Author: Paul Terry

I love to travel. I've been fortunate to visit about 75 countries so far. I prefer to travel independently to get off the beaten path a bit. I also try to find good deals to make my travels more affordable.

Sintra – You Won’t Get Bored Here

A view of the Palacio Nacional de la Pena from the Moorish Castle.

Sintra, Portugal is packed with interesting sights and is only about 45 minutes by commuter train from Lisbon. I took a day trip to this enchanting town over a weekend. I wish I had had another day at least. There are at least six primary sights to visit in this town, and in my available 2/3 of a day, I chose to visit two of them, the Moorish Castle ruins and the Palácio da Pena (Palácio Nacional de la Pena), since it’s a postcard landmark of Portugal. (For a map of Lisbon and surrounding area, click here.)

Sign listing all the sights in Sintra.

Other options to visit are discussed below.

Sintra has been the playground of royalty and the rich and famous for centuries, hence the collection of very interesting and unique sights here.

Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros) Ruins

On the Moorish castle ramparts.

Another of the defensive towers at the Moorish Castle (Atlantic Ocean in the distance).

A view of Sintra and beyond (looking northeast) from the castle walls.

The ruins (9^th century) have a commanding view of Sintra and out to the Atlantic Ocean. I recommend visiting here if for no other reason than for the views. There is not much left of an actual castle, but the defensive walls and towers have been restored and make for a great walk, with LOTS of stairways up and down the hilly terrain. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water.

Palácio da Pena

This structure looks like something out of Disneyland. It sits on the site of an old monastery built in 1503, which was later largely destroyed by earthquakes and lightning.

View of the palace from the extensive wooded surroundings.

Parts of the old monastery have been incorporated into the current structure which was built in 1844, as a romantic ideal of royal palaces—it’s a blend of Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque influences, not unlike the fanciful Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. The reason to visit is mainly the interesting blend of architecture and less for the historical value.

Another view of the interesting architectural styles at Pena Palace.

Be forewarned, pictures are NOT allowed inside and cameras are everywhere. I didn’t notice the cameras and took a couple pictures, and then two seconds later a security guard was after me and made me delete the pictures off my camera. First time that’s ever happened to me. The extensive trails and grounds of the Palace are worth exploring, there are some good views of the Palace available from the wooded trails on the grounds.

In addition to these two sights, here are other major highlights in Sintra:

Palácio Nacional de Sintra: Home to the Portuguese monarchy for eight centuries. A lot of the visible artwork today was completed between 1505 and 1520.

Looking down on Palácio Nacional de Sintra (middle right of picture) from the castle walls.

Palácio de Monserrate: Built on the ruins of a 16^th century chapel and a neo-gothic palace and transformed in 1856 by a Brit, Francis Cook, this palace is heavily influenced by Moorish and Gothic architecture. There is an extensive botanical collection and beautiful gardens here.

Quinta da Regaleira: A very weird palace, built in 1904, with lots of tunnels on the grounds and full of symbolism in the elaborate decorations.

Convent of the Capuchos: A 16^th century (dates to 1560) Franciscan hermitage, showing life as a friar with chapels, living areas, dormitories, and a library built into a hillside.

Practicalities

The train to Sintra leaves from the Rossio Station in downtown Lisbon, right next to the Rossio plaza. The train makes a number of stops, but the journey still only takes about 45 minutes, and trains leave every 30 minutes. The historical center of Sintra is just a 5 minute walk from the train station.

View of Sintra.

The sights are relatively close to one another; however Sintra is hilly and even after you arrive at a site by bus or taxi, there are some steep walks in front of you, at least up to and through the Castle ruins and around Pena Palace. Bus 434 will take you from the train station to Pena Palace. If you enjoy walking, take the bus up to Pena and walk back down to the town. You can get individual or combination tickets for the various sights. It cost €16 per person for the Moorish Castle and Palácio da Pena. For more information on this area check out: http://www.parquesdesintra.pt.

