The American withdrawal from Iraq could be a deadly instance of history repeating itself: a letter to the editor of the Economist magazine (not published)

The recent Baker-Hamilton Iraq study group report is optimistic in its recommendations for withdrawal of nearly all American troops by early 2008. It seeks to use this deadline as a bolster that will motivate the Iraqi government to step up their efforts to take over the counties security responsibility. However, following the recommendations as stated could cause the United States to come frighteningly close to repeating history.

A premature departure from the conflict will likely have the same result as the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Firstly, the Soviets left an incredibly volatile country that erupted into several years of debilitating civil war due to sectarian violence, warlords and a rag-tag collection of left over Arab insurgents. The result of this is well known- a perfect breeding ground for radical Islamic ideology and terrorist training camps. The second potential parallel is that Soviet withdrawal was trumpeted as a great defeat of an infidel superpower by the Mujahideen insurgents. This defeat greatly emboldened their cause, giving them much greater clout and support for operations against the next superpower they were to topple. If the region falls into chaos and another sectarian civil war, Osama bin Laden and his supporters and followers will inevitably see it as a sign of the righteousness of their cause, which will in turn solidify a much more substantial support base from the hundreds of thousands of Muslims that are on the fence about the Islamic radical’s strategy and ideology.

A change in policy is certainly needed, but if the recommendations for a 2008 withdrawal of forces are to be implemented, the government must be sure that the Iraqi forces will be able to take over, or else the recent history of the American-Middle East conflict will be played over again.

The Reveries Takes on a New Life and New Focus

It has been a few months now since I returned from my trip to Turkey. As such I have not felt the need to continue to post articles and updates on this site. Yet, fate has called me to travel once more to the Middle East for a radically different purpose. For this reason I feel the call to write about my experiences and comment on the political environment that I will be immersed in once again. I feel, though, that this time what I will be involved in will be much more serious and noteworthy as I will be directly participating in a major historical event. This new heightened seriousness has also inspired me to study the conflict in Afghanistan and the surrounding region with more gusto and deliberate intent. The result of this is that I will use this forum to self-publish more writings on political and military commentary on the conflicts in the Middle East. I have also begun to publish more on Christian subjects, most recently for the magazine Christian Weekly. What follows will be a stepping off point for a potentially productive hobby as a columnist and political/military commentator.

Leaving Istanbul

My heart was certainly heavy as I took the final metro ride to the airport. I had an extraordinary time and saw numerous amazing things. It was a remarkable learning experience, one in which I collected a number of impressions that I am sure will be with me for the rest of my life. On the other hand, I found, as I am sure many travelers do, that I was getting slightly weary of the language barrier and the difficulty of conducting simple tasks. I was also getting a little lonely as I had not really spent any significant time with family and friends for almost seven months. In addition, I was getting anxious to come back and start working again. I had an abundance of time to reflect and relax so the draw of productive enterprise was a feeling of growing urgency. Yet, it was still difficult to leave as I was having to say good bye to Sirin.
The departure itself was a most miserable and frustrating affair. When I got to passport control I was made to scurry all over the airport to pay a 94 YTL (lira) fine for being one day late. As I was doing this I was loosing my mind with the absurdity and frustration of the exercise, especially as it was encroaching on my ability to catch my flight on time. Fortunately Sirin kept her head and got me through, but as usual, the people that we were dealing with spoke to her in Turkish, so not only were we put through this miserable affair, but I really did not know what was going on. She definitely showed her strength at this moment.
Shortly after I got on the plane there was a general announcement that the plane was indefinitely delayed, although we were not told the reason. After waiting two hours we were then instructed to leave the plane and were poorly directed to a place for ‘complimentary refreshments’. Still not knowing anything, we were then told that we had two options, to cancel our flight or be taken to a hotel to wait until tomorrow, as the flight was cancelled. I shouldn’t say that we were told, it was actually what we gathered from talking to each other and grilling the clerks who were doing whatever they could to avoid talking to us. From that point on we were told basically nothing and had to discover any information ourselves. As I had a couple of connections, there was no way that I could cancel, so my only choice was to wait. I tried to get some information about some possible other options, as I did not need to go to England nor the airport that was closed, but by that time the airline (British Airways) had abandoned us to a local company who could barely speak English and knew nothing. All they were to do was to bring us our luggage and bring us to the hotel, which was a slow, laborious and disorganized affair. The hotel was nice, but it felt like a prison because we could not really go anywhere for fear that we would miss some important information which never really came. Later on in the night I received a couple of notes under my door telling me to be ready at 5 to be brought to the airport. The next day I did manage to get to the airport on time and caught a 12 hour flight from Istanbul to Chicago (why couldn’t I have gotten on a flight like that the day before?). I ended up safely in Winnipeg latter on that very long day (I gained 8 hours, so the day was 8 hours longer than a normal day). From there I had to immediately drive to Regina, for my brother was getting married the next day. So after 32 hours of continuous travel I arrived in Regina and managed to get a couple of hours sleep before the wedding. I know- I shouldn’t have left coming home to the last minuet.

