Sunday – May 11 Antakya (Antioch of Syria), Seleucia

Today is going to be a special day.  First, it is the Lord's day and we will be worshipping in Antakya, the place we know as Antioch of Syria in the Bible.  I've heard about Antioch all of my life and it is truly hard to believe that we are worshiping today in this place where the disciples were first called Christians. Ferrell preached a lesson on what we can learn from what was a model church in many ways at Antioch.  Saul (Paul) and Barnabas spent at least a year here strengthening and teaching the church. A congregation of both Jews and Gentiles, they were praised for their faith, unity, generosity, strong teaching program and foreign evangelism (Acts 11, 13-14). However, we also know that after the New Testament times, the church here began to departure from the early teachings.  We must be careful to follow the pattern of the Bible and not follow the teachings of men. 

Christians worshipping in Antioch.

Today is also Mother's Day.  We wish all the mothers back home a wonderful day.  Being the wonderful guide he is, Orhan presented each lady with a lovely red carnation.  He tells us that is it a day of honor in Turkey too.  Orhan has shared with us a lot about the family culture here in Turkey.  The mother has the say so in everything in the home. This is especially interesting to us based on other observations from our trip.  We often see groups of men gathered on porches and cafés, playing cards and smoking.  We never see any ladies present.  Instead, we have seen numerous ladies out in the fields picking greens - even today on Mother's Day.  I hope someone cooked them a nice dinner today, but I think it's not likely! 

Antioch was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus to honor his father Antiochus.  It is located at the foot of Mt. Silpius on the Orontes River (below).  Our hotel over looks what is left of the river. Syria has dammed the flow so all that remains is filled with trash and odor. Even so, some were seen fishing from its banks.  

After services, we walked a couple of blocks to the Antakya Museum. As with the museum in Ankara, it was under renovation and only a small section of the museum was open.  There were beautiful mosaic tile artifacts (below) that had been on floors of home from a nearby area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.  We also saw a beautiful marble sarcophagus.  

Next, we headed southwest "down" toward the coast.  In Bible times this port city was called Seleucia.  In Acts 13:4, Saul and Barnabas set sail for Cyprus from this port.  Today, the port has been silted in and only fragments of the wall (below) are visible somewhat inland from the sea.  

We stopped for a hike up to what is known as Titus' Tunnel.  Construction started by the Roman's during Vespasian's reign and finished under his son, Titus (~79-81AD).  They believe it was built to divert the nearby river and prevent it from silting up.  Along the way, we passed an arched bridge (below) from the same time period, beautiful flowers, and stunning views of the sea.  

The tunnel is 4430 ft long and cuts through the mountain in two places. Several in the group had quite an adventure walking through tunnel, but I had on sandals, so I had to visit the neighboring tombs via an easier route.

 There is a complex of tombs carved into the rock, some with amazing views of the sea.  

 

We had lunch overlooking the Mediterranean and then hurried to the waters edge to dip our toes in the beautiful blue waters. It was amazing to look out over the Mediterranean and imaging sailing off across the waters.  The sand was very dark and hot.  By the time we got back to the bus our feet were black and our bus driver just shook his head.  We were not getting on "his" bus like that.  He brought out a bucket of water, and Bruce, following the pattern of the early Christians, literally washed our feet. I'm sure there will be pictures on someone's blog before the end of the trip.

Brad and Kim at our restaurant overlooking the Meditteranian Sea.

Our efforts to visit a couple of other ruins were unsuccessful.  Both the St. Simeon monastery and St. Peter's church were both closed for renovation.  The trip to the monastery was an amazing drive up the mountain.  The top was dotted with enormous wind turbine.  Since we couldn't go into the monastery site, we took pictures of the guard and his dogs (more like horses) and the turbines.  They made a strange whooshing sound as they slowly rotated.  

 

Frustrated, but hopeful for the future of the region, Orhan reminded us that these renovations are a good thing.  I guess we will just have to come back when they are open.  

