tRNscontinental

Day 21: Jerash

This morning we set off for a day trip to Jerash (or Jarash) which is about 45km north of Amman to see the Roman ruins there.  We were able to easily catch the bus from the north bus station with the help of Muath and Eefje  and the taxi driver who brought us right to where the bus was waiting.  Buses in Jordan (intercity ones anyway) wait to fill the bus and then leave.  By some crazy miracle,  we were the last 2 people on the bus.  The best part? That door to door, probably 15 minute taxi ride cost us 2JD  (less than 4$).

Once we’d seated ourselves (a big thanks to the 2 men who re-seated themselves to accommodate us!), we set off. Here are some fun facts about our ride to Jerash:

1. Buses don’t stop every 6 seconds to drop off and pick up like they do in Turkey.

2. Jordan is on the whole much hillier than I had thought.

3. Camels are not uncommonly spotted at roadsides, much like herds of goats and sheep.

4. There are speed bumps on the highways.  What?!

5. The bus will cost you 1 JD each.  Don’t wait until the entire bus is telling you,  ‘You’re here! Get off!’ while stopped at a left turn light to fumble for two 1JD bills. It makes for an embarrassing and possibly dangerous adventure.

Regardless of our most ungrateful exit,   we had made it to our destination unscathed. The Roman ruins we had come to see lay just in front of us,  easily accessed and costing a minimal amount for entry. Hadrian’s Gate and the Hippodrome (and the touts) greet you first both still fairly intact.

We were accosted a couple of times as we made our way down the road by teenage – ish girls wanting to take photos with us. We are all over someone’s Facebook and Instagram now I’m sure.

Continuing along,  we came to the beautiful main Cardo and could truly see how extensive the ruins were.

Coming into the big odeon was rather spectacular: just as we were walking up the hill to it, four fighter jets zoomed over us in the direction of the Syrian border and then we were set upon by another group of girls wanting photos with us.  We decided we should start charging 5JD per photo! Finally,  our entrance into the Odeon was heralded by….bagpipes?! Sure enough,  there was a group of 4 or 5 musicians dressed in traditional Jordanian garb playing some music.

The girls we took photos with had come in to the Odeon too,  and seemed to be doing some kind of special photo shoot with signs labeled ‘Generations for Peace’ although none of them could quite explain this and preferred to keep taking pics with us and play with my hair.

Our wee tour continued through ruins and fields of grass and flowers,  dotted with herds of goats and sheep. Ever the animal lover (Leah has nicknamed me “Nurse Doolittle”), I ventured off to snap a few pics and make some new friends.  Leah said, “I turned around and you weren’t there and I thought, well, she’s joined the herd!” 

The rest of our visit was lovely just strolling through the ruins.  Leah met the “moving column” man Eefje had warned us about so was prepared to ward off his advances.

Our way home was a bit of a struggle as we got varying information from a couple sources regarding bus vs taxi. We were told ‘no more bus! Bus done!’ by several people but we knew that I’m fact there was a bus. Unfortunately, we did not know the exact location of the bus station so Leah haggled and bartered while I played it cool and skeptical on the sidelines and we ended up getting a taxi from Jerash direct to Paris circle for 2JD each which us what we’d paid in total for the journey there. Hoping to goodness this was not some sort of elaborate kidnapping attempt and with our knees to our chest in a squished cab, we headed for Amman.

Luckily our cabbie avoided accidents and safely delivered us to Paris circle where we promptly rewarded ourselves for a hard days work with lunch at Oliva. This cute little restaurant is just down from Paris circle and has delicious, freshly made oven fired pizzas.

Our bellies full,  we grabbed a few pastries from Feyrouz’s bakery for dinner that night and headed back to relax at Hawa with Malcolm and the gang.

Day 18 – Cappadocia

This morning was finally the morning!  After our balloon had been canceled the morning previous, today dawned with clearing skies and excellent wind conditions. We were up and ready to go by 5:20 AM when we were picked up by the Cappadocia Voyager Balloon bus. We headed to the main office to pay and have a quick bite, including an awesome coffee.

We boarded our bus with our fellow balloon-mates, a family from Colombia including the 82 year old matriarch and a group of friends from Chicago. Driving out to the take-off point was incredible. All the balloons were in the process of inflating and taking off and it was so amazing, like watching butterflies unfurl from cocoons.

We boarded our balloon basket and soon realized that we were flying with a pretty big deal – Mr M Halis Aydogan himself. He established the first Turkish ballooning company and has been a major fixture in ballooning in Cappadocia.

He gave us pretty much the most awesome flight around, starting from quite far up the valley, bringing us down through one of the valleys so we could see the rock formations clearly, giving detailed explanations and the occasional scare as he brought us close to some rather big and solid rock formations.

