There are very few buildings and architectural monuments that manage to move me emotionally. Istanbul’s ancient Hagia Sofia is a clear exception: a place where history, architecture and religion have clashed over and over again. It is a defining building for this part of the world, and a beautiful one at that. The current Hagia [...]
Sometimes, a picture says more than a thousand words. At other times, it may be necessary to use video to convey our messages. Check out this video below: it’s a walk around the upper gallery of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. This video is from the ground floor of the same building.
Istanbul is not cheap. It’s a bustling metropolis of European caliber price points. But it’s also one of the coolest cities we’ve been to. So how did we handle our day there while managing to stay within our meager backpacking budget? A good pair of shoes, a little imagination and loads of sunscreen. Before letting [...]
The key to happy traveling is to enjoy a variety of different activities. After seeing the architectural and commercial (and seriously tourist-infested) Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and the Grand Bazaar, it was time to mix in something completely different. Luck had it that we stumbled upon a newly opened wine and cheese tasting room in [...]
Eastern Turkey is a lot of things. What it’s not is a beer lover’s paradise. Licensed restaurants are far in between, and not all towns have a store that sells it. In the name of reader service we did however sample the local brews that we could find. They were all of the same brand: [...]
We’ve only got a little bit left of our travel budget now, a time in our lives that of course coincides with our visit to one of the world’s premier shopping capitals. My current plan is to lock her in a cheap hotel room and throw away the key. I mean, seriously. This is [...]
This insanely beautiful expanse of water is Lake Van – Turkey’s biggest lake. There are a few settlements around the lake, but most of its shores are untouched by civilization. You hardly see any boats out there, just the impossibly blue water, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Pure magic. Instead of taking the bus around [...]
I had some serious plans for Dogubayazit. I wanted to chase down Noah’s Ark and see what it really looks like. See, a Hong Kong expedition claims to have found the remnants of the Ark, embedded in a glacier on the mountain. It sounded like a great little adventure. Failing that, at least I’d get [...]
We don’t make hotel reservations. Rather, I should say that we don’t usually make reservations. I think we’ve made maybe two in the last year of travel. That’s just our style. If a guesthouse doesn’t have a room available, the one next door probably will. We weren’t picky to begin with; we’re especially not picky [...]
Turkey is great. In fact, it is our new favorite destination. The one thing that hasn’t worked out for us is the trekking. We’re here way too early. In just two months from now, the weather will be much warmer and drier, the skies will be fair and all the interesting destinations open for [...]
Hasankeyf wasn’t on our itinerary a week ago. We were in the southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey to check out Urfa and Van Lake, before heading further north. As Martin explained here, we got a last minute tip from a family staying in our guesthouse. They told us that the town was a bit of [...]
Most of the countries we’ve traveled through on this one-year trip have one thing in common: sad excuses for wine. While they certainly can be forgiven for this, the fact remains that we’ve missed wine on our diet. Beer is nice (as I’ve reported about in a number of posts), but good wine can really [...]
I’d heard about the existence of Hasankeyf before. I’d told myself that it was one of those places we’d just have to miss because there’s so much else to see in Turkey. Thankfully, we listened to advice from a nice Canadian family we encountered and spent a few days there. We loved it. There are [...]
If we were honest, we’d have to admit that the dig at Göbekli Tepe was what brought us to Turkey. Martin wrote up a great piece about the dig and it’s significance here. While I think he went into great detail describing the place, I think it’s also fun to see it on video. [...]
When looking at the map, it is pretty evident that we’re a stone’s throw away from Syria, Iraq and Iran, place names that have a dangerous ring to western ears. Indeed, friends and family have expressed a bit of concern over our current whereabouts. Well, we can all relax! Any misgivings we may have had [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
