Author Archives: cuffy40

Heading to Monastir, Tunisia

Leave a reply

We spent another couple of weeks loitering around Albania before deciding to head across to Sicily.  We checked out of Vlores and were planning on getting to Crotone on the heel of Italy, and anchoring for the night before heading to Syracuse on Sicily.  We made better time than we expected so arrived at Crotone at about 10.30 in the morning.  So rather than hanging around there we decided to keep going and after 290 nm and 45 hours we arrived in Syracuse.  After a sleep we took ourselves ashore for a well deserved beer, unfortunately the weather gods weren’t on our side and it poured with rain, but we weren’t deterred. 

With the cruising community you know you’ll often come across people you’ve met previously.  We bumped into Paul and Jackie who we met six years before when we wintered in Cartagena.  We had a great catch up over lunch and more liquid refreshments, well you get thirsty with all that talking.

We were getting low on Schengen days.  We are only allowed 90 days in 180 in the Schengen area, which is getting larger every year.  So we only stayed a few days and headed off to Malta.  We were able to pick up a mooring ball off Manoel Island in Sliema.  Sliema has lots of bars and restaurants with every type of cuisine you can think of which is a rare treat.  You don’t appreciate how much choice there is in the UK until you travel. 

Sliema was once a small fishing village.  By the second half of the 19th century Sliema was used as a summer residence for the more wealthier residents of Valletta.  There is a strong British influence on the architecture in the area as Malta was a British Colony from 1814 until 1964.

It was an overnight crossing to Cuffysark’s winter home in Monastir.  Ian’s mate Dave joined us for the trip across.  Why anyone wants to travel overnight I’ll never know but hey it means the watches are shorter which is good in my book.  We left Sliema and headed over to a lovely anchorage, Dwejra Bay, on Gozo, which cut a few miles off our journey across to Tunisia.  There were some big jelly fish here though. 

We set off at 5am just as the sun was coming up.  Four hours after we left Gozo we managed to get some fishing net caught around the prop.  So, nothing for it, Ian’s going in the water to untangle it.  He retrieved a whole bag.  When you arrive anywhere it’s always better to arrive in day light.  We were going great guns and so much to Ian’s reluctance but being sensible, I know not his normal stance, we had to drop the mainsail to slow us down.  We arrived at 8.30am after 28 hours and 165nm. 

Monastir is very different to anywhere we’d been before.  It was how I’d imagined Turkey to be before we arrived there back in 2019 and discovered it wasn’t like that at all.  There is a Ribat (fort) overlooking the harbour which was built in 796, making it the oldest ribat build by Arab conquerors and is well preserved but has been added to over the years.  It is also famous for being the venue where most of the Monty Python film “The Life of Brian” was filmed. 

We did climb to the top of the tower and the views were stunning.

Habib Bourguiba, was the first president of Tunisia.  He led the country to its independence in 1956.  His mausoleum is in Monastir, his birth place.  Bourguiba died on April 6, 2000 however, the mausoleum was built in 1963.  In addition to Bourguiba, his wife, parents, siblings and various other members of his family, in two other halls, are here. 

After that climb and walking around in the heat, yes you’ve guessed it, time for a refreshing beer at a bar on the marina which served extra large beers!

October 2023

Albania

Leave a reply

We left Montenegro and headed back to Albania.  We only passed through earlier in the season so wanted to do a bit more exploring.  We left the boat in Durres and took the bus to Tirana, which became the capital of Albania in 1920.  We headed to Skanderbeg Square which is named after Gjergj Kastrioti who was known as Skanderbeg (1405 – 1468)  He was a national hero who held off the Ottomans for more than twenty years. 

As I mentioned before Albania is full of bunkers  Between the 1960s and the 1980s the Hoxhaist government, led by Enver Hoxha, who was paranoid Albania would be invaded, built over 173,000 bunkers. One of these bunkers has been converted into a museum, called Bunk Art 2.  It was the bunker of the Ministry of Internal Affairs built between 1981 and 1986.    

The bunker consists of 24 rooms, an apartment for the Minister and a large hall for intercommunications.  The bunker’s entrance and exit were built only recently, because the entrance into the tunnel was only possible from within the Ministry. The anteroom was never used by any minister, even for training exercises. 

The Sigurimi, which was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of Albania, spied on people.  As well as radio interception they would use fixed microphones connected by a wire to recorders.  They spied on prisoners and foreigners, who stayed in hotels.  The main rooms of hotels had microphones connected by wires to a central recorder a few kilometers away.  Prison cells and police stations were also bugged in the same way. 

Citizens suspected of hostile activities towards the State had their homes bugged.  The Sigurimi would use a neighbour’s house, who then became a co-worker who would activate the recorder.  A microphone would be inserted in a hole in the wall and the authorities would set it up when the occupant was out.  They could also set up cameras to take photos, which they passed through the walls, to capture suspicious meetings.  It’s hard to imagine that this was going on in the 1980s, not so long ago.

