True to my yearning to discover newer corners of the world, the destination for LFC Trip 2012 was decided as Turkey, the Eurasian country. After all, not often during our travel research, do we (‘V’&‘I’) come across regions with so many unheard of names.
Our week long trip
began with a day’s halt at Istanbul,
the economic capital of the land. And what a start it turned out to be. Istanbul
being a transcontinental city – you could cruise from the European side of the
city to the Asian side in about half an hour – has a perfect cultural mix of
both the races. Nestled between the Black
Sea and the Marmara Sea, it is a
charming city with a rich cultural history dating back to 660 BC during the Byzantine
empire. The present version of the city is a witness of the several invasions
and civilisations that it has seen from the ancient Persians, Athenians, Romans
to the more recent Ottomans. Some interesting attractions like the Blue Mosque,
Hagia Sophia Museum, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, combined with a Mediterranean
weather and food made it a perfect start for the holiday.
Next on course was Ankara,
the political capital. It was a brief stay here with respects paid to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Father of
modern Turkey, at the Anitkabir Mausoleum,
before proceeding on to the more interesting Cappadocia. The drive to Cappadocia was, by itself, a feast to
the eyes with some mind-boggling landscapes and vast expanses en-route.
This destination, Cappadocia,
is a pre-historic natural wonder situated in the eastern Anatolian region of
Turkey. It is a hilly region with several volcanic peaks containing remnants of
ancient settlements dating back to the pre-Hellenistic era (Persians, Hittites,
Greeks) followed by the Armenians during the Byzantine era. The place is a
living example of several under-ground cities used by early Christians as
hiding places before Christianity became an accepted religion. These
settlements/ under-ground cities were basically houses and churches with
ventilation chimneys, abbeys, water-wells, wine production places, etc., that
were carved out of the several volcanic rocks of all shapes and sizes in the
region. A visit to such ancient
settlements only makes us wonder the evolution of civilisations offering us all
the comforts that we are blessed with in our modern societies.
Before we thought we
had, perhaps, covered the most exceptional place of the tour, came Pamukkale, our next halt.
Pamukkale (“Cotton Castle” in
Turkish) is a city with several hot water springs and travertines of mineral
deposits, particularly lime-stone, formed by a process of precipitation of such
carbonate mineral deposits. This text book definition apart, the place is akin
to one huge spa with several geo-thermal springs with medicinal properties,
making it look like fluffy heaps of cotton. Hence, the name ‘Cotton Castle’ or
‘Cotton Fortress’, as is known in the tourist circuit. Unarguably, our 2 day
stay here was the most relaxing of the week-long holiday. This white-castle region
is situated at the top of the ancient Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis which is a
UNESCO World Heritage Centre by itself with several ancient ruins of the city whose
other attractions include a huge amphitheatre and the Cleopatra swimming pool.
After yet another
series of ‘Wows’ of the awe-struck beauty, we resumed our journey to visit the
next wonder that was probably the most familiar of the names in the itinerary.
Aphrodisias is the city named
after Aphrodite, the Greek god of love, with the chief attractions here being
the Temple of Aphrodite (which is presently in ruins) and the Stadium.
The
Stadium, measuring approx. 890 ft. by 200 ft., is one of the best preserved and
largest, ancient architectural structures in the Mediterranean and was used for
athletic events and Roman style gladiatorial games, until it was destroyed by
an earthquake.
From here, we
proceeded to the coastal, port-town of Kusadasi located on the sea-side Aegan coast of Turkey. It had the perfect resort-town kind of a feel
to it with a bird’s eye view of a few Greek islands en route. This was the halt
town from where we visited Ephesus,
the last destination of our tour.
Ephesus is, again, an ancient, classical
Greco-Roman city with a history dating back to 1st Century BC.
Located in the province of Izmir, a beach coastal town, the
City is most famous for the Temple of
Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was a structure
built and dedicated to Artemis, the Greek goddess, and is in ruins now after a
series of building, re-building and eventual destruction. The ruins of the Library of Celsus and the huge, open air
amphitheatre which was again used for Roman style gladiatorial combats were amazing
sights to behold for a life time.
By the time we were done
visiting all these unheard of places and got ready to get back to Istanbul to catch the flight back home,
we were still left in a state of amazement, marvelling at the very thoughts of
all those jaw-dropping places that we had been to.
In addition to the Lokum and Baklava (“Turkish Delights”/Desserts) we picked up for folks back
home and the souvenirs to keep our memories of the trip evergreen, these are some
of the most different experiences I was fascinated by, during the tour:-
- Experienced Hailstones for the first time in my life
- Covered two continents within a gap of half an hour
- Survived only on fresh Mediterranean fruits for days together
- Saw day-light brightness till about 8 pm
- Visited never heard of terrains like a city full of rock formations, travertines and mineral deposits
- Visited a city in ruins (with a promise to visit Hampi, the ruined Indian city, next)
- Went to a building that has been both a church and a mosque in the past, and is neither now (Hagia Sophia).