General Impressions

Because Turkey was the first place I have been to outside of North America, she inevitably bares the brunt of not only my impressions of her, but also of international travel in general. Therefore many of the joys and frustrations I had there are more than likely similar to what they would be in other countries. But as I lack the basis of comparison I can’t help but attributing them to Turkey.
First of all I experienced incredible hospitality. Many people were excessively generous even if they did not have abundant means. On the other hand there was also a persistent dishonesty amongst the merchants and restaurateurs, which regularly left me with that empty feeling of being ripped off, and caused me to be far more guarded and distrustful than I normally like to be. However, I think that part of it was that the manner of buying and selling goods is probably the one aspect of their society that differs the most from ours, so it was one thing that I never quite became accustom to. There are few price tags on things, which leave the merchant an extra advantage of judging what they think they can get from the tourist. On our part we really need to know what things are worth, which is hard to because we can’t see the prices anywhere, which means we have to be constantly asking, which is subtly discouraged, for if you talk to anyone they pressure you to buy the product from them.
In some places the country is extremely beautiful, for the actual area is probably one of the most perfect places to live geographically, agriculturally and climactically (which accounts for why there have been so many wars fought there for the territory). Nevertheless, the country is best with all the other problems associated with over population: including crowding, garbage everywhere, endless urban sprawl, and thousands of unfinished buildings. A good part of it feels like one is living in a construction zone.
Most of the people that I talked to generally liked it as I did, but also notice the same problems. I would recommend traveling there as I think it is still relatively undiscovered compared to the rest of Europe. I will likely try and go back myself, although it will take a while to overcome the bitterness I developed based on my experience leaving. I got the impression that they are not too fond of Canadians as our travel visa was two or three times as much as the next country and I am sure that the fiasco that I had to deal with was due to my being Canadian.
I have really enjoyed writing this blog as it gave me a chance to share some of the remarkable things I saw and did with others, giving me a greater sense of connectedness with my friends and family whom I missed dearly. It also gave me a chance to reflect on what I was seeing and doing, which helped make it a richer experience. And finally it helped me to recognize a newly found enjoyment in photography, which I hope to expand in the coming years.
If this is the first entry you are reading I would suggest going back to the vary start and selectively go through the entries that interest you most. I don’t expect anyone accept my mother to be interested in everything, but I am sure that there are things here that would interest most people that know me.

St. Mary’s Home

I almost did not go to the site recognized by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches as the final home of St. Mary. It is a few kilometers up a mountain from Seljuk and the only way a person can get there is either a taxi or a tour, that is unless a person has a car. So when Sirin and I rented a car for one day, it was the natural first stop on our trip. I expected it to be incredibly busy and crowded, but it was actually only moderately busy, so I was able to go into the house and say a few short prayers in relative peace. It was a fairly small house without much to really see, but the presence there was strong, leaving a person with the sense that something out of the ordinary belonged there. The one notably out of place thing was the numerous Jandarma around the building with their trademark submachine guns and funny looking berets. I suppose that security is important, but I don’t suspect that this would be a place that Islamists would target as St. Mary is also revered by them.

Priene- Miletus- Didyma

Within a few Kilometers of the famous ruins of Ephesus are the ancient cities of Priene and Miletus and the temple of Apollo at Didyma. These cities were originally founded prior to the Persian occupation of Asia Minor in the 6th century B.C. These and 9 others in this region formed an Ionian League, but were nonetheless defeated and subsumed into the Persian Empire. Afterwards, on account of Alexander’s liberation of the Greek city states in Asia Minor in the 4th century, the cities experienced a rebirth, resulting in the ruins that exist today. All three of these ancient Ionian cities that I have seen were originally sea ports, but due to silting, they are now a fair distance from the sea, and as such they gradually lost their importance. Izmir, which was once Smyrna, is still by the sea, and is a large port town, but there are almost no traces of its historical past as a result.

PRIENE
The first one I saw was Priene. It was notable as an early example of geometrical street systems and city planning. It was not an important ancient city, but there were a number of ruins, which greatly aided the imagination in reconstructing the ancient settlement.

a small theatre

A few remaining pilars to the Temple of Athena

MILETUS
A few kilometers from Priene is the site of the once famous city of Miletus. It was an important city in its day, but it is remembered most for being the home to the most important school of philosophy in Asia Minor. Some important pre-Socratics came from here including Thales and Anaximander. There was not much of the old city remaining aside from the Theater, which was quite large. We did, however, receive some lavender from a local shepherd who grazes his sheep there and supposedly knows the site better than nearly anyone alive.