Ancient Pergamum – One of Turkey’s Most Dramatic Sites (and the seat of Satan)

How I love going to a new location and seeing another great ancient ruin! As we drove into the modern city of Bergama, we looked up high on a hill behind the city and the first thing we saw is ancient Pergamum’s theater, dramatically situated on a very steep slope. For a map of sites visited in Turkey click here.

The theater at Pergamum. It could seat 10,000 people.

Exploring the theater at Pergamum.

As usual, the Greeks picked an excellent natural setting for a theater, with a view that extends for miles. The acropolis of Pergamum covers a steep hilltop, and a lot of Greek and Roman civil engineering work went into creating a level building area.

These archways are part of the hillside infrastructure to support the Temple of Trajan and other buildings at Pergamum.

Ruins of the Temple of Trajan, started during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan, 98 – 117 AD.

Another view of the Temple of Trajan.

Pergamum was settled by the Greeks in the 8^th century BC, and ruled by one of Alexander the Great’s generals around 320 BC. It became part of the Roman Empire in 133 BC. Pergamum was a great center of learning, and had a huge library of 200,000 scrolls that were (probably unfortunately) given to Cleopatra by Marc Antony as a wedding gift in 41 BC.

Although it doesn’t look like much now, these are the ruins of the magnificent library of Pergamum that once held 200,000 scrolls – rivaling Alexandria as one of the great ancient libraries.

Pergamum (Pergamos) is mentioned in The New Testament, in Revelation 1:11 as one of the seven churches in Asia and as the “seat of Satan” in Revelation 2:13. Let’s just say he picked one heck of a spot. The reason for the label is probably due to the horrific martyr of Antipas, the bishop of Pergamum in 92 AD (he was roasted to death inside a bronze bull or ox at the Altar of Zeus).

The Altar of Zeus was located where the big tree is. The amazing friezes and other parts of the Altar structure are now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.

The ancient city walls of Pergamum, dating at least to 159 BC.

Another of the seven cities mentioned in Revelation, Smyrna, is located in modern Izmir. We did not have time to explore Smyrna opting for Pergamum instead. Izmir is more of a “working” city and does not receive a lot of tourists. We found a good restaurant along the harbor front and enjoyed the feeling of being in a “real” Turkish city.

A view along the seafront in Izmir.

Practicalities: Pergamum is a pretty easy day trip by car from Izmir, about 2 hours (100 km) north. Since Pergamum is at the top of a very steep hill, there is a tram that will take you close to the top, or you can drive through the town and up the hill on a narrow road to find a small parking lot near the top. The entry fee is 20 TL per person and parking was 3.5 TL (about 2 TL to the USD as of July 2013).

Red Basilica

In addition to Pergamum, in the town of Bergama is the Red Basilica (Temple of the Egyptian Gods), which dates to the 2^nd century AD and was once covered in marble – it must have been quite a sight then and it still is now. It is huge, and pictures cannot do its immense size justice.

A view of the Red Basilica.

The Red Basilica ruins, still standing from the 2nd century AD.

Later on, the Byzantines built a church inside the basilica. This was a place where the Romans worshiped the Egyptian Gods. The entry fee was 5 TL. It’s worth a quick stop here. In addition to these sites, the Asclepieum (or Asklepion, dedicated to the serpent-god Asklepios) an ancient medical center ruin is about 8 km from the acropolis. Time didn’t allow us to stop here either.

References: Signage at Pergamum, DK Eyewitness Travel Turkey and Lonely Planet Turkey.

Ephesus and Kusadasi –Avoiding the Crowds

Temple of Hadrian (123 AD) in Ephesus, built to commemorate the Emperor’s visit.

A swastika at the Temple of Hadrian, a common symbol in classical Mediterranean times.

The most popular tourist destination in Turkey (along with Istanbul) has to be Ephesus, located near the western Aegean coast port of Kusadasi. Due to Ephesus’ proximity to the coast, it is a popular cruise ship day-excursion. Be prepared for hordes of tourists. (For a map of major sites we visited in Turkey, click here).

Kurets (or Curetes) Street, a major thoroughfare anciently and today in Ephesus.

