I previously wrote about how Baku is a city of contrasts. I now have to take it a step further. In the last two days, as I traveled outside Baku, I’ve seen an extraordinary variety in almost all things. Azerbaijan strikes me as a land of great contrasts.
Baku is a delightfully charming city with attractive historic architecture. Baku is also a dramatically modern city with startling skyscrapers and brilliantly conceived spaces. I read a lot about Baku before arriving, but I was still not prepared for this city of contrasts.
The history and gorgeous geological variety that is Cappadocia was on full display today: from a hot air balloon, ground level, and below.
I’ve seen a lot of pictures of Cappadocia, and I knew there were caves and rocks, but until I saw it for myself, I really had no idea what it was all about. Today was a revelation.
Today I visited three sites near Antalya that had stunning ruins. No matter how many different sites I’ve been to on this trip, I’ve seen things that have consistently blown me away.
Driving from the airport to my hotel in Antalya went through the worst kind of suburban sprawl such as you see in the USA. It was hard to distinguish this as a Turkish city. Strip mall after strip mall, car dealerships, IKEA, outlet malls, etc. When we got close to the hotel, it became more…
I thought today’s excursion was about Pamukkale, and I’d also see the adjacent ruins of Hierapolis It turns out today’s excursion was about Hierapolis, and I also saw the travertine pools of Pamukkale.
Today I saw Ephesus and more, except everything else was lesser than Ephesus. Hence the title. If I only saw Ephesus on this trip, it was worth the long journey from Mexico.
As I write, I’m sitting at breakfast at my hotel in Kuşadası. This post is about my final impressions of Istanbul, though, so I’ll write later about Kuşadası and my day today, but I just wanted to share this glorious view of the Aegean Sea.
Yesterday was a random day in Istanbul, with a lot of different activities and no theme. So I’m going to start with some random thoughts.
I spent most of my fourth day on a walking tour sampling food in Istanbul on both continents. Afterwards, I visited two beautiful mosques. Food for the belly followed by food for the soul.
Turkish Delight is a confection. It’s also an apt description of my third day in Istanbul.