Baths of Faustina

Another Temple of Athena

The temple from another angle

This theatre was massive and was designed to hold animal fights and gladiator contests

DYDIMA

Didyma was an incredible spectacle. It was a Temple of Apollo 20 km from Miletus. In its day it was the second most important place for oracles next to Delphi, as Apollo was the god of Prophecy. Those who came for prophetic utterances would make a sacrifice in Miletus and then walk to Didyma to inquire of the oracle. What made it amazing to see is that it was by and large in tact, many of the pillars have fallen, but the basic floor plan has remained undisturbed. The pillars were unbelievably huge and for those that were still standing, remarkably tall. The temple was almost the same size as the Temple of Artemis, so one could use this temple as a reference.
Inside the temple

A small car could fit on one of these

The famous relief of Apollo

A view of the columns

Ephesus

A small remnant of the Temple of Hadrian

I am getting to the point in my trip where I am seeing so many things that if I were to give a detailed account I would surely loose the interest of my readers. In the last week I have seen a plethora of novel things, had numerous little adventures, some high and low times, and stumbled upon some real mysteries. What I what to focus on in the next few short pieces is some of the reasons why a person would want to come here and what they can see, for there are some things that I have seen that I had no idea existed here.

Ephesus was one of the major centers of the ancient world and was an important place for the birth of Christianity. St. John is said to have retired here and wrote his Gospel, Letters, and Apocalypse here. It is also the best preserved ancient Greek/ Roman city in existence today. Normally this means that it is unbearably crowded, as it is one of the key sites in Turkey that everyone sees, but I was fortunate to receive some good advice and came later in the day when there were not nearly as many people.

Part of the ruins of the first ever church dedicated to St. Mary. The presence of this church is one of the reasons that theybelieve that St. Mary must have lived here.

The Library of Celsus- One of the most remarkable things I have seen

A statue of sophia (wisdom) on the outer wall of the library

The remains of the once magnificent Trajan's Fountian

A bust of Socrates in the Museum

One pillar to represent the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world)

The famous statue of Artemis that would have been in the temple

Some storkes nested on a pillar outside my hotel window- a delightful distraction

On Being a Traveler

As I have been visiting some of the most splendid monuments of glorious civilizations, I have also been struggling to find the proper state of mind. I am sensitive enough to realize that the places I am seeing are more than just good locations to have my picture taken, but at the same time I feel that there is a great significance that I am not fully able to appreciate. Many of the travelers I see spend a good deal of time with their faces shoved in their guide books as they try to decipher what they are seeing. In a way that seems like the proper effort, but in doing so I think that they miss the splendor at the price of a morsel of understanding. It is somewhat like going to a liturgy and spending the whole service plastered to the service book without taking the time to absorb the images or meditate on the music.
I think part of the difficulty has to do with being a traveler as opposed to being a tourist or a pilgrim. A tourist travels in large groups and sees a good many things without really having the time to pay attention to any of it. They glide along from one site to another in their air-conditioned buses during the day and spend the night in expensive hotels and restaurants. They don’t interact with the locals much but they do spend a lot of money. This group, however, does not need to interact with the history or the locals, for they are there on a vacation, and the number one imperative for them is to see a number of splendors and to relax. They have a hassle free good time appropriate to their intentions and they sink a substantial sum of money into the economy.
The pilgrim, on the other hand, goes to a specific place for a specific purpose and attaches a great significance to that place. They expect that there is something magical or miraculous about it and that this magic will somehow impart itself onto them. They are ardent believers in supernatural forces and go to places where they believe those forces are particularly strong. However, I believe that the pilgrim is almost non-existent in the modern world, for even the most sincere believers of a particular faith no longer really prescribe to the notion of magical places or healing waters per say, at least in Christianity, for pilgrimages are an important part of Islam as they once were for Christianity.
The traveler is somewhere in between the two, although there are many different types of travelers as well. For the most part they don’t have a great deal of money. They often try to get employment in the countries that they are seeing, but this is by no means a rule. They are usually searching for something authentic without the trapping of superstition that the former are frequently accused of. They want to get to know the people, although this can sometimes be another trapping into a false sense of sincerity. It is impossible to really get to know a people unless you both suffer and celebrate with them, and it is hard to do this unless you are quite intimate with them. This means that you have to be willing to give up some of the privilege that you come with and to really humble yourself. I have seen few that have been able to actually do this, for it takes a great deal of time. I have met people who have been living in Istanbul for a number of years who still rarely interact with the inhabitants aside from their professional activity.
These things being said, for the traveler, as I identify myself, seeing sites can be a interesting problem for those who are sensitive. Seeing the places as neither truly sacred nor profane, we are in an ambiguous position. As such I have heard a lot of travelers speak of the sites as they would a movie (tourists on the other hand find everything absolutely wonderful unless the toilets weren’t clean or the walk was too steep). Because the sites are there to be passively observed there is no real way for the visitor to interact or engage with what they are seeing. The only recourse that we have is our imagination, which cannot properly function if it is too crowded or if we are not sufficiently educated on the place (and the cheap tourist books are not an education).
Of course there is the sheer aesthetic wonder of these places, but that too is somewhat abstract. Buildings can only ever be half beautiful apart from the context that they were built in. For example one can go to the most splendid churches, but the splendor of the church is only half of the whole, for the building was built to have music played, prayers chanted, people gathered. So just seeing the building one only gets a real fraction of the complete process. The problem with traveling is that we can get a false sense that in seeing this fraction, which is all that is left, that we understand the whole. For myself, the problem is that in only seeing a fraction I become painfully aware that there is so much that I am missing and can never have access to. I am not walking the crowded streets of Ephesus during the height of its glory, filled with massive statues and temples to the point of absurdity, I only see where these things would have been. Nor am I able to attend the Liturgy in Hagia Sophia as such a time when visitors reported that they believed that they were actually in heaven. I suppose, though, that this is a perennial problem of history, for so much requires an active imagination to fill the spaces between the corporeal materials that our ancestors have left for us to ponder.
I suppose my resolve to this conundrum, if a resolve is possible or necessary, is to see the sights as they are: magnificent piles of rocks, or glorious monuments to God and human ingenuity. Seeing these things can help me with my historical understanding, for a lot can be learned from the geography, the climate and so on. These climates demand certain habits no matter if one is a Turk, a Greek, a Roman, a Persian. That being said perhaps I should just do what the locals do and spend the rest of my time at the beach.

