{"id":19295,"date":"2023-07-15T04:02:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T18:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=19295"},"modified":"2023-07-15T04:02:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T18:02:50","slug":"asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=19295","title":{"rendered":"Asia!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tramp drove confidently onto the little ferry in the Turkish town of Kilitbahir and sat patiently as we motored our way across the Dardanelles to the other side and docked at the town of Canakkale.  Tramp had probably done more than 50 ferries during our Follow the Sun trip but none was more symbolically important than this one.  When he drove off the ferry and entered the usual chaos of Turkish streets we had accomplished a major milestone to our Follow the Sun journey because now we were in Asia, the fifth and final continent of our around-the-world odyssey which started way back in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tramp rests for a few minutes as we cross the Dardanelles and pass into Asia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The three of us had achieved something Julie and I had talked about doing more than 30 years ago and even though there was another five months of adventure ahead of us, with no doubt many ups and downs, we were pretty chuffed that we had made it this far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are actually a couple of bridges to cross from Europe to Asia but we chose this little ferry, more fitting our style<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With grins stretching ear to ear we drove down the coast a short ways and camped in front of a little pension and restaurant near the ancient city of Troy, one of the most famous and significant historical sites in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tramp was pretty happy with his fifth continent as we camped on the grounds of a restaurant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next morning we ventured into Troy, the site famous for Homer\u2019s Illiad<\/em> and the story of the trojan horse.  While the wooden horse story is almost certainly a myth the ruins of Troy were unexpectedly good considering their unfathomable age.  The first settlement was established here a staggering 5,000 years ago and in fact there are nine different Troy cities, each one built on top of the last one.  A candy store for archaeologists and a bit baffling for passing travellers, Troy nevertheless represented almost timeless human existence in one place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Troy was actually nine cities built on top of each other which made the whole thing both amazing and kinda hard to follow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The amphitheatre is always a good look and Troy’s dated back something like 6,000 years or so<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Julie with one of the inner walls of Troy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We understood that one could get tired of seeing old stones in this part of the world, such is the number of Greek and Roman ruins that run along the Turkish Aegean coast.  We headed down the coast, passing some old ruins sitting amongst the wheat and corn fields, until we stopped at the ancient site of Assos, perched high on a hill with stunning views of the coastline in both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Holiday time meant the beaches were busy with kids and families<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now as luck would have it, we entered Turkey at the start of the Eid festival, an important Muslin holiday period.  We saw animals being hung and butchered by the side of the road, as is the custom, and families out and about celebrating the occasion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This was our first Muslim country on Follow the Sun and we immediately began admiring the many handsome mosques<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And when we arrived at Assos we encountered the full force of a Turkish festival holiday as literally thousands of locals \u2013 we were the only foreigners we saw all afternoon \u2013 walked up the steep roads lined with cafes and souvenir shops to the ancient ruins of Assos and the famed Temple of Athena which sat proudly on the highest point.  Okay, a lot of the ruins have been recreated but that\u2019s what happens when the original temple and walls were built in the sixth century BC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walking up to the ruins of Assos meant passing a long (steep) line of shops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Local crafts, souvenirs and yummy treats were all available on the hike up the hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Temple of Athena was very impressive and had grand views in all directions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Unintentional illusion – clouds look like smoke coming from the ancient stacks of the Temple of Athena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We found a spot to camp that night down on the coast amongst ancient olive trees only a few metres from the pebbly beach and surrounded by families camping, cooking and celebrating Eid.  We loved it.  A delightful foreign couple came up to say hello and we immediately hit it off with them.  We ended up spending the evening around their fire on the beach and had brekkie together.  Amazingly, Vladimir and Luba were from Kazakhstan, where we were heading, and spoke excellent English.  Curiously, they spoke Russian as their native tongue and admitted they didn\u2019t speak Kazakh at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How perfect – camping amongst the ubiquitous olive trees only metres from the beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Quick and easy friends – we met up with Vladimir and Luba from Kazakhstan and it hit off immediately<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a great cultural experience with Vladimir and Luba we headed up to Ayvacik which was reported to have an excellent weekly market every Friday.  Unfortunately the Eid festival put a stop to that and we retreated back to the coast, battling horrific traffic through the Turkish coastal holiday mecca of Akcay and finally headed inland to another UNESCO World Heritage ancient Greek and Roman site of Pergamon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Turkish drivers are notoriously bad so the police have put up these cardboard police cars and coppers to help slow down the traffic. They don’t work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like many of these sites, Pergamon is set on the top of a steep hill, making it easy to defend, but our job was easier here because of the cool gondola that took us to the top. We explored these fabulous 4th<\/sup> century BC ruins, the two standouts being the super-steep theatre built into the cliff wall that once sat 10,000 people and the impressive Temple of Trajan with its majestic intact columns.  Of course the view down into the town below and the green countryside all around us wasn\u2019t bad either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oh no, more Greek and Roman ruins! But the ruins at Pergamon were made much easier to see when we caught the gondola to the top.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The amphitheatre at Pergamon was an absolute cracker – built into a super-steep hill and capable to sitting 10,000 people<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Temple of Trajan must have been a stunning place in it’s day because it is still very impressive today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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These ruins bring out the inner Roman in me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After camping with others in the backyard of a restaurant nearby we drove inland through olive groves \u2013 of course \u2013 and agricultural fields to the ancient town of Manisa.  We had done this detour to see Manisa\u2019s claim to fame \u2013 the 16th<\/sup> century Muradiye Mosque, a rare Ottoman-era mosque which featured beautiful stained glass windows, intricate tiled mosaic and a grand peaceful feeling to it.  We also visited a less glamorous mosque of the same vintage nearby and had lunch in the nearby park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Muradiye Mosque in Manisa dates back to the 16th century and still looked splendid in the middle of a crowded town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The impressive interior of the Muradiye Mosque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the magnet of the day is one of the Mediterranean\u2019s greatest drawcards and possibly Turkey\u2019s most visited site outside of Istanbul.  Ephesus was a city estimated to be founded 1,000 BC and was developed, modified, added on to, crumpled in earthquakes, rebuilt by Romans a few times and then pretty much abandoned when the ocean bay silted up around the tenth century.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The huge theatre at Ephesus, truly a sight to behold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We were in the amphitheatre when this woman, in a very impromptu moment, began to sing opera. I caught the last few moments of this but just listen to the acoustics to this thousands year-old theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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