Chelle’s Travels

So last time I wrote we were in Selcuk, Turkey, awaiting our unplanned
journey to Olympos. We couldn’t get a bus direct so we decided to swing
through Pamukkale first.

Pamukkale was pretty cool – a natural wonder out in the middle of nowhere.
Because of the calcium-rich volcanic springs, the water running down the
mountain leaves bright white calcium carbonate as a precipitate, which forms
cascading pools down the mountain side. It gives the effect of a waterfall,
or as the name “pamukkale” means in turkish, like cotton. When we went
there, we discovered that the areas was quite badly damaged due to it being
changed into a resort in the 80s and people swimming and washing in the
pools and also walking and driving over the rock. Luckily, Unesco is
protecting it now and it’s being returned to its former glory.

Next stop was Olympos which I though was FANTASTIC! We were only going to
stay for 2 nights but, exhausted and desperately craving relaxation time,
Thad and I stayed for 5 while Claire and Beccie continued to Cappadocia.

Olympos is a valley surrounded by lush vegetation and huge mountains, and a
single road within it completely covered with tourist accommodation. Luckily
for us, there weren’t many tourists around so we didn’t get that resorty
feel. Our accommodation was in Treehouses, wooden huts on stilts among the
orange grove, and the common areas around the place included hammocks and
platforms full of beanbags and cushions where you could just relax. Aaaah.
The main attraction of Olympos is the beach, pebbly but still beautiful in a
bay with the valley’s river tumbling into it in the centre. The water, as
like most of meditteranean sea, was nice and warm. To get to the beach, you
had to walk through the ancient town of Olympos, a port town dating back to
200 BC and in use til the 1400s. The ruins have been reclaimed by the
wilderness and we were free to wander wherever we wanted, which was lots of
fun and much better than, say, Ephesus, where we had to stay behind fences.

On one such wander, Thad, Claire and I went for a long walk up the less
travelled side of the river. It was very beautiful and we saw lots of crazy
things – most of it was a necropolis so there were huge tombs and sarcophagi
everywhere, still quite preserved with lots of the relief sculpture and
writing still visible. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse as we
encountered a rather angry bee who, after a quick battle, stung Claire in -
of all places – the boob! The poor dear. As we turned around to go back to
get some first aid, i received an sms. Thad said it was probably Natalie
saying she’d had her baby. I laughed and said that I proclaim the new baby’s
name to be Beesting! I checked my phone and lo and behold, it WAS Natalie
and I was now the proud auntie of a baby boy. Sweet! She rejected my name
suggestion and instead settled on Tanner.

After more floating in the med, relaxing and playing chess, we headed back
to Istanbul to meet Claire and Beccie.

We visited a few more of the sights, including a trip to the grand bazaar,
Hagia Sofia museum and Topkapi palace. Hagia Sofia is pretty incredible -
monstrous and ugly really on the outside but stunning on the inside. Built
as a church in 537, when the Ottomans took over in 1400s they converted it
to a mosque. As Islam prohibits the depiction of living creatures, all of
Hagia Sofia’s beautiful mosaic murals were painted over. Surprisingly, in a
refreshing act of religious tolerance, the workers who painted over the
murals first preserved them, and copied the designs down. Why I’m not sure,
it’s almost like they knew they’d be interesting in a few centuries! But
good on them, because restoration after the mosque was turned into a museum
has revealed some of the murals again.

Probably one of the most crazy things about Istanbul is standing in between
Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, one of the largest in the world, at prayer
time. To be between two incredible famous monuments facing each other, one
red and one blue, and to have the Meuzzins sing the call to prayer from each
mosque’s minarets, taking it in turns to sing in almost mock competition.

We also celebrated Beccie’s 21st in Istanbul, but I couldn’t drink cos I’d
made myself sick from eating 3 chicken kebabs in one day. The others had a
good time though, pub crawling in Taksim, the “new” istanbul where locals
shop, eat and party. Claire and Beccie left us shortly after – Claire to
Madeira and Beccie to the UK, which was sad to see everyone leave in
different directions.