Pergamum

After Assos my next big stop was Pergamum, or the modern city of Bergama. Pergamum was a very important city in the ancient world, especially pertaining to the Roman occupation of Asia Minor, as it was a capital. Now it is a small and rather poor city. It is not really a tourist city, as is it is not on the coast, and the big tourist buses tend to say at water front resorts in the evenings. It is also often altogether skipped, which is a shame, for it is an excellent site with a good deal to see. There are two main areas for ruins- the Acropolis and the Asclepium (healing center), which are quite a distance from each other.
It is a so infrequently visited place that most of the major bus companies don’t actually stop in the city; rather they drop you off a few kilometers outside of town to wait for a mini-bus. When I got off the bus I noticed another couple departing at the same time. It turned out that not only were they from Canada, but they were from Winnipeg. After some brief introductory questions we found out that of course we knew some of the same people, which is almost always going to be the case with people from Winnipeg. I spent the afternoon touring the Asclepium with them then we met again for a Turkish super. Unfortunately we could not find any good restaurants where we were looking, for it wasn’t until I had been there for a while that I found the better ones. It was great for me to have the company, for there is often an immediate comfort and trust that one feels towards people from one’s home town. It was also a great chance for me to share some of my reflections about Turkey, for they had only been in the country for a short time and were very curious. They were only staying for one night, which was unfortunate because I missed the company, and they missed a chance to see a great historical site.
The second day I got up as early as I could and walked the 7km up the hill to the acropolis. I figured that was how the original inhabitants got there, and I was too cheap to get a cab. The site was marvelous and very quite. I was able to take my time and wander around the various levels without having my meditation disrupted by crowds. The panoramic view was also spectacular, as the Greeks had a great sense of finding scenic sites to build temples.
I am finding that there are generally a few typical things that one will find in these ancient cities: baths, a public fountain, a gymnasium, a senate house, a theatre, perhaps a few houses, defense walls, a promenade, remains of a Byzantine Church and of course the remnants of a temple to the patron god or goddess of the city. The following are some of those that I saw in Pergamum.

Baths at the Asclepium

Part of a temple to Trajan

Part of a temple to Athena

more columns

A walk way under the temple

A promenade. Originally the pillars would have contained statues (many of which are now in Berlin)

One the third day I did not do much, the only thing I saw was the Red Basilica. This was a notable thing to see, though for it perfectly represented the succession of religions in the area. Originally there was a massive temple to the Egyptian god Serapis. The inner sanctuary was then converted into a very large Byzantine Basilica, which may have been one of the largest of its day. Off to the side, in what would have been a chapel or something of that sort, there is a small mosque that is still in use today although it looks quite decrepit.

These are two photos taken from inside the basilica

I spent three days there, which gave me an excellent chance to catch up on some reading and writing, and to get to know the owners of the pension a little. They were some of the most hospitable pension owners I have met so far in Turkey. I am learning that what makes a trip enjoyable and a place memorial is not necessarily the sites but the people as well. Bergama is not an exciting city and it is very poor (there are many people who use horse drawn carts as their primary mode of transportation), however I did not have a single hassle there and felt very comfortable. I am now in the tourist town of Seljuk (adjacent to the ruins of Ephesus) and I am finding it almost the opposite. It is true that there are more impressive things to see, but here nearly everyone I have had to deal with is a little shifty and I have ran into numerous conmen. On the surface this is a far nicer place, but at this point I am finding that sincere and genuine people are more worth meeting then fantastic ruins are worth seeing.