If you’re lucky enough to have your own transportation you can have the site nearly to yourself by visiting in the late afternoon. In September of 2012, we had the most famous sight of Ephesus, the Library of Celsus, practically to ourselves around 4:30 pm, what a pleasure!

Robyn and I at the almost deserted Library of Celsus.

A different view of the Library of Celsus.

Detail of the stone work at the Library of Celsus.

Harbor Street. At the far end of this street was the seaport, which long ago silted up. This view is from the theater.

The huge theater at Ephesus, which dates from the 2nd century BC, but most of what we see is from the Roman era. It could seat 20,000-25,000 people.

Ephesus in its prime (about 100 AD) was a major seaport (population of about 250,000) and the capital of Roman Asia Minor. This was an important city of the early Christian Church—the Apostle Paul lived here for about 3 years. He also wrote his famous letter to the Ephesians, as documented in the New Testament. It’s very likely that the Apostle John lived here (the isle of Patmos is about 105 km or 60 miles away) and he may have brought Mary (Jesus’ mother) here. About 18% of the city has been excavated, and the main accessible ruins run along two main streets. For a reasonable visit, plan on at least 2-3 hours.

Another way to avoid the crowds is to visit the Terrace Houses (enclosed to protect the fragile frescoes), right near the Library of Celsus. The Terrace Houses require a separate entry fee (a barrier for many visitors). These ruins were homes of the very wealthy and they reminded me a bit of the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy.

View of the frescoes and mosaics in the Terrace Houses.

Another view in the Terrace Houses – note the mosaic floors.

The houses had hot and cold running water (amazing), numerous frescoes and mosaics. They are still doing excavation work on these houses. This separate area was a fascinating part of Ephesus and we were practically the only people visiting these ruins.

Part of Ephesus’ plumbing system – must have taken some engineering to get hot and cold water to those wealthy people!

The Government Agora, near the “top” of Kurets (or Curetes) street, where many of the sights are located.

Cost: Car parking at Ephesus was 7.50 TL, the main entry fee was 25 TL, and the Terrace Houses cost another 15 TL. (1.9 TL per USD as of July 2013). Keep in mind there are other places to visit near Ephesus – the reconstructed House of Mary (mother of Jesus), as well as other tombs and ruins.

Since we were on our own driving tour, we spent a couple nights in Kusadasi at a pretty good hotel (Mr. Happy’s Liman Hotel) next to the port and then drove out to Ephesus (only about 19 km). The area around the port of Kusadasi is quite nice, and we enjoyed wandering around and visiting the local shops, restaurants and a little island fortress just off the shore.

This little island fortress is near Kusadasi’s harbor. Nice views from the island, and it can be reached by foot from the shore.

The port of Kusadasi from our hotel terrace.

One of our favorite restaurants in Turkey was in Kusadasi.

There is pretty good beach south of the harbor a couple of kilometers. Don’t rush your visit to this part of Turkey!

References: Lonely Planet Turkey, DK Eyewitness Travel, Turkey.

Herakleia and Lake Bafa

The village of Kapikiri where ruins intermingle with the village homes and farm animals.

I just love coming across “undiscovered” historical spots. On our way from Bodrum to Kusadasi, Turkey we decided on a whim to visit the ruins of Herakleia on Lake Bafa, located in the village of Kapikiri. At the southern end of the lake, off the main road (the 525) there is a sign pointing to Herakleia, about 10 km from the turn off. Lake Bafa anciently was an arm of the Aegean Sea, but eventually was closed off and is now brackish water (50/50 salt water and fresh water).

Temple of Athena, still standing after 2,000 years with finely cut stones and no mortar.

Byzantine castle ruins on the shore of Lake Bafa.

There are ancient (around 300 BC) and Byzantine-era (8^th century AD) ruins to be found here. This location features prominently in Greek mythology as the home of Endymion – a comely shepherd boy who resisted temptation. The Byzantine monks considered Endymion a saint.

Temple of Endymion, who resisted the moon goddess Selene.

Byzantine monastery ruins on a rock island just offshore in Lake Bafa.