On wandering around we come across the Resurrection Cathedral, an Albanian Orthodox Church which was quite a spectacular building, officially opened on June 24, 2012, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the revival of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the election of Archbishop Anastasios of Albania.   In 1967 Albania was declared an atheist state.  During this time churches and mosques were seized and either destroyed or turned into cinemas or dance halls.  Religion was only allowed again following the collapse of the communist regime in 1990. 

We next visited the Museum of Secret Surveillance also known as the “House of Leaves”.  This was a real eye opener on how much people were being monitored.  It was the Sigurimi’s interception HQ.  It was also used by the Gestapo during the German occupation in the second world war.  The museum displays the various equipment used to spy on people, graphic drawing of the different types of interrogation and torture that was used.  There are also transcripts of intercepted conversations and interrogations. 

It had been a long day and it gets thirsty so we went in search of somewhere to get a drink but not any old drink.  Colin was hankering after a “Long Island Iced Tea”.  We knew there was a cocktail bar around but had trouble finding it.  So nothing for it but good old Google. We eventually found this quirky bar off a side street. They had a very extensive menu but no Long Island Iced Tea.  We asked if they could make one and no problem of course they could and and much to Colin’s delight it was the best one he’d ever had.  The Porn Star Martini’s were pretty good too. 

September 2023

Montenegro

Leave a reply

I visited Montenegro in 2016 with my friend Suse on a cruise.  After going there, I said we definitely need to come back here one day on our own boat and so we did. 

We hired a car for the day so we sent Ian off on his scooter to collect the car from the airport.  Our first stop was Lake Skadar which is a freshwater lake which straddles the borders of Montenegro and Albania and is surrounded by mountains.  The water levels of the lake varies seasonally from 4.7 to 9.8 metres above sea level. The lake is approximately 44km (27 miles) long and is home to more than 260 species of birds.  Obviously, the only way to see the Lake is by boat.  We were quite fortunate for most of the trip we had a boat to ourselves.  All good things must come to an end and on the way back the guy had an engine problem so we had to swap to another boat which was full.

We next visited Cetinje which was the capital of Montenegro from1878 to 1918.  The city sits 670 metres (2,198 feet) above sea level on the Cetinje plateau.  We visted the Cetinje Monastery built in 1701 and the Court Church of Cipur built in 1890, on the site where the old monastery was built in the 15th century by Ivan Crnojević, the founder of Cetinje.

On the way back we decided to take the more scenic route along the Kotor Serpentine Road.  It is 5.15 miles long (8.3km), narrow and has 16 hairpin turns.  Yes eek and with Ian at the wheel!!  It is 881m above sea level and drops down to 458m at the end.  We stopped on the way down, as you do, at a bar hanging out on the edge of the cliff to take in the views with a beer.  They views were spectacular. 

Kotor has a cable car which only opened on 14th August 2023 and we arrived just a few days before.  So we had to take a ride, not that I particularly enjoy cable cars.  I’m ok when I get to where we’re going.  The Lower Station was a 45 minute walk from the anchorage.  We didn’t think it was quite that far but that’s always the way and it was hot!  The ride was 11 minutes to the top over 3,900 metres and 1,316 metres above sea level. The view was amazing.  We could see Cuffysark anchored in the bay.  Obviously there was a bar at the top, so nothing for it but to have a beer and take in the view.

The area of Montenegro we visited is surrounded by high mountains which causes Katabatic winds. We had some strong winds while we were here.  One night we had torrential rain and 45 knots of wind.  Thankfully our anchor held.

We moved the boat into Kotor Bay and anchored opposite Kotor town itself, out the way of the cruise ships than anchor here.  There is St John’s Fortress which you can climb up to, the views are supposed to be spectacular.  We decided against this as we’d seen the views from the top of the Cable car and I don’t think Ian’s knees could take the steep walk.

As in many parts of Europe there are lots of cats about.  Legend says that the cats were brought to Kotor by sailors who believed they brought good luck.  Others a more practical reason to control the rats.  Whatever the reason they are part of Kotor’s culture and tradition and there’s a festival every year in honour of Kotor’s cats. 

August 2023

More of Croatia

1 Reply

The regular story of a sailor’s life is finding places to hide from the wind.  We left Olib and headed to Jasonova where we spent a couple of days.  The sunsets here where quite amazing. 

Just 30 mins from here was Nin. It was a lovely village with cobbled streets. There was a statue of Gregory Nin.  His foot is very shiny as rubbing it is said to bring good luck.  Gregory Nin was the Bishop of Nin in the early 900’s which at the time was a major cultural, political and religious centre.  The Bishop opposed the Latinization of the local population and so in 926 began holding services in Croatian rather than Latin as many could not understand Latin.  This went against the rulings of the church and the Pope.  This was a major turning point in history and was regarded as the foundation for the formation of the Croatian nationality.  The statue, which is 25 feet tall, was erected in 1929 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of his first service held in the Croatian language.

