The Syrian Desert – end of August 2004

Homs to Palmyra: We traveled the 200 km. between Aleppo and Homs by bus because we were way behind schedule after 2 1/2 weeks in Aleppo with my neck injury. Ali and Abdul-Hamid accompanied us to the bus station, where once again the police gave them trouble, wanting to know why they were talking to […]

Castles and Cathedrals

St. Simeon Basilica: Built by Emperor Zenon 1500 years ago to honor St. Simeon, who was famous for having lived atop pillars for forty years preaching to his students, the Cathedral was enormous and well preserved. Ali took us in his three-wheeled motorcycle, which was awesome. It was the only time in weeks that I […]

Crossing the Border to Aleppo – early to mid-August 2004

Crossing the Border: Crossing the border into Syria was somewhat of an experience. I always get a little bit nervous each time we cross the border into a different country, but this was different. This time, one of the first things we saw was a busload of women dressed exclusively in the black chador. They […]

Eastern Turkey – Second Week of September 2004

Nemrut Dagi, Volcanic Crater: Time was running short for our Iranian visa. We decided to take a bus from Sanliurfa to Tatvan. We arrived in the early morning hours, after 7 hours on a very old bus. We breakfasted on peaches and baklava by the lake, then encountered some of the lake’s more dangerous and […]

Back to Turkey – Desert Towns – first week of September 2004

Harran, Desert Town: We made a small detour on the way to Urfa to see the village of Harran, one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited villages, where Abraham was supposed to have stayed for several years around 1900 BC. The town is unique in Turkey because of its conical shaped houses (which can be […]

Cappadocia to Syria – end of July 2004

Leaving Cappadocia: As we headed out of Urgup and Cappadocia, the scenery changed – no more tufa cones, no more fairy chimneys, and no more fretted ravines. The mountains remained, though. We biked the new road to Kayseri, and as we reached the city, we noticed that the avenues were wide and well paved, that […]

Cappadocia: At Mehmet’s in Uchisar & the Fairy Chimney Valley – July 2004

At Mehmet’s and Binas’ in Uchisar: After leaving the underground city at Derinkuyu, we biked to Nevsehir, the regional capital. The landscape was pretty, and five km. before Nevsehir, we passed a town called Gore, where houses were carved into the rock on the mountainside. It looked as if most of the houses were still […]

Cappadocia: Ihlara Valley, Underground Cities, & Caravanserais – July 2004

Cappadocia: Cappadocia occupies an area about 1/7 of that of central Anatolia. It is situated roughly between Aksaray in the west, Kayseri in the east, Avanos to the north and Nigde to the south. The spectacular landscape is composed of canyons, gorges, volcanic mountains, fairy chimneys, caravanserais, churches carved into the mountains, and entire cities […]

Cappadocia: Creation of its Natural Wonders and History of the Region

Cappadocia: Creation of its Natural Wonders and History of the Region: The geological formations of Cappadocia came about as a result of two contradicting natural forces that started millions of years ago. The first was the volcanic eruptions of Mt. Erciyes and Mt. Hasan, which covered the plateau surrounding Nevsehir with tufa, a soft stone […]

Central Anatolia (Ankara and Tuz Golu) – mid-July 2004

As we continued eastward, the golds, oranges, and reds of the fields of western Anatolia turned into dry, sandy plains with one or two tiny scrub bushes rolling about in the strong winds over the desolate plateau. Mountains, volcanic peaks, and ravines punctuate the undulating plains, while golden wheat fields dominate the dusty steppe, denuded […]

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