Part of the ancient necropolis of Herakleia – tombs cut right into the rock.

There were no other tourists at the time of our visit and not much in the way of signs— you have to just trust your instincts to find some of the ruins, although the local villagers were very friendly and willing to point things out. In return, we bought a few homemade trinkets.

My mother-in-law modeling a head scarf with a local woman who spoke just a tiny bit of English and pointed out some of the sights for us.

There is a lot more to see than we had time for – more monasteries in the hills and amphitheaters for example. If you love getting out and seeing things almost no other tourists see, go to Herakleia and Lake Bafa.

Giza Plateau – Home to the Greatest Wonder of the World

Regardless of which list of the “Wonders of the World” you consider your favorite or the most accurate (my son and I have argued about this), the Pyramids of Giza have to be on every list. For most tourists flying into Cairo, Egypt the first sight you see as your plane turns to make its approach into the Cairo International airport are the Pyramids at Giza. They look a bit surreal from the air, and I could hardly believe my eyes, seeing these massive structures for the first time. The scale and magnificence of the Pyramids of Giza pretty much defy description.

This photo of me by the Great Pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops) puts into perspective how massive these structrues are.

We still don’t really know how the ancient Egyptians (more accurately their slaves) managed to build these structures, with almost perfect engineering strength and accuracy. Built with stone blocks that weigh 2.5 to 15 tons, they have been standing almost 5,000 years. The greatest difference in the length between the four sides of any pyramid is 2 inches. The largest pyramid is 450 feet high.

The Great Pyramid. 450 feet high. The haze is the smog of Cairo – which was very bad on the day of our visit.

All this said, Giza was probably my least favorite spot of the places we visited in Egypt simply because the tourist crowds and smog of Cairo made our visit a little less appealing. My favorite pyramids were south of Giza and Cairo, in Dahshur and Saqqara, which I will cover in another post. The main sights at Giza (which is just south of the Cairo suburbs), include the three large pyramids made so famous in many pictures and the Sphinx sculpture.

My in-laws at the Sphinx (Great Pyramid of Khufu in the background).

The three large pyramids are: The Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops), Pyramid of Khafre (Khufu’s son), and the relatively smaller third pyramid called Menkaure, who was Khafre’s successor).

The third of the great pyramids, Pyramid of Menkaure. It’s quite a distance from the other two to this one (the little pyramid at the left is one of his queen’s tombs).

These pyramids were built as tombs during 2600 – 2100 BC, making them over 4,500 years old. These were not the first pyramids built in Egypt, the oldest is the Step Pyramid (King Djoser’s Pyramid) in Saqqara (2665 BC). While these pyramids are the main attractions at Giza, there are other less-visited sites such as the much smaller Queen’s pyramids which are more intimate and fun – very few tourists visit these tombs, which are near the largest (Great) Pyramid.

In front of the Queen’s pyramids next to the Great Pyramid.

The Giza site is very spread out and somewhat confusing – there is no signage to speak of and I got differing directions as we tried to find a few other tombs (such as the Tomb of Khentkawes).

I believe this is the Tomb of Khentkawes, which was closed.

At the time we visited a few years ago, it was possible to only visit one pyramid on a given day (they also rotate closures), and we were able to visit the Pyramid of Khafre, the 2nd largest (slightly smaller than Great Pyramid, even though it looks larger).

My mother-in-law and wife in front of the Pyramid of Khafre. It’s the only one with a bit of the brillant outer limestone layer left at the top.

I could not get a picture inside this pyramid, and the tunnel is very long and steep. Be prepared to stoop as you climb the whole tunnel length. It is also humid and stuffy in the main room.

Climbing out of the Queen’s Pyramid, giving an idea of what the access tunnels are like.

There really isn’t much to see, other than the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Khafre, but it’s one of those things you have to do! If you’re claustrophobic it’s probably a good idea to stay outside. For an overview of places we visited in Egypt, click here.

My brother-in-law doing the touristy thing (why not?) in front of the Pyramid of Khafre.

