Travel – Page 28 – Ian Louis Harris

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Eight: Bodrum & Then Return To Izmir & Ros, 17 November 1995

Bodrum‘s a beautiful coastal town and of course we made sure we had time to stroll the town in the morning before heading back in the direction of Izmir to meet up with Ros Elliott at the end of our trip.

On our way out of Bodrum we encountered some scallywags who showed us their school.

I cannot remember exactly where we stayed that last night but I am pretty sure that Ros lived in Kuşadası at that time, so I suspect it was on “that side” of Izmir, making it a convenient place for us to meet Ros and get to Izmir airport reasonably early the next day.

Update: Ros remembers that Janie and I stayed at the Ege University Hospital Hotel, which was brand new at the time and was happy to take guests unconnected with the University or the hospital. According to Ros, the place remains open to all comers. It was very conveniently located for our purposes…

…except that, as Ros recalls, we found it surprisingly difficult to find a suitable restaurant in that Bornova district of Izmir.

Still, Janie and I do remember having a very pleasant meal with Ros and finding it very interesting to “swap notes” with her; us as tourist visitors while she had already been living in Turkey for a few years by then.

Ros said we had seen an awful lot in just a few days and she was right. Looking back on the pace at which we took that road trip, while I can believe we used to tour like that I wouldn’t dream of arranging such an itinerary in so few days any more!

Towards the end of the meal, “Mystic Ros” read our coffee grounds in the Turkish style…and I tried to reciprocate.

We’d had a great time.

All the pictures from that holiday (just one or two from this leg of the journey are not shown in this piece) can be viewed on Flickr – click here or below.

023 The Great Library and stuff at Ephesus T_1995_G1_Photo32_30A

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Seven: Around The Aegean Coast, Fethiye, Marmaris & Bodrum, 16 November 1995

We had a lovely morning stroll around Fethiye, taking in the beauty and quaintness of the place. The above photo is but one example. As is the one below.

Then we drove on to the trendy town of Marmaris, where we wee able to enjoy some lunch out of doors and also were able to wander around, trying to look trendy ourselves.

Best head towards Bodrum if we want to get there before dark!

Then on to Bodrum, where we stayed for the night. After dinner…

… we took a stroll around and just about managed to get a night shot of the castle.

We vowed to return the next day to take a daytime picture of the castle. Did we succeed? Tune in for the next and last episode.

All the pictures from that holiday (just one or two from this leg of the journey are not shown in this piece) can be viewed on Flickr – click here or below.

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Six: Pamukkale To Fethiye Via Aphrodisias, 15 November 1995

Not yet sated with antiquities, we diverted to Aphrodisias ahead of driving to Fethiye for a bit of seaside towards the end of our trip.

We popped in to the Aphrodisias Museum before touring the site

You can just make out a tiny me in the theatre (above) and the odeum (below)

The ruined temple at Aphrodisias (above) and gymnasium (below)

The highlight of Aphrodisias, for me, was the exceptionally well-preserved stadium – see picture below and headline picture.

Janie was probably a bit “antiquitied -out” by the time we got to Aphrodisias, but that was OK because we were done with antiquities for this holiday. It was seaside from then on.

We hit the road from Aphrodisias to Fethiye

We weren’t going to make the same “arrive after dark mistake again and got to Fethiye in good time.

We found a comfortable, simple place to stay and an equally comfortable, simple place to eat tasty Turkish grub.

You can probably tell from these pictures that Fethiye – indeed the whole of that Aegean coast, was not exactly busy in November.

All the pictures from that holiday (just one or two from Aphrodisias and Fethiye are not shown in this piece) can be viewed on Flickr – click here or below.

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Five: A Morning At Leisure In Pamukkale, 15 November 1995

Swimming among the ruins at the Pamukkale Hotel

Writing more than 25 years later, I sense that Pamukkale has changed and become more resort/touristic than it was when we visited.