Our second visitors of the season. Dave and Deb, were arriving in a few days.  It’s always a feat to find where to pick people up without going into a marina.  We found a nice little spot in Sukosan where we stayed anchored for the night before the next day heading to the islands.  We’d read about a beach restaurant that was very popular at Babac which was a very small bay.  The menu was steak, chicken or fish which the guy cooked on the BBQ and served up with chips.

We had the best meal we’ve had in all of Croatia on Pasman Island. A restaurant called Konoba San Marko

On our way to dinner

After a great few days it was time for Dave and Deb to leave and for us to start heading towards Trogir where Jessica and Shelly were joining us. 

This area of Croatia is very busy.  One of the more popular spots, I say popular, that’s a bit of an understatement, is the “Blue Lagoon”.  Ian said we’d take the girls there.  We arrived and it was choc a block filled with mainly small motor boats.  The yachts were a bit further out.  Yep you guessed, not us, Ian spotted a spot right in the middle and that’s where we dropped anchor amongst the small boats. 

Trogir itself was lovely so we took a walk in for dinner.  Ian waiting patiently while the girls were taking photos.

It was all too soon and time for Jessica and Shelly to go home.  We spent a few days making our way down the coast.  One of our stops was was Okuklje on the island of Mljet which had various restaurants with jetties to moor on.  We had a rough trip to here with lots of rain and wind on the nose.  The water was washing all over the saloon windows so we were glad to arrive in this pretty secluded bay. 

Our next visitors, Graham and Lesley, were meeting us just outside Dubrovnik at Zaton.  We arrived a few days earlier.  Zaton was very nice but there was a tendency for Katabatic winds which are strong winds flowing down the side of steep mountains/hillside and occur at night.  You could set your watch by them.  Strong winds are bad enough during the day but at night it’s not great.

We spent a few days visiting some bays and then finished up with a day and night in Dubrovnik.  We moored up in the marine so we didn’t have to worry about the boat. 

Dubrovnik is known for it’s old city wall which takes a couple of hours to wander along.  To deter too many visitors they’ve hiked the price to walk around them up to €35 per person.  It nearly put Ian off, but after seeing them decided we couldn’t come to Dubrovnik and not walk the wall.  I had already been some years ago but off we trotted.  The views are pretty stunning. 

After dinner we decided to visit the Buza Bars.  Buza means “hole” in old Dubrovnik dialect and so you have to go through a hole in the wall, hence why they are called Buza bars.  They sit on the cliff side and we did literally in one of them.  One of them had a spot where you can jump from the rocks.  Ian demonstrated how it could be done but it was dark.

We enjoyed Croatia and the stories we’d heard about being difficult to find spots to anchor, even being charged to anchor, only mooring buoys available, didn’t materialise.  There are places that are full of buoys but there are plenty of other places and we always found somewhere.  We can understand why so many choose Croatia to go sailing.

Graham and Lesley left us to go home and we checked out of Croatia, stopping the Schengen clock and headed to Montenegro. 

August 2023

Northern Croatia

2 Replies

It was now time to move back to Croatia and wander along the coast visiting some of the islands, of which there are 1200.  We headed back to Medulin, where we’d anchored on our way up the coast.  It was a lovely sheltered spot, easy for provisioning and plus we wanted to polish the boat, it’s not all fun you know, and this was a good place to do it.  It would normally be a winter job, but there wasn’t space to get alongside the boat in the marina.  It took us a few days to do the polishing, but Cuffysark looked much better once it was finished.

We took the bus into Pula as we had to get some paperwork, form 16A, which is basically registering with the police.  Most people visiting Croatia would be unaware of this as the hotel you stay in does it on your behalf.  Well, this was easier said than done. The Police Admin Dept had a long discussion about it, eventually a police officer arrived and asked us to follow her, as did the eyes of everyone else in the office.  We went round in a circle going from the Police Admin Dept to the Harbourmaster, to Customs and then back to where we started. Eventually they reluctantly gave us the form.  People had been fined on exit from Croatia for not having this piece of paper hence the importance. We’ve experienced much bureaucracy on our travels, particularly in Greece and Turkey, where unfortunately there is no consistency as to what the rules are!

Pula has its own mini colosseum which is intact.  The Roman amphitheatre has four side towers and is among the world’s six largest surviving arenas.  It was built between 27BC and 68AD.  I happened to mention to Ian that they had Gladiator shows here, his response was it would be better to see Robbie Williams here.  We were researching a bit more history of the arena when what pops up but Robbie is in concert at the arena the following week.  “Someone was listening” said Ian, “it’s a scam!”  No it wasn’t and we managed to get tickets.  The venue was amazing with just 5000 people and so we could actually see Robbie on the stage.  Very different to Knebworth! Colin and Maggie came along too and we had pre-concert drinks aboard Serafina. Pretty cool with the Arena in the backdrop.