References: DK Eyewitness Travel Egypt, Lonely Plant Egypt.

Gümüslük , Turkey – Ancient Myndos

In addition to the town of Bodrum, the Bodrum peninsula is beautiful and full of surprising finds. We were going take a day trip around the peninsula and ended up only getting about halfway, spending the day in the village of Gümüslük, on the very western end. For a map of the key places we visited in Turkey, click here.

Enjoying a mid-day meal overlooking the beautiful harbor.

It was a great spot—a quaint village with good seafood restaurants along the waterfront and beautiful views as a reward for hiking a nearby hill overlooking some of the ruins of ancient Myndos (founded by King Mausolus in about 350 BC).

The beautiful harbor and setting of Gümüslük, with some of the ruins of Myndos visible on what is now called “Rabbit Island” in center right of picture.

Myndos was a large port city with a good harbor, but today the ruins are spread out over a large area and for the most part not easily accessible—some are under water, so bring your diving or snorkeling gear.

The ancient breakwater built by King Mausolus is visible just below the surface of the water. It originally was about 3 meters high.

The primary draw for many tourists and locals is the natural setting. Since we were only about 25 km from Bodrum, I was surprised how quiet Gümüslük felt—seemingly unaffected by tourism, and yet our travel books said it is definitely growing.

Life on the beach – not a bad setting if you’re a cow. There are some ruins of a temple nearby, but I doubt the cows appreciate the historic significance 🙂

There are lots of good day trips from Bodrum, and I highly recommend a leisurely drive out on the peninsula as one of them.

Egypt – Go Now

The great Sphinx at Giza.

The news websites and TV stations flash scenes of angry crowds, fires and riots in Cairo and Americans stay away. What we don’t understand is that the news is focusing on a very small part of the country and even a very small part of Cairo. Although it was a few years ago, we did a self-guided tour of Egypt and had a great time.

My wife and mother-in-law at the Luxor Temple.

With the current political situation in Egypt many people would probably not consider a visit let alone a self-guided tour, and yet now is a good time to go, because there are far fewer tourists. Over a series of posts I will share the highlights of our trip, but in this post I will provide a few tips and overview of our route (below):

Getting around. I am a pretty brave car driver in other countries, but I have my limits. I will not drive in Cairo. I think Cairo traffic takes top prize in chaos, perhaps on par with India, and perhaps even more so. Our modes of transportation on our trip took various forms: we hired drivers for day trips, flew on Egypt Air (a great airline), and took a couple trips on trains, including an overnight train (in a sleeper cabin) from Cairo to Luxor—which was a fun experience.
Arriving in Luxor after an overnight ride from Cairo.

Interior of a train sleeper cabin. (A bed folds down above the seats).

Making reservations on Egypt Air’s website for internal flights in Egypt was a bit of a nightmare. The Egypt Air New York office only wants to deal with the lucrative overseas flights. Once we got to Egypt, it was easy to go into a local Egypt Air office and make changes, get seat assignments, etc. Cairo taxis are a bit of a challenge, in that there are no meters, and you have to guess what to pay the driver, or try to negotiate a fare before you hop in.

Eating dinner with our driver (on left) and his colleague after a day of touring Cairo.
Safety. Except for one taxi incident that my sister experienced in Cairo, where the driver acted a bit threatening and wanted more money (even though my brother-in-law had paid generously), the people were very friendly, and helpful. There were Tourist police (in white uniforms) in many locations and they provided directions and helped us cross very busy streets (cars are king, and pedestrians take their lives in their hands).
Tourist police at the Pyramids of Giza.

We never feared for our safety, and walked the streets of Cairo and other locations at night. In fact, the night scene is more lively when families and children come out to play (probably due to the generally hot climate).