We stayed in a motel named The Palmyra Motel, I think at Ros’s recommendation.

The rooms in the Palmyra hotel had balconies onto pools of Pamukkale spa water

We enjoyed the facilities in our motel and also went into the centre of town to enjoy the sights…

…and even a swim amongst the Pamukkale ruins; something visitors were allowed to do for a small fee (paid to the Pamukkale Hotel) in those days.

This would not go down well with the health and safety brigade these days, I fear

The view from our motel into Pamukkale town

This was a memorable part of this holiday. We wished that we had allowed two nights at that motel to allow time to wallow in the views and wallow in the spa.

But instead we headed off around midday.

All the pictures from that holiday (just one or two from Pamukkale are not shown in this piece) can be viewed on Flickr – click here or below.

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Four: From Çanakkale To Pamukkale Via Troy, 14 November 1995

A rather unconvincing wooden Trojan Horse monument at Troy

We knew we were in for a long drive from Çanakkale to Pamukkale that day, but still wanted to see Troy before setting off on the longest leg of our road trip.

Having been spoilt the previous few days…

In truth, after Ephesus and Pergamon the previous couple of days, Troy was rather a disappointment.

…the ruins of Troy didn’t really hack it for us. View from the fake Trojan Horse

Troy has been built, razed and rebuilt many times, possibly not always in exactly the same place. There’s not a lot to see and it all seemed a bit confused/confusing/unconvincing. The wooden horse thing depicted above was a particular source of my de4rision on the day.

Excavated bridge into on of the old city’s was probably the highlight

Then the long drive to Pamukkale. It was billed as being over six hours and my goodness that’s what it took. We shared the driving and/but needed the odd pit stop, so we were really quite nervous towards the end of the drive as we realised that we had failed to get to our destination before dark and would be driving the last 45 minutes or so in darkness.

But get there we did. I think Ros had recommended the place we stayed and by gosh that was relaxing and fun. But that’s for the next write up.

Here and below is a link to all the photographs we took on that trip to Turkey, although, as it happens, all four from Troy have found their way into the above piece.

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Two: Two Nights In Izmir Including A Day Trip To Ephesus 11 to 12 November 1995

The collective memory (Ged & Daisy) of this part of the trip is a bit foggy. Ros might be able to help us to fill in one or two gaps.

We arrived in Izmir in the afternoon of 11th and collected our Avis car, which was to be our companion for the next week.

I’m not sure why we ended up at the Izmir Palace Hotel for a couple of nights; perhaps Lonely Planet recommendations, perhaps Ros suggested that combination for our routing.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure that, once we had collected our car and navigated the Izmir traffic, we didn’t much fancy doing anything else that day we arrived. I’m sure we had a decent meal, either at the Hotel itself or somewhere recommended nearby.

It was well cold, but I’d paid for the balcony so I was going to use it!

We had arranged to see Ros the next day. I think she lived in Kuşadası at that time, so the plan was to meet at/near Ephesus, which Daisy and I were in any case very keen to see.

I think we met Ros at the House of Virgin Mary on Mount Koressos. I’m pretty sure Ros took the following picture of us there:

We have no photographic evidence of Ros joining us that day, but I am sure she did, at least for a while. Whether she came all around the Ephesus ruins with us or not I cannot recall. I do remember her not wanting to be photographed that day, although she relented on the matter of photographs when we met up with her again on the way back from our road trip, at the very end of our visit to Turkey.

Ros might remember this day better and/or differently.

Anyway, here are some of our photos from the fabulous ruins of Ephesus.

There are more photos of Ephesus and of course the whole trip available to view on Flickr here or below.

A Short Visit To Turkey Part One: Two Full Days In Istanbul, 8 to 11 November 1995

Janie and I spent 10 days in Turkey that autumn. Unusually, I didn’t keep a written log, so these Ogblog pieces come from the photo-log we made up on our return and some additional memories that survive.