Our boat was in Medulin and no buses were running later in the evening, so we had to try and get a taxi back after the concert.  Sitting in the arena we spotted an English couple that had been on the same bus to Pula as us.  So Ian went off to make new friends and how’s your luck they had a taxi booked, so we hopped in with them.  An great end to a great day. 

From Medulin we decided to take the route between the islands of Losinj and Cres.  This entails going through the narrow Kanal Losinjski and has the Osor Swing bridge across it.  After much research we decided that it was wide enough for us to get through.  The bridge opens twice a day at 9am and 5pm, we opted for the 5pm slot.  We arrived a bit early and gradually more and more boats appeared to go through the Kanal.  We anchored in a bay just a mile and a half on the other side opposite Nerezine. 

As it not unusual, we had to find somewhere to go to hide from the wind.  We found a very small secluded bay, Punta Kriza, where we tied back to the rocks and tied to a rock opposite.   It was very narrow and shallow but great for us and very picturesque.

We wanted to go the town of Krk (pronounced Kirk) but anchoring there isn’t great so we went to Punat which is a lovely secluded bay and got the bus to Krk from there.  The Frankopan Castle is in Krk.  Yes, it was another one of those occasions when we got there and discovered it wasn’t open.  So yes we should check opening times before we go.  So a walk around and up the hill to the Monastery Quarter.  Obviously all that exercise made us thirsty and hungry, so a meal and beer on the water front. 

Our next stop was Rab, a beautiful town with narrow streets and medieval buildings inside city walls and Ian does like a city wall.  The Bell Tower is 26m high and you can climb to the top but we decided against this, Ian’s knees can’t take the strain anymore, well that’s his excuse. 

Yet again we have to find a hidey hole away from the wind so we go of to Olib a big bay which Ian didn’t think would be that busy or at least if it was during the day, charter boats would disappear late afternoon.  No not today, anyway we found a space in the most turquoise blue coloured water.  I counted 32 boats but thankfully plenty of space, unlike some anchorages in the Balearics we’ve been in.

Sunset at Olib

June/July 2023

Venice Lagoon

Leave a reply

After leaving Durres in Albania we were heading to Dubrovnik which was a 100nm so another overnight sail, my favourite, NOT!  So after 24 hours we arrived and checked into Europe which started our Schengen clock.  We can only stay in Europe for 90 days in any 180 day period.  It makes the Med more limited because the Schengen area is so big but the countries outside Schengen benefit as they are getting more traffic.

We weren’t stopping much on the way up to Venice as we had to get a move so we hopped along the coast each day.  We stopped in a lovely bay at Medulin, not far from Pula, where there was a Lidl.  Now, you may wonder what we were getting all excited about, other fellow yachties will know exactly why, but Lidl offers a good selection of stuff which you don’t always get at the local supermarkets and Prosecco is a bargain!

One more stop and we headed over to the Italian coast and entered the Venice Lagoon.  I hadn’t appreciated that there was a lot more to the Lagoon than just the Island of Venice.   We had a couple of days before Gary and Shelley would be arriving.  We entered via the Alberino entrance and headed to our anchorage for the night.  The channels are marked with wooden posts.  There are boats coming at you from all directions.  Not many sailing boats visit the lagoon as it is shallow in places. 

Our anchorage was at Poveglia Island .  In 1776 it became a check point for all goods and people coming and going to Venice by sea.  In 1793 a number of cases of the plague were found on two ships and so it became a temporary quarantine station and a permanent one in 1805, under the rule of Napoleon Boneparte until 1814.  In 1922 the buildings were converted into an asylum for the mentally ill and then later used as a nursing home/long-term care facility, until its closure in 1968. Over a 100,000 people died on the island and it reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the world.  It is prohibited to land on the island but those seeking out ghosts and such like to sneak on the island in darkness.

We had managed to find a place to leave the boat on Venice itself, without needing a mortgage.  It was a local sailing club which was about a 35 minute walk to St Mark’s Square. 

Venice is busy and we thought we’d have a long queue to get into some of the tourist sites but we were fortunate and only waited 15 minutes to get into the Doge Palace.   The Palace was built in 1340 and was the main residence of the Doge of Venice.  The Government Chambers were very ornate and housed the Great Council, the Senate and the Collegio

Gary & Ian Taking Counsel

The Doge Palace has a corridor which is from the Magistrates Chamber across the Bridge of Sighs and into the Prison.  The Bridge was built in 1614 and is enclosed and covered on all sides.  The bridge got its name, as the story goes, from the sigh of prisoners going to their cell, taking a last look at freedom seeing the lagoon through the small windows.  And yes, of course, we all gave a big sigh as we walked across. 

