Recently found Cappadocia & Istanbul Photos

Whirling Dervishes at Turkish Night in Cappadocia:



Andrew belly dancing at Turkish Night:



Kids riding mules:



Andrew exiting one of the cave dwellings:



Caves from "Star Wars":



Another "Star Wars" shot. Can you picture Luke and Obi Won in this landscape?



Back in Istanbul, Nadia with her beautiful sculptures:



Andrew and Ralf on the Bosphorous:

Thanksgiving Tours around Turkey

It's almost thanksgiving but here it's 26C/75 F and instead of eating Turkey, we'll just be on the beach, and swimming in the clear waters of Turkey.

We left Istanbul just as the rain began, and headed south west along the Gallipoli peninsular. It was a pretty long bus ride, but we met a cool Father/Son traveling team, Mark & Nick from Canberra, so the trip went a little faster.

A perfectly fine and calm day for touring around the battlefields of Gallipoli, and apart from one other minivan full of people, the 6 of us were the only ones there. Our Turkish guide Ali who lost both his Grandfather and Great-Uncle during the fighting there in 1915, managed to keep us in good humor, despite the solemness of the area. It was extremely calm, and peaceful; hard to imagine how many people lost their lives for no real purpose. The Brits clearly had no idea what they were doing and led thousands of Aussies & Kiwis to their deaths. It was a very educational and somewhat spiritual experience.

Our guide Ali:


The now calm waters of the Gallipoli Pennisula:


The group sitting at ANZAC cove:


Hideously early (6.30am) the next day we were on another bus to Selcuk, a town which is the base for Ephusus an amazing Roman ruins right on the Agean Sea. We had a barbecue on the beach watching the sunset, and the next day did a few hours around the ruins. It is a very impressive collection, with a huge fully intact amphitheatre that held 25,000 people, and also a beautiful library which is still somewhat in one piece.

The group - Andrew, Nick (Aus), Abbie (NZ), Mandy, Mark (Aus) & Cheree at Ephysus:


The boys on the crouching over the toilets at Ephysus:


The Ephysus Library:


We then had a hellish multiple bus ride from Selchuk to Pammukale, culminating in one great Turkish tout scam, whereby after we were so exhausted from 7hrs of travelling, some guy came onto our bus and told us that we were in Pammukale and had to get off now, otherwise the bus would take us to another town. We were too tired to know any different and got off the bus, to find that we were about 2km away from the town, right outside his hotel!!!! We were furious, refused to stay in his crappy place, and stomped into town. The pension we ended up in was wonderful, run by Mustafa and his wife, the fattest people I have seen so far in this country! We had great Turkish hospitality, food and another opinion on Turkish politics/religion etc. He didn't know we were Jewish, but only had the nicest things to say about the Jewish community in Turkey.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) our ride on KamelKoc (bus comp.) never came through!


We spent half a day wandering around the calcium formations of Pammukale. It was quite spectacular against the perfectly blue skies. We also wandered around the ruins, another great amphitheater to sit and watch the valley below.

Walking in Pammukale:


We took a 20 seater bus (with 35 people in it) to Fetiyhe (4 hr ride), finally reaching the Mediteranean coast, although with little time up our sleeve, we decided to head straight to Kas for some R&R.

Kas is the cutest seaside village, with beautiful clear water everywhere (beaches are pebbles, but still good for lying on). Andrew has been in bed for much of our time here. He got a head cold /flue, but is slowly recovering now.
I (mandy) went on boat cruise yesterday with a bunch of people from the hostel. It was a pretty rough ride, with 2 metre swells - I was anticipating a swim to shore at any point when the boat sunk, but I made it back unscathed, except from a few scratches from the adorable Golden Retriever that was swimming with me off the boat :) It was worth it! The water is so clear and not too cold, so it's been great soaking up the sun and swimming.

Mandy being told to "moose" by katie the kiwi on the boat trip:


Sunset on the boat back to Kas:


Tonight we head into the interior, Cappadocia, where the temp. will drop considerably. We head to Istanbul on the 30th, and then fly to Bombay
on Dec 1st.

"It's Istanbul not Constantinople"

Istanbul is a fantastic city, although the above titled song has been in my head and driving me (and andrew) nuts! We ended up spending way more time there than expected. It's definitely the place where you could stay for weeks and not get bored.

