City Walls
Church of the Redeemer, which was supposedly split in half by lightning.
Cathedral of Ani
Open Dome
Back Side
Armenia to the left; Turkey to the right.
Very steep stairs in the minaret of the Menüçehr Mosque, which is thought to be the oldest mosque in Anatolia.
A mini-version of a bare Crescent City.
Maiden’s Castle, Kiz Kalesi
There she is. Found in the largest mosaic museum in the world, the Zeugma Mosaic Museum in Gaziantep, Turkey.
Sultanahmet Camii
Listening to the Khutbah
The masses
Praying Sunnah
Mimbar
Ayasofya
Keeping warm
View of Sultanahmet Camii from the Ayasofya
2nd floor of Ayasofya, Byzantine mural
Dervish
Entering the Harem
Fish Market
How many kitties do you see?
Relaxing
Arasta Bazaar
Outside of the Küçük Ayasofya Camii
Küçük Ayasofya
Greek writing in the Küçük Ayasofya, which was a church before being converted to a mosque.
Fleur-de-lis
Malcolm X
Süleymaniye Camii
translation: “homies” or “dudes” Genghis, Ogün, Emir, Emre, Eren, and Mehmet
Also homies or dudes
Basilica Cistern
Medusa
In the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
Thutmosis’ Obelisk and Sultanahmet Camii
I had a picnic with some students from my English Prep 7 class in historic Sille, a town I have uploaded pictures from before.
Take a look:
Let’s just say that this past month has been pretty eventful. Due to very complicated circumstances, we found ourselves having to move to a new apartment for the second time. The move happened two days before I was scheduled to leave for Cairo. Overnight, we packed all of our stuff and moved a significant amount of luggage to our amazing friends Çağlar and Ahmet’s apartment. The rest we took with us to another university guesthouse. The day before I left, after our classes, we found a new apartment thanks to the help of our friend Galip, whose father-in-law is a real estate agent. Having that done, we went back to the guesthouse and I packed for my trip. With the rest of my posessions in safe hands and knowing that I’d have to move in when I came back, I took a taxi to the airport the next morning. OFF TO EGYPT!
After the customary delay on the tarmac of Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport due to heavy air traffic, I was off on my adventure. The EgyptAir flight was very comfortable and I enjoyed a very nice conversation with my neighbor who hailed from Portland, Oregon and was visiting family back in Cairo. I was greeted at the airport by my good friend and host for the next week, Talha Ghannam, who I spent a year with while I studied abroad in London during the 2008-2009 academic year. We didn’t waste any time hitting the streets.
We checked out Tahrir Square and the Nile my first night in Cairo. There was definitely a tense feeling in the air as we walking in Tahrir. A guy we talked to mentioned that protesters were gearing up for the one year anniversary of the revolution, which was only a week away. He also mentioned to be careful with pictures so as not to draw attention and be labeled as a spy!
Tahrir Square
Revolution
The Nile
Along the Nile
We didn’t slow down. The next morning we took a bus to the White Desert for a night underneath the stars. The significance of this trip was only heightened since I made the decision to not watch my beloved Saints play the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Playoffs that very same night. Listen, my fanhood can never be questioned and my Who Dat Nation membership status is platinum, so you can imagine how hard it actually was to willingly give up the chance to see my Saints attempt to move forward to another Super Bowl…for real. In hindsight, it was a great decision since the Saints lost a close roller coaster game. Could’ve suffered a heart attack watching it, pretty sure some people back home in New Orleans did. Next year though…black and gold Super Bowl in the Superdome, believe it. Hopping off that tangent…we met our Bedouin guide in a town outside of Cairo and got in his jeep. Along the way through the desert, we saw abundant crystal formations at the Crystal Mountain and basalt rocks in the Black Desert. After that, we picked our spot in the White Desert, set up camp, relaxed by the fire and ate dinner Bedouin style. We slept in sleeping bags with four blankets on top and five layers of clothing. It was freezing at night, but totally worth the night light. I’ve never seen so many stars in the sky in my life. If only B.o.B. was there, he could’ve had all the wishes he wanted with the shooting stars we saw. (Corny, I know.) The only other time I saw a sky full of stars was almost two years ago when I was driving with Shaawn B. Ali to Miami to watch our Saints win their first Super Bowl. It was about 3:00am and we had been driving for what seemed like forever, with about an hour left in our journey. We had the sunroof open and suddenly the sky just opened up. It stayed like that for a few minutes and then the stars dissapeared. Surely it was a good omen since we winessed the Saints Super Bowl win. Although it didn’t happen for the Saints this time, hopefully my hoard of witnessed shooting stars in the desert brings continuous good news and positive vibes!!
