Auto-touring Konya: Fasıllar, Kilistra, Çatalhöyük, and the provincial capital (merkez)

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Bryan Keith

To get to the start of our Zengibar Yolu walk Ahmet, Ferda, and I drove from Antalya to Konya. A number of things seemed familiar to me. We drove the new Derebucak road which I had bicycled before it was turned into a highway. We had a sazan balığı (carp) lunch in Beyşehir, a stop Ferda and I enjoyed before on a bicycle tour. On that same tour Ferda and I were disappointed that Çatalhöyük was closed. We had a little better luck this time. And of course we’d been to Konya before.

Just like last time the fish tasted better than it looked.

IMG_20240428_150527 by bryandkeith on flickr

Above the modern village of Fasıllar (ancient Misthia (aka Mistea, aka Claudiocaesarea)) we find this 70-ton Hittite (from the 14th century BCE) carved block with a couple lions.

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Zengibar Yolu walking: Ulupınar to Bolay Yaylası

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Bryan Keith

where we visit the ancient cities of Isaura and Astra

This four-day walking tour was more about mountain scenery and socializing than archaeological sites. I forget now how we learned about this tour. Ferda and I don’t follow this stuff closely, but Ahmet does so he probably told us about it. The Konya Büyükşehir Belediyesi among others sponsored the trip with the goal, I guess, of promoting tourism in Konya, specifically in Bozkır, Hadim, and Taşkent ilçeleri which don’t get a lot of tourists. I had been before to Bozkır on my bicycle and imagined that Hadim and Taşkent would have beautiful mountains as well. Indeed they do.

IMG_20240502_135611 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Likya Way walking: Kaş to Demre

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Bryan Keith

where we visit the ancient cities of Antiphellos, Sebeda, Apollonia, Aperlai, Teimiussa, Simena, Istlada and Andriake.

What a fantastic area. I had been through here at least three times before. Even with that list (above) of eight sites that we visited this time, I’d still like to come back to this region by bicycle by a different route that links up at least eight more sites that would be new to me. And it’s not just about old rocks. The views are nice too.

We started with an afternoon in Kaş which is ancient Antiphellos. The theater has been thoroughly restored.

IMG_20240410_173221 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Likya Way walking: Ölüdeniz to Patara

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Bryan Keith

where we visit the ancient cities of Kalabantia, Pydnai, Letoon, Xanthos and Patara.

A multi-day trek on the Likya Yolu, finally! We walked over the busy Ramadan holiday when Gülizar — the motivation behind this adventure — had time off work. People come from all the world to walk this trail, and even with the crowds I was impressed on the first day — beautiful Mediterranean and mountain views.

I've often seen this view of Ölüdeniz in Turkish tourism ads. by bryandkeith on flickr
leaving Ölüdeniz
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A short layover in Shanghai

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Bryan Keith

When I was complaining about the high cost of flight tickets from Cebu back to Turkey, Alex, a young student from Qingdao (he’s now studying in PEI), asked me if I had looked at China Eastern Airlines. He was thinking of visiting a friend in İstanbul and said their prices seemed reasonable. Indeed it was about half the price of other tickets, and they even let you pay for the bicycles at the same time. Why hadn’t that come up in my searches? Check-in at the airport in Cebu went very smoothly, and our luggage went straight through to İstanbul.

China gives 24-hour visas on arrival so an 18-hour layover sounded fun. We arrived in Shanghai at about 7am after the short red-eye flight. The only place we could find to get money at the Shanghai airport was an overpriced ATM (flat 35 cny fee). We brought lots of warm clothes with us but left a heavy carry-on at the left luggage at the airport. Next was a cheap (18 cny/person) 24-hour metro pass — not available from the machines, but the guard at the turnstyles sold them and spoke enough English to make it easy for us. Woohoo, we’re on our way to Shanghai!

We got off the metro at the Yuyuan Garden station and were greeted with this gate:

The first thing we saw in Shanghai after getting out of the metro (at the Yuyuan Garden stop) by bryandkeith on flickr
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