As you all know, we were here for the first bombings of the synagogues, which was a very difficult and quite scarey time. In fact we actually attended an event for the City College of London the night of the first bombing, where we met the British Consulate General, who later in the week was killed in the second set of bombs. Andrew will write more about the Turkish / Terrorist situation in another blog. In the meantime here are some photo highlights:

The Blue Mosque (with lights up for Ramadan):


The Egyptian Bazaar:


A cool looking mosque on our tour of the Bosphorous:


On the boat "cruise" on the Bosphorous:


Cycling around Prince's Islands:


Sunset on the way back into Istanbul:

More Bombing

Just in case you didn't know, we're no longer in Istanbul, so we were not physically impacted by yesterdays bombings.

Thanks for everyone's concern and well wishes so far; it's nice to know everyone is thinking of us.

Tomorrow we are off to Pamukalle and then the Meditteranean coast in the south. We do not feel that our personal safety is threatened in Turkey, and have no intentions of changing our itinerary.

Take care,
Andrew & Mandy
Mandrew Adventures Inc

Safe in Istanbul

Hi all, by now you've probably already heard about the terrible car bomb attacks outside 2 synagogues here in Istanbul. We are safe, and as far as we are aware, so are the family of our good friend Julie Bars Culver, who live here in Istanbul.

This bombing is in sharp contrast to everything we have seen and heard about the peaceful co-existence of the Jewish and Muslim communities in Turkey.

From our limited time here in Turkey so far, we have found it to be a very secular and tolerant culture. From its history we have learned that it has not, like many of its neighbors, persecuted Jews. It has had a democratic non-extremist government since Ataturk kicked out the Sultans shortly after WWI.

Earlier this week, we spent a delightful evening with Julie's cousins Ralf and Nadia, who are very active in the Istanbul Jewish Community (a relatively small community of 25,000 in a city of 12 million). He talked at length about how well respected and politically well-connected the Jewish community is in Turkey, and how they have lived in virtual harmony here for the past 500 years. We will be seeing Ralf and Nadia again tonight, and are very interested to hear how they think these attacks will impact the relationship the Jewish community currently has with the Muslims here in Istanbul.

We are leaving Istanbul on Monday to travel around the country. We will be as careful as possible but do not believe that we are at any risk in doing so.

Our next stop will be India: we found a great yoga school on the beach in Goa where we plan to get our bellies back into our clothes (by losing weight, not through flexibility). After an Indian/American (not to be confused with American Indian ;) ) wedding and some touring near Madras, our next port of call will be Bangkok, and from there our Southeast Asian adventure begins.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Cheers,
Mandy and Andrew
Mandrew Adventures Inc
http://www.wiggenout.com/mandrewadventure.html

After a sad goodbye to our comfy pad in Rome, David (the Scottsman) and No 1 dog Blondie (who we seriously considered kidnapping for the rest of the trip), we jumped on the super-fast Eurostar to Florence, and have been soaking up Michaelangelo, da Vinci, etc.

Just yesterday we were complaining about the lack of English-speaking people in Rome, but today we're surrounded by American tourists, and wishing to meet one real Italian here... well, tonight our wish came true. While sitting quietly in an all american pizza joint, some local guy overheard us asking a question in english, and jumped up to help. Not only could he tell us where the movie theatre was, but he also walked us across town to it; then walked us back to our "2 star" (really -2 star) hotel to tell his friend (the owner) to upgrade us. We now have a TV in our room :)

Us in Florence:


The beautiful sunset:


Venice:

Now we're in Rome right across from Trestavere staying with David, a globe-trotting Scottsman, who has been enthralling us with travel stories from around the world, and getting us ready for some our future travels. We saw the Pope on Sunday and we can confirm that he is, as reported, still alive. Will keep you posted.

Photos from Rome:

Our hosts Blondie & David ;) :


Cuddles with our favourite Sudanese/Roman dog "Blondie"- who we considered dognapping:


St Peter's Sunset:


The Tiber at night:

Just a quick update to say we arrived in Rome Saturday night after a brilliant week in Paris. We leave for Florence on Thursday, Venice on Saturday, and then Istanbul late Sunday night. Then we look forward to exploring Turkey for a few weeks, and then we're off to India and then Southeast Asia.

Paris was brilliant thanks to our hosts Valerie and Fabien who live right by the Bastille in a young and hip neighborhood, and of course it is such a photogenic city it would be hard not to have a great time, not to mention all the croissants, crepes, etc.

Photos from Paris:
Our lovely hosts, Valerie & Fabian:


Rue de Lappe - The "happening" street where Valerie and Fabian live:


Mandy & Valerie getting free flowers from the gardeners by the Louvre!:


Andrew in the Impressionists section of the Louvre:


The Eifel Tower looking spectacular:


A romantic walk home along the Seine:


Some cool but expensive art, by Thomas Seliot at a local gallery: