This is my first post about a very nice travel
I did with some good friends many years ago. It was a long travel full of very
interesting and unique places and because
I want to make it right, I will write about it in parts. (If you are wondering
about the title, according to one theory the word Capadokkia comes from the anc.Percian
name ‘Katpatuka’ which means the land of
beautiful horses, because that area was famous for its horse breeding).
Well, we’d better get started...
Many
years ago,( it was late spring if i remember well) we were sitting at a cafe
with my girlfriend back then (now my wife), and a couple who were our friends, talking
of what we could do on summer. We wanted to go on a nice trip with the bikes
but didn’t know where.We said we could
maybe visit the coastline of Turkey, and it sounded nice, but suddenly my girlfriend (who is Turkish by the way) saıd
‘why don’t we visit Capadokkia?’
Capadokkia… A fairy tales’ land (in my head at
least), the land with the undeground cities, the houses carved in the rocks,
the monasteries dating back to the 1st century… But also the land that lies in
the center of Turkey.
We all fell silent for a moment. I guess we
all liked the idea, but we were considering if we can do it and how. I saw my friend looking at me, smiling, and
he said ‘at least we can give it a try’.That was it! 2 minutes later we were
all talking in excitement on how to go , when to go, what to see etc…
2 motorcycles, 4 people, a great travel ahead,
everything looked great!
The next months passed very slowly mainly over
maps and travelling brochures in order
to gather as many information as possible. Every time a new place was added, and
finally we decided to make a big round in order to see many places that were
close to the route of Capadokkia, and
from there and on.
I don’t remeber very well now, but if I’m not
mistaken the whole trip would be approximately 4000 km. Great stuff!
Last days before the travel another friend was
added to join our company, but with a car not a bike. So finally we were 5
people with 2 bikes and a car. What a waste of fuel!
The big
day finally arrived, and we all took the ferry from Athens to Chios and from
there another small ferry to pass to Cesme, a small Turkish port in the Aegean coastline.Everyone was so
excited, and we couldn’t wait to ride our bikes and begin the trip. We reached
Cesme, and headed south. First stop: Kusadasi. The famous touristic resort of
Turkey. We stayed overnight only to be able to
visit the ruins of the ancient Greek (and later Roman) city of Ephesus. Despite the crowd and the heat,
Ephesus was spectacular!
I
strongly recommend it to everyone that visits the coastline of Turkey. Huge
city, well preserved in many parts, including among others the very big ancient theatre (60000 people capacity),
and the breathtaking Celcus Library. After we satisfied our cultural needs it
was time for some fun. So, next stop: a huge watermania ! hehehe.
The next morning we left Kusadasi, on our way to
the inlands to visit an amazing place called Pamukkale, and the ancient city of
Hierapolis that lies next to it.
To be continued...
Such a lovely vacation it was! So much fun :D
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