Category Archives: Turkey

New Photos - Istanbul

February 22, 2008 – 8:21 am

We made it through Asia! Istanbul is where east meets west, where the continents of Europe and Asia collide… or breakaway depending on your point of view I guess. We spent a handful of days in Istanbul checking out the sights and trying to get some work done on the trucks but sadly it was also where we said goodbye to Karie who had been with us for over a month and to Greg whom we had met in Georgia. Fortunately, Steve and I would not be alone for long as our friend Mark was flying into Istanbul to join up with us for the rest of the expedition.

Not to worry, the Aya Sofia mosque and old Istanbul is where we needed to beAfter six weeks on the road with TWBR, it was Karie’s last day with us in Istanbul Karie makes faces before her next to next last meal with TWBR while Greg actually decides if it is a good place to eatNo matter where you are in Istanbul, there is always something to look atWe don’t know if the photo was any good, but Karie definitely learned some style while she was with TWBRThe Blue Mosque looks pretty sweet at night tooLooks like we missed the turn for modern Istanbul Karie’s last meal with TWBRKarie’s last meal was a Turkish delightWe took the trucks to a Toyota dealer in Istanbul, but from the looks on their faces, we knew finding a new window for the SequoAs it turns out, we broke a leaf spring, probably somewhere on the road from hell in KazakhstanThe Tundra was riding a little funny so we had them take a lookTo many people, the Tundra looks like a spaceship and at Toyota Istanbul, it was no different Greg left shortly after Karie, as did Bouey’s moustache, and it was back to just the Steve’s Sultanahmet or The Blue Mosque is one of the largest in IstanbuAccording to Bouey, the Blue Mosque is this bigThese porters were lining up to take big screen TV’s up the street on their backs!This bridge in Istanbul is famous for attracting a lot of fishermenPeople hang out all day on the bridge to chat, gossip and occasionally fishEither these are bait fish or you guys have fished this place dryI guess you can consider fishing to be a form of huntingFishermen line the bridge with the Yeni Cami or New Mosque in the backgroundThere is literally standing room only on the bridge from end to end

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By Steve Bouey | Also posted in New Photos | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

New Photos - Fatsa

February 21, 2008 – 8:06 am

You never know who you are going to meet. We meet strange and interesting people almost every day. Fatsa, Turkey was no exception. We were filling up our tanks with $10 a gallon gasoline when a guy approached us asking about the cars and what they were doing so far from home. “Nino” ended up being a restaurant owner and a tour operator and he invited us back to his place for dinner. After filling up on a delicious Turkish meal, he took us out on the town and then let us crash on his boat for the night. It was a great day and Nino hooked us up. It was also the spot where Karie decided to test out the water for a late night swim… as it turns out, the water was cold and full of fish guts.

Night swimming aside, it was a fun night that was over in a blur, but Nino still made sure we had breakfast before heading off tWe also had arguably the most decadent desert we have had in a long, long timeWe had plenty of delicious fish and all the fresh fruit you could ask forNino was quite the host and all because he liked the trucks we were drivingNino even gave us a siren for the trucks to help us through traffic in Istanbul In Fatsa, we met Nino, a tour operator who invited us to his restaurant for dinnerIt was shaping up to be quite a nightKarie decided to do another yogic inversion and this time she actually fell into the Black SeaYou would think that getting a little wet would not be that badThat is until the Watts meets water incidentAfter dinner, Nino took us out to a Turkish belly dancing barTurkish fishing boats unloading lots of Turkish fishUntil you realize that fishing boats have been unloading lots of fish only meters from where Karie fell inLots of fish being unloaded next to Nino’s yacht The fish come off the boat, get sorted and are then loaded onto trucks for the marketThe fish emulsion is scraped off the dock and into the water where Karie decided to take an evening swimA proud Turkish fisherman rests after a hard nightUnfortunately for Karie, all of those fish leave a lot of fish emulsion on the docks Nino then invited us to crash on his yacht from which he runs Black Sea Blue Cruises

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By Steve Bouey | Also posted in New Photos | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

New Photos - Sumela Monastery

February 15, 2008 – 6:17 pm

Turkey is a Muslim country, but interestingly enough, just outside of Trabzon, you can find the remarkable Sumela Monastery. The structure, built literally into the side of a cliff was home to monks for several hundred years. It was later abandoned and left to the mercy of the public who as you can probably guess managed to vandalize this historical place. The Monastery is now once again gaining in popularity but the recently instituted entrance fee is going to repair and restore the monastery from years of abuse. It was definitely worth the trip on our way out of town.

The road to Sumela Monastery winds through the mountains outside of TrabzonI never new that it snowed in Turkey, but they actually have a ski resort near TrabzonThe road got really windy and steep near the monasteryYou can choose to take the stairs up to the monasteryThis is definitely a good place to get some meditating doneWhat looks like one huge building from below suddenly becomes a small village once you reach the topThe only way to bring goods and supplies up to the monastery is to hike them up or use the winchUnfortunately, most of the entrance fee goes towards hiring a security guard to keep people from vandalizing the placeMany of the structures within the monastery complex have detailed religious paintings both inside and outA lot of ingenuity and craftsmanship went into making this place stick to the wall of a cliffView of the valley floor through one of the monastery windowsRestoration work is in progress in some sections of the monasteryUnfortunately, time, but mostly vandals, has destroyed much of the artworkSome pretty serious stonework went into constructing the monasteryThe monastery is one of the few Catholic structures in a predominantly Muslim countryThe artwork dates back several hundred yearsAnd to keep people like us from using flash photography near the wall paintings!The artwork stretches all the way to the rock face Restoration work is in progress in some sections of the monasteryIt must have taken some dedicated monks to lug stones weighing thousands of pounds up the side of a cliffOne last view of the monastery from the forest belowEither way you chose to get to Sumela Monastery, it is an amazing sightYou definitely would not have to worry about people bothering you at this locationHow anyone decided that this was a good place to build a monastery is beyond meThe monastery is literally built into the side of a sheer cliffOr you can drive part half way up the slippery, icy road

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By Steve Bouey | Also posted in New Photos | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

New Photos - Hello Turkey

February 14, 2008 – 6:09 pm

After crossing the border between Georgia and Turkey (after taking some time to fill up on $4 a gallon gas as opposed to the $10 per gallon price tag throughout Turkey) we once again entered a new land. the ancient churches that were a staple of the Georgian countryside were replaced by the spires of the countless mosques characteristic of Turkey. Our first stop was Trabzon where we said goodbye to Tash but not before enjoying some traditional shisha. Most of Turkey still lies on the Asian continent, but there was a sense that we were now getting close to Europe… at least the price of fuel was an indication.

The first of literally hundreds of mosques that dot the landscape in TurkeyThe morning sun obscures the Black Sea border crossing between Georgia and TurkeyNow that bed is hotBouey trying to fight the peer pressure and not smokeKarie adds to the pressureGreg wondering just what we are smoking in these hookahsKarie taking some photos of the debauchery at a hookah bar we found in TrabzonWhen in Rome, Bouey finally caves in The Toyotas on the Turkish coastline near TrabzonKarie tries a yogic inversion pose called falling into the Black SeaThe Black Sea is the eighth major body of water we have seen on the expedition Steve posing for an Abercrombie ad or somethingThe Turkish coastline along the Black Sea

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By Steve Bouey | Also posted in New Photos | Comments (0)