North Cyprus Fall 2013

Hi All:

Well, it looks like the 2013 season is put to bed and we are home in Canada. We didn’t get a lot of miles under our keel, but it was still a good time. Two Moons has remained on the hard since  October 2012.

We returned to Turkey in the spring and enjoyed some extended road trips. Then it was back to Canada for  July to September in order to attend the wedding of our second son, Taylor. In September we held a 90^th birthday for Mike’s dad. Our first Canadian summer in eight years was a nice respite from the Med's heat. Upon our return, indications were that it was good to have been away.

Mid September we returned to Alanya, Turkey, with some misgivings because we hadn't been able to compile a clear travel plan. It seemed that every time we focused upon a destination in the Eastern Med, they would start warring. Egypt had been our goal. No! Syria. No! Israel?

However, filling the days in Alanya was not a  problem, because the boat To-Do list  grows exponentially. But all work and no play makes Grace a grumpy girl (or something like that), so we had to take some diversionary time.

For two years we have tried to reach Cyprus, but Turkish travel logistics have always proven far too complicated to make the effort. But fortunately another boat here in Alanya offered us passage as crew to North Cyprus. Their captain and crew had personal physical limitations, which hindered their sailing and we were only too willing and able.

North Cyprus is but 90 miles from Alanya, Turkey, but you are required to visit another harbour about 125 nautical miles east of Alanya in order to formally check out of Turkey. You are traveling from mainland Turkey to the Republic of North Cyprus - TRNC (Turkish territories), but are compelled to undergo the formalities of checking out of Turkey and into North Cyprus. It is a financial and administrative source of aggravation on both ends, only to be repeated upon return.

While sitting in Tasucu (the check out  harbour) a pair of backpackers hailed the boat, indicating they had spied the Canada flag on my (Mike’s) ball cap. As we chatted, we learned the couple, also Canadian, live one block away from our home in Canada. It got down right scary as we learned his name is Mike. His wife was a teacher, who was born in the Netherlands. Fortunately, before the commonalities could heap any higher, they had to run to catch their ferry over to Northern Cyprus.

North Cyprus - After a long day’s motor we finally arrived in Girne, North Cyprus. First impressions were of a long inhospitable coast, backed by a majestic mountain ridge. The Greek population was evacuated in 1974 by the Turks, in response to a Greek coup. Today, the north and south remain separated by a wide green corridor, essentially splitting the island and the cultures. The corridor continues to be partolled by UN peacekeepers.

 

Atop the mountains separating N from S - looking at N Cyprus



Little doubt who has claimed this neighbourhood



Although Turkish teriritory, we encountered  a very liberalized, Anglicized  community, complete with right-hand-side motor ways; British electrical plugs; bacon, chops and sausages, fish and chips and very cost effective alcoholic beverages. We don’t recall hearing one call to prayer; lost track of the number of casinos in Girne and were astounded when cars would actually stop for us to cross at zebra crossings.
 

Our home base - Girne, N Cyprus



We rented a car for three days and covered the TRNC from east to west. With Mike doing all the driving, only one bush suffered from thee steering wheel being on the” wrong side”. Castles atop the mountain range were reached along very narrow single lane switch-back “roads” which supported no guard rails. In the west end of the republic is a reserve which is home to 1000 feral donkeys.  All told the scenery was lovely and worth all the effort.

A "wild" donkey



Add caption



North and south Cyprus are separated by a green zone, which even divides the capital, Nicosia in half. We had heard many divergent opinions regarding our ability, or inability to cross the border. We had heard you can go north to south, but not the reverse. The south won’t let you in if you have a Turkish stamp in your passport. A long story short, we walked across the border without incident. The guards were not even looking to see if the passports presented applied to the persons before them.

We opted not to tour southern Cyprus after leaning that it is very flat., with the coast ringed by a continuous wall of  resort condominiums. The south sounds excellent for the all-inclusive holiday get-away on lovely beaches, but not what we were searching for.

North Cyprus beach

 

We had motored through dead calm for the last four days to arrive at Cyprus, but all the while at dock in Cyprus we saw gale force winds. As they say – better to be in here wishing you were out there – than to be out there wishing you were in here. When our time came to head back to Alanya, the winds had eased to the point where we motored all the way back. We dragged a fishing line the entire time and got nothing. We expected to hear traffic on the VHF as a result of the larger international naval presence in response to the Syrian crisis. Not a word.

It was realy hard to put on shoes and long pants for the flight home. The fall Turkish weather had been fabulous. The days were sunny. There was moderate temperatures and humidity, which was perfect for the ongoing boat jobs. We are now in good shape for next years plans, if we can just find a destination where sensibilities preside.

