Dear friends!
First of all apologies that it has taken so much time to publish the first post, but as I had indicated to some of you, I travelled with friends to Istanbul and Cappadocia and actually did not find time to write, then I was in a train for 43 hours (separate post on this to follow...) and then I had some internet access issues here in Iran. Now that I am alone and I have sorted out those issues, the blogging can finally start. From now on, I promise to make a special effort to write regularly, but publishing might take longer as it will depend on wifi-access which will probably be difficult when travelling through rural areas (as I will do quite a bit...). Also, uploading photos requires a good internet access, which I hope to have from time to time. At the time of publishing this, I am already in Ardabil.
As I had a backlog with the writing, I will not write much on Istanbul and Cappadocia, there will therefore only be two "stories", one concerning my camera and the other one my tooth ... Yes, my tooth!! Be patient, the story will follow shortly... ;-)
The only thing to say about Istanbul is that I had a really great time there, also thanks to my friends Martina and Susanne (and to Marc, Dirk and Jon who were there at the same time and with whom I went out as well... ). Istanbul was definitely a great start for this trip as it makes the link between the Western Christian culture and the Islamic world. The magnificent Aya Sofiya (Hagia Sofia as we say in German), which was first a church, then a mosque and now a museum, with its Christian architecture but Islamic art decoration is emblematic for this. I was also quite impressed by the geographical position at the Bosphorus, which gives it a particular flair, especially because you take boats from one areas of the city to others and can easily travel to the Asian shore. The area of Kadiköy on the Asian side was indeed the starting point for many caravans at the time when the Silk Road still functioned as a major trade route between East and West.
Concerning the week in Cappadocia (for which only as Susanne was still around) , this was also perfect to relax, forget about my daily routines in Brussels and start opening my mind for the challenge ahead. We hiked a lot through its beautiful valleys with the "fairy chimneys", stone cones, in which people thousands of years ago carved houses and churches ("kilesis") - often with amazing frescoes of between the 9th and 10th centuries. Just amazing!!!! Our Panorama Cave Suite in Arif Cave Hotel was a great example of how early Christians lived in the times in which they had to hide, as are the many underground cities, such as Derinkuyu, which has 7 levels under the ground!!! One of the highlights was as well the balloon flight over he valleys and fairy chimneys, which gives an entirely different perspective and is a beautiful way of "travelling". Unfortunately, it lasted only an hour, but to see all these balloons around was just magic! More linked to the theme of my travel are the Caravanserais, which offered shelter and protection to the many caravans, of which we visited quite a few and notably Turkey's biggest at Sultanhani. All along the major trade routes taken by caravans, you can find them, usually in a distance of around 50km from each other, just what a caravan could do within one day. They are quite beautiful complexes, with a wall around, an inner courtyard with a vaulted gallery on the left (used during summer), with a mosque in the middle, a huge hall (used during winter) and rooms to the left.
I know I could not do any justice to these 2 wonderful first weeks of my trip (and to amazing Istanbul and beautiful Cappadocia) but this is just how it is... I will try to upload some photos to a website and will include a link in a later post.. ;-)
First of all apologies that it has taken so much time to publish the first post, but as I had indicated to some of you, I travelled with friends to Istanbul and Cappadocia and actually did not find time to write, then I was in a train for 43 hours (separate post on this to follow...) and then I had some internet access issues here in Iran. Now that I am alone and I have sorted out those issues, the blogging can finally start. From now on, I promise to make a special effort to write regularly, but publishing might take longer as it will depend on wifi-access which will probably be difficult when travelling through rural areas (as I will do quite a bit...). Also, uploading photos requires a good internet access, which I hope to have from time to time. At the time of publishing this, I am already in Ardabil.
As I had a backlog with the writing, I will not write much on Istanbul and Cappadocia, there will therefore only be two "stories", one concerning my camera and the other one my tooth ... Yes, my tooth!! Be patient, the story will follow shortly... ;-)
The only thing to say about Istanbul is that I had a really great time there, also thanks to my friends Martina and Susanne (and to Marc, Dirk and Jon who were there at the same time and with whom I went out as well... ). Istanbul was definitely a great start for this trip as it makes the link between the Western Christian culture and the Islamic world. The magnificent Aya Sofiya (Hagia Sofia as we say in German), which was first a church, then a mosque and now a museum, with its Christian architecture but Islamic art decoration is emblematic for this. I was also quite impressed by the geographical position at the Bosphorus, which gives it a particular flair, especially because you take boats from one areas of the city to others and can easily travel to the Asian shore. The area of Kadiköy on the Asian side was indeed the starting point for many caravans at the time when the Silk Road still functioned as a major trade route between East and West.
Concerning the week in Cappadocia (for which only as Susanne was still around) , this was also perfect to relax, forget about my daily routines in Brussels and start opening my mind for the challenge ahead. We hiked a lot through its beautiful valleys with the "fairy chimneys", stone cones, in which people thousands of years ago carved houses and churches ("kilesis") - often with amazing frescoes of between the 9th and 10th centuries. Just amazing!!!! Our Panorama Cave Suite in Arif Cave Hotel was a great example of how early Christians lived in the times in which they had to hide, as are the many underground cities, such as Derinkuyu, which has 7 levels under the ground!!! One of the highlights was as well the balloon flight over he valleys and fairy chimneys, which gives an entirely different perspective and is a beautiful way of "travelling". Unfortunately, it lasted only an hour, but to see all these balloons around was just magic! More linked to the theme of my travel are the Caravanserais, which offered shelter and protection to the many caravans, of which we visited quite a few and notably Turkey's biggest at Sultanhani. All along the major trade routes taken by caravans, you can find them, usually in a distance of around 50km from each other, just what a caravan could do within one day. They are quite beautiful complexes, with a wall around, an inner courtyard with a vaulted gallery on the left (used during summer), with a mosque in the middle, a huge hall (used during winter) and rooms to the left.
I know I could not do any justice to these 2 wonderful first weeks of my trip (and to amazing Istanbul and beautiful Cappadocia) but this is just how it is... I will try to upload some photos to a website and will include a link in a later post.. ;-)
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