Saturday – May 10 Cappadocia, Cilician Gates, Antakya

For much of our group, we were up again with the roosters, literally.  Our wake up call was at 4:30 again; the roosters were up, and it also coincided with the morning call to prayer.  With all of that activity, there is no doubt we should be up and awake...and for a good reason.  We are hoping again to take a hot air balloon ride.  This time we are feeling optimistic, because they loaded us on a minibus and took us over a dirt road to the launching site at 5:30.  We arrived just in time to watch the sun rise.  

We waited, somewhat patiently, as they continued to assess the winds.  We watched as several small balloons were launched and disappeared into the clouds.  Finally, with only 20 minutes left in the launch window, we were given permission to fly....in NASA vernacular that's "Go for launch!" 

We watched as the balloons were inflated and standing ready. 

Ten minutes later we were climbing into the basket and waving goodbye to our crew. If you look closely, you can see Judy, Bruce, the back of Cathy's head, Paul, and Steve.

  

Up, up and away has a whole new meaning to me now.  It was the most peaceful, gentle feeling you can imagine. It was very much worth the wait! We gently glided over the strangely beautiful formations we explored the day before.  The open air museum, castles, and fairy chimneys were easily spotted from above.  

Notice the shadow of our balloon on the canyon wall. 

We even photographed the cave hotel.  Orhan, our guide, threatened to send us on a special tour if we didn't share with him the pictures we took of his childhood home.  Our pilot, Turgut, was very talented, taking us high above the valleys, then almost grazing the trees. This trip of a life time was over before we knew it and Turgut had skillfully landed the basket on top of the trailer.  

Ferrell and Elizabeth.  Ferrell noted this does not mean he is a basket case!

We climbed down and were treated to a celebratory glass of cherry juice, a delicious treat.  Stacy was so happy to be on the ground, she gave our pilot a big hug! 

We hurried back to the hotel to pack our bags, grab a quick bite of breakfast and were off again.  We have almost 300 miles to cover today and we are getting a late start.  We began our journey headed south through the Tarus mountain range.  The roads are very nice and the scenery is amazing. We traveled through valleys, over passes blasted through the mountains,  and at one point through 10 tunnels.  It is hard to imagine how difficult and long this journey must have been for Paul and his companions.  It really makes you appreciate the passion and dedication they had to spreading the gospel. I will post more of today's journey and pictures later.  I have a good internet connection right now and want to make sure I get something posted.  

Friday, May 9- Cappadocia

We had a really early wake up call at 4:30 this morning in hopes of taking a hot air balloon ride, but although the rain has subsided, the winds were too high.  It was a beautiful day, but we learned at 6:30 that we would have to try again tomorrow.  We had a leisurely breakfast with omelettes, yogurt, cheeses, breads and an assortment of interesting dried fruit.  We are not going hungry.  The photo below is across the street from our cave hotel.

We drove for many miles yesterday through a region of fantastic geological formations.  This area is covered with tufa, a soft stone of solid mud, ash and lava that flowed from two great volcanoes that are now extinct. Rivers and winds have carved unusual shapes of needles, pyramids, cones, and mushroom shaped spires into the canyons and valleys.  During various times of persecution, Christians made homes and churches inside these rock structures.   Our first stop today was the Goreme open air museum. It is a collection of these homes and churches built in 1200 AD or before.  Each family had a small chapel decorated with designs ranging from very simple to beautiful carved and painted scenes.  We spent some time crawling through these structures.

A room with a view!

Our next stop was the Fairy Chimneys, another unique example of these structures.  The wind is howling through the structures and there is no doubt that 200 years from now it will have carved completely different patterns into these structures.

 Much to our surprise, at this stop we came across two Turkish turkeys.  

Next stop was the carpet shop.  We learned how they are made and about the different materials, knot density and what makes one carpet more expensive than another.  I came really close to buying a beautiful carpet made from undyyed wool, made only in the Cappadocian region. Those you that know me know that making a purchase of that magnitude is not something I can do in 30 minutes.  

Cathy, Paul, Steve, Carolyn, and Candy get a hands on lesson in Turkish carpet making.  