That's it for season nine. If we fail to make contact over the winter months, we wish you a safe and healthy  winter holiday season. Keep the dry side up...........Mike and Grace

Girne Venetian castle



Old Nicosia



olive festival - Girne

Black Sea-Georgia Road Trip

Hi All:

In order to avoid the intense heat endured while camping on the concrete pad in Alanya Marina, we  took  a very long drive (3,000 + kilometers) from Alanya, north to the Turkish Black Sea coast, with a day trip into Batumi, Georgia.

In advance, we took great pains to inform the guide, that because of the distance, he had to provide a quality van, with all seats facing forward. He picked us up in an almost new VW people carrier, which we enjoyed for three hours, until we were pulled over by the Turkish road police. A check of the vehicle’s records showed that the license renewal was 30 days past due. Do they instruct the guide to go to the closest vehicle bureau or issue a fine?  No, they impound the van on the spot, in the middle of nowhere. It took a lot of sorting out to get the vehicle leasing company to deliver a replacement in the closest town. They arrived with a 20+ year old Mercedes van, whose sliding side door kept popping ajar and an interior was beyond scruffy. A good start to our weeks sojourn.

bOur first stop of key interest that day was in Konya, the epicenter of the Dervish religion (as in whirling dervish). The beautiful mosque/museum well illustrated the origins and history of the religion. 



Konya - The Dervish Museum



    A tea break later was at Sultanhani Caravanserai (1229), which is the best remaining example of where the merchants travelling the Silk road would stop to rest and conduct business. 

Sultanhani Caravaserai

Cappadocia

Day 2 brought us the highlight of the trip, which was a balloon ride over Cappadocia, renowned for its unique topography and Christian dwellings within the rock formations. It was a 0400 pick-up which took us out to the “air field”, where we watched the many balloons being inflated. 

Following some safety instructions we climbed aboard and were adjusted for ballast. Then it was a gentle dawn lift-off, along with the other 50+ balloons. 

The sandstone and volcanic stone has been eroded by wind and rain to produce a spectacular landscape. Early Christians in the area saw pigeons burrowing into the sandstone to make nests and followed suit, leaving behind a wild array of surface and underground residences and churches.   

The pilot explained all his maneuvers to ease any tension and demonstrated that he could only control up and down or rotation. He took us from where the basket kissed the grain in a nearby field and then up to a panoramic 1000 meters.

Nearing the end of the flight, the chase crew appeared in a nearby field, where the pilot softly landed the basket precisely onto the trailer bed.

Precisely how we landed



While we were enjoying our glass of celebratory bubbly, the ground crew deflated the balloon. The glass of bubbly is a tradition stemming from the conclusion of the very first balloon flight in France, in a balloon constructed of paper. A well deserved tipple in our eyes and start to a great tradition.

We were able to see only a small section of the area. Some subterranean dwellings are reported to descend 7-9 levels. Other “Fairy Chimneys” are hollowed out with rooms, windows and doors



The local cop shop

 

From Cappadocia, it was a long drive to the northern Black Sea coast where we visited many ancient mosques and churches. But the most spectacular required a long and sometimes tricky climb up a cliff face to the Sumela Monastary, in Trabezon. It is a 4^th century Greek Orthodox structure glued 1200 feet up to a rock face. It was finally abandoned in 1923, but the extensive friezes show centuries of vandalism by the many domineering forces that passed through.



Sumela Monestary 4th century - Trabazon




A tricky path to the monestary



some of the defaced friezes

The end of the day brought us to our hotel for the next three nights. We were now well into the steep mountains along the north coast, such that our van couldn’t deliver us up the last stretch. Our host had to drive down the steep narrow path to get us. This was a rustic family run affair, which grew/made most of what was served at meal time (cheese, eggs, veg, trout, nuts, hooche). The evening’s entertainment was provided by neighbours who stopped by for a sip and a song. It was a very enjoyable and educational experience seeing how these folks eked out a living in hard conditions. Tea is a major crop for the area and harvesting looked arduous owing to the 45 degree incline of the ground.





Tea "fields"

Batumi, Georgia



Carousel  at 3/4 mark

  We took a one day excursion across the boarder into Georgia, to the port city of Batumi. Because of the recent oil discoveries it is undergoing an economic boom.

Radisson Hotel/University






The Upside Down Whitehouse
political statement?

 There still remains extensive evidence of the Russian love for uninspired concrete block buildings, but large sums of US investment are changing its skyline – Donald Trump included. For us, the most memorable aspect of Georgia was getting out. We arrived at the border crossing at prime time and havoc ensued. It was our first time of being in a crowd where we became concerned for our safety. We were forced to pass through a long hot airless tunnel, which took well over an hour and a half. The crowd became aggravated with the waiting time and was surging toward the passport desks. Armed guards were pushing back. We believe the boarder was closed behind us as part of the control measures. It was sheer madness.



