Gardens everywhere overflowing with eggplant and peppers this time of year.

We have been eating in, as Helena is an excellent cook, and excels at Turkish cuisine. But at the end of our long walk we were famished and I have bee itching for seafood so we tried the only open place in town for some fresh calamari stuffed with seafood and cheese, and some local marinated hamsi (anchovies). They were something of a cross between the pickled herring of Scandinavia and the raw mackerel we get at sushi. Very good and healthy but something I will not need to eat every day!

Accompanying us on our walk was Moka, a rescued hunting dog who had been abandoned by her owners, and who now lives next door. She has heaps of energy, even in the heat, and even considering that she was up all night carousing on the beach in the full moon light with some local dog friends. She loves to watch the fish in the sea, and the aquarium-like view next to our table kept her busy at lunch.

Akdeniz At Last

Akdeniz is the name in Turkish for the Mediterranean Sea. I can't believe it's been so long since I was here as I feel such a draw to it and the traditional way of life of the people living on its shore. I felt it in Spain too, but not as much of the "ancient-ness" that I feel in Turkey.

The trip from Cappadocia - which is very much in the center of Turkey - to the small town of Sogut on the southwest coast where my sister is living for 2 months took nearly a whole day. An hour to the airport in the morning, a flight to Istanbul changing to a flight to Dalaman, a bus to Marmaris, and an hour and a half of winding road on a dolmus (minibus) to this small seaside town. Helena met me in Marmaris, where there are supermarkets, which was lucky because finding the dolmus and her flat would have been nigh impossible in my still jet lagged exhaustion.

Marmaris is a package tourist town where Europeans come to lay on the beach during the day and party at night, and it lacks the soul of real Turkey. We couldn't get out of there fast enough! There are pensions in Sogut and some tourists, but no bars or discos. It's blessedly quiet. I'm here for a week and we may or may not go anywhere else. Swimming in the sea and reading quietly seem like enough.

Balloons Over Cappadocia

On Tuesday morning I did the popular thing in Cappadocia: a hot air balloon ride at dawn. It's an amazing way to see the geologic formations as we went at eye level to ancient caves through poplar strewn valleys, and then soared high above the plain where we could see the larger effects of the erosion since the ancient volcanic eruptions.  I wasn't as freaked out as I thought I would be (being generally afraid of heights) - so long as I did not look straight down.  Our pilot was an Englishman who has set the standard for ballooning in the area - perhaps that's why I felt okay dangling beneath a balloon 3,000 + feet in the air.

After that it was a visit to the Open Air Museum, a cordoned off series of caves that had been used as Christian churches during the times Christians were facing persecution. Amazingly, 1,000 year old frescoes depicting Jesus' life have remained vividly red, blue and ochre in a number of the caves. Also a very popular thing to do in Cappadocia, I dodged tour groups and crowds and felt lucky when light rain drove people away. I didn't mind being a bit wet if it meant not being crammed in a cave with a bunch of strangers.  After that I took in the local hamam before doing a bit of shopping for local lokum (Turkish Delight) made with honey and/or grape molasses (a natural sweetener special to this area) and no sugar. I also bought a kilo of roasted pumpkin seeds, freshly harvested from local fields this time of year. Apparently they are very high in zinc, but are also a very tasty snack. 

 I took myself to dinner again at Seten Restaurant - the best in town I reckon, where a full meal 3 course meal runs less than $20 (high for Turkey but worth it!) 

 2 days in Cappadocia was enough for me, and I was on to the coast to meet my sister.

Almost Ruined

My initial side trip has taken me to Cappadocia, a large archeological area in Central Turkey known for its cave dwellings and underground cities. The various rock formations were created by ancient eruptions of 3 massive volcanoes covering areas of snow and water. 

The Hittites first came here 4,000 years ago and carved out underground cities from the porous ash-rock. The claustrophobia-inducing caverns and passageways were used only to hide from Arab invaders, and were later used by Christians hiding from Roman persecution.  

The area has been occupied continuously since 2,000 B.C. with the last people leaving the above-ground cave houses in the 1950's. Some of the old cave houses have now been turned into luxe hotels, and I booked myself into a cave room for a night. It's, well a cave, and it's a bit chilly even on warm summer days. Cappadocia is more than 3,000 feet above sea level, so it's decidedly cooler here than Istanbul. Somewhat unexpected!

I'm jet lagged despite my best efforts, and looking forward to a cozy cave sleep tonight under a pile of blankets.

Hello Beautiful!

Is there a city more picturesque than Istanbul? My flight arrived at 5 p.m. and I just had time to get to my hotel and to the rooftop terrace (a common feature here) in time for the standard amazing sunset. The last time I was here was December 2011 and it was too cold for rooftop terraces. September is the best month to visit. As my sister texted me when she came through 2 weeks ago, the weather is Perfect with a capital P.

The only downside is the heaps of tourists, but it's my fault that I chose to stay in Sultanhamet, which is tourist central. I'm here only tonight and I leave at 7 a.m. for Cappadocia, so I thought I would grin and bear it to be close to good food and good hamams (Turkish baths).

We will be back at the end of the month for a few days and I can already see that it won't be enough time. Must come back again. Darn.

  

The Blue Lagoon

For our last day, we stopped at the Blue Lagoon geothermal pools on our way to the airport. It has nothing to do with the cheesy movie from the 80's! It is large pool filled with silica rich water runoff for a geothermal plant, turned into a commercial soaking pool and spa. The silica is supposed to be very good for your skin, and they sell all kinds of products made from it. While it was full of tourists (this being prime tourist season), our guides said that locals do go, especially in winter. 

It was a sad round of goodbyes to our guides and the rest of the group. I do hope that some of us keep in touch. I'll be organizing my best photos for everyone as I became the de facto "trip photographer" - the only one with a DSLR camera. I regret not having some kind of waterproof option on this trip. I was worried about my rented wide angle lens during all the rain. 

I hope to come back to Iceland one day, probably in the winter, to look for the Northern Lights and see a bit more of the country. We all lamented not having just a few more days...