Welcome to my travellog. Here you can read about my journeys day by day.
Aug 04, 2009 06:00 PM Again to Southeast Asia
My backpack is ready. Today I'm leaving Poland for one month in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. I'm flying to Bangkok with Russian airlines Aeroflot via Moscow. In BKK I'm meeting my travel mate Talat and from this point we'll travel together. Please keep your fingers crossed and you're welcome to follow this travellog. Enjoy!
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Jun 20, 2009 09:00 AM We are going to Georgia
We got up up at 4 a.m. to catch the flight to Kutaisi, the second largest city in Georgia. At the airport we met friends of our friends who are also going to Georgia. they wi? spend there one week while we are going there for ten days. After landing in Kutaisi airport we took a marshrutka (a minibus) to Tbi?isi for 10 USD. It took us slightly over four hours to get to the capital. The views on the waywere beautiful. In
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May 18, 2009 06:00 PM Back to Poland (via Munich instead of Frankfurt)
In the morning we got up early to take some photos of the city before tourists are everywhere. We walked around for 4 hours until 10 a.m. Then we went to the airport. When we arrived it turned out my flight to Frankfurt was delayed by 2.5 hrs, so I quickly got it rescheduled via Munich and in 15 minutes from my arrival at the airport I was already on board. Unfortuantely in Munich I had to wait for 4 hrs for my flight to Warsaw. I landed safely in the capital at 8 p.m. It was a very successful trip and my travelmate Talat turned out to be great company. Hope for another journey together soon! Where to go next?
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May 17, 2009 06:00 PM Magnificent Topkapi Palace
We arrived in Istanbul at 10 a.m. Train journey was very comfortable and I could even use the shower (there was only cold water, unfortunately).
Almost the whole day we spent in Topkapi Palace. It's a huge complex and you need at least half a day too see it only superficially. The admission fee is very high - 20 TRY. Another 10 TRY you have to pay for audio guide. Harem is another 15 TRY and audio guide to Harem again 10 TRY. So altogether it's almost 30 EUR! Frankly speaking, audio guides are not necessary. Much more information is given on the information tables. Unfortunately we didn't manage to see the Harem as they closed it as soon as 4 p.m. Had we known we would have visited it first.
In the evening we were walking around Sultanahmet and we went to the Grand Bazaar. It's very turisty now. Can you imagine that they even installed LCD displays there! They spoil the view so much...
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May 16, 2009 06:00 PM In the city of whirling dervishes
The 8 a.m. a bus from Goreme took us to Konya. The journey was 4 hrs and cost 20 lira. Konya has little to offer to tourists but one place is definitely worth a visit - Mevlana Museum tells the story of whirling dervishes and also is devoted to the poet called Rumi. There is the tomb of Rumi and also other interesting graves - all with turbans in the head of the dead person.
According to the guidebook Konya should be a conservative city, but from what we've seen there it is not - many girls and women don't wear headscarves and they wear European clothes instead of long robes covering all their bodies. The city is modern and developing and seemes to be a nice place to live in.
In the evening we took a night train to Istanbul. The train leaves at 9:15 p.m. and arrives in Istanbul Hayderpasa 9:09 a.m. the next day. Sleeper in 2-bed cabin costs less than 60 lira.
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May 15, 2009 06:00 PM Over fairy chimneys in a hot-air balloon
Our flight started just after 6 a.m. There were around 15 passengers in the basket. During 1-hour flight we could see Capadocian moonscape from above. It was a nice experience but very turisty and I thought it would be more exeptional. Champagne was served after landing.
After breakfest we explored Goreme Open Air Museum (15 TRY, no students discount). There are many Byzantine churches you can visit. Some of them have very well preserved frescos, especially Karanlik (Dark) Church - you have to pay additional 8 TRY to enter but it's worth the price.
In the afternoon we hiked in the valleys around Goreme and we walked until Pasabagi - the best fairy chimneys are there. Tomorrow in the morning we're leaving Capadocia for Konya (bus 20 TRY) from where we have a night train to Istanbul.
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May 14, 2009 06:00 PM Around Capadocia
Our tour started from Goreme at 9:30. On the way we visted several places. The best one in my opisnion was an underground city Derinkuyu. It's a 7-level underground labirynth of rooms and corridors well worth exploring. We also went to Ihlara Valley where we saw old Byzantine churches, some of them with frescoes. All in all it was worth taking this tour thanks to which we saved a lot of time and saw many interesting places. Tomorrow we're going to enjoy a hot-air balloon flight. We have to get up early as the hotel pick-up is at 5:45.
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May 13, 2009 06:00 PM Long way to Capadocia
We wanted to get to Capadocia as soon as possible so we took a night bus to Adana (yes, it's not the shortest way from Nemrut Dagi area to Capadocia but at least we would be closer). The bus cost 25 TRY. Transport is quite expensive in Turkey. In Adana we had to wait for a bus to Kayseri (30 lira) for 2.5 hrs and then another 2 hrs wait in Kayseri for a bus to Goreme (7 TRY). When in Goreme we bought our train tickets Konya - Istanbul. 2-bed sleeper costs almost 60 TRY.
We arrived in Goreme at after 3 p.m. so we only had time to find a hotel and walk around for a moment. We're staying here at Melek Cave Hotel where we can enjoy our cave room for only 40 TRY (breakfast included). The hotel has a homely atmosphere and they serve very tasty (but relatively expensive - 15 TRY) Turkish dinners. In the evening we bought an organized guided tour around Capadocia for tomorrow for 50 TRY (tranport, admissions and lunch included). We also arranged hot-air balloon flight. This was quite expensive - 130 EUR per person for 1-hour flight. We'll see if it was worth.
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May 12, 2009 06:00 PM The heads at Nemrut Dagi
This day we wanted to visit one of the highlights of our trip - the heads at the top of Nemrut Dagi mountain. We took a minibus from the otogar (bus station) in Urfa to Kahta (12 TRY, 3.5 hrs). After arrival a guy from travel agency offered us a trip around the area for (initially) 70 lira. We haggled it down to 40 and went with him. We've seen all the sights available in the area with the most important - the big heads and statues at the top of Mt Nemrut Dagi. It was a great view at sunset. We were back in Kahta at 20:30. So taking the organized trip was a good choice saving us a lot of time and allowing to leave Kahta on a night bus to Adana (25 TRY after haggling from 30).
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May 11, 2009 06:00 PM People in beehive houses
Transport services are much more frequent in the morning that in the afternoon that's why we decided to go first to the village of Harran and then explore Urfa itself. Harran is a very old settlement; it's mentioned in the Bible as the city of Abraham. But the most important reason for us to visit was to see the beehive houses. The name suggests the shape of these houses and they really look extraordinarily. Moreover people still live in these houses. There are also some ruins in Harran but they are inaccessible due to a fence. You can only enter what is left from an old castle.
In the afternoon we explored Urfa. This city can be called a city of prophets - two of then (Abraham and Job) can be asocciated with Urfa. Abraham is believed to be born here - you can visit a cave where he entered the world and there's also another cave in which prophet Job lived. It's also nice to wander in the Bazaar (I finally have a souvenir from my Middle East trip - it's a nargileh, waterpipe). There's nothing interesting in the castle but it's worth climbing for excellent views of the old city. Tomorrow we want to get to Nemrut Dagi.
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