Category: travel

7 Wonders of the Ancient World – Temple of Artemis

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, travelLeave a comment

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair

Though hundreds of thousand visit nearby Ephesus, Turkey, I was the only person at the Temple of Artemis when I visited.

Me, turtles and the stork nesting atop the last remaining column.

How fragile are the works of man.

Of the original Seven Wonders, only one—the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the ancient wonders—remains relatively intact.

The Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were all destroyed.

The location and ultimate fate of the Hanging Gardens are unknown, and there is speculation that they may not have existed at all.

model of the original Temple of Artemis, at Miniatürk Park, Istanbul

A Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis, it was completely rebuilt three times before its final destruction in 401 AD.

Click PLAY or watch a BBC documentary on YouTube.

I finally made it to Ephesus, Turkey

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

For decades I’ve heard about Europe’s most complete classical city. And it’s only 20% excavated.

Always wanted to compare Ephesus with Palmyra, Syria that I visited in 1994.

Palmyra 2010

Tragically ISIL did a lot of damage to Palmyra. I’m not sure the site will be restored in my lifetime.

Here’s Ephesus. Also great, but quite different.

Ephesus was the 4th largest Roman City with over 170,000 inhabitants.

This theatre could hold 25,000.

Ephesus is most famous for the Library of Celsus. It was the “third-largest library in the ancient world” behind Alexandria and Pergamum.

An extra ticket is required to visit the Terraced Houses, 7 well-preserved Roman homes. Restoration is in progress.

Some graffiti is being restored as well: gladiators, caricatures, animals. Poems and declarations of love. Back then you needed a chisel, not spray paint.

I was quite worried for this woman. … Will her feet overheat in those boots?

I did visit the Ephesus Museum, as well. Quite well done.

I’d recommend Ephesus to everyone who visits Turkey.

Turkish food – Testi

On By Rick McIn food, travelLeave a comment

I met Rosie and Patrick from the U.K. while visiting the famed Outdoor Museum, a World Heritage site. A Byzantine monastic settlement, the monks had time to paint their caves.

We drank some wine at sunset point overlooking Göreme.

Then I recommended we go for a nice dinner — traditional Turkish food of this region called Testi.

A mixture of meat and vegetables cooked in a clay pot or jug over fire (testi means jug in Turkish). The pot is sealed with bread dough or foil and is broken when serving.

They were half way complete a cycling trip from England to China. Next up is Iran which they feel will be the best section of all.

Goal is to get home in time for Christmas.

travellers – Maude and Mikael

On By Rick McIn food, friends, travelLeave a comment

Maude (Quebec) and Mikael (Finland) met at my hostel in Antalya, Turkey. They decided to take a night bus to Göreme, Cappadocia. I invited myself along.

One night they had the crazy idea we barbecue in the hoodoos.

We walked over at dusk.

This was the very first eroded monument we had visited on arrival. Seemed an appropriate place to cook.

First … enjoy the sunset.

Next … try to get the fire going in a cave. (For all my hiking I’m still terrible at lighting campfires.)

It was a bit of a comedy. But eventually they had sausage, chicken skewers, onions and peppers cooking. We drank wine and some kind of horrible Finish liquor they use to interrogate prisoners.

Maude and Mikael headed to northern Turkey. But I really enjoyed the week we spent together. The three of us are all travellers at heart. Maude had given up everything at home to teach French in a mountain village in Morocco. Michael strikes me as an entrepreneur, traveling until he decides what business venture to launch. 

are tourists in Turkey safe?

On By Rick McIn government, travelLeave a comment

In 2013, 37.8 million foreign visitors arrived in Turkey, which ranked as the 6th most popular tourism destination in the world. 

But tourism is way down in 2017 due to negative headlines in the news.

Some nations are warning citizens not to travel to Turkey. Canadians got the warning in 2016 after the attempted coupe.

I’m visiting Izmir right now.

There was a car bomb attack on an Izmir courthouse in 2017.

 

Still … Izmir and most of Turkey are generally safe for tourists, in my opinion. As safe as you’d be back home.

 

cycling Rose Valley, Goreme, Cappadocia

On By Rick McIn best bike rides, cycling, travel1 Comment

Fantastic.

I cycled Rose Valley out of Göreme twice the first time getting it done the hard way.

I went uphill from Cavusin village to the Panoramic viewpoint.

hike a bike

The great single track is downhill the opposite direction.

I rested up at the viewpoint. Then enjoyed one of the best 3km rides of my life.

Soft, rolling, slippery sliding chutes like this. (No I did not crash.)

Glorious scenery, of course.

The second time I rode secondary highways 45 minutes uphill to the viewpoint. Then tried a different line, this high traverse.

Cool. But it dead-ended at a cave.

I traversed all the way back to viewpoint, then took my favourite run again … a little more slowly this time. Stopped to smell the flowers.

I wasn’t the only one out on a bike. There are guided groups.

Some of the best cycling of my life.

I didn’t take any video. But click PLAY or watch some Rose Valley cycling on YouTube.

I met another cyclist out on his own from Washington State. He’s been coming here twice a year for 20 years (May and October). January / February he cycles Arizona from campgrounds. Lives on a boat in the San Juan islands during the summer. His wife seems to like the lifestyle too.

many are worried about Turkey’s President Erdoğan

On By Rick McIn government, travelLeave a comment

The best summing up I’ve seen is a VIDEO on VOX.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with U.S President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Two egos who both aspire to be more like Putin.

Trump hosting Turkey’s Erdogan as tensions simmer

Cappadocia, Turkey

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I’ve scrambled amongst hoodoos dozens of times. Especially in the Drumheller badlands.

Cappadocia is the same but on a massive scale. With homes, businesses and churches built into the rock.

Photos don’t do justice to this unique environment. Video is a little better at showing dimensions, depth and scale. .

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

ballooning in Cappadocia, Turkey

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

Everyone has seen photos of balloons over Göreme.

Cappadocia has some of the best flight conditions in the world. Flights take place just after dawn when the wind is low.

Here are a few of my own photos.

Balloons fly most mornings but not all. One night I set up my tent up high hoping to see the balloons from above at dawn.

No balloons that day. Flights had been cancelled.

I didn’t sign up myself. Did not want to be crammed into a basket with the bus tour suitcase tourists.

There have been three fatal ballooning accidents here over the past several years. Still — that’s fairly safe considering the hundreds of thousands who have done it.

Albuquerque and Marrakech are two other popular locales for ballooning.