All told we covered about 3000 kilometers in a week. Not something we’d rush out and do again.

Our goal had been to check out the Turkish north coast to determine if we wanted to sail there next summer. Our conclusion was decidedly not. Inland is very varied with a mountainous coastline fading to flat farm land, but the coast and its harbours were not at all inviting. Furthermore, despite all their talk about environmental proponents, the towns along the Black Sea all have their municipal trash heaps on the shore line. But, we feel now we have done Turkey proud by touring more of its inner self than we have for any other country. We only scratched the surface on Turkey’s vast archeological offering, much of which is not promoted. We found that our schooling is practically void when it comes to mentioning Turkey’s political and religious history. Another benefit was the trip gave us a break from the relenting heat we were experiencing in Alanya. And they tell us it gets hotter for July and August. But, we don’t care. We are now home back in Canada, for the next two months, to attend our youngest son’s wedding and my (Mike’s) fathers 90^th birthday. We expect to return to Turkey in the fall. But unfortunately the political and social unrest throughout the eastern Med is placing many restrictions on our travel options. So, we’ll just have to wait and see. Until then, we wish a good summer to all.

Mike and Grace







Start of Season 9 - Trip to Mesopotamia June 2'13

Hi All:

We hope everyone wintered well and now have summer going full bore.

We returned to Alanya Turkey at the beginning of April for the start of our 9^th season and since then we have changed our plans for this season’s travels ten ways from Sunday. The short story is that because we are heading home mid summer for a wedding and because of the political and economical turmoil at this end of the Med, we have decided not to launch Two Moons until spring 2014. We are living aboard on the hard, with strong hopes that we don’t cook as the summer heats up.



The Two Moons birka - trying to beat the heat

 Instead, we have been keeping busy overhauling all the boat systems and taking trips inland to see more of the real Turkey than that offered at the over the top tourist centers along the coast.

 

Last week we took a tour of Upper Mesopotamia, which not only delighted us with its many historical sites, but unfortunately emphasized just how poor our understanding of political, cultural and religious history of the area really is. Since returning to Two Moons we have been researching the background on places and peoples we saw and the head swims with the area’s abundance of cultures; their contributions; and their beliefs that impact us today. Easy to see why it is termed the cradle of civilization.

For a start, we thought Mesopotamia was in the Iraq, Syria and Egypt area. But its Greek name means land between two rivers – The Tigris and The Euphrates – which originate in Nemrut, Turkey. .

Our trip was to have been with six other folks in a van, but the day before, the other six bailed, so we had a 2500km private tour in the guide’s car. We had understood that this was an ongoing tour, but it quickly became evident that we were the first. We often were lost, and the guide was constantly on his mobile or stopping asking for directions and we found him reading the site information boards along with us. This is what the locals call “The Turkish Surprise”. But fortunately, it all worked out. We saw all we had expected and more. It also gave us unlimited time to discuss life in Turkey.



Our route was clockwise from Alanya (far left) and depits where we stopped overnight - not all the places we visited

 

We experienced so much history, and archeological wonders that we could bore you to death for days. So we’ll try to hit the places with “wow” factor. Hopefully the pics will be self explanatory.

Nemrut

After a very long first day of driving and frequent stops at lesser historical sites (Turkey has a plethora of sites), we arrived at Nemrut Mountain. There are two ways up this 7000 foot hill. We took the route closest to our position, which was a steep graded gravel road  under reconstruction. There were hairpin turns galore, bread loaf sized boulders everywhere and parts where the old road was washed away. Thank heavens it wasn’t our car. At the end of the road, you still faced a 1000 foot hike to the summit. Apparently it is common practice to watch the sunrise or sunset from the summit, but the very idea of negotiating that path in the dark was unnerving. The vista at the top was worth the effort, but the icing on the cake was the 9 meter high statues who guard the 1^st century royal tomb located there. Behind them and covering the tomb is a 200 foot pile of walnut sized gravel.  The sculptors after building the statues, had all the residual rock broken up into a pile – a mammoth task, but guaranteed that this was one tomb not been looted. Where is the front door? The ride down was a gentle 17 kilometer long road of interlocking bricks.  The longest driveway ever. (Turkey has few oil reserves - concrete is cheaper - many streets are interlocking brick)

 

Guardians of the tomb with the man made rock pile in the background



Hassankeyf

Our next eye popper was a place that is on the endangered list owing to a massive hydro electric dam scheduled to be completed this year. The area is reported to have been inhabited for 10,000 years, by over 20 cultures. We witnessed a beautiful old mosque, immense limestone cliffs which were riddled with man made caves, into which the inhabitants retreated during times of danger. Because of erosion you could see the stairwells descending the 200 feet to the River Tigris to enable them to get water. There was also the remains of a bridge spanning the 40 meters, which was likely used by Marco Polo when following the Silk Road. All this is to be flooded by 2016. Only the Tomb of Zeynal is to be relocated, along with all the locals to a new village consisting of high-rise flats. After generations of living on the land in simple brick homes – it could be a dreadful transition for these folks. In all, 200 archeological sites are affected by this dam, Hassankeyf being the most notable loss.