We were quite a walk from the Rialto Bridge, so we decided to take the water taxi there and walk back.  The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges that cross the Venice Grand Canal.  It was built in stone between 1588 and 1591 to replace the wooden bridge that had collapsed twice and partially burnt down in 1310. We thought we’d also visit the Rialto Market, another occasion we’d gone on the wrong day as it was closed!  We’ve had a few of these on our travels.

One of the other big landmarks in Venice is St Mark’s Basilica which we are told is a must to see.  Dare I say Ian and I were a little disappointed.  I think because we’ve been to quite a few religious buildings now on our travels it wasn’t quite what we expected.  It’s not as big as you think and dark.    Although you don’t realise until you get closer, or at least the ones you can get close to, that the pictures around the Basilica are in fact mosaics which are pretty stunning.  There are more than 8000 sq of mosaics covering the walls, vaults and domes of the Basilica.

After a few days in Venice we decided to take Cuffysark round to Burano and anchor outside the island.  Burano is famous for its coloured houses and lace making.  The area around made us feel quite at home as it looked very much like Walton Back Waters.  

We also visited the Island of Murano, which is famous for its glass. We found an anchorage and took the dinghy in along the small canal.  We visited a glass blowing factory as you would.  It is an art that takes years, up to 20 years, of training.  We were looking around a showroom and there was an area roped off.  We must have looked affluent, don’t know how, but someone came and let us go upstairs and have a look around.  The pieces there were amazing. 

Venice and the islands in the Lagoon will definitely be a place to remember. It was a fabulous experience shared with good friends Gary and Shelley.

June 2023

Off to a flying start for Season Seven

1 Reply

We had spent three and half years in Turkey, now was the time to move on to pastures new.  We left Finike which had been Cuffysark’s winter home for the last two years and off we went.  We now have the joy of the Schengen Shuffle, as Brits we can only spend 90 in any 180 days in the Schengen area, which is getting bigger with Croatia joining on 1st January 2023.  So after a few stops along the Turkish coast we finally left Turkey and headed to Albania.  We transited through Greek waters going down around the Penopolese coast just stopping overnight but not stepping ashore.  We also did a couple of overnight trips and finally after 15 days we arrived in Sarande, Albania. 

Whilst on anchor we got a message from some American friends that they had friends anchored in the same bay.  They certainly were, we were next to them.  Barbara and Jim had hired a car and invited us to go with them to Gjirokastra which was about an hour from Sarande.  The town is cobbled streets and stone built houses. 

One of the larges castles in Albania is Gjirokastra Castle which it is believed was built in 12th/13th century.  In the 1930’s it was used as a prison. 

There is a long gallery which houses guns which were either abandoned or captured from the Italian and German forces during the second world war.  There is also an Italian Fiat tank. 

The prison was opened in 1932 by King Zog.  It was used to house political prisoners during the communist regime.  It was a harsh place in terrible conditions where prisoners were tortured and beaten.  It was known as the prison of seven windows.  It was used by the Italian and German occupation forces in World War II.  Many of the cells have writings on the walls from activists held there during the war.

In Albania you will see lots of bunkers sticking up out of the landscape.  Between the 1960s and the 1980s the Hoxhaist government led by Enver Hoxha who was paranoid Albania would be invaded and so built over 173,000 bunkers.  The bunker at Gjirokaster, left in its original condition, was built in secret in the 1970s and is 800m long and had 59 rooms.  There were rooms for government ministries, local government, interrogators, party elites, sleeping, power generation, and water storage. 

Our final stop of the day was to the “Blue Eye”.  The Blue Eye is a water spring and the initial water source of the Bistrice river.  It is, as you’ve guessed, a beautiful blue colour.  The water is pumped to the surface from an underwater cave at a rate of 18,400 litres per second.  The spring is more than 50 metres deep, no one really know how deep it is as this is the deepest anyone has been able to get down to and the water is very cold. 

On our way to check into Sarande we passed Butrint, an ancient Greek City and later a Roman city and Ali Pasha’s castle.  It is possible to take the boat there and anchor, we couldn’t go there on the way to Sarande as we had to clear into Albania first.  It is quite shallow but as a catamaran that’s ok for us and means not many boats go there.  We went back down and anchored and what a fabulous anchorage it was opposite Ali Pasha’s castle. The castle was built in the 15th or 16th century by the Venetians .  The Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha of Tepelenë took control of the castle in 1804 and lived there until 1820.  The castle was rebuilt it in 1819.   

We took the dinghy up to Butrint.  The earliest evidence of settlers dates between the 8th and 10th centuries BC.  It was one of the major centres of the Chaoians, a Greek tribe.  It is strategically located because of its access to the Straits of Corfu.  It became part of the Roman empire in 44BC.  It survived until late antiquity when an earthquake destroyed large parts of the town when it was finally abandoned. 

