Hierapolis & clothing thoughts

Yesterday we went to Hierapolis to visit the ruins and to see the white travertine terraces at Pamukkale. Unfortunately, do to its popularity as a tourist destination these spectacular limestone deposits are suffering damage.  So instead of a bright white color there are spots of red/orange and black/green.  An area is still open to tourist to walk and bath while a portion is for viewing only. 

Stunning!  Breathtaking.  So glad we made the 3 hour drive from our lodging. 

After our stay in Istanbul, where we tried to be cognizant of the local traditions, choosing to wear, long shorts or pants, tea shirts instead of spaghetti straps, and the girls put away the short shorts.  Around us occasionally we saw burka.  Now we are in Kusadasi where tourists dominate.  At Hierapolis where bathing is a prime consideration we saw many "speedo's" and bikini's all of which also meant very red and tanned skin.  There is a freedom here, no worries about your current state of physique!  All are comfortable regardless of size. 

So why do the "white's" wish to be brown and the "brown's" cover up their glorious dark skin?  All this begs one to wonder, what do the clothing signify?  Throughout time, people have always attached a meaning to clothing.  What value or meaning does it have?  What does it say to the wearer or the observer?  There is certainly a purpose to clothing I am noticing especially here in the hot sun!  We avoided sun burns for the most part, but I haven't been this tan since high school! Staying cool and covered is the trick!


Having trouble with the internet, so will download photos later. 

“Do you know why they call it the Blue Mosque,” a friendly local asked, letting us know we’d better see it today because it would be closed in the next three days for a religious festival. Practicing his English he became our “friend” hoping we would visit his family’s shops (which we did and it was fun—introduced to curious little glass cups for tea and apple cider.) It’s the second largest Mosque in Turkey and third largest next to Mecca. At the time it was built it was controversial because it had more spires than Mecca. From a distance on the base of two of the six spires roofs was adorned with blue paint but that’s not it either. The courtyard where some five to six thousand will gather for special events didn’t have any sign of blue. It was pretty much all marble stone and concrete. Our “friend” took us past the long line where the hundreds of people from the cruise ships would wait to get inside. We had to remove our shoes and put them in little plastic bags to carry inside under the dome. For those women who didn’t have a head covering, a blue cloth was given at the doorway. But that’s not the reason. Inside the red carpet has a special pattern for where one places their feet, hands and face for prayer. The four columns of stone were as wide as red woods. Eyes drawn upward, you could see the reason. I thought it was due to the blue in the stain glass windows or how blue people felt when loved ones died. But no, seven thousand soldiers worked day and night shifts in the 1609 to 1616 building from the ground up at the height of handmade ceramics. Over 20,000 handmade tiles in ancient Nicaea displayed different designs. The blues on white tiles closest to the bottom were flamboyant flowers, fruit and cypresses. But as the sultans decreed an ever higher price for their tiles they became cheaper with tulip designs. I couldn’t help but to think in my bare feet that we were all with Al Dubin, “Tip Toeing Through the Tulips.” The area around the equivalent to a pulpit was sectioned off for the local Muslim members to pray facing Mecca. Shops line in the buildings where the horses were once kept. Not much different as the horse left overs are now replaced with tourist stuff. As the sultans learned a lesson about economics. We learned about the prices of handmade silk carpet. Each carpet takes about six months or more to make, tying one thread at a time.

 

 

 

Kusadasi Kudos

When you had it and then lost it you miss it because it’s convenient. We are dependent on the wonders of modern technology. Yes, Wi-Fi does not exist in Topaz Village No. 4. No signals here. (Luther said, “You are definitely not receiving any signals.” I thought that was an odd comment.) That means a walk to the beach for a Wi-Fi cafe. But when you get there’s distractions galore. Store owners love cruise ships as about four or five come to port every day. It seems that people spend so much on their cruises that the tourists cannot afford clothing. Beach goers wear only scraps of cloth. (Luther said, “Those are called bathing suits.” I replied...I forgot as I was having trouble paying attention to the conversation. Luther commented, "They don't have enough fur and their arms are too short for their torso. How would they ever swing?")

Store owners stand outside of their shops and cafés wanting you to just take a look. They’ll shove business cards in your hands and say "free Wi-Fi. Not only is that good business practice it also shows how the numbers are down. Cafés and many rentable flats and apartments sit empty until a little nightlife. The caretaker, Ebrehim, his two dogs, a couple skinny cats are the only ones in our complex. That means the pool is ours!

