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| This is the Golden Horn. | Dolmapaçe Palace entrance on Bosphorus. |
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After two days in Istanbul, I was ready to move again.
The hotel Sport furnished a van to take me to the bus-station (Otogar).
It cost me 1 million to get in. I purchased a ticket for Çanakkale
on the Dardanelles. We were soon off. At first the weather was rainy-like
and vision was poor. Later we saw the Marmara Sea, and by the time we were
in Gallipoli weather was good. The bus drove a bit further to the small
town of Eceabat. Here all passengers had to get out, walk a few meters
to a waiting ferry across the Dardanelles where the sea was just
a bit wider than one mile. There was no extra charge for this. At the other
side I got out and walked a bit. A taxi driver gave me directions to one
of the budget hostels mentioned in my book. After checking in, the taxi
driver took me to Troy for a fee of 25 Million L.
There was no other way to get there. Schliemann was the
German who discovered and started the dig.
On the way back the taxi driver stopped at a few cannon
emplacements.
From
Çanakkale many tourists go to see the battlefield of Gallipoli (1st
World War). My hostel was supposed to show a film on this, but I did not
want to stay. Lots of Australians and New Zealand men died in Gallipoli.
(I saw a large monument to them in Perth, Australia (http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/~heinisj/austral.html)
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| Ferry from Eceabat to Çanakkale | Trojan Horse |
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| Troy |
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Next morning I paid for the hostel and was able to send
e-mail to my son telling him where I was.
I caught the 11:30 bus toward Izmir. We drove through
hilly and flat terrain. Lots of tomatos were being harvested - in November.
I also saw lots of pines, cotton, grapes, and some citrus groves.
I wanted to
go to Bergamo. When I saw the road sign, the bus did not go there
but continued to Izmir. He only stopped when I called. I got out in what
seemed like nowhere. But.... a taxi was there and took me to Bergamo. Here
I found a nice Pension (Bolliger). The taxi-driver said he would take me
to the historical places next morning for 20 Million L, and I agreed. Indeed
he was there as I ate breakfast, included in the lodging price. (It cost
6 Mio L.). Further down the street was a restaurant where I
had a good shish kebab plus a large glass of Tuborg beer. I even got a
hair-cut in town for 2.5 Mio L.
I offered
to share the ride with a Japanese girl, but she did not come. So I was
alone when the driver took me first to Asclepion. First we
drove by a large military installation then I had to pay 2.25 Mio L to
get in. The whole place was dedicated to the healer Asclepias. Galen was
also mentioned. Part of it at least were a hospital. There is a sign
somewhere that death is not allowed.... apparently dying patients were
not accepted or if it happened, they were pushed out before death.
Lots of columns and other artifacts were to be seen.
Next the taxi
took me up to the Acropolis. The mountain was just outside Bergamo. It
was a big expanse. As usual I took lots of pictures. At one time I was
a bit annoyed when I saw tourists throwing money at a column in the middle
of a big pit. Much of the ruins were of temples dedicated to Traian
and Hadrian Roman emperors. The amphitheater along the side
of the mountain was huge. I wondered what people in the "cheap " upper
seats could see.
Later I also
visited the archeological museum in downtown Bergamo.
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On my next day in Turkey I took the bus first to Izmir and then to Selçuk.
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| Selçuk, Turkey | Carpets in Selçuk |
Getting there was not very easy. First I
took a bus in Selçuk to Nazilli, then another smaller bus to Kusadaza
and then more or less hitch-hiked to the ruins of Aphrodesias. Not all
back-packers make the tour. There is a hostel close by, but I planned to
make the trip in one day.
The next day
I left Selçuk to Bodrum for 5 Mio. L. It took about 4 hours to get
there. It is a very nice city on the Aegean Sea which during the summer
has lots of tourists. But now in November I found the tourist office closed
as well as my first choice for a hostel. With the help of some tourist
policemen I found another one where I spent a couple of nights. There were
lots of yachts along the beech and I even saw some people swimming, which
upset me because I did not have my swimsuit along.
I found out the the interesting castle-museum had closed
for the day. (Cost 5 Mio L!) After some sight-seeing
I settled down for a very good meal of fish with wine.
It might have been nice to spend a few days in Bodrum or in Marmaris where
I went next, but my time was limited. In Marmaris I found out that the
ferry for Rhodes leaves that Saturday or several days later. So I bought
the ticket for 50 $ US. It was a fast Catemaran that made the trip in a
little over 1 hour.
In Rhodes
(or Rhodos) I was met by a man who offered me a room. I went
with him and it was quite nice, costing 5000 Drachme (Greek money).
After getting situated I walked a bit through the very old-fashioned town
with large city walls, gates, pebbled streets with lots of stores for tourists.
Like in Bodrum I treated myself to another good supper, sitting on an outside
table.
This was my
second visit to Rhodes. I would have liked to stay a few days but the ferry
to Crete was leaving next morning at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am! Remember
that ferry traffic during off season is sparse!
CRETE.
The ferry trip took all day, and we arrived in Setia after
3 pm. I disembarked and searched for the Youth Hostel which I eventually
found. I had a room to myself for 3000 D. Setia is in the East of Crete
and I did not find anything particularly interesting. So next day I walked
down to the bus station and bought the ticket for Heraklion, the
Capital.
The bus trip
was truly pleasant. The roads are narrow, crooked, up and down. I saw lots
of olives,
some pines..... From time to time I could see the Sea
which was truly beautiful. Heraklion is rather nice.
I tried the Youth Hostel, but did not like it and instead
treated myself to a nice, reasonably priced hotel (remember it was off-season).
Close to the port. I visited the archeological museum where I found exhibits
of Minos, Crete.....
The day after I took a bus to Knossos. This is definitely
a must-see place.
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| Setia | Knossos |
My next stop was Chania which is in the West of Crete. From the bus-stop I had to find the way down to the Old Port, where I found a nice low-priced hotel. There are many restaurants and stores along the Old Port, but this time of the year there were a lot of empty tables. It is a very nice city.
After 2 days there I took the bus from Chania to Sauda
where I could board the ferry at 8 pm. In the evening it got a bit cold,
but I was OK on the ferry. It took all night for us to get to Pyraeus.
I arrived early in the morning when it was still dark. By turning right
following the pier I found the train station and took the train to Athens.
Having been in Athens before I Just spent the day there, and in the evening
took the flight back to Zürich and eventually home to Florida.
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| Chania and Ferry to Pyraeus | Ducks in the park in Athens. |
For other travel stories in Asia, Europe, South America,
Australia please see my home page:
http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/~heinisj
Please write to me at jheinis@nettally.com