Date Palm
Raw
Ripe
Basalt in the Black Desert
Desert Safari
Sun and Sand
Bedouin child next to construction.
Crystal Mountain
Sand and Crystal
Sand and its forms.
Camp Site
Campfire
Burning
Dinner
Sunrise in the White Desert
White Desert
On our way back, check out crazy eye in the back!
WHAT
WHAT
We're normal.
We spent the rest of the trip in Cairo seeing as many sights as possible. Obviously we saw the Pyramids and Sphinx, but we also made time to visit the Al-Hussein and Al-Azhar Mosques, the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi’i, founder of one of the four Madhahib (Schools of Thought) of Islam and the Saladin Citadel of Cairo. We were high rollers at the City Stars Mall and ate two of Egypt’s more traditional meals: koshari and molokheya.
Curious
He loved the camera.
The boy insisted that I take a picture of these stairs. This is for him.
Bayt El Suhayi Area
High Ceilings
Chain
Outline
Relax and Decompress
Al-Hakim Mosque
Al-Hakim Mosque
Traffic
In Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar
Pyramids
The little ones
Scale
Scale
Sphinx
Profile
My Journey
City Stars Mall
Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha
Mimbar
Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha - also where a famous Malcolm X photo was taken.
Malcolm X in Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha
Posing
Family
Couple
And finally, here’s a video I put together of scenes from my travels in Egypt, enjoy!
I came back to a snow covered Konya and a new apartment. While my roommates were traveling on their own adventures, I spent a week in Konya grading final exams and settling into our new apartment. Lights changed, hot water fixed, internet set up and my room arranged. Things came together pretty well, until one night when I decided to take a late shower and the power went out. There I was covered in soap in the dark. I couldn’t help but laugh. The electric water heater also turned off so rinsing in ice water wasn’t pleasant, but I survived. Lights came back the next day. Then I got sick after eating Çiğ köfte (a raw meat dish) two days in a row. (Yes, raw meat, it’s really good, though I’m sure I won’t have it again.) That night, my water was shut off because the previous tenants happened to cancel their subscription, so now I had no functioning toilet while being sick. I laughed again. But that was another problem resolved as the landlord went and got my water back the next day. Soon the snow started to get to me and I really needed to travel again. I found myself in the presence of good friends as we went on our way to visit cities in Southeastern Turkey: Diyarbakır, Hasankeyf, Mardin, Şanlıurfa and Osmaniye.
Diyarbakır:
Restored Armenian church
Secrets
City Walls
Kaburga Dolması
Hasankeyf:
Zeynel Bey Türbesi - 15th Century
They wanted money, so I said it would cost them a picture...
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there...
...When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about...
...Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense." -Mevlana Jalal ud-Din Rumi
Mardin:
Deyrulsafaran - former seat of the Syrian Orthodox Church
Lighting candles in the Monastery.
Şanlıurfa:
Balıklı Göl - legend says that anyone who catches one of these fish will go blind, also where Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) was supposedly thrown into a funeral pyre by the local Assyrian King Nimrod for breaking idols. God then turned the fire into water and the burning coals into fish.
Cave where Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) was apparently born.
Overlooking Glorious Urfa.
Balıklı Göl at night.
Osmaniye:
At a Turkish wedding with good friends, John, Khalid, Abby and Clayton.
Muğla
View from Masa Dağı (Table Mountain)
Russell on top of the world. Masa Dağı.
Chillin'
Muğla chimneys
Dried out river bed
Akyaka
We named her Mehtap.