The old city of Hansakeyf soon to be submerged to the top of the mosque's mineret



The only structure to be relocated - The Tomb of Zeynal

The limestone cliffs riddled with tunnels from top to bottom

Sanliurfa

We stayed in other towns with history tracing back as far as 9000BC, which would turn this blog into a book. Sanliurfa is a place on the vast Plain of Anatolia, which has been converted through water management into some of the world’s most productive agricultural property. The Arab and Turkish people are very traditional in dress, such that we too were always covered up. Foreign visitors are still very rare, so a lot of staring occurs, until we’d smile and nod. Then they would break out into a hearty grin. The children were most gregarious coming right up and asking – what’s your name, where you from and how old are you. Of course we lied. We told them we were Akmar and Filiz.



The Turkish-Syrian border - looking at Syria

 Along the Syrian border are miles of barbed wire with a separation zone. We didn’t come across the mass refugee camps we had heard about, but did encounter Syrian licensed cars loaded to the gunwales with all their possessions.  A very sad state of affairs, indeed

The home of the Holy fish - Sanliurfa, where Abraham was either thrown into a fire or threw sticks into the river which turned into fish

Said Holy fish

Apart from prominent religious sites, Sanliurfa has Gobekli Tepe, which is now thought to be the world’s oldest temple 11,500 years. It was only unearthed mid 90’s, until then it had been a farmers field. Some of the stones have plow marks. This circular temple, much like Stone Henge, contains some remarkable carvings on 4 meter upright stones, based upon very smooth and very square bases. It asks the very same questions – where did the stones come from; how did they arrange and erect them; and how did they carve to such precision. They have only just started to excavate to what is believed to be an very extensive community.

Aerial view of Gobekli Tepe

The on going digs

Very elaborate stone wok for 11,500BC

Just the beginning

Harran

Apart from the many “old as dust” monastaries, mosques, churches and universities we visited, one last community stood out. Harran is also said to be the world’s longest continuous community – about the 3^rd millennium BC. It was once a major commercial center for Upper Messopotamia, but today is but a village of persons of Arab descent because of its closeness to the Syrian boarder.

The main attraction is the style of houses used for 3000 years. These bee hive structures are built of mud and straw bricks, without any wood, and are grouped like an egg carton. Each room serves the family a specific purpose.

While there we tried the special drink known as “Bitter coffee”. It takes three days to make, because fermentation is involved. It is served only upon special occasions with ceremony. The server presents you a cup just poured in front of you and waits until you return the cup. To set the cup down is an insult. There is only a teaspoon of the brew in the cup, which was a relief because we both gagged, but smiled when refusing a second offering, unlike our guide who spit and coughed when taking his first taste.

Looking up inside one of the cones

Speaking of becoming aware of cultural differences…. I (Mike) learned one big cultural difference with the Turks. When a waiter came to our table to see if our meal was acceptable, lacking the appropriate reply I would give a thumbs up or make an OK sign. It turns out the OK sign can also be construed as “Are you gay?”. There after my response to any waiter was a head nod and grin in my best non-gay manner. And we thought they were just very friendly.

But it was a great trip. The people were exceedingly friendly, the variety of landscapes amazing and the history mindboggling. So much so we have booked another trip for June to take us up to The Black Sea and Georgia. Then we can say we have seen Turkey.

Well now it is now 33 degrees inside the cabin at noon and this is getting much too long.

So, best wishes to all/have a pleasant summer………Akmar and Filiz

Some general pics:

Diyarbakir

Local cheese shop



Part of 5km city wall - 2nd to Great Wall of China




Old city gates with emblem



????





One of many Church of The Virgin Mary- Orthodox Christian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midyat

Daily market

 

 



The city of Midyat



Underground homes in centre of Midyat tunneled into limestone



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara

 

Roman fortification tunneled into limestone

 

Doorway to a church which descends 4 floors
The bottom floor is strewn with 000's of bones and skulls

Nusaybin

Claimed to be world's oldest university
Only just excavated down from windows
Is a stones throw from Syrian boarder

Recently unearthed doorways

Adana

The vast Anatolian Plain recently rejuvinated through the mega dam projects
All the way to Syria