Entering Assos

So far nearly every time that I leave Istanbul I pass through Cannakale at some point. My current trip is no exception as it was the first evening’s destination. I am not in anyway complaining, as I really like the city. It is a really nice midsize city with good, cheap food, genuine people and a great waterfront walk. It is the base for Australian travelers who come for their pilgrimage to Gallipoli, so I think the local economy reaps considerable benefits from this arrangement.
I only stayed there because I could not get to my intended destination before it got too late. The focus of this trip is ancient Roman and Greek cities of the Aegean coast. For the most part the things I have seen have been from the Byzantium Church period, but now I am going back even further to the Hellenistic world with its pillared temples dedicated to the Olympian gods.
Assos was my first stop. It is an out of the way place that is often overlooked by most tours and backpackers. I will admit that it does not occupy a terribly significant place in ancient history, especially compared to Pergamum or Ephesus. However, for the romantic interested in ancient philosophy it is a significant stop, for it was a place where Aristotle lived for three years during his biological studies. For Church history it was also known as a place that St. Paul met St. Luke before they voyaged to Lesbos, which is just a couple kilometers off the coast. It has also been on my mind for a while for it is the location of an annual philosophy conference that I was hoping to go to but was prevented, for it corresponded with the last class for my private class.

You can see part of Lesbos through the window of the wall (I would ove to visit some of these Greek islands but they are not so easy to get to from Turkey)

The town itself it actually called Behramkale, and it is another peasant village where the tourists and villagers peacefully clash. Actually, there were not that many tourists. It is a place that wealthy Turks go for a seaside holiday, and it is generally neglected by the backpackers. I can see why. The affordable pensions are on the hilltop which is quite a walk to the harbor (there was also a beach that I did not discover until I left).

Ampitheatre (one of several that I will see)

The ruins, like Cappadocia, were divided into the free and the paid portions. The paid portion on the very top was not spectacular, but the view was astounding. There were not that many people there, so I could take my time and allow my imagination to set in. The ruins on the side of the hill, including the gymnasium where Aristotle taught, were actually a goat pasture; I was pretty much the only person there. As you can tell from the pictures the ruins, especially the wall and the theatre are well reconstructed, greatly assisting the imagination in its own reconstruction work.

The harbor was incredibly picturesque, but also quite posh (on the way in I saw a small caravan of BMWs).

In sum it was a very nice place, and I should have stayed longer than a day and a half. For some reason I felt drawn to carry on. I am in Bergama now, so there is more to follow.

The mountian monestary

Anatolian Tour

After a long and tiring overnight bus trip, I entered one of the most indescribable places I had ever seen (therefore I shall try to describe it). However, before I get into the magical land of Cappadocia, I should justify the bus system here. I would not have been as fresh after such a trip in Canada because the buses are generally more comfortable here. They are more spacious, with actual en route service of cake and coffee and the occasional water. Nevertheless, 12 hours on the bus is 12 hours on the bus.
Cappadocia is one the natural wonders of the Anatolian region and the world for that matter. Formed from prehistoric volcanic ash, it contains unique rock formations that are relatively easy to carve into. With even modest tools and a lot of persistence anyone can work away at them and burrow oneself a little dwelling, which is exactly what thousands of people have done throughout the centuries.
Like most regions and cities, this one has been both at the heights and the depth of prominence. On the eastern boundary of the regions lies Kayseri, which was the once famous city of Caesareia. It was the Christian monks and hermits, though, which gave the region its distinct flavour and character. For several hundreds of years, pilgrims flocked to this region in search of semi-solitude and Christian community. Along side the rock houses are also numerous cave churches, some of which even contain traces of ancient frescoes and other signs of worship. In the open air museum, for example, there are dozens of little churches in a very condensed area.
When we arrived at our little cave pension (guesthouse) we were met with a very friendly Turkish man with excellent English. He brought us back to his place and welcomed us with a tea and a not so subtle sales pitch for a couple of different day tours. At first I did not mind but as we got used to being there we realized that selling the tours was one of the millions of little ways that the merchants there get their money. It was not a big deal though, as the tour was a reasonably good deal.
I have mixed feelings about tours. If you get a good guide it can be a truly rewarding time, but if not, one can feel a little rushed. However, in places such as Cappadocia getting around to see all of the interesting places is hard unless you have a car and a good map. The tour then acts as a convenient form of transportation.
As Sirin needed the rest I went out and ventured on my own to the general area that the cave dwellings were. When I reached the top of the valley where the open air museum is located I realized that there were places to see both on the right and on the left of the road. The place on the right cost money, so I went left to hike around the caves and rocks there. I learned a valuable lesson in this, one that has not has a counter instance to prove it wrong yet: where one has to pay, one will find the tourists, where one can see things for free one will be left alone. Therefore I had a wonderful time wandering around and exploring the caves on my own, forming a delightful first impression. It was being like a kid again. I would sometimes have to climb or crawl to get into them, and I would become overjoyed when I would find one that was still relatively in tact. Sometimes I would sit and imagine what it would have been like when people lived there, and sometimes I would say a few prayers, as some of the places I found were old chapels.
I kept my adventurous wanderings relatively short, for I did not want to leave my travel companion unharassed for too long.

Some cave dwellings

Cave Chapel Frescoes (again no flashes)

In the evening we explored the town a little. It is a remarkable place, for there is a complete contrast between the tourists and all the shops and restaurants they patronize, and the local peasants who still dressed and maintained the same habits that people have been keeping in that area from time immemorial. On the way to our cave pension, for example, sometimes the narrow road would be blocked by someone’s shipment of straw, and there was one time where one of the other travelers was chased by rooster for trying to imitate them. Right next to the pension a number of old women would sit on the ground and work away at some craft with their colorful scarves and dresses. Inside their houses we could see that there was pretty much no furniture and no other ornaments or decoration.