Following Cyprus, James and I caught a flight over to Hatay, or Antakya, or Antioch, whichever you prefer. After catching a bus into the city center, we went about looking for a decent, but cheap place to stay for the next few nights. Our first few stops were recommended by our Lonely Planet guide book, which listed budget hostels at around 20TL per night. Turns out the first two places we visited had upgraded significantly, and were now charging close to 140TL a night! At the second hostel, James managed to bargain the price down to 80TL. Quite the feat I would say. We still didn’t take it though. We walked a little further and settled on a more conviniently located hostel for 30TL each per night. We only stayed there for one night though, the next day, we decided to move to the Catholic Church’s guesthouse, which was 25TL per night. It seemed like it would be an interesting experience, which it was. The room was extra clean with hardwood floors and small wooden furniture. For some reason, it reminded us of the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.
A little about Antakya: It’s known to be a more cosmopolitan city. Here, you have Sunni Muslims, along with significant Alevi Shi’a and Christian populations. We visited the Orthodox Christian church, the Catholic church, numerous camiler (mosques), the Antakya Archaeological Museum and the Church of St. Peter. We were also in the city during Eid al-Ghadeer, a Shi’a Muslim festival and witnessed some of the celebrations with a local friend we made.
Courtyard of Catholic Church
Church bell with Mosque minaret behind
Mosaics from the Antakya Arkeoloji Müzesi
On Friday evening, I went to an internet café for a bit while James went to a bookstore/café. There, he met a local by the name of Soner who spoke English. They made friends, exchanged numbers and Soner offered to tour the city some more with us on Sunday. With this to look forward to, James and I made a day trip to Tarsus on Saturday where we saw St. Paul’s Well and the Ulu Cami – a mosque with a clocktower, amongst other sites.
St. Paul's Well
Ulu Cami
Şelale Waterfalls
We came back to Antakya Saturday evening and spent Sunday seeing a few more sites. We started the day with a visit to the Church of St. Peter.
First church of Christianity in the city where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
We spent the rest of the day with Soner as he took us to a shrine of a local Alevi saint, introduced us to a local family and ate local cuisine together.
Paying their respects.
Soner and James
Splunking!
Eating some free Bulgur provided by a random local family.
Grapes growing in the streets
Soner's friend and his son, Can (pronounced Jaan)
Happiness
We took a bus back to Konya at 10:00pm Sunday night, which got us home at 6:00am Monday morning. I had a class 3 hours later at 9:00am as well. No worries though, we had a great time and saw some amazing sites. Truly blessed to be able to travel and work in this amazing country!
During the Kurban Bayram, or Eid al-Adha, a few friends and I spent our time off traveling in Northern Cyprus, followed by visits to Antakya (historical Antioch) and Tarsus. This post has been long overdue, but buyurun! …here you are!
But before we caught our connecting flight to Lefkoşa, Cyprus, we spend the Eid Sunday in Istanbul. We bussed into the city to Taksım Square and took a stroll down the busy Istiklal Caddesi. We also crossed the Galata Bridge with its numerous anglers casting reels off its sides and stopped at the Yeni Cami.
Nice views from the plane
Yeni Cami
Fishing off the Galata Bridge
Some delicious Baklava to finish off our brief stop in Istanbul
Some brief backgroud info about Cyprus before I relate to you our travels there: the island is divided into two parts, the Republic of Cyprus, home to mostly the Greek Cypriot population, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti), home to the Turkish Cypriot population, which is a self-declared state with only Turkey recognizing its independence. My passport now has a Northern Cyprus stamp on it, which may make it hard for me to visit Greece in the future, until I get a new passport of course.
Our flight to Lefkoşa left Istanbul in the evening. Upon arrival in N. Cyprus, we took a bus to Girne, a major city located on the northern coast that served as our hub during our stay there. After spending a couple of days in Girne, we rented a car and visited other parts of N. Cyprus.
View of the Girne Harbor from the Girne Castle
View of Girne from the St. Hilarion Castle
Kind of reminds me of The Lord of the Rings
Bellapais Monastery
Inside the church of Bellapais
Other visits included the ruins of Soli in the northwest, the ruins of churches in Gazimağusa and ruins at Salamis on the east coast, and a wonderful visit to the Karpaz Peninsula.
View of the Mediterranean (Akdeniz) from the Oasis Hotel on the Karpaz Peninsula
Had to stop to let his herd by. The Karpaz peninsula is also know for its wild donkeys. Unfortunately, we did not see any.
I racked up some decent miles driving in North Cyprus. James was my navigator.
Next post will be about Antakya and Tarsus, so stay tuned!
rumisapprentice 