He kept us away from the other balloons for the most part and then as they started to land, brought us up to a higher altitude for a panoramic view. We were able to see basically all of the first flight land and watch the second flight take off.

Our landing was also awesome: directly onto the trailer of the basket. Impressive, Halis! We then celebrated with champagne – yum! What better way to start a morning?

Our other major activity for the day was a hike through the Red and Rose Valleys.  Emre was kind enough to drop us off at the start and then a couple of kind strangers pointed us in the right direction along the way. Seeing as how we didn’t have a German friend with us,  of course we got lost!  😉

We did find our way back however and rewarded ourselves with coffee and a snack at Coffedocia,  a very cute cafe in Göreme.

After that,  it was mostly a matter of waiting till the shuttle came to bring us to the airport for the plane back to Istanbul. We passed the time by going for Korean food (yum!!) and stocking up on Turkish snacks for our onward journey and chatting with Emre. We were definitely sad to leave here!

Day 19 – In transit

The things most notable today on our journey from Istanbul to Amman via Beirut are as follows:

1. We will miss olives and cheeses at breakfast very much.

2. Beirut Airport is super boring to layover in and has A LOT of security check points so don’t wear anything other than lulu’s for ease of passage through here.

4. Middle Eastern Airlines has excellent economy class seat size and knee room. The food – meh.

5. Queen Alia Int’l Airport is gorgeous. Two thumbs up!

6. Leah’s bag did not make it here. However, we are told that “you can’t lose anything in Jordan” so are hoping it reappears promptly.

7. So far,  Jordan is impressing us with hospitality and warmth. And we saw a wedding procession on the road on the way in to town from the airport. Yeah!

8. Hawa Guest House is super cute. Thanks Eefje and Muath!

9. Come visit Jordan!!!

Day 17 – Cappadocia Green Tour

After a good deal of uncertainty over whether or not we should do another tour, cancelling (sorry Emre!), and debating the pros and cons, we ended up deciding to go and boy,  were we glad we did!

Our group was quite the fun one,  including two awesome Venezuelan girls,  Daniella and Mariana, a bubbly Beijing-born honorary Brit, Hilary,  and of course our hilarious and informative guide, Aydin and driver Suwat (spelling?!). Aydin seemed quite concerned at first as we hadn’t picked everyone up yet and the were just 2 boys amongst 8 girls in the group apart from him and Suwat. We told the boys they had better watch out! The odds evened a bit with the addition of 3 more boys and 4 more girls but hey, eBay can I say?  Girls,  we run the world!

Our cheerful group began with a lookout point for a beautiful panorama of Göreme and pigeon valley. It was still very cold but I had about 5 layers on including 2 coats and Leah had a pants on pants situation I truly envied. There had even been some snow the night before which added a festive air to the day.

From there we headed for Derinkuyu,  an amazing underground city totalling 12 stories, only the first 6, I think it is, of which are open for visiting at present. Aydin provided us with an awesome history of the region on the way there which helped to explain the purpose of the uderground city, one of a few in th e area, which were used to protect against invaders of the region. It’s truly miraculous to me that this was so many thousand of years ago, yet the lure of power and riches still seems to propel people into similar conflicts to this day. So sad…

The city itself is remarkable for its age. They were capable of holing up in there for an estimated 2-3 months and had ways of ventilation,  keeping small animals in for food/warmth, ways of getting water, a chapel and a grave area. Yet many questions remain unanswered as no written records have ever been recovered detailing anything about the city, its inhabitants, or its functioning. All knowledge about the city stems from what has been found and extrapolated. Many of the tunnels are very narrow and low, giving us a workout for the day and making me appreciate the freedom of paragliding!!!

From there, we departed for Selime Monastery, which had been used as a monastery and a caravanserai in the past. Aydin told us two interesting facts of note here: 1. The scenery around here inspired George Lucas for a Star Wars set,  although at the time the government of Turkey would not permit filming there and 2. That because of the resettlement of Greeks from the area that there are many churches in the region, essentially none of which are in use because the Christian population is nil. This monastery was so interesting architecturally as it is difficult to imagine a place so old and the work that went into creating a livable area without modern tools.

After Selime, it was time for another yummy lunch, this time at Star Restaurant, near Belisirma,  I believe. Again, a big high five to Woop Woop for a good choice in lunch spots – no tourist buffet here!

Our after lunch itinerary included a walk through the Ilhara Valley and a stop at a church with some beautiful frescoes. Aydin explained about how the paintings were done using the whites of eggs and naturally found dyes. Very interesting.  From there we carried on down the valley,  talking with Aydin, Daniella, and Mariana. Such interesting people and great conversation.  Thanks guys for a lovely walk,  including the obligatory tea stop partway through! 🙂 We are so privileged to meet such inspiring people. You make me a better person.