The Village of Goreme

The region was quite poor, for the farming was bad and for those who weren’t in the tourism business there was no other way to make money. Many people still lived in houses that were carved out of the side of a cliff. What struck me the most, however, was that they seemed to carry on with their lives entirely unaffected by the numerous strange foreigners that were wandering around everywhere. I imagine that the town has become completely transformed in the last few years as tourism has been introduced into the area, but for those that have been their all of their lives, they just carry on with things as it has always been. Though, I am sure that when the old men get together to have their morning afternoon and evening tea the talk about it constantly.
The following day we gathered our strength and went on the tour of the area. I will not bore you with the details. It was a reasonably good tour in so far as it covered a lot of things in a short time, things we would have not been able to see on our own without at least three days. The highlights for me were the underground city that was used as a hiding place against the many invaders that swept through the area, and the mountain side monastery. We also saw an interesting family pottery business that had some of the most remarkable things I have seen. I was a bit put off though, for in the advertisement it was promised that there would be no shopping, which is another way that the tours make their money.

One of many examples of excellent Turkish craftmanship

Underground city (not a great place for pictures but a wonder for the imagination)

The next day we saw the amazing churches in the open air museum. Unfortunately it was absolutely overrun with tourists. Two of the persistent themes for me as a tourist has been a dislike of other tourists, especially crowds and an in ability to put myself in the proper mindset to visit sacred sites; the two problems work together. How is one really able to enter into the contemplative spirit in which such churches were built while surrounded by people gawking and taking pictures of themselves by every little scrap of antiquity, as though they will be edified on account of proximity. I suppose this is the natural effect of state control of the heritage sites of foreign religions. It is the right of conquest I suppose, and to be fair, they do upkeep them rather well.

Characteristic Fairy Chimnies

Open Air Museum (before the crowds)

This basically concluded our tour of Cappadocia. I would have loved to have stayed several more days, but there are so many things to see, and we did not have unlimited time. We took another night bus, this time to Antalya for the seaside portion of our journey.

An old palace gate in Olympus

Antalya is one of the larger cities in the country and it is renowned for being a great holiday spot as there are numerous small resorts on both sides of the city. The place we choose was the site of the ancient city of Olympus. It was not a significant city, but had some excellent ruins. What was most important though, was that there was an excellent beach. The village itself was just a string of pensions along the valley leading to the beach. They were quite rustic, just a number of small, quickly slapped together cabins set in lemon orchards, a perfect place for a relaxing holiday by the beach. It was remarkably similar to places in BC, such as the Slocan valley or some of the gulf islands. It would have been heaven for me ten years ago.

Ruins of Olympus by a natural spring

A great view of the beach taken from the Acroplis

We spent just shy of two days there: relaxing by the beach; getting sunburned; playing tavla (backgammon); swimming in the Mediterranean; exploring the ruins. If anyone reading this intends on going to Turkey, they should definitely consider Olympus, especially in the off season, when the weather is still great but it is much less crowded.
After two relaxing days we went back to Istanbul on the third overnight bus trip in a week. As some of you know, I cannot sleep on buses, so the rest in between was much needed. I had one night back in Istanbul, then back on the road where I am now. More to follow…