I have published a placeholder and links, e.g. to the full bank of photos, click here or below:

A Short Break In Turkey, Placeholder & Links, 8 to 18 November 1995

On arrival from London at Istanbul airport, we were met and taken to our Istanbul hotel, the Sokullu Paşa Hotel. That place is well located in the historic district of Istanbul, so we simply found a local restaurant that first evening and enjoyed a traditional Turkish meal.

Our first proper bit of touring, the next morning, was to the Cağaloğlu Hamam, a traditional Turkish bath dating back to the mid 18th century. The headline photo shows me outside the place.

I kept the leaflet they handed us – see below.

I think that’s me relaxing after my steam and scrub

Janie and I both enjoyed the benefits of that place. We had to go separately, of course, but both procured the full works – i.e. steam and scrub.

Comparing notes afterwards, both of us were scrubbed by a big burley person who might be mistaken for being scary. In fact, my abiding memory of the place was a brief chat with a fair-skinned fellow with a Germanic accent who arrived slightly later than me and who had, like me, procured “the works”. I’ll never forget the nervous expression on his pale face when he saw the giant masseuse arrive for me and start scrubbing, as he knew that his turn was soon to come.

In truth, I think I like my exfoliation and massage to be a slightly gentler treatment than the traditional Turkish, but it was a wonderful experience to have the full hammam treatment in such an historic venue.

After the hammam, we went off to see the sights for a couple of days! I’m not entirely sure which sights we saw on which days, but I have a feeling we went to see the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia on that first day, leaving the rest of the Istanbul touring until the next day.

My photo notes remind me that we ran into one of my mates from Lambton Place health Club in Hagia Sophia, but I’m scratching my head to try to remember who it was.

I’m pretty sure we ventured a bit further form our hotel for dinner that second night, finding a place with a stunning view across the water that refused to be photographed with old-fashioned flash guns.

The next day we spent a lot of time in and around Topkapi Palace.

The Pavilion of Murad III – beautiful tiles but I couldn’t find the honours board

We also visited the Grand Bazaar that day.

I’m pretty sure we found a local eatery again on our final night – again finding it easy enough to follow our noses (possibly with a little help from Lonely Planet) and find excellent food at unsilly prices.

We flew to Izmir the next morning (11 November).

You can see more photos from Istanbul in the Flickr album – here or below – the first 20 or so are Istanbul:

A Long Weekend In Paris, 20 to 24 July 1995

Janie and I took the Eurostar to Paris and spent four nights there. In 1995 Eurostar was “a thing” – the service had been running for just a few months and indeed the daily service for just a few weeks.

Eurostar pioneers, us. Janie sports a stereotypical Gallic stripy jumper

We stayed at Le Relais Medicis, which claims to be a charming hotel on the Left Bank. Actually it was a charming hotel; well located and suitably tasteful without being opulent.

We were very keen to see the Musée d’Orsay and I am pretty sure that was our first proper stop after dumping our luggage. The headline picture of the photo album (at the end of this piece) depicts me eating in the restaurant within, which was our main meal on that Thursday, after a fairly long and very enjoyable meander around the gallery.

But our traipsing around Paris really kicked off the next day. We started walking around Le Marais…

We had a good look at the Picasso Museum…

Then we headed north, taking a look at the Place de la République along the way.

After that, a long hike up to Montmartre, pursing the arty theme of our long weekend yet further.

We had a good long look at Sacré-Cœur once we got up there…

…and did a fair bit of wandering around those beautiful streets.

We were pretty tired by the end of all that and/but we found a lovely little rustic restaurant in that Montmartre district where we had a simple (by Parisian standards) but most enjoyable prix fixes meal, after which we staggered home…perhaps with some help from the Paris Metro.

On the Saturday I think we started with a look at Saint-Chappelle…

…and Notre-Dame (see headline photo)…

…followed by the Rodin House.

