part two

(Turkey, continued)

the same but different

a line up of soft drink cans that are available for sale at a roadside fast food place in Turkey

The usual Coca Cola products including Fanta and Sprite, with a couple of Turkish additions – Fruko gazoz and Yedigun portukal flavour (that’s orange if you speak English). The can on the far right is cherry juice, a very popular juice in Turkey.

A large sign with pictures of the kinds of pre-packaged ice cream treats available for sale. Behind it is a shelf of Lays and Ripples potato chip products.

Ice cream and potato chips – universal favorites. Lays Klassic and Doritos included.

A stop sign, a no entry roadsign and a street sign in Turkey.

Obviously dur = stop.

Part of the front window of a Diesel store. There are three posters each with the upper body of a person on them and each with the word indirim in red and white across the faces

indirim = sale

large advertisement poster for McDonalds

A large poster advertising Kofteburgers and Tavuk Burgers at McDonalds. Tavuk = chicken. 11.50 turkish lira is about $5.30 Cdn these days.

Two people waiting for their order at a McDonalds with a walk up window where you can buy your food without having to go inside.

A walk up window at McDonalds in Antalya. Like a drive thru, but for pedestrians.

A row of motorcycles with Dominos Pizza delivery boxes on the back of them.

Dominos Pizza delivers in Canakkale, by motorcycle.

An older, small white car with Turkish licence plates parked in a parking lot.

There are still a number of older cars on the road in Turkey. This one is a Murat 131, first produced in Turkey in 1977 by Sahin manufacturing company. They were available until 2002.

Apple tea in a glass cup and turkish coffee in a china cup and saucer, on a table with a brightly coloured striped table cloth in reds, greens and gold.

Apple tea and Turkish coffee, outside on a quiet street in Istanbul.

Four acorn caps on a rock with some oak leaves.

Turkey has oak trees too. The caps on the acorns look quite different from those that we see in North America.

polis

All was quiet in Taksim Square (Istanbul) this afternoon but just down Istikal Cad, one of the main streets leading to the square, busloads of police with helmets and riot shields were assembling. It is not often that I see policemen outfitted that way but considering the non-reaction of the crowds this must be a normal occurrence. Some of the photos aren’t as sharp as they could be. I wasn’t sure of the rules of the game so most of these shots were taken as quickly as possible.

Troy, maybe

Near the Aegean coastal town of Canakkale, there are ruins of what is possibly to city of Troy, or Ilius or Wilius, as it was known over the centuries. There are nine layers to the city. The first layer dates back to the Bronze Age (about 3000 BC) while the last layer is from the first few centuries A.D.

Some of the ruins that have been excavated at the site of Troy in Turkey.

Ramp up to one of the city gates.

The stories of Troy and the Trojans that lived there come to us from Greek mythology and from Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, apparently was the most beautiful woman in the world. She either eloped with, or was abducted by, Paris (son of Priam who was the king of Troy) when she was married to the Spartan king Menelaus. This triggered the ten year long Trojan war, a war that was brought to an end when the Achaean troops finally broke through the city walls by hiding inside a large wooden horse (if the myths are to be believed).

Large horse, hollow inside, and it has a ladder leading up into it so the tourists can climb up and go inside. There are windows to look out.

The large Trojan horse stands between the parking lot and the site of the ruins of Troy.

as evening descends

Out and about in Canakkale.

The Trojan horse in Canakkale was given to the city by the makers of the Hollywood movie, ‘Troy’ that starred Brad Pitt.

Under the Canakkale Trojan horse.

An evening hair cut.

film!

a morning walk in Selcuk

The word Selcuk is actually written with an accent cedilla (C-cedilla) which looks like a little tail at the bottom of the C. In Turkish, this letter is separate from the letter C and it is actually the 4th letter of the Turkish alphabet. It is pronounced as “ch” in English. Therefore, Selchuk is pronounced like “sell chook”.

An orange tree laden with fruit that is growing beside a road. There is a blue and white road sign indicating a roundabout (traffic circle) by the tree. Another blue and white traffic sign is in the distance.

Like many of the Mediterranean and Aegean coastal towns, Selcuk has orange trees growing along the sidewalks of the main streets.

A field, a few trees, some mist and low cloud. In the field is one single old stone column about 4 or 5 metres tall.

All that remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient wonders of the world…. a single column in a field on the outskirts of Selcuk.

Ruins of an old stone and brick structure. The roof had 4 domes, all with small windows in them.

Ruins of the Isa Bey Hammam.

Toz Golu

Toz Golu (with double dots over both vowels of the second word) translates to Salt Lake. This lake is the second largest in Turkey, and is one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. In the winter it is very shallow, only about 0.4m deep. In the summer the lake dries up and exposes a layer of salt that is about 30cm thick. It is located in the Central Anatolia area, part way between Ankara and Konya.

signs on the shores of Salt Lake advertising health products made from the minerals in the lake. It is winter and there is a layer of frost or ice on the short grasses growing at the edge of the lake.

Toz Goly Saglik Urunleri = Salt Lake Health Products
Ayak Bakim Kremi = Foot Care Cream
Yuz Bakim Seti = Face Care Kit

Some dead grasses that are rather tall at the shore of the lake

Brackish marshes have formed along the shore where fresh water streams enter the lake.

A view across the lake. It is flat as far as you can see. There is a road that appears to run out into the very shallow lake.

It has a surface area of 1,600 sq km (or 620 sq mi)

the Blue Mosque, Istanbul

A sign in both Turkish and English with the rules for entering the mosque. Pictures show what clothing is appropriate.

No kissing in the mosque

Exterior

Interior. A large part of the mosque was closed to tourists.

One of the domes of the Blue Mosque

Another of the domes of the Blue Mosque

The interior of the Blue Mosque is immense and it is difficult to get a picture that shows the scale of the building, not to mention a photo that gives you an idea of the interior is really like.

….. So I started looking at the people who were looking at the mosque. Look down while others look up.

American flags in the mosque

balloons over Cappadocia

This is how I spent my Christmas morning. Not a bad change from tradition.

A large red and grey hot air balloon is lying on its side while two men heat the air to fill the balloon. Large flames can be seen.

Filling the balloon with hot air as the sun rises.

Looking up inside the balloon. A man is adjusting the four propane blowers that heat the air to keep the balloon in the air

Keeping us afloat.

bird's eye view of a town in the winter showinh roads, houses and mosques

Flying over a town.

Five or six hot air balloons in the distance, all flying over a valley with mountains in the background.

The sun tried to peak out from behind the clouds.

The edge of a hot air balloon basket with mountains in the background. You can just see part of a couple of people and their cameras.

The basket held about 16 to 20 people. The black line you see in this photo is one of the lines attached to a video camera that was filming us for part of the trip.

The hills of Cappadoccia are filled with caves. You can just see some of the holes in the rock in this photo. Some of the holes are natural and others are man made – the locals encourage pigeons to roost there so they can collect the guano to use as fertilizer in their fields.

people standing around in a group drinking champagne. Outside, on a snowy field.

A celebratory glass of bubbly once we were safely down. The landing was a bit bumpy but that just added to the adventure.

back streets of Ayvalik

Ayvalık is a seaside fishing town facing the Greek island of Lesbos on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is on a hillside with a lot of narrow cobblestone lanes lined with interesting houses.