A bit of recent Turkish political history (Skip if you don’t like history to “Driving is a video game.”): In 1923 Turkey changed from an Islamic state to a form of secular democracy and became a member of NATO in 1954. They’ve helped the US in conflicts with troops since the Korean War. Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, trying to take it from Greece. The result left Cyprus partitioned into Turkish and Greece sides. Later Kurdish peoples raised their voice for some form of statehood and the uprising slid into armed conflict. When the Kurdish leader of their Worker’s Party, Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999, things settled down. A store owner and many others we ran into were Kurdish. (I told the Kurds thanks for inventing cheese. I asked how they got it to curd so well. Luther slapped the back of my head with his pillow-like hand.)

The Sunset Café owner/worker said, “We love Americans because we are the only country in the world that supports us.” (Luther told me later he stopped himself from saying, “Most Americans love Turkey too especially with mashed potatoes and gravy.”)

When their inflation rate hit 100% in 2005 their banking system collapsed. The “AK’s” commitment to becoming a part of the European Union is a popular idea, however, the prime minister also wants more Islamic values incorporated into law. This has sparked the recent conflict in Taksim square which then spread to most major cities.

With the rule of law the prime minister vowed to take down the trees and build a mall. He said his patience will wear out. It’s already violent in Izmir (Where our airport is located) not far from Kusadasi (Luther noticed there’s a thingy sticking out of the bottom of some “S’s” and some “C’s.” The first “s” in Kusadasi has that thingy, making it a “sh” sound. The thingy stuck to a “c” makes a “ch” sound.) An Islamic leaning political party named “Justice and Development” a. k. “AK.” gained 2/3rds majority. They promised and accomplished new policies that brought down inflation to single digits. (Luther believes conflict is brewing and keeps asking when we are going to join. I told him, “We are on nobody’s side because nobody is on our backs except for one irritating monkey.” He left our party in a huff to wander around on his own.)

Driving is a Video Game because of all the twists and turns and near misses. This isn’t a place for, “Driving Miss Daisy.” Lanes don’t seem to matter nor do directions. Motorcycles and cars come at you in their lane as well toward you on your shoulder. (Luther often complains about getting a turn at this “video game” named, “Driving near-miss-crazy.” I keep thinking we aren’t in Nebraska anymore. Our rental diesel Volkswagen van with manual transmission takes a bit of practice especially on all the hills and mountains when the locals are so close you can see the variety of bug juices on their vehicle’s brand emblem. Things really are closer even when you look. Sometimes I look in the rear view mirror and want to rub their emblem clean with my elbow but I usually gun it and pop the clutch. (Luther volunteered to lick them clean. I think he’s hungry for protein.)

You got to love the speedometer in kph rather than mph. It makes you think you are going very fast. The highest number I’ve seen on the signs with a red circle around a number is 90. (Luther is certain it’s the minimum limit) So not knowing what it means in mph we target 120 on the open road just to be unsafe. So far we managed to keep it down to one scratch and a dent. (We bought the insurance.)

People squeeze through the tightest places. (Luther fights over the wheel and keeps howling, “Faster, faster!”) The other adults grab whatever they can find with wide eyes. They offer helpful comments about two turns later after their breath returns. We are very happy to have a phone with GPS.

The toll roads have two kinds of automatic pay lanes. The first try at the right lane started some siren and flashing yellow lights. (Luther said, “Gun it!” Like a slingshot we went faster.) On the second toll road we tried the other orange signed lanes and received a green light as we passed. We took that as a hopeful sign. (Luther keeps mumbling something about extradition laws and how much automated violation tickets costs. I don’t know what he’s talking about. He said “You’ll find out when they check your passport as you try to leave the country.” I said, “Whatever.”)

Taksim square began a movement against the government of Istanbul. 400 trees were threatened by a Mall complex. It would destroy one of the last green spaces in huge city. When the protests began so did the water cannons and tear gas from the police, trying to force demonstrators away from the construction. Fighting back, the peaceful protest became violent and thousand poured into the square. Others sent pizza and food to support the effort. Tens of thousands people, many university students and entire families came to join the effort. The prime minister said many inflammatory remarks against the protesters but apologized anyway. The police pulled back and the atmosphere turned to celebration. However, protests erupted in most major cities. Many of the people believe Islamic values were slowly creeping into law. During the same week that the trees were about to be destroyed a law was passed curbing the sale of alcohol, viewed as an Islamic value not shared by many citizens. (Although the people continue to elect the most conservative Islamic party into office. The combination of pro-business and conservative values appeals to the majority however those groups don't always agree on other major issues.) And so the struggle for political voice continues.

Peaceful protests for justice and freedom is a quality of keeping the Sabbath holy.

Check out our Rome-ing reporter, Luther, as he shows you footage at Taksim Square, defying the State Department's warnings...

http://youtu.be/3acnUgFjY-E

By the way, Luther says the sunset on the Aegean Sea's beach at Kusadasi (near Ephesus) is pretty cool. Literally the wind off the waves is quite cool.

