| Page Views: 1,402 Last Visit to Turkey: June, 2004 | East meets West by mad4travel - last update: Mar 7, 2005 |
East Meets West | The route of my travels in Turkey |
Whenever Turkey gets mentioned in the travel magazines they always say " Turkey- where East meets West". Yeah, right, I thought - but its true.
Having been to Jordan, its not quite Arab and having been to Greece, its not quite European. That makes it a fascinating and unique place to explore.
If you want an easy introduction to Islamic culture as well as fabulous food and friendly people Istanbul is the place.
There are lots of things to see and it is perfect for a long weekend.
My trip to Turkey was over 3 weeks and I packed quite a lot in.The map shows my route, from Istanbul through Ankara, to the weird hoodoo landscape of Cappadocia to the more conservative religious town of Konya and then on to the Turqouise coast. Lots of antiqueties on the way, Ephesus, Pergamon, Troy and Aphrodisias and finally through the World War 1 killing fields of Galipoli back to Istanbul.
I enjoyed every minute of it!
As you can see , Turkey is a biiig country so three weeks only covered about a third of the country so I'd love to go back and see more. |
|  | History Where do you start with the history of Turkey? It goes back such a long way. Heres an attempt at a quick potted history. Stay awake, I will be testing you later!
1900-1300 BC Hittite Empire with Hattusas as capital, contemporary with ancient Egypt and Babylon 1250 BC The Trojan war and the fall of Troy 1200-700 BC Establishment of the Phrygian, Ionian, Lycian, Lydian, Carian and Pamphylian Kingdoms. 700 BC Homer is born in Izmir (Smyrna). Aegean Hellenism begins 546 BC Cyrus the Great leads the Persians into Anatolia 334 BC Alexander the Great drives out the Persians 130 BC The Romans incorporate Anatolia as the province of Asia, controlled from Ephesus (Efes) 47-57 AD St. Paul spreads Christianity and a community at Antioch is established
330 Constantine lays out the boundaries of his new capital, Constantinople 527-65 Byzantium Empire under Justinian 638-718 Muslim Arabs conquer Constantinople 1071-1243 Rise and rule of the Selcuk Turks in Anatolia, Konya is their capital 1096-1204 The Crusades 1288 Ottoman Empire appears in Bursa 1453 The fall of Constantinople - the birth of Istanbul 1520-66 Suleyman the Magnificent sits on the Ottoman throne controlling a huge and powerful empire
1914 Turkey allies with Germany in the first world war 1915 Gallipoli 1919 Ataturk leads resistance to the allied plan to carve up Turkey. 1923 Foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. |
|  | Scenery Turkey has a variety of interesting scenery. From the Tarsus mountains, Olympic National Park, Turquoise coast, Anatolian Plain to the weird hoodoo formations of Cappadocia.
Cappadocia is especially interesting to me (as I was a Geologist at University). Formed from volcanic ash the landscapre has weathered into a crazy mixture of spires, hoodoos and rainbow rockfaces.
Many of the rock towers have been hollowed out and used as houses monasteries and churches.
I was fortunate enough to go balooning over it. Check out the things to do tips. |
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| Pros: | "A good introduction to Muslim Culture" | | Cons: | "It can be blinking hot!" | | In A Nutshell: | "History, Culture, Food, People, its got the lot!" |
mad4travel's Turkey Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do Tips: 37 - Photos: 37 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips Tips: 1 - Photos: 1 |
Comments for mad4travel about Turkey | | | | |
GentleSpirit Wed Oct 3, 2007 12:46 UTC nice set of pages on Turkey. I was there for 3 weeks some years ago and also was quite fascinated by this magnificent country. | iaint Sat Sep 15, 2007 08:27 UTC another Turkey fan! good pages... | VeronicaG Sat Apr 8, 2006 12:19 UTC I would love to visit Ephesus--your trip must have been wonderful! THANKS for the tour... | RickinDutch Fri Oct 28, 2005 22:09 UTC Great job of photos & Tips. Thanks for sharing! |
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