Home » Turkey » Odyssey Update 5 - Turkey & Greece

Inspired by Fileas Fogg, I've maintained my hectic pace through Turkey and Greece, changing cities every day or two and often sleeping on trains, busses or boats so that I can see more during my precious days. Other travelers sometimes shake their heads when they hear my itinerary, but their objectives may be different. For me, this is not really a vacation. I am applying as much energy and effort as this rare opportunity deserves. Nor am I trying to see everything as though this were my last trip. I am developing a clear idea of where I would like to return and spend more time, and what I'm glad to have seen once. I do plan to slow down when I get to Italy where there is so much to see - but that’s for the next edition.

Odyssey Update 5 - Turkey & Greece

Mark Morin
2006-04-29 14:30:25

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pants and sandals (my running shoes became toxic waste after my first week in Vietnam). But the temperature was not 42C like my first day in Cairo, nor a refreshing 32C, not even a chilly 22C. It was 12 degrees and what a shock! At least I was glad to justify lugging my warm clothes for 2 months through the tropics.

CAPPADOCIA (I DIG YOUR APPARMENT - JUST GIVE ME A SHOVEL)
What a weird and wonderful place this is, with fantastic gnome-capped houses carved out of obscene rock formations. It’s a cave-lover’s subterranean paradise, if such a thing is possible. I spent a couple days hiking around the town of Goreme where even the hotel and hostel rooms are in caves (photos galore).

These badlands were the cradle of Christianity in the first few centuries AD, a time when Christians were used as lion food back in Rome. This is where St. Paul established the first Christian communities among the Hittites and where St. Basil invented monasteries and masses, and defined the early doctrines that would become the Catholic Church.

Early Christianity was literally an underground movement here. Monasteries and churches were carved out of the porous rock, so that they would be undetected by marauding roman soldiers. Eventually, entire cities were constructed under ground as emergency refuges for thousands of Cappadocians (photos).

PAMUKALE & EPHESUS
Ruins are becoming something of a theme on this trip (a reflection of my finances?) Pamukale’s Roman ruins sit atop a spectacular snow-white calcium mountain with terrace pools of hot turquoise water. This really has to be seen
to be believed (photos).

Ephesus is an ancient Roman city on the Aegean coast of Turkey where the Apostle John and the Virgin Mary lived out their final years. The ruins at Ephesus are interesting because they are of an entire city, not just temples or tombs. The Romans were obviously into durability, building marble latrines to last ...