Spice Market and Rocking The Boat

Why would I want to go to a spice market? I was out voted. Actually I didn't mind as we walked through curved streets filled wall to wall with merchandise. It's the second largest market in Turkey next to the Egyptian Market also in Istanbul. Go figure. Although the Lira (Turkey Dollars) are .53 cents to the US dollar, Saffron still comes out to be about $25 per ounce. (Luther said, "Sufferin succotash, saffron's a stack of cash. No spice for you.") That's okay there's plenty of everything for everyone around miles of city blocks. I needed a pair of shorts and the guy shook his head signaling with his hands that I was too big--too many bagels. A half a block later a man came out telling me he had shorts that would fit. Word spreads when your ready to buy something. They are hurting for tourists. One of the workers in the Palace said they usually see about 10,000 tourists per day but he estimated this day turned out to be about 3,000. (Luther said, "You mean you can fit three times more people into this little place? Humans are 2D walkers. Once the ground is covered by people you can't fit anymore but monkeys can fit five times as many. They are smaller and walk in 3D. Some on the ground and the rest swinging from tree to tree." I said to the guard, Don't mind him, he's a monkey nerd.")

On the Bosporus boat ride we met three Chinese that work in Bose, Turkey in the silk business. They were impressed that Carson could say some words in Mandarin. They became buddies. (When they asked if he were a monkey, Luther replied, "Oh, sure, sure. Here we go again." They asked if he meant, "sure" as in the Chinese word for yes, or "sure-sure" which means sometimes he's a monkey? Luther looked away. I said, "bad monkey. Be nice.")

Luther decided to go to Taksim Square, the spot where the uprising against the Turkish prime minister's decision to bulldoze 400 trees for a mall. One of the last pieces of big green spaces left. When the police moved to push out the peaceful protesters they used tear gas and water cannons. That force made things a lot worse. Thousands came into the square to protest louder. Lots of injuries occurred and scared off many visitors from coming to Turkey. Lucky for us we either know how to take God's name in vain by testing God's protection or we are plain ignorant. (Luther says, "My vote is for both and against the lucky part.") So we are going to accompany Luther anyway and check it out this evening. He'd like to interview a policeman and protester. Since there's still thousands there we might find some. (Luther said, "What's the worse that could happen? We could get some sudden exercise and we won't need any spice for our next meal." Then he said to me, "If you are coming with me then you must promise to pronounce the words right! It's, `I'm a tourist.' It is not `I'm a terrorist. Got it?'" I said, "I'll do my best." He said, "That's what scares me.")

It's sad to note this is our last day in Istanbul. Tomorrow we leave on a plane bound for Izmir. It will be my first time driving in Turkey with a rented van. I think we'll be testing God's protection again.

(I told Luther, "I hope someday they'll learn to spell their country's name correct. Everywhere I look I see, `Türkiye.' I think they should be learned better." Luther said, "Sufferin succotash, aye-y-aye. It's `teach it correctly' and they are correct!" I didn't understand what he was yelling. I think it's probably some foreign monkey language.)

Turkey

We met up with Melissa's twin sister and her family. Our four became eight and we moved into our apartment for the next few days. (Luther was impatient, waiting for them to come. Luther said, It's refreshing to know cab drivers often get lost too like you do in Lincoln." I said, "Yeah if only I could have one of those money making meters the cab drivers run while driving in circles.")

Our flat overlooks the water with ferries coming every few minutes. The most amazing part is being near many touristy bars where we were treated each night to multiple free concerts from midnight until closing at 3 AM. (Luther was certain a guy was singing in our living room. We got out of bed and searched the apartment. We never found the singer. We decided he's testing how loud his sound system could be turned up without blowing out speakers. After it stopped at 2:53 AM, Luther slept until seven and stole all the covers.) Our three bedroom and two bath flat overlooking the coasts was beautiful none-the-less. (The next morning he informed me that he prayed God would send a lightning bolt to that guy. I told him that could be understood as being disrespectful to God, breaking the commandment you shall not take God's name in vain. After my explanation I heard him snore.)