From the late 5th century the site underwent extensive rebuilding and changed hands many time.  In 1799 it was occupied by the Ottomans and it was eventually abandoned and left unoccupied.  It became part of Albania in 1913. 

The basilica was built at the beginning of the 6th century and until the18th century was still a functioning church.

There is also a castle which was built by the Venetians in the 14th century to protect the area after they purchased Butrint along with Corfu. 

Our next stop was Porto Palermo where we tied alongside a concrete quay overlooked by Port Palermo Castle.  The castle sits on a small island which is joined by a small strip of land.  It is said that the castle was also built by Ali Pasha in the 19th century.  During and after World War II the castle was used as a prison and a shelter for military units.

From here we had a quick stopover in Vlore before moving onto Durres where we would check out of Albania.  The anchorage wasn’t the prettiest as it sat alongside a shipyard.  The town of Durres was a pleasant surprise.  We didn’t stay long as we needed to get a move on to get up to Venice to meet our first visitors of the season.  We will come back to Albania on the way back down and explore more then.  There was an exhibition in Durres town square, lots of teddy bears and balloons.

May 2023

Cappadocia – Land of Balloons & so much more Part II

Leave a reply

Wherever you are in Cappadocia you will see Uchisar Castle standing out on the landscape. It is 1350 meters above sea level and is at the highest point of the region. It’s not known when the castle was built.  It was created by hollowing out the natural caves in the rock into rooms. 

From here we took a walk through Pigeon Valley where we ended up in the town of Goreme, which is the main tourist town in the area. The valleys were deep and looked like curtain plinths on top of the mountainside. 

We next opted to go the Zelve open air museum. We took the bus back to the hotel, we’d walked far enough, and collected the car as Zelve was a bit of drive.  There are three valleys here.  The first has a mill, church and a winery.  The second valley is where the Church of the Holy Cross is situated.  The third valley has a village square, mosque and a monastery complex. 

After a long walk around Zelve we were all fading it had been a long day so it was a fairly early night.

The following day we headed to the Ilhara Valley which was just over an hour away from Uchisar where our hotel was. On our way we visited the underground city of Derinkuyu.  There are over 200 underground cities in the region. The city was a place for the local Christians to hide from persecution from the Romans.  When there was no fear of attack they lived in homes above ground and tunnels connected the homes to the underground city. Some parts were a bit claustrophobic so I took a deep breath and off we went.

The city dates back to the 8th century and was only discovered by chance in 1963.  A local was was renovating his house and apparently his chickens kept disappearing into a gap created during the renovations, never to be seen again.  After investigation a passageway was discovered.  It was the first of hundreds of entrances found in private homes leading to the underground city. 

The city was large enough to house more than 20,000 people and extended to a depth of 85 metres over 18 levels.  You had to crouch quite low to get through some of the tunnels.  At various sections of the tunnels there were large round stones which would roll across the entrance to keep the enemy out as they could only be opened from the inside.  There were chimneys for ventilation and water.  Everything was catered for underground, food storage facilities, stables for cattle, wineries and also a chapel.

There were communication tunnels in the walls which they would use to tell those living at the lower levels the enemy was approaching so they could then shut the tunnels off. The city also had a a school where the teacher sat at the top and the children sat in front on stone seats. There was a tunnel that only the teacher could use if he needed to escape quickly. Not sure why only for the teacher.

The Ilhara Valley had come highly recommended. Having walking nearly 20,000 steps the day before Ian decided we’d take the shorter walk. We dropped David and Sarah at the beginning of the Valley and we headed to Besilrmi village where we would meet them later. We took a stroll along the valley which has the Melendiz River running through it. It was very peaceful and serene. The valley is 15km long and up to 150 metres deep.

There are a number of churches along the valley.  One was St George’s cave church which was built inside a burial grotto up some steep stairs.  It was completed in 1290 and was the last cave church to be built in Cappadocia.   There are approximately 100 graves lining the church floor.

There was a tea shop along the route so we obviously stopped there as Ian needed his fix of tea. There were so many different ducks which were amusing. Suddenly half a dozen of them appeared rushing along in a line and then back again they went, like sheep but they were ducks! The stream was running so fast that the ducks just zoomed along. As well as ducks there were chickens, peacocks, peahens and a turkey.

Next we went to the Selime monastery which is cut into the rock and situated at the end of the Ilhara valley. It was surprising how big it was, it was stunning. It was built in the 8th century.  The Kitchen was large and so indicated that there were a lot of people who lived on the site. 

There were two halls, the first had an upper level, which Ian insisted on climbing up, even with his dodgy knees.  The second hall was huge.  It was 17 metres deep, 6m wide and 8m in height.  This was the main hall for receiving guests and conducting ceremonial meals.  There was also an upper gallery. 

The Basilica Church was impressive.

