Turkey, land of intrigue

By BERNIE AND LINDA WHITE

We joined day tours in English to various sites, including an underground city where we climbed down four stories through tunnels and cave rooms.
Some countries are so fascinating that you just have to return. That's how Turkey is for us.

At the invitation of former next-door neighbors in Ames, we planned a three-part, three-week visit to Turkey.

Our plans included a trip to the startling landscape of Cappadocia, followed by a week's home-stay in Izmir with Friendship Force and capped with a relaxing visit in our friends' elegant new Istanbul hotel on the Asia side of the Bosphorus.

We managed six days in Istanbul in between to revisit the Church of St. Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Sultanahmet Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market and to ride ferries, soaking up the atmosphere of this enchanting city.

In central Turkey, Cappadocia is remarkable for its unique "fairy chimneys" formed over the centuries from volcanic lava that cooled more than 10,000 years ago. Excavations in this cradle of history have uncovered pottery and looms dating to the Early Bronze Age (3500-2000 B.C.). We were fascinated by the thousands of pillars of rock (the chimneys), many transformed into cave homes by digging out the soft lava to create rooms, windows and doors.

In this country claiming to be 95 percent Muslim, we visited a few of the approximately 3,000 early Christian cave churches, many with frescoes.

The staff at Goreme House, a small hotel in Goreme, took care of our every need. From our room we heard the imam's call to prayer beginning at dawn and watched the colorful hot-air balloons rise over the incredible landscape.

We joined day tours in English to various sites, including an underground city where we climbed down four stories through tunnels and cave rooms. We learned how Turkish carpets are made (then purchased a small double-knotted beauty) and rode through the village on a three-wheel ATV.

In Izmir, the Friendship Force club and our host, Semra, arranged amazing experiences for us including days on the Aegean Sea and travels to the ancient Roman cities of Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Pamukkale.

With Semra and her family we shared delicious home-cooked meals, including our favorites - roasted eggplant puree, fresh fish, olives, cheeses, vegetables and yogurt. We learned how the national hero, Ataturk, the first president, fashioned modern Turkey in 1923.

It was delightful to visit with Turks of all ages, many fluent in English, proud of the freedoms of their secular nation.

Back in Istanbul we ferried to the Asia side to spend three days/nights at Sumahan on the Water, a boutique hotel created from a family raki liquor factory by our two architect friends from Ames.

Every detail was perfect: the exquisite loft suite with marble bath, breakfasts and dinners on the waterfront terrace, even the ride up the Bosphorus on the hotel launch.

Everywhere we traveled the Turkish people went out of their way to welcome us, bestow gifts, give directions, and make us feel at home. The three weeks were a "Turkish Delight."

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Incredible Cities of the Inner Earth

By David H. Lewis
http://hiddenmysteries.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16139

Many Scientific theories that were once based on ancient legends and folklore, concerning a hollowed earth, are rapidly fading from this mythical view point as new evidence now proves those same legends have always been the hardened facts of reality we dared not explore.