Our final stop of the day was at an onyx and jewel factory. They showed us again about onyx as we had learned in Pamukkale and then we learned a bit more about Zultanite which is apparently only found in Turkey and changes colours in different lights. So cool.

Our group was quite good at the goodbyes, with a boisterous and cheerful ‘goodbye!!’ to each group leaving the bus. Sadly we were the second to last people off the bus, leading to a much less choir – like goodbye. Haha.

Our supper that night was at Cappadocia Pide House, a restaurant owned by the cousins of Emre, whose family owns the hotel. We dined with Nam Hyeon who we had paraglided with in Fethiye and also Hilary, who was walking by and saw us inside. Dinner is so much more lovely with friends! We tried pide for the first time (yum) and some more of the veggie casserole type thing we’d had at the restaurant on the tour two days prior. Thanks for such a lovely day everyone! 🙂

I would also just like to note that these two makeup crazy, city girls have gone SEVERAL days without makeup. I mean, NONE at all. It all started somewhere around Fethiye…I blame the beach life! Simply unthinkable for both of us in general in Canada, but I have to say it’s actually pretty empowering (and let’s be honest, I’m hoping it helps to keep my skin from aging so much!!!!).

Day 16 – Göreme and environs

So picking up from where we left off, we met up with our group for the day.  We went with Woop Woop Travel (hello awesome name!) and Ali was our awesome tour guide for the day. He was super informative,  quite funny,  and totally called me out for falling asleep on the bus in the afternoon. But he understood. … night buses are hard!  
Our first stop was Uçhisar. This used to be a strategic point in the region given its height and is often referred to as a castle,  although it’s not. At this stop,  we somehow picked up our first new friend,  a fellow from Bangladesh. Don’t know where he came from or how he joined our trip but he did!

You can see many pigeon holes here and that’s quite cool. Pigeons were previously used to carry messages in the area.

Carrying on,  we checked out the Urgup family chimneys,  which are meant to look like a family of three.  At this point,  we were really starting to feel the cold. It was shocking considering the week before,  it was 18 degrees and sunny!

Our next stop was at Devrent Magic Valley, also known as Imagination Valley. Here,  the different rocks have different formations including the Virgin Mary, a crocodile, and ducks kissing. We didn’t have time to look around here much as we were moving along to Paşabağ Fairy Chimneys. Me to Leah just now (2 days later): “Did you take anything useful or interesting from the fairy chimneys I could share on the blog?”
Leah: “Nothing comes to mind”

Terrible? Well, perhaps, but keep in mind we’d had somewhere around 2 hrs sleep the night before and it was bloody cold out! Mostly, it was just super cool landscape here and the shape of the columns were more unique here than in other places.

After some free time here we motored onwards to lunch at Aydede Restaurant. We tried the traditional pottery baked stew. It was awesome! Definitely recommend to try this when you’re in Cappadocia. It’s pretty popular here so it would be surprising if you weren’t offered it at some point. Also, I have to note that this was the BEST tour lunch we’ve had so far in the trip. Two thumbs up!

After lunch, we stopped in at an old Greek village called Çavuşin. These cave houses used to belong to the Greeks that lived in the area before being kicked out back to Greece. Now, they are mainly uninhabited. Here we picked up two more “friends”, a Spanish couple. Don’t know how Ali kept finding us new friends but he was sure good at it!

Next, we had a stop in Avanos, which is famous for pottery. We watched an awesome pottery demo here,  where they showed us how to make a teapot!  So cool. We were wishing we could take some stuff home with us but 3 more weeks and weight restrictions wouldn’t permit it.

From Avanos, we made a stop at the famous Göreme Open Air Museum. It was once a monastery and thus has several beautifully preserved churches in it.  These churches are located within caves. Unfortunately photos are not permitted inside. It is a very beautiful site but we were freezing cold at this point and hugely ready to move on….to the gift shop,  where I got a Turkey tee to act as a new piece in my rapidly shrinking wardrobe. Things seem to be developing holes and we have yet to do laundry not in a sink. Ah the traveling life…

After one more pit stop for a beautiful vista of the landscape we headed back to our hotel. 

We were staying in a really cool cave room. Something they don’t tell you about a cave room is that the cave drops dust and bits of cave randomly on stuff. It’s kinda cool actually,  like the rooms are living.  At this point,  I have to give a big shout-out to the showers here at View Cave. Not only was it hot but the pressure was AWESOME. Totally made our long day better!