Goreme is the main town of Cappadocia and as a result is full of restaurants including three Indian restaurants which you don’t see very often in Turkey so when in Rome, well Turkey actually.

Our final day in Cappadocia.  Ian and I were going to walk around Rose Valley. David and Sarah were going to do one half of Rose Valley and then venture into the Red Valley which was a longer walk. Well best laid plans and all that, so no didn’t quite happen like that. We started completely in the wrong direction and ended up walking three hours through Sword Valley. “Let’s go and look at the chimney houses over there”, said Ian and David. We ended up walking in between the cave houses, clambering over rocks and then going through tunnels, some very narrow.

In one tunnel Sarah, AKA The Mole, went through I followed, crikey I just made it through it was so low. The boys had no chance and managed to get outside and go round. Sarah enjoyed the crawl so much she went through twice.

We made it all the way to the top, stunning views and we could see the Rose and Red Valleys over the other side. We followed the trail back down on the outside. Ian and I had gone much further than we anticipated.

Our final day but there were two games of rugby to be watched. So, a late lunch and then off to our hotel. Luckily, we had a big hotel room so a few beers and watched the games. Sarah having not done enough walking or exercise that day so went for a run into Goreme which was 4 km away.

We now had the long drive back to Finike, about nine hours. It was a grey cold day. How lucky had we been. We had the right winds for the balloon ride, lots of warm sunshine and no rain.

On our way back to Finike was the Sultanhani, the largest caravanserai in Turkey built in the 1229 on the Silk Road.

It has sections for summer and winter periods. The courtyard is surrounded by storage rooms, stalls, kitchen and bedrooms where animals and people were accommodated. In the centre of the courtyard is a small mosque. The covered courtyard was for the winter and during cold weather people and animals stayed indoors to keep warm. In fact in one of the rooms we saw a dog sleeping. 

One final stop at Side where we had a quick look around some of the ruins.  We didn’t have much time so it was a real flying visit. 

Cappadocia is an incredible place to visit.  Turkey is often thought of a place to go for a beach holiday but I would recommend taking some time to fly up and stay a few nights to see this spectacular place.  You won’t be disappointed.  Definitely a highlight of Turkey for us and we’ve seen a lot of Turkey. 

March 2023

Cappadocia – Land of Balloons and Fairy Houses Part I

Leave a reply

We’d visited a lot of Turkey during our time here but Cappadocia was the one place we’d not got around to going to. For those who don’t know, Cappadocia is the place with all the balloons they show on the adverts for Turkey or Turkiye as it is now known.   

We left Finike and started our journey to Egirdir, our first overnight stop before reaching Cappadocia. En route we stopped at the ancient city of Sagalassos which is on the slopes of the Western Taurus mountain range.  The ruins are well preserved and the Roman fountain, Antonine Nymphaeum, which is still working, is impressive.  It was believed it was built between 160-180 AD by the Romans.  Standing watching the water flow it’s quite something to think it was built around 1800 years ago and people stood just like us and watched the fountain as we were now.  The fountain collapsed during an earthquake in the 700s AD and was painstakingly reconstructed by archaeologists. 

The theatre is carved into the side of the mountain and had various functions, entertainment, religious and political. 

On the road back down the “boys” were taken with another bit of history, albeit modern.  Yes a Ford Capri, bright orange, which they had to stop and have a look at!

We had a slight detour on the way to Egirdir.  Ian seeing a sign for a ski slope decided, with encouragement from David and Sarah, that we would go and have a look.  It was possible to take a ride on a chair lift to some of the way up the mountain to more of the snow.  No amount of persuasion was getting me to get on it.  So I waved them off and waited behind.  I was building myself up to a balloon ride, so let’s not get too carried away!!

We reached Egirdir, our pitstop for the night and had a lovely hotel overlooking Lake Egirdir with Mount Davraz in the background.  Egirdir is the fourth largest lake in Turkey.  We had a walk around the peninsular of the Lake and then we set off for the long ride to Cappadocia which was five hours away.

The Cappadocia landscape of deep valleys, caves, tunnels and pillars called fairy chimneys date back millions of years and are a result of volcanic eruptions and erosion.  The first civilisation was likely in the 6th Century BC, which is about 8,000 years ago. 

We decided that we should book the balloon ride sooner rather than later as if the weather wasn’t right and it’s cancelled hopefully we’d get to do it another day. David AKA “the Negotiator”, well he’s also known as Doghouse Dave but that’s another story, negotiated a great deal for a ride the following morning. We banked on it being a bit quieter now and so they’d have spaces they’d be keen to fill and so with Ian also putting in his two penn’orth we got a cracking price.

We were being collected at 5.25am for our balloon ride. I was a little nervous as I’m not good with anything there is a slight risk. But I thought how can I come to Cappadocia and not do this. To fly over the area and see the wonderful sights from above I’d been told is something you cannot NOT do. So off we went. We arrived to see all these balloons laid out. It was a spectacular sight. It was time to get in the balloon, no turning back now eeks!

