Rakhat wished the travel would never end. He was having such a wonderful time. Yet, he had to confess that he really missed particular people back home. You would not guessed that seeing him enjoying all the pretty girls from London and elsewhere. He is definitely a normal 19 year old boy with healthy interest in the opposite sex. He is hopefully back in school today.
I emailed him but have not heard from him yet.
Gosh, What can I say. The 18 days in Turkey was packed with amazing sights. I had never been interested in Turkey so had not read too much about it. So many of the things we saw and did was a complete surprise to me. The Blue Mosque in Istanbul was one of them. We took in all the sites recommended by Loney Planet travel guide book and Rakhat high school teacher friends...
Aya Sofya..Church of Holy Wisdon..Blue Mosque..Topkapi Palace...The Grand Bazaar...I did not like it...too commerical. We really enjoyed taking the ferry on the Bosporus Sea to get to Beyoglu, the modern Istanbul. But eating at Burger King was one of Rakhat joys. It reminded him of Kauai and there is no Burger King or McDonald in Kyrgyzstan.
Seeing Turkey on the Fez Bus Hop On and Hop Off program was a good thing. It caters to the 20 to 30 age group so Rakhat got to meet many people his age. Not only do they take us to some off beat places but the bus holds only 8 to 10 people so you really get a chance to get to know each other. We drop people off and we see them again in a few days. It is like seeing old friends.
Morocco,Kyrgyzstan,Turkey are all Muslin countries so everyday several times a day I hear the call to prayer sung out loud from the Mosque to all parts. As Rakhat says not everyone is a good Muslim just as not all Christians practice their religion. Not all woman wear cover up clothing , but you definitely notice the difference in the various towns we visited.
We definitely covered a great deal of miles. From Istanbul the bus took us around the Marmara Sea to get to Gallipoli,Canakkale, and Troy. I did not take the Gallipoli tour. I let Rakhat go.Men from his country participated and dead in that war on the side of Turkey. Learning about that war I can understand why Turkish people are very patriotic and lift up Mustafa Kemal,later known as Ataturk, father of modern Turkey. The flag of Turkey is flown everywhere and Ataturk statue stands in every town.
The tour guides at both Gallipole and Troy had personal attachments to each place..someone in their families were connected some way. I learned a lot of history from before B.C. and after.
We traveled to Ephesus and visited the site of that once florishing city that Apostle Paul refers to. The baths were the place to hold your business meetings so they were interestingly designed.
The guide said that Cleopatra was not a beautiful lady in physcal appearance,but it is true she was quite a lady who held great power. I did not even realize that she had been in Ephesus and many other places outside of Egypt.
A place I knew nothing about was PAMUKKALE. That place was fascinating. From afar it looked like the mountain side was covered with snow....it really looks like snow.
I will quite now. People are waiting to use the computer.
Aloha until next time. Joanne
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3 comments:
Thank you for sharing so much about Turkey and your fascination with the country. But, now that you are in Greece, the real fascination will begin!
Hey Joanne,
I'm glad to see you are still living my dream! Things are fine here at "ground zero", but I miss your presence. Thanks for including us in your travels,
teri
Aloha Joanne,
I have not kept up with you (you are too fast for me!)for some time, but am so happy for the exciting times spent with Rahat in Turkey. What a marvelous 18 days of culture, history, and meeting such gracious people. It must have been bittersweet for both of you, I can just picture Rahat's beautiful smile. Now, on to Greece~
May God Bless and continue to keep you safe. Aloha, Kaila
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