Amazing Turkey
Posted by admin | Posted on 01-07-2010 | 1 CommentsFriday, June 25 Istanbul to Safranbolu, Turkey
Making our way to the ferry, we cross the Bosphorous as we would have had to buy tickets to cross the bridge so this was the quickest and cheapest way to get through the craziness and mad driving experienced in Istanbul. This day was mostly highway driving, cool and approx. 450 km of riding and at one point; elevation was four and a half thousand feet. We passed a major steel works industry that looked like something out of Mad Max. We passed through Karabuk and arrived in Safranbolu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994.
Ottoman town of Safranbolu
This is home of the saffron; a purplish flower with 3 reddish stigmas in the centre which is the part used to make saffron. We learned that saffron was used in meals, sweets (Turkish Delight) and for cosmetic purposes. We were greeted by a young couple and baby and stayed in a boarding house with several rooms for all of us. The two Micks did minor repairs to the panniers on our tour leaders bike and the rest of us walked around the small town where we sampled some bread, lots of Turkish Delight, visited the Turkish Bath and took pictures of cobbled stone streets and old buildings with their wooden half timbered houses preserved along with the Ottoman cuisine that has been established as a stop along the silk road. Everywhere throughout Turkey, whether in the modern areas or small older traditional Muslim communities, prayer time happens five times a day except on Thursday, the day in which they have six prayers due to Friday being the “holy day”.
Saturday, June 26th, Safranbolu to Goreme, Turkey
Calm before the storm
Göreme located among the rock formations, is a town in Cappadocia, a historical region of Turkey. Getting to Goreme from Safranbolu was once again another story and adventure. The team separated; therefore the storm that we hit just before Goreme was witnessed from different perspectives. From the support vehicle the storm was a picture of beauty, from the riding perspective it was a tornado where the winds were so blustering that if you didn’t pull over it could take you into oncoming traffic. Most of the riders took refuge in an abandoned shed with nothing in there except the smell of human excrement. There were a couple that pushed through the storm as they were already wet and some would say a little nuts.
Saturday and Sunday (26th & 27th) Goreme Sightseeing
The amazing Goreme
The hot air balloon ride ended with a Champagne toast and everyone receiving a certificate that we were passengers aboard one of these flying balloons. What an amazing way to start your day and see the sunrise. We returned to our very own cave house at the Shoestring Hotel where we start with a view of Goreme lookout. The group took a tour of the “underground city” that was eight levels below the ground showing dugouts of holes that were established during the war leading from one chamber to another with various rooms – bedrooms, kitchens, church etc. We also visited the location for which Star Wars was filmed which is called the Selime Monastery where many frescoes lined the ceilings in the monasteries. Cappadocia is chiseled out of rock forming “fairy chimneys” and caves from mother nature’s erosion process. This has been an amazing place to have two days off to relax. If anyone is interested many cave homes are for sale. Heading to Amasya tomorrow night…
Posted by Jacquie
A True Adventure for motorcycle riders, I do hope I am able to join the next tour. I had experience with strong wind in Iquiqui,Chile and on a road beteween Fairbank to Denali Park, Alaska but not as strong as a Tornado