Leaving Turkey

NOTE: Pics have been posted to all previous blog posts.

So tonight we bid Turkey gule gule (bye bye) and prepare for another overnite bus trip, this time to Aleppo, Syria. We had a nice, rather mellow day today, not in small part to my waking with my first taste of traveller crud. I had a very marginal dish last night for dinner, combined with some local wine, a tall beer, lots of bread and a long day in the sun = me feeling drained and flu-like this morning. It hung around for most of the day but I have seemingly shaken it for the time being (very good considering our 12 hour upcoming bus sentencing).

We checked out a collection of rock cut churches today (pic above). The rock that makes up the landscape of is primarily volcanic derived pumice like stone and therefore is easily carved and manipulated. For the past 3000 years or longer the local peoples have been carving it for every conceivable use, most noteably for shelter. Houses, stables, churches and even cities that can hold up to 5000 people have literally been carved into the landscape. We saw the underground city two days ago. Pretty awesome. The city was only fully occupied when 'invaders' were in the area, and the churchs were used on a more regular basis. Many of the current hotels are carved out these rock chimneys, and this is one of the big draws to the area.

We also finally got to do the turkish bath today, a hamam. These have been around since the earliest civiliations in the region. It consists of a sauna, then laying on a heated stone, a hand scrub to remove all the dead skin, a soapy massage and then a hand rinse. Pretty nice treatment.

So here we go, we really are going to Syria. Aleppo is our first destination in Syria. This city has been at the crossroads of trade since the beginnings of civilization. The souqs (outdoor markets) are some of the best and most diverse in the region. Chandra took the time to look up 'rogue state' on wikipedia. The definition is those countries that harbor and sponser terrorism and can be considered a threat both within and outside their borders. Currently there are only two countries in the world that are officially considered rogue states, Sudan and Iran. So we got that going for us, which is nice...

There is an off chance that the blog may not be accessable in Syria (or facebook (oh dear god, nooo)). Otherwise we will keep this blog thing going as I have been enjoying it. It really is serving as a journal for me primarily, but to all or none who read it I hope it can stir something, I don't know what, but that is is up to you.
-CB