Our final stop was a subterranean city called Kaymakli.  Last occupied about 1200 AD, it was a refuge for Christians escaping Roman persecution. There are 150-200 known underground cities like this in the area, some of which are connected. Orhan told us that up to 2000 people could have lived in this one.  We went down 4 levels and there were 3 more below that we were not allowed to explore.  Even their animals had protection.  We saw living areas, storage areas, ventilation holes, a wine press and cellar, round stone doorways (dubbed "Rolling Stones" by Ferrell Jr.- you can see the round stone in the doorway in the second picture below) and many other facinating rooms, all carved by these people into a labyrinth of tunnels. I can't imagine navigating such a place, especially first thing in the morning without caffeine. 

Our final stop was an impromptu photo op of the valley perfectly lit by the sunlight.  Come to find out this is also called Pigeon Valley.  We've learned that pigeons provide organic fertilizer for the region.  We have come to appreciate many of our common sayings on this trip including pigeon holes, (almost every cave dwelling has several) Rolling Stones, and "man caves." 

Despite our disappointing start, we had a great day.  This is the area where our guide, Orhan, was born. We heard great stories about growing up inTurkey and their customs. We have a much greater appreciation for this country and its people. I could go on and on, but I will close for now so I can post this before dinner.  I will add photos later if the wifi works. 

Ankara to Cappadocia

We had a fascinating day. We started at the Anatolian Museum in Ankara and drove basically south and slightly east for about 140 miles into the area of Cappadocia.  It has been a long day and I have lots of pictures to chose from. Come back tomorrow to see what we did...and oh by the way, did I mention we are  sleeping in a cave tonight...cave hotel that is.  I have a really early morning, so I'll try to post more tomorrow.  

May 7th - Bogazkale (Hittite sites of Hattusas)

After almost two days of traveling, we are thrilled to finally be exploring Turkey. We left the hotel about 8:15 for a three hour drive to the Hittite sites of Hattusas (now called Bogazkale). The drive while long, was absolutely fascinating. We traveled through mountains and valleys, dotted with communities ranging from modern structures, to rock homes with red tile roofs. 

We passed a large industrial region, lucious green farm lands, and finally arrived at Hattusas.  Initially the home of indigenous Hatti people as early as 2000 BC, it became the capital of the Hittite Empire during the Bronze Age.  Hittities are mentioned in the Bible as early as Genesis in the land of Canaan, but many believe they are not the same as the Hattis or Indo-Europeans that came to Asia Minor in 1900 BC.  This, combined with a lack of evidence of the Hittites Empire led some to believe this was evidence of inaccuracies in the Bible.  It is now believed that the word translated as Hittities in the earliest books of the Bible were Hethities, who originated in the land of Cannan, not in Turkey where we are today. In 1906, archaeologists began to uncover the Hittite civilization at Boghazkoy (now Bogazkale). The Hittites had numerous contacts with the people of the Bible, especially during the period of the United and Divided Kingdom (Josh. 1:4; Jud. 1:26; 1 Kings 10:29; 11:1; 2 Kings 7:6). At the height of their power, the Hittites were strong and controlled a large portion on Asia Minor.  Perched attop a towering mountain range, this city had numerous temples, residential structures, and was surrounded by massive walls, a portion of which has been reconstructed. 

As the bus climbed higher and higher up the hill, we explored several gates that were entry points into the city. We stopped at the Lion, Sphinx, and King's Gates.  

Ernestine and Dan, with whom I've traveled several times, are in front of the Lion Gate.

Later we stopped at the open air sanctuary of Yazilikaya where the Hittite gods are depicted in relief on the rock. 

During our journey today we had the pleasure of interacting with several Turkish people.  Orhan, our guide, talked with lady was picking "salad greens" in a field. It looked like weeds to us but we learned they are used to flavor the water in which she cooks couscous.

Later we met a shepherd that introduced us to Anatolian sheep dogs that protect the flock from wolves. 

We had a facinating day learning about the ancient civilizations of the Old Testament and experiencing the culture of the natives that make Turkey their home today.  Come back tomorrow for more adventures,