Kusadasi, Turkey

On September 30 we were at sea the whole day as we cruised through the Bosphorus past Istanbul.  Then into the Dardanelles which is  61 km strait that is only 1.2 to 6 km wide.  Water in the strait flows in both directions.  The upper current flows from the sea of Miramar to the Aegean Sea and the opposite direction via an undercurrent.  The Bosphorus and Dardanelles connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. 








This is the location were we pick up the pilot to help guide the ship through  the Dardanelles.

Sunset in the Dardanelles.










Docking at Kusadasi allows passengers to see the local sites quicker than from Izmir, Turkey. The disadvantage is that there were four cruise ships in port at the same time.  Too many people in the town at one time.

Highly recommend that you take a tour in this port and limit the shopping.   The best time to return to the ship is later in the day.  At noon when all the tours are returning the line up to get on to the pier through security took 30 minutes so plan accordingly.




Milettus Ruins 

We have been to Ephesus which is a fantastic Roman site and well worth a visit.  We choose to visit Milettus Antique Site and Didyma Aollo Temple which are also located close to the port.

The Milettus ruins have an impressive coliseum and a good example of roman baths.






Upper Level Tunnels in Coliseum



Roman Baths main Pool



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temple from a distance

Didyma Aollo Temple 



Looking up from the base of the main stairs.





Column laying down. 

 

Notice that the column is in sections.

Columns are built by placing sections together.

Example of decoration on walls inside the temple.

Trabzon, Turkey

This remote Turkish port is along the north coast of Turkey on the black sea.  Not too many cruise ships come into this port so when we arrived we were the talk of the town.

We went to the Sumela Monastery which is 28 miles from the cruise port.  This monastery is located high up on the side  of the mountain.  The monastery was started in the 6th century.




Sumela Monastery

It took about three hours of walking to reach the monastery from the end of the switchback road which we rode up to the top in mini vans from the main entrance.


Interior Buildings of Monastery

Paintings in the interior of the monastery.

 Returning to Trabzon the tour visited  Gulbahar Hatun Mosque. 

We also visited Atatuk Country Home and gardens.

Sinop, Turkey

We were tired of tours when we arrived in Sinop. The town is very close to the port so we decided to tour the town on our own.

From the pier we had a great picture of the M/S Riviera an Oceania Cruise ship.

Prison Gate

Sinop is located on a narrow strip of land.  It is easy to walk from one side to the other.


Walking around town we had the opportunity to see the shops and mingle with the people.  We decided to find the Sinop Fortress Prison which is where the movie Midnight Express was filmed.  The prison is no longer used. 

















The walls of the prison fortress are made up of ruins from Greek and Roman ruins.  In this picture you can see sections of columns cut and used in the base of the wall.

 

Sinop Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul what an experience.  We certainly did not do enough planning before we arrived.  Our flight arrived at around 11:30 PM so by the time we were ready to catch the hotel shuttle it was a few minutes after midnight.  By the time we found the stop and sign for the Holiday Inn we discovered that the last shuttle departed at midnight and did not start again until 7 AM.  Next time we book a hotel we will check to see when the shuttle runs. 

Our next plan was to change money so we could take a taxi.  You could not just walk back into the arrivals terminal.  Because of security you had to go through the whole process.  We ended up lining up in the cue to get a taxi.  The driver could not speak English which I had expected so we should him the address of the hotel. 

Holiday Inn Airport Hotel is not close to the airport and is located in an industrial area with a huge freeway on the north side.  The hotel is very new and has a great pool area.  We decided to have breakfast at the hotel since there is nothing around and you can't even walk to the Istanbul Mall because the freeway is between the hotel and mall.

 

When it was time to leave we took the free hotel shuttle to the city centre and got off on the waterfront below the Sophia which is located across the harbour to where our cruise was docked.  I had to check in the morning where the ship was located because it could be a two possible locations.  Thank goodness it was the closer location.  We caught a taxi immediately exiting the van and he drove us to the port entrance.

Our next challenge was getting through the port because I did not have a ticket or boarding card.  We dropped off our luggage and proceeded to check in.  Our timing was excellent there was no bus dropping off passengers so we did not have to line up to get our boarding cards.

We spent the rest of the time exploring the ship.  Getting organized in our room, Bill was in the hot tub and of course eating.  We departed at 8:00 PM which was wonderful as the lights in Istanbul along the Bosphorus River are beautiful and the bridge was sparkling with lights.