Route of Turkey trip in 2014


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Tale of a tomb

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Mausolus married his sister Artemisia. He ruled a small kingdom on the west coast of Turkey. At the time the family were Satraps of Persia around 400 to 300 BC and in order to keep the power and influence close, it was customary to marry within the family. All the ruling brothers did, genetics notwithstanding. When he became king he moved his capital to where Bodrum is today. He spoke Greek, loved all things Greek, and all he built throughout his kingdom was heavily influenced by beautiful Greek designs. Particularly his tomb. Built overlooking the blue waters where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean his tomb took so long to construct it was only completed after his death. Artemesia, wracked with grief, sped up the stone work, employing only the best cutters in the world, spending vast amounts of the tax payers' money in so doing. Scopas, who built the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus came south to help, so the tomb had the look of a temple about it. Stairs with stone lions on guard ...
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Bearing the imprint of time

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We are still not getting very far, very fast. Today we are back in Güzelyurt visiting Monastery Valley, and as we head down into it we are enchanted by how parts of this place look as though it has stood here for centuries. Monastery Valley is overlooked by a small domed church, now a mosque, reputedly built for St Gregory of Nazianzus in the early 4th cent AD at a time when being a Christian was no longer a crime. He was a theologian and a scholar whose writings were among those that influenced the split to Orthodoxy. During his lifetime, wherever he was stationed, people flocked to hear him preach.  A monastery was set up here to train young novitiates and the near vertical rocks on all sides of this pretty and ancient valley are riddled with cave dwellings, chapels, and churches that have grown up through the ages. Too many to count. Pilgrims trekked from afar to visit. Then, and now. Monastery Valley follows a stream, edged with willows, and there is a tree, pr...
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Ancient Temple tombs

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Lycian tombs in all their beauty Our day started with a full shampoo and shower for our motorhome, which is still behaving itself; while we attacked an early morning Turkish Kahve, which is as thick as mud and has half a cup of grounds in the cup when you are finished. A tractor was also getting the full spa treatment at our little Oto Yikama probably because these are often used as the main vehicle for many a dad, mum and kids: to market, to school, then on into the fields: terribly versatile. We drove on to Dalaman with many a pullover on any available belvedere for views down to the beautiful blue patches of the Mediterranean. We are now in the south of Turkey and the days are getting warmer: tho’ not uncomfortably so, as yet. At Dalaman, we eventually hunted down a train station that was built there by mistake. It is probably the only train station on earth that has no rail line to it, so no train has ever visited. A shipping delivery error was the cause. Abbas Pasha...
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