Cute Egyptian children.
Tipping. Plan to give lots of tips (backsheesh). The local population lives on these tips, and the tips amount to perhaps 50 cents in many cases. You’ll find many locals at the tourist sites want to show you a few things and expect a tip in return.
Best time to visit. We visited during early November, and found the weather to be great. Warm enough to go swimming, but cool enough to wander through the desert sights and not die of heat exhaustion.
Cost. Egypt is inexpensive for the most part, especially if you’re doing a visit on your own. We stayed in a decent hotel in Luxor for 18 (USD) per night. It was not fancy, but was a decent hotel. About 5 Egyptian Pounds to the USD.
Purchasing some fruits from a street vendor (great oranges!).
Standard of Living. Egypt is a poor country, and not the cleanest country. We saw piles of trash in different places and dead animals occasionally. There are many unfinished buildings and others that are falling apart. It’s all just part of the experience.
Typical housing in Cairo.

Street scene in Alexandria.
Culture shock. When we flew from Luxor to Sharm el-Sheikh (Sinai Peninsula), we felt like we were entering another world. Sharm felt like Cancun and everything was far more expensive (similar to US prices). The Sinai Peninsula is completely different than the rest of the country. However, the hotel prices in Naama Bay (next to Sharm el-Sheikh) were still pretty good, my sister and her husband got a nice hotel room (Tropicana Rosetta) with a great pool for $50/night.
Pool at the Tropicana Rosetta Hotel in Naama Bay.

Itinerary

We spent about two weeks in Egypt. We started in Cairo for about 3 days, then took the train to Luxor and spent 4 days there, then flew to Sharm el-Sheikh for about 3 days, then flew back to Cairo and drove out to Alexandria for 2 days, then took a train back to Cairo before flying home.

Major locations visited in Egypt.

Bodrum— Where the Wealthy Turks Play

As I watched the sun set over the Castle of St. Peter, I thought “this is my kind of place” – with the history, natural beauty and great weather all coming together perfectly. For a map of places visited in Turkey, click here.

The sun sets over St. Peter’s castle in Bodrum.

The city of Bodrum and the Bodrum peninsula are on the southwest coast of Turkey, with many beautiful coves, beaches and historic sites. No wonder this is a hot spot with well-heeled Turks.

A view of the beach at Bodrum.

As with many locations we visited, it would be easy to make Bodrum your base for a week or more to take advantage of all the things to see and do—water sports, day long cruises to nearby islands and beaches, start (or end) a 3-4 day gulet (wooden sailboat) cruise along the southern coast, visit ancient ruins in the town of Bodrum, or hike around the intriguing brackish Lake Bafa with its ancient and Byzantine ruins nearby, and take (long) day trips to the Roman ruins of Ephesus and Hierapolis if desired.

A street scene in Bodrum.

The history of Bodrum dates back to ancient times, and it lays claim to one of the ancient world wonders, the Mausoleum (355 BC, named for King Mausolus) which stood nearly intact for 1,900 years until the crusaders decided (very unfortunately) that the ancient stone would make great building blocks for things like St. Peter’s Castle.

The view of the harbor and Castle of St. Peter from our hotel.

Our hotel (Angora) had a rooftop pool with a great view of the harbor and Castle of St. Peter. The only downside of the hotel was the Halikarnas disco next door, with music blaring until the wee hours of the morning. This is a hot spot with many locals coming here to party. There are beaches right in and near the town and the pedestrian walkway along the shore makes an enjoyable stroll with many restaurants and shops.

The beaches of Bodrum, right next to many restaurants and shops.

The main sight in Bodrum is the Castle of St. Peter, which sits on an isthmus dividing the two main bays of Bodrum.

A view of the Castle of St. Peter–in the late 1800’s the castle became a prison and held up to 700 prisoners

From the shipwreck, scientists have reconstructed what this 14th century BC ship must have looked like.

One of the many displays of artifacts from ancient shipwrecks in the Castle museum.

The castle was built by the Knights of St. John in 1406, and now houses a very good maritime museum, with all kinds of treasures (coins, glassware, gold, weapons, etc.) found in area shipwrecks including the oldest shipwreck ever discovered (14^th century BC). Some rooms (such as the English Tower) are decorated from the medieval period. The castle entry fee was 20 TL per person (about 1.8 TL per USD).

