Eastbound and Down

Today was spent primarily with a visit to the supermarket where we picked up what Tony and I think will be enough food for several days on the trail.  Largely dry goods like rice, lentils, trail mix ingredients, etc.  We were able to find most of what we were looking for but as my Dad likes to say, "What we don't have we'll just have to do without."  Looking at the map, water should be widely available and is supposed to be safe to drink (primarily spring fed)--we are carrying a couple different ways to sanitize the water just in case and can each hold about 3.5 liters.  We also filled up fuel bottles for our backpacking stove at one of the local gas stations--fortunately our stove runs on several different types of gas.  It's also good news that we should only need about a liter of gas for about a week or more on the trail (supplemented with campfires as available), as regular unleaded here runs about ten dollars to the gallon.

For those familiar with the term "carbo-loading", we attempted our own version of it this evening with a trip to Burger King (yes, even ın Fethiye, Turkey).  We figured we had earned ourselves this breakdown for American fast food since we're about to venture into the wilderness for a while.

At this point we feel we're about as prepared as we're ever going to be, and are just looking forward to starting the trail bright and early tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone keeping up with the blog and we'll be sure to update as the Lycian Way allows.

Soaring Above Turkey

Greetings from sea level.  Jerod and I started our day wıth a jeep ride to the top of Babadag mountain in Ölü Deniz, Turkey.  Babadag, or Father Mountain, peaks at about 6,500 feet.  Unfortunately we had only bought one-way tickets up the mountain.  Our route down was to strap to the front of an expert para-glider and run off of a cliff.  Though less exhilerating than skydiving, the 25 minutes of soaring over the beautiful Mediteranean coast was a pretty good trade-off.  Here is what our view looked like:

   After being enticed by the aerial view, we spent a good chunk of the afternoon lounging on the white sands and swimming in the Med.  It's been a tough day.  Tomorrow we will wrap up preps before starting our 300-mile trek.  Blogs may get sporadic after tomorrow.  Thanks for your patience.

Hijacked in Pamukkale

Greetings from Pamukkale, Turkey.  We are supposed to be in Fethiye today but got swept away at the bus station.  We were originally just supposed to change busses here, but they guy at the station offered us such a good deal on a room that we decided to stay the night and check out the sights.

As you can see from the picture (just a stock google photo), it is quite a spot.  In addition to the hot springs, there are also some pretty extensive Roman ruins, including one of the best-preserved amphitheaters in the world.  We are both pretty happy we made the call to stop.  We will continue on to Fethiye tomorrow. 

Fairy Chimneys and Flying Carpets

After several days in Istanbul, we booked tickets for an overnight bus to Goreme, Turkey, the heart of an area known as Cappadocia.  Cappadocia is something of a surreal landscape where for centuries the locals have lived inside caves and assorted rock formations that basically look like something out of a dream.  The popular term for the formations is "Fairy Chimneys" but if you're interested your best bet would be to google Cappadocia for an idea of the geography--I don't think the term does it justice.  Tony and I booked a two day tour and had a chance to visit all the most popular spots.  Personally I wasn't crazy about visiting the sites as part of a guided tour but I will say that the guide added something to the history of the area and we also had a chance to see handmade ceramics and carpet weaving, right down to the fibers of the silkworm being spun on the wheel.  A very interesting experience, and the intricacy that goes into a handmade carpet is astounding--for example, a silk carpet at about 2.5 x 4 feet, takes one hardworking Turkish woman (the men sell the carpets and the women make them here) about one year to complete.  Cost: $10,000.  Ouch.  But they were beautiful.

Yesterday we also signed up for "Turkish Nights", a popular evening program consisting of some authentic Turk cusine, as well as several other aspects of Turkish Culture--we watched Whirling Dervishes (a Mystical sect of Sufi Islam, founded in Turkey), traditional Central Asian dancing popular throughout the 'Stans (as well as Bulgaria, Hungary and Russia so I'm told), and some belly dancing to top the night off.  Crowd participation was highly encouraged, and since Tony and I found ourselves essentially ringside we were dragged onto the dance floor on numerous occasions...Throw in a tour bus of Chinese tourists and with booze included as part of the set price--it made for an interesting evening.  I can attest that both the red and white wine made locally aren't bad...haha.

We've thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Cappadocia but it's time to move on.  We've booked another overnight bus to Fethiye, down on the Meditteranean Coast where the weather's warmer and we'll get prepared for Lycian Way, a 500 kilometer trek on what's known as the Turquoise Coast.  Thanks for reading.

Turkey Pot Pie

Attentıon:  The normal i button on the Turkısh Keyboard has no dot.  i.e. ı.  So I wıll not be usıng the real i.  Hope that ıs clear.

Anyway. It has been a breath of fresh aır to be ın Istanbul.  Even flyıng ın from Caıro and seeıng grass on the ground and not beıng hassled to get ınto EVERY taxı at the aırport was a huge relıef.  We are stayıng at a hostel ın the Sultanhamet regıon whıch ıs very nıce and located wıthın the former walled cıty of Constantınople.  We are only a few mınutes walk from the famous Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofıa.  We also spent some tıme walkıng around the great bazaar and the spıce bazaar.  I  may break down and buy a counterfeıt Belstaff motorcycle jacket.  Everythıng ıs screamıng no but my heart says yes.

Today we spent three hours at the Hammam, or Turkısh Bath.  The one we went to was buılt about 400 years ago.  It ıs essentıally a sauna but ıncludes an exfolıatıng scrub and a soapy massage and some good old steam.  Very refreshıng. 

Tomorrow we are off to Cappadocıa.

Photos Photos Photos!!!!

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Deserts and Desserts

 Well hello again from Cairo.  I know you are getting bombarded with entries recently, so either sorry, or you're welcome, depending on your thoughts on that.

The day after the pyramids we took a tour of the white and black deserts near the Oasis named Baharia, about five hours West of Cairo by bus.  We were met at the bus stop and escorted to a Bedouin's house for lunch, where we also got to meet our two tour-mates, a very nice brother and sister from Quebec City, Canada.  I also got to practice my French with them.  After lunch we hopped in a Toyota Landcruiser and started out into the desert.  Our first few stops in the black desert were a little disappointing and we started to question coming on the tour at all.  However, so fun off-road driving into the white desert quickly proved us wrong.  Amazing chalk-white rock formations jutted out of the desert floor resembling everything from mushrooms to rabbits to giant male genitalia.  We spent the night out in the desert enjoying food cooked over the open fire by our driver, and sleeping under the stars.

Tomorrow we are making one last attempt to retrieve our package from the US before heading to the airport for our flight to Istanbul.  We are both excited for a slight change of pace from the Middle-East, but are nervous about the rise in prices.