We did a fair bit of walking around the Right Bank of Central Paris that day, ending up at a rather charming little rotisserie restaurant near the river where we had a memorable meal of roast duck with pomme purée and vegetables.

The next day the weather was not so special, but we had planned a bit more of an indoor day. We did The Louvre…

…and the Musée de l’Orangerie

I think we might have (foolishly) walked the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, as I do remember getting wet at one point, after which we decided to use the Metro a bit more.

We went on to Montparnasse, where we hung out a Lilas C afe for a while, fancying ourselves as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

Janie with an existential Citron Pressé, by the looks of it

Outside the Montparnasse Restaurant where we ate after Lilas

On the Monday, our train wasn’t until late afternoon, so we took advantage of the better weather looking around the environs of the hotel – in particular the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg.

According to Janie’s diary, we went to Momos (Japanese Restaurant in North Ealing) for dinner when we got home and played tennis in Lammas Park on the Tuesday morning. Janie worked in the afternoon, I went back to my flat and sorted out my life ahead of a busy few days.

We didn’t take all that many pictures in Paris – fewer than forty – all of which can be seen through this link or below, acting as a sort-of photo journal of the trip. Except the pictures are in a bonkers sequence, perhaps born of a shuffled pack of prints.

04 The Musee D'Orsay (formerly the Gare) P_1995_D_Photo06_4

One Final Day At Triton, Ahungalla, Sri Lanka, Then Home, 30 to 31 March 1995

30 March 1995
Lazy day round pool and in sea. Went to Ramona’s for lunch for the last time. Swam sunned and read.

Went to flambé restaurant for the last time (seafood platter/king prawns in pernod)

31 March 1995
Spent day round pool after packing.

Snacked on cashews and coffee shop grub before leaving at 5:30 pm long journey to Columbo and then home.
Arrived home 1 April at 4 pm – five hours late.

A Touring Day With Sunil, Including A Near Death Experience Off The Shore Of Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka, 29 March 1995

Trip out with Sunil – went to Galle and saw Dutch museum/shop and market (not much to buy).

Then on to Hikkaduwa for ill-fated very choppy coral trip for snorkeling. I felt sick on boat and Jane felt sick in the sea.

That ghastly snorkeling trip really does need to be explained. There were two problems with it. Firstly, it really was too choppy for snorkeling – even very experienced swimmers, who might have been up for the swimming challenge if mad enough, would have agreed that it was simply too choppy to see anything worthwhile with the snorkel.

The second problem was our mad boatman, who seemed especially keen to surf the waves and make the boat trip as “exciting” as possible. I suppose Hikkaduwa is surf territory, but I thought he was truly mad and dangerous. I was so unnerved by him, not least him seeming to turn back for more when we asked him to take us back to the shore, I abandoned the boat and swam for it, to ensure that he followed me back. Probably not the safest idea I have ever had.

This tale reminds me a little of our (rather differently unpleasant) boating experience in Nicaragua more than twenty years later – you might even recognise a similar expression of disgust on my face in the photo:

Nicaragua, Morgan’s Rock to Mukul, 16 February 2016

Washed and dried off – then on to New Moonbeam restaurant for deviled crab – then look round shops.

Sunil & Daisy, who looks pretty-much revived by the Hikkaduwa crab

Yes, Ged revives quickly too when there’s Hikkaduwa crab to be had

Went on to turtle hatchery and then home.

Truly out of my comfort zone with a big turtle, although i look surprisingly comfy

Janie looks less sure with her albino turtle

Daisy gives the baby turtles some sage advice afore they go

Practised snorkeling some more in the pool.
Then went to seafood barbecue in evening – excellent meal .

Part Two of our two-part photo album for this Sri Lanka trip can be viewed through the flickr link below – there are 75 photos therein:

01 Tea pickers in hill country, near Nuwara Eliya SRI_J4 (18)

Real gluttons for photo punishment can see raw scans of all 430 photos we took unedited and unlabelled here:

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