Our balloon had 16 people, four areas of four people so you had no problem seeing everything. It was a wonderful experience. Our pilot took us down into Love Valley and then up and above Goreme.  We were up in the air for about an hour. We thought we’d be really cold so we were really wrapped up but next to the burner it was ok. We were so lucky to get to do the flight as so often they are cancelled due to too much wind. The following few days had no balloons because of too much wind.  

We were dropped back at the hotel by 8.45 in time for breakfast, refresh and off sightseeing for the rest of the day

Again as like our trip to SE Turkey, there is too much for one blog, so more to follow in part II. 

March 2023

Our trip to South East Turkey Part II

Leave a reply

Our next stop was Sanliurfa, known as Urfa for short. On the way we visited Halfeti, which is situated on the Euphrates River.  We took a boat ride along the river up to Halfeti of which some parts became submerged after the construction of the Birecik dam that was built-in 2000.  Legend has it that the name, Halfeti, was taken from two young sweethearts, Halil and Fatma, whose families did not approve of their relationship and refused to let them marry.  So Halil and Fatma threw themselves into the raging waters of the Euphrates River.  In their memory, the area was known as  Halfeti, an abbreviation of Halil and Fatma. Rumkale fortress overlooks the river.

Just half an hour’s drive from Urfa is Gobeklitepe built 11,000 years ago.  To put this into some sort of perspective Stonehenge was built about 4,500 years ago.  So this site is very very old.  The site comprised of monumental structures and was discovered in 1963. Excavations began in 1995 by German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt .  He discovered more than 20 monumental round structures

Schmidt believed that the site was a ritual centre where small nomadic groups from the region gathered as part of their beliefs.  They built things at regular intervals, held banquets, and then dispersed again. Following Schmidt’s death the excavators had to dig deeper than Schmidt had done for foundation work of the canopy over the central structure.  They discovered there were houses and residential areas under the monumental structures.  So it was more than just a site for rituals but a growing village.  

We visited the town of Harran which is just 20km from the Syrian border.  This area was quite different to the rest of Turkey that we’d been to so far and we’d covered a lot of Turkey by this time.  Harran is known for its traditional mud brick beehive like houses which are believed to be around 3,000 years old.  We were shown around by a lovely young lad who as well as showing us around was very excited about a band who was playing in the town.  We also visited the ancient city ruins of Harran.

The Pool of Abraham, Balikli Göl, is in Sanliurfa.  The story goes that the Prophet Abraham was thrown into the fire by Nimrod.  The fire turned into a pool and the firewood into fish.  As a result the fish in the pool are considered sacred and are protected so there are a lot of them.  You can buy food to feed the fish, bit like feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.  It was quite a frenzy when we threw the food in the water. 

We stopped off on a walkabout around the town for cay in a caravanserai.  There are youngsters walking around selling treats.  One of them about eight of nine years old was selling candy floss.  In perfect English with no trace of an accent he asked if we would like to buy some to which we said no and his response was ok thank you, sorry to have disturbed you.  We got chatting to him and discovered he was a refugee from Aleppo in Syria and he was missing his home and hoped to return one day.  He was such a lovely lad and from the way he spoke and how polite he was well educated.  So terrible he and his family had had to flee their homeland. 

We were walking along the street looking at the various shops and was surprised and shocked to see a gun shop.  Ian had to go in and have a look, as you can see it was very busy.

On our way to Mardin we visited the Mor Gabriel Monastery which is the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world.  It is still in use and is a working community.  It is in pristine condition and is continually maintained.  So much so the toilets were like something out of a really expensive hotel! And no I didn’t take a photo.

We went into the town of Midyat and did some wine tastings and then bought some Syrian wine as we thought Mardin, our next stop, would be devoid of wine.  Little did we know every other shop was selling Syrian wine and soap.  Mardin is a touristy place and some of the streets are decorated in very brightly colours.

The final day of our trip had dawned and so we were heading back to Diyarbakır for our flight back to the boat.  But … not before we looked at another bridge.  When we arrived a week earlier it was raining and yes you’ve guessed it, was raining again.  The Diyarbakir Dicle Bridge, aka On Gözlü Köprü (Ten Arches Bridge) sits across the Tigris River. It was built between 1065-1067.  The bridge has had a number of repairs over the years, so the original construction may have been partly altered from its original state, possibly a bit like “Triggers Broom”.

It was pouring with rain and we had some time to kill before our flight.  We managed to find a pub called the “North Shields Pub” (it was part of the Ramada Hotel so that would explain why we found a pub) where we had a traditional burger and a pint.

We had covered about a 1000miles in a week and seen so much of this part of Turkey, an area where not so many western tourists travel to but it was definitely worth the trip.  Mount Nemrut being the hightlight. 

October/November 2022