Best of the Best

As is my custom, the last post of each blog is a "Best of the Best."  I originally targeted a Top 10 list but found there are always more than 10 bests in each trip that merits a blog.

So, here they are for this trip 2015 trip, in order of occurrence.

Seeing Ozge Sumer and Ali Tezgor and visiting the very cool Die Dunkel Klamm (The Dark Gorge) in Austria when it was deserted

A one day Blue Voyage off Cesme and meeting a friendly Canadian student Adrian whom we adopted for the day

Seeing my favorite civil engineer - Yunus Alp

Reunion dinner overlooking the Aegean in perfect Izmir weather - Fatih Tasgetiren is always fun

Fatih, Fatmanur, Ozgur, Alejandro and Gokhan - students past and present

With the lovely Ozdemir family from Isparta - Eda, Asye, Gultekin and Ayca

Seeing one of John Ash's favorite ancient cities in western Anatolia - Sardis between Izmir and Denizli

Visiting newly graduated Elif Ozgormus in Denizli/Pamukkale but I enjoyed the neighboring ruined city of Hierapolis more than the tourist trap of Pamukkale shown here

Back at Yesil Ada on Lake Egirdir near Isparta - one of our favorite places in the world

The remarkable theater in Adada, south of Yesil Ada.  Again, one of John Ash's favorite remote ruined cities.

A cold Efes in the evening in the bottle it should be served in - the original big, fat one

The Hittite monolith at Fasillar, lying in the field it was abandoned in for nearly 3000 years

The Roman tomb just across from the Hittite monolith - carved nearly 2000 years ago but new compared to the Hittite artifact

Arriving to Cappadocia with a rainbow

The breakfast excursion to the original family farm by the owners of the Kelebek Hotel in Goreme

Seeing two lovely Ankara ladies - Cevahir Sumer and Zulfiya Sahin - and enjoying Cevahir's splendid food

Witnessing (literally) my Turkish son, Orhan Dengiz, married at last

The most fun dinner I have ever had in Istanbul - on the water on the Asian side (Kuzguncuk) with Burcu and Yelin Sevgor at typical, historic lokanta

The start of the long anticipated road trip to northeast Turkey - arrival via our trusty Anadolu Jet in Ezurum

The trio of amazing Selcuk tombs in Erzurum - and our traveling foursome - Alejandro, Mehmet, Randy and me

Entering Ani - probably the most notable abandoned ancient city in the world

We saw Ani as it should be seen - deserted - to experience the spirits of the past properly and reflect on the transitory nature of all things

This photo captures our awe during our time in Ani perfectly

Capping the day off with dinner at the Kars Kazevi- the original goose restaurant in Kars with its founder

There is so much to love about traveling with Mehmet - one is spontaneous stops of the car to chase wildlife, in this case, the geese of Kars

Seytan (or Rabat) Kalesi - Devil's Castle - truly amazing in a breathtaking setting - what a hidden treasure between Kars and Artvin

Our first major Georgian church - Tibeti at Cevizli

Our mornings are always like this - Mehmet gets up ridiculously early and drinks endless tea and plans the route for the day - here we also enjoy the green remoteness of the yayla near Georgia

The painted wooden mosque of Camili on the Georgia border

Running into two Georgian bishops and their bevy of nuns on a similar expedition to the Georgian churches at Osk Vank - the greatest of these churches

I had to include another photo of this highlight - brought together by an interest in this aspect of past life in Anatolia

Randy's favorite landscape of this trip - the high village of Ishan between Tortum and Yusefeli

The final Georgian church of Dortkilese - so remote and so evocative

Another typical Mehmet moment - partaking of a roadside well - this one next to Dortkilese

Partying up at the Teacher's House in Ispir - thank you Jameson!

The warm embrace of the Batuk family at Ordu on the Black Sea

Observing the hazelnut cultivation firsthand at Unye

Saturday evening drinks at Casa Guven in Unye

Another hidden treasure - the oldest wooden mosque in Anatolia - the Gokceli Camii in Carsamba.  Mehmet was properly impressed and awed.

The nesting haven of the storks near Bafra on the Black Sea

Our spontaneous visit to a working archaeology dig at Pompeiopolis between Sinop and Kastamonu

Feeling very superior at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara which only has a reproduction of the Hittite monolith in Fasillar while we saw the real one in situ

Catching up with the cat whisperer, Tore Fougner, at Bilkent

A random lunch in Mudurnu between Bolu and Istanbul - especially the way water was served in the traditional metal pitcher

The real eternal city at dusk with my two favorite people in Istanbul (out of 16 million) - Basar Basaran (here) and Refik Gullu

The iconic picture of this trip - the four intrepid explorers at the very remote and little visited Osk Vank - the glory of Anatolian Georgian civilization

Drive Through Bolu and Lake Abant and Fun in Istanbul

After a final breakfast at Casa Dengiz we picked Alejandro up from the Middle East Technical University Guest House and headed out on the super highway to Istanbul.  We left the highway at Bolu (a midway point between Ankara and Istanbul), a popular skiing resort area in the winter.  We decided to visit Lake Abant, a noted beauty spot that we had never seen.  I wanted to eat fresh fish at a lakeside restaurant there.

We drove through Bolu, which was not too appealing, and headed on a back road to Lake Abant.  This road was pretty and not very populated.  In fact, we were running low on gas and were quite concerned about making it to the next gas station.  However, we were in luck and a modern gas station appeared just in time.

We went on the turn off for Lake Abant.  The weather was glorious but our luck ran out because there was a small accident on the narrow road leading from the high land down to the lake.  We could see the lake but couldn't get there because the cars would not move until the police arrived.  We waited for about 15 minutes but decided to turn around on the narrow road and head back.  Who knows when the police would show up?   This is Turkey, after all.  We will have to wait to explore Lake Abant another time.  

This is as close as we got to Lake Abant - it is on the list to be visited next time!

Once back on the main road we did find a very good local restaurant / hotel outside of Mudurnu and ate on the porch.  This is the Yariskasi Konagi and  I got my lake fish - tasty!  A great discovery!

No lake view but excellent service and food and a location with charm of its own

Our dining spot with two pretty young ladies doing the serving and cleaning (daughters of the house?)

Note the antique pitcher filled with fresh (I hope) water

Randy went for the manti

We ate with the locals - truck drivers and the like

We linked up with the super highway later on and made it through the Istanbul traffic and over the Bosporus.  We drove to our favorite hotel - the Cinar Hotel - located near the airport along the Sea of Marmara.  We then took a taxi to the central part of Istanbul in Beyoglu to meet up with friends Refik Gullu and Basar Basaran.  Basar had picked a trendy rooftop place called Duble Meze in the Palazzo Donizetti Hotel in the Asmali Mescit neighborhood (mahalle) that served upscale tapas.  The evening weather was perfect and we had a festive reunion with plenty of wine, raki and good food!

So good to see Refik again

Equally good to see Basar (who is looking very hipster)

We dined and drank as the day shifted from early dusk to night

Fully satisfied - a great last evening in magical and invigorating and sometimes frustrating Turkey

Dusk settles over the central part of Istanbul across the Golden Horn (Halic) from Beyoglu

Taking a taxi back to the leafy comforts of the Cinar Hotel (once in Istanbul we don't use the car because driving is terrible and parking is even worse!), we slept.  Alejandro had a very early flight and was long gone once we arose to walk along the seafront (the best thing about the Cinar is its location) and then eat our last Turkish breakfast of this trip on the terrace overlooking the sparkling Bosporus.  

Adios to Turkey for this trip!  It was a very full trip with much accomplished and memories to savor for many years to come!