Two taxi rides later (One cost 14 Lira to the Blue Mosque area and the ride back--same distance--cost 48. I held Luther back from arguing.) we decided to walk with a map. After a mile or two back to the Blue Mosque area we saw the Sultan's palace (Luther said, "It became the seat power for the Ottoman state of 1299 after Constantinople [Istanbul.] was conquered in 1453. I told him to put away his smart phone.) The sultans ruled for 623 years until 1922. We visited the Topkapi Palace where the Ottoman Sultans (emperors) lived with their harem, parliament, oval office equivalent, treasury relics from 1465-1856. Almost 400 years of their 624-year reign. (I told Luther, "That's it, I'm taking the smart phone away." He handed me some thing made of lots of paper with pictures and lots of words. I think you call it a travel book. These were used a long time ago in the BC times which stands for "Before Cell phones." Anyway Luther had something to say about the palace, "It's used and it's too old. The columns are too slippery and there isn't enough trees." And then he asked, "What's a harem?" I bared false witness! I told him a half lie. I said, It's a palace for educating hairy women." For some reason that made sense to him.)

In the treasury/relic rooms we saw Moses' staff inlaid in gold, Joseph's arm inlaid in gold, a broach with a diamond as big as the palm of my hand, and more gold and jewels I've ever seen in one place. (Luther asked, "Why are those funny men in green berets carrying machine guns? And why do I have to ride on that conveyer belt with all the bags through security? I told him at least he doesn't have to walk through metal detectors that make loud beeps due to my camera, coins in my pocket and belt metal. Still no one seems concerned and I walked on past.)

Outside the main palace were multiple museums of Sumerian cuneiform, reliefs, sarcophagus from Turkey and Egypt, statues, pottery, and mausoleums. (Luther said, "I can relate to those mummies. After a long day of hanging on your neck I also feel dead tired.)

We Arrived!

Facing the rear in our taxi-van to ride from the Istanbul airport was my third mistake on the trip. Like a racing car video game we zipped from the rush hour of start-and-stop traffic to spurts of 90 km. (The three lane roundabout has traffic lights!) Once on the side streets we wound through narrow streets made of cobble stone to stop in front of Galata Flats, our bed and breakfast. Not having slept much in 24 hours we skipped a meal and concentrated on the bed part.

Although modern air travel that keeps two hundred thousand people in the air at a given moment. It’s also rough on one’s end. Someone once said getting out of a twenty-ton sardine can flinging through the air over 500 mph for hours on end (I mean literally on my end) gives a person a new appreciation for the joy of standing and walking. 

A Hasidic Jewish guy built like me also ate a few too many bagels. Yet he turned out to be the smart one. Although many of us on the end isle were after a cat nap, we were treated to wake up slaps every few minutes when his prayer shawl came around. (I enjoyed the clean fresh scent. It was a change from my shower starved body.) At one point in the flight he stood facing a wall in that extra space where the doors are located. He was there for a good 20 minutes with a white hoody. I suppose when on a plane you have to use whatever wailing wall you can find even if it's the bathroom wall. (Luther said, The bathroom is probably used to modest wails anyway.") 

I appreciate the pious disciplines of religion but it's the ironies that make it all worth it. That Jewish man covered in his white shawl sat behind one of the priests on board. The priests wore the traditional Roman Catholic black robes. How do things like that happen? We came from the same religion! Anyhow the priest droned on in the darkened plane about St. Augustine, Rome and the books he read. That poor pretty young woman in dreads kept her patient kindness up for hours. I sure hope I don’t sound like a priest nerd. (Luther said,"Too late.")

After that cramped space God blessed us with lots of standing and walking in rows of serpentine lines waiting in passport security. A soldier from Colorado asked me how to get into the country. With no passport but a memorized military number they told him it would be enough. I wished we had a number like that because we found out that we needed a twenty dollar sticky stamp on our passport before we could get into Turkey. That was found in the Visa line across the hall. So after another serpentine line we got a stamp for each of our little passport books and found the familiar line again that by this time grew down the airport hall. These lines would make Disney proud since right after the passport “ride/walk” we were greeted with many duty free shops.

Think of four story row houses smashed together but these serve as store fronts each small store having as much window space as possible. Two to three floors high were store after store selling one item, chandeliers. It’s basically the Nebraska Furniture Mart for lighting only. Sparkling crystal spans the entire window top to bottom. The combo of speed by too fast and car sickness didn’t allow for a picture.

Sporadic ancient walls, palaces and an aqueduct s scattered in disarray. Crumbling structures were held together by centuries of repairs. (Luther thinks it was done by someone named Fast Eddy using Liquid Nails and scraps of odd stones and bricks. And he thought the fixes were like mine. They fall apart again in a few days.) Yet these stone structures held firm while modern roads and high rises spring around. Strange combos paint a montage of delight and beauty.

After eight hours of rest we got up at 10 PM Lincoln time, and six AM here we walked down a narrow street for our breakfast. (Mine: Grape leaves, olives, two sausages, grape tomatoes, cucumber, honey, kind of a cherry jelly, three cheeses and 3 kinds of bread with butter—for Lisa but forgot to take a picture.)

That's all for now. They'll get shorter as the days go.