The Marmara Trip
A reconstruction of the entrance to the old city walls in Bursa

The whole affair started rather sluggishly as I was a complete beginner in regard to solo travel by bus in Turkey. Following good advice, I went to Beshiktash to find a bus company that was going to Iznik (Nicaea). Unfortunately I was not able to express myself clearly, and the helpful people working at these offices only sent me on a proverbial goose chase. In frustration I decided to go to the main bus station to see if I could navigate my way better there, as the best I could decipher with the local company offices was that there was no buses to my intended destination, which I suspected to be contrary to my best reckoning. However, having never been to the bus station as my own guide, and having not brought a map of Istanbul, thinking that I would not need it, I got a little lost on the way. Fortunately I did eventually manage to find my way, also seeing some of the old city walls at the same time. Upon arriving at the bus station I was again overwhelmed because, as the bus companies are privatized here, there is not one place to go for a ticket, one has to inquire at the many different offices. I went to the first one that I saw with a destination relatively close to where I was going. The helpful man at the ticket booth indicated that I wouldn’t able to get a bus to the destination I desired, but would have to transfer to a nearby town and take a small bus from there. Afterwards I was told that in fact there were direct buses to Iznik, just not with that company. So following the best advice I could procure at the time, I got on a bus to a place called Orhangazi, which incidentally I have still not been able to find on any map, so I am not sure that it exists.
The ride was long, taking two hours to get out of Istanbul alone. The one redeeming part was an unexpected ferry across the Marmara. I am coming to really enjoy the ferry rides. As I was unsure where Orhangazi was, I was a bit apprehensive about getting off at the wrong place. Eventually we entered a town that I suspected of being Orhangazi on account of some signs that I saw as we entered. The bus did not actually stop there; it just pulled over so as to let the required passengers off. I got off and tried to confirm with the bus steward that I was in the right place, but he drove off before I had a chance to get his attention. Fortunately it was the right place, so I needed to find a small shuttle to Iznik.
At this point I was away from English speaking touristy areas, so my broken and entirely inadequate Turkish with vigorous body language was to be my means of communicating. After waiting in vain under a sign saying Iznik, I decided/ was prompted to get some advice (Sirin was calling fairly regularly to prevent me from doing stupid like hitchhiking which I contemplated more than once). The best that I could gather from the ticket agent was that I was to go a block down the street and wait for a bus there. Unfortunately there was no bus stop per say, although it was clear that this was the way to Iznik. I decided to walk for a while, reckoning on doing some reconnaissance to see what I could discover. I found nothing, but felt that in the morning I would have a better chance as it was getting dark.
Feeling confident that I made the right decision, I wandered into town to find a hotel for the evening. I am still baffled that I could not find it on the map as the city was substantial, possibly close to 50,000 based on the number of large buildings. I don’t think that it is much of a tourist spot as I could not find much in the way of lodgment, although it may have been an important place, as the region is know as the birthplace of the Ottoman dynasty, and the city is named after the son of the founder. Wandering through town I saw a typical evening here; old men sitting around talking and drinking tea; women with head scarves walking with their children; young men standing around waiting for something, looking bored. The one thing that did strike me about this particular place was that there was an abundance of internet cafes full of people. They certainly are not uncommon here, but not in this concentration. I did end up finding a reasonable and clean place to stay at 10 lira a night, which is about 7 Canadian dollars.
The next day I got up fairly early to head off to Iznik, which was my whole point for being in that area in the first place. I went back to the spot I was told to go the day before, and this time there were others waiting for something that I correctly assumed was the bus. As I was waiting I saw a number of farm trucks drive past with loads of old women in the back on their way to the fields to start their days work. On my way to Iznik I got a chance to see rural peasantry for pretty much the first time, for this is a completely a bygone thing in Canada.

St. Sophia, the ruins of an ancient church in Nicaea

I suppose that many of you are wondering why I am so intent to get to this place called Iznik, which I imagine that most of you have never heard of. In Turkey there are numerous cities or towns that were at one time extremely important sites that are now relatively obscure. Iznik is one of the key examples of this. There are probably no more than 20, 000 inhabitants in this quiet town on the side of a lake. But in ancient Byzantium it was an extremely important city, the one in which the first tenants of Christianity were discussed and agreed upon. In the fourth century the Church was in the midst of a crisis that threatened to split it, beginning the factionary process a thousand years earlier than history intended. In order to avert this unfortunate calamity, the great first Emperor of the Christian Roman Empire, Constantine, gathered all of the Christian bishops together in Nicaea, which is now Iznik, in order to come to an agreement on what was the correct position of the Church on important theological issues. The Nicaean Council of 325 A.D. resulted in the Nicaean Creed, which is the fundamental statement of the Christian belief to this day, especially for Orthodox Christians.
Nearly one thousand year later the city was still a thriving and important Byzantium city as it housed the Byzantine royal family in exile, serving as the capital while Constantinople was occupied by an Italian cohort. A couple hundred years later it fell to the Turks. It remained an important Ottoman city until the 16th century when it started to make its slow decline. Now it is a small and rather poor town, full of shanties and ruins, but on the whole a very pleasant place.

Part of the city walls around Iznik. There were much more visible parts, but I did not see them until I was leaving the city by bus.