The dungeon of the castle, way down a dark set of steps – note the poor fellow with his arms out of the grate in the floor–not a fun place to be.

The interior of the English Tower at the Castle of St. Peter.

Add Bodrum to your must do list of places to visit in Turkey.

A Day at the (Camel) Races

A camel on the road, he’s not too worried about the speed limit.

When visiting the United Arab Emirates (or UAE), do as the locals do and go to a camel race. I did this when a work colleague and I were visiting friends in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah (RAK for short and one of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE). The races happen early in the morning on the weekend, when the desert is cooler.

Ras al-Khaimah is at the northeastern end of the UAE.

If you’ve been to a horse race, this is a little different (to say the least) and seemingly less organized, with no bleachers, except for sand dunes. Other than the pride of watching one’s camel win, I’m not sure what the motivation for the camel owners is, since there’s no alcohol or betting allowed (at least officially). The camels race by age group.

Camels in the paddock awaiting their race.

The starting line. The net rises and the camels are off!

Once the camels start the race, everyone jumps in their SUV’s to follow—you’d better have a good driver because the cars are jostling around each other in the dust on either side of the track, and the people are whooping and hollering and hitting their horns to encourage their favorite camel. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the real race was the SUV’s. Since we didn’t have a camel in the race, we didn’t follow each heat the whole way (9 miles).

The camel track is in the middle between the rows of SUV’s following.

You can see the mechanical jockey on the backs of the camels in the middle of the picture.

Originally the camel jockeys were children from poor countries and in 2002 they were replaced by a remote controlled unit, with a light switch swatting the camel periodically to keep it motivated. Camels are fairly fast but sometimes stop and go different directions – watching them and the Emiratis is hilarious.

Leading the camels back to the stables after the race.

I think more than anything this is a social event. As we were watching the camels in paddock, an Emirati gentleman whom we did not know invited us to share in his meal being offered right off the back end of his SUV. What gracious hospitality. Wouldn’t it be great if we could spend less time fearing and fighting our Arab brethren and more time breaking bread and getting to know one another.

Aphrodisias (or Afrodisias) – Another historic “hidden” jewel in Turkey

The tetrapylon, a gateway to the Temple of Aphrodite, 85% of the blocks are original.

A close-up of the tetrapylon.

The ancient site of Aphrodisias isn’t really hidden, and even though it’s only about 90 minutes (100 km) by car from Pamukkale and Hierapolis (see my post here) it gets far fewer tourists. There were a few small buses that arrived after us, but nothing like the full parking lot of huge buses at Hierapolis. For a map of the major sites we visited in Turkey click here.

Paul and Brad at the Temple of Aphrodite doing their best Roman Emperor imitation.

The site started as a shrine and was named after the Greek goddess of love (Aphrodite) in the 2^nd century BC. The city had a population of 15,000 at its peak in the 3^rd century AD. In Byzantine times the Temple of Aphrodite was turned into a Christian Church. The town was abandoned in the 12^th century.

A view of the Temple of Aphrodite, converted into a Christian church in 500 AD by the Byzantines.

A view of the easern end of the stadium, this end was used for gladiatorial contests. The stadium could hold 30,000 people.

The Sebasteion, a temple to the deified Roman Emperors. Seventy of the original 190 reliefs have been recovered.

The Bouleuterion (or Council House). Preserved almost perfectly intact due to a mudslide.

Some of the many elaborate sarcophagi around Aphrodisias.

There are a number of well-preserved ruins here. The site requires a fair amount of walking, and the ruins are pretty well marked in English and Turkish, but allow enough time to wander – we found the huge stadium just by wandering a bit. To get to the site, park on the eastern side of the main road and a tractor/train takes you to the entrance across the road on the western side. In 2012, the entrance fee was 10 TL per person (1.8 TL to 1 USD) and parking and the train was an additional 7 TL. (References: Lonely Planet, Turkey 2010; DK Eyewitness Travel, Turkey 2008).

The theater, it held 7,000, and the seats were individually labled.

The Independent Tourist

Travel Locations and Tips for Independent Travelers