It did not take long for me to wander around most of the town. As I mentioned, it is situated on a beautiful lake surrounded by large hills, making it a very picturesque place. I spent some time on the waterfront reading and looking around. I the center of the town there is a small park with the ruins of an ancient church that I spent some time looking at. The most impressive ruins of the city were the remnants of the city walls, some of which are still pretty well in tact. I only saw part of them but I afterwards regret not having taken the time to see more of them. Other then that there were a couple of really decorative looking mosques and a museum that apparently was not open. I also met a couple of little girls on bicycles who wanted to practice saying hello in English. I tried my best Turkish with them, but nonetheless communication was difficult. So far the only strangers that I have talked to here have either been kids of carpet merchants. The language barrier is a problem.
For some reason after buying some ceramics (a craft that the city was once world famous for) I decided to not stay there for the night, but to move on to my next destination, Bursa. Looking back I still don’t know why I did not stay, and I immediately regretted it once I arrived at the very loud and crowded Bursa. I suppose that I was still warming up and did not exactly know what I was going to do, so I figured that moving on was easiest. It turned out to be for the best as Bursa was an active city with lots to see and do.
Getting there was no problem, and the countryside was spectacular; miles of pastoral Olive groves on the side of mountains. However, once I arrived at Bursa, which was much larger than I thought (2,000,000) I had to figure out where I wanted to go and how to get there. The bus station was on the edge of town, so I had to take a city bus to the center of the city. But what was the center of the city, how would I get there and what did I really want to see? The city was originally founded in Hellenistic times, but there are no real remnants from that time. The city is mostly known for its scenery, skiing and a few local food items, but it is not a real tourist spot, not even for Turks. I took out my guide book and showed it to someone who helped me find the right bus. I was not sure what was there that I wanted to see, but I figured that if my most trusted book had a map of it then it was worth checking out. Once I got on the bus I realized that I had no way of knowing where to get off. The book said that one of the key attractions was the green mosque, so when I saw a large green mosque as we were heading toward town; I figured that this must be it. I got off in one of the most mish mash mess of spare auto parts and repair shops that I have ever seen. There are so unbelievably many small businesses here. Where I landed there was miles of one car garage repair shops. Needless to say, the green mosque that I found was not the one I was looking for. As it turned out the green mosque isn’t actually green. So there I was stuck in an entirely untouristic area without a real clue where to go. I decided to head back to the main street and hope that if I followed it for a while things would become apparent. I dared not ask someone, for that would have taken the fun out of finding my way. There are some things that women will never understand. My intuition was again right and within a few miles I was in the heart of a bustling commercial center.
I spent two nights in Bursa, which would have been the bare minimum to get any sense of the city. As I mentioned it did not have any monuments to either Hellenistic or Christian history, so there was not any definite attraction for me. There were, however, a few impressive monuments from Ottoman history, so I saw what I could of these. I have only just begun reading about Ottoman history and have an embarrassingly sparse knowledge of the subject. It is something that I should alter, as there are many important and impressive Ottoman monuments that I am unable to fully appreciate due to my ignorance. The city was also full of great places to have tea, which I also took advantage of. I would generally walk around for a while, and then find a nice place to have tea and read, then walk around some more. It was a contemplative trip.

A good example of Ottoman graves

A beautiful park in Bursa (a good place for tea)

Wandering was a real pleasure in the city because the market/bazaar sector was an amazing maze of narrow streets and obscure and serene courtyards that were often only accessible by a single entrance. Bazaars are an amazing thing. They are the way shopping was meant to be done; it is a mysterious, picturesque, loud, exciting, enticing experience requiring tact, skill and a lot of patience.
On the Wednesday morning I made my way back to the bus station to take a bus to Canakkale and eventually Erdine. I went to Canakkale before as a part of my trip to Troy, which is only a few miles away. I did want to see Troy again, but when traveling one has to make quick decisions and compromises. I also wanted to stay in Canakkale again and meet Sirin on Thursday, but I made a spur decision to go right through as I was finding that it was taking longer to get places than I had anticipated, so if I would not have sacrificed Canakkale I would have had very little time in Erdine, Sirin’s home town in Turkey.
It was the right decision for Erdine was a delightful town and I would not have wanted to spend any less time there. It was by far the cleanest, friendliest, and best laid out city that I have seen in Turkey so far. It was another one time capital of the Ottoman Empire. Actually all of the cities that I stayed in with the exception of Orhangazi were one time capitals. Erdine, however, remained a favorite town of the Sultans right up to the 19th century. It is a garden city full of little tea gardens tucked under vined canopies. The main attraction of the city is the three large mosques with in a few blocks of each other. During the height of the Ottoman Empire there seemed to be a sense among the Sultans that they needed to display their magnificence by building a larger mosque than their predecessor, a kind of pet project to keep them occupied while they were expanding their empire. So large mosques would be built right next to each other so as to show the progression. In Istanbul this can be obscured by the numerous other buildings and neighborhoods that occupy the bustling city. Erdine, on the other hand, makes a perfect canvas on which to fill the pictures of piety.

Selim's masterpiece! It is arguably the most magnificent mosque in Turkey.

The domed ceiling

Inside of the Old Mosque with its large caligraphy. Notice the man standing.

My visit there was without travel anxiety, (which is frustrating at the time but makes for good stories) as I had a knowledgeable guide in Sirin. We basically continued with my plan of seeing things and stopping in picturesque places for tea. One of the most interesting of these was the caravanasaray, which was an ancient truck stop for traveling merchants on the silk route. It is now a hotel with a nice café in the courtyard. We played backgammon, which appears to be a national pass time, for you can’t pass an outdoor patio café without seeing at least one pair of people playing it. We also had tea along a picturesque river, the name of which currently eludes me. If you don’t like tea, don’t come to turkey.

The urban and the rural are often not distinct in Turkey.

On the Friday evening we made our way back to Istanbul after having one last meal at the best Kofte restaurant in the cit with Sirin’s dad. I have to admit that they were by far the best Koftes that I have had so far, although I am by no means a connoisseur. Thus ended my first trip: I learned how to get around on my own, how to get unlost, how to make due with fractured Turkish, and best of all, how to avoid tourists.

This picture represents the two great forces in Turkey today. On the one hand there is a glorious mosque representing the beauty and majesty of the Ottoman empire in late medieval Islam. On the other hand there is Ataturk in his military uniform representing the modernising westernising focus of the new Turkish republic.