Turkey and the Greek Islands

Turkey and Greek Islands

After traveling for two months with a fearless 12 year-old, we put David’s brother Jeffrey on a flight back to CA. Then David and I flew from Tel Aviv, Israel to Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey has long been at the crossroads of Europe and Asia (with the city of Istanbul split across the two continents), so it has a rich culture and diverse people. Illustrating the stark contrasts are two enormous structures facing each other in the oldest part of Istanbul. The Aya Sofya (Church of Divine Wisdom) was completed in 537 by Roman Emperor Justinian to help restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. It reigned as the greatest church in Christendom for almost 900 years. Just across a large plaza stands the mosque that Sultan Ahmet built to rival or surpass the grandeur of the Aya Sofya. Better known as the “Blue Mosque”, it was completed in 1616. Seeing a huge Christian church and a huge Islamic mosque stare at each other across a plaza is like witnessing a massive religious face-off. But in Turkey, Islam long ago triumphed in the religious wars, so the Aya Sofya was converted to a mosque in 1453 (though it retains many Christian mosaics and icons) and to a museum in 1935.

Both David and I were surprised by Istanbul. It was much more enchanting than we expected. With its wonderful Mediterranean climate, countless sidewalk and rooftop cafes, clean cobbled streets, hundreds of interesting shops in the Grand Bazaar, plus a colorful Turkish carpet shop on every corner, Istanbul is a delightful place to spend a few days.

From Istanbul we went to Ephesus to see the ruins of the city made famous in a letter written by Paul in the Bible. The massive outdoor theater where Paul addressed the Ephesians still stands and was used until recently for major concerts (Elton John, anyone?) until they discovered that vibrations from amplified sound systems were causing cracks to form. One of the pictures below shows a stone carving of the goddess Nike that is reputed to have inspired the Nike "swoosh" logo.

From Ephesus, we went to Kusadasi on the Mediterranean. We happened upon a hotel run by Hasan Degirmenci, better known to everyone as “Mr. Happy”. And he was! He seems like one of the happiest people in the world, and he wants to spread his good cheer, sometimes breaking into song or dance when he can’t contain his enthusiasm. So if you’re ever in Kusadasi, Turkey, make sure you stay in Hotel Liman to enjoy Mr. Happy’s hospitality.

Since we could see some Greek islands off the coast of Turkey, we decided to take a ferry and spend a few days on the islands of Samos and Ikaria. We can confirm that the Greek islands deserve their reputation for beautiful coastlines, picturesque villages, and friendly people. We were lucky enough to stay at a guesthouse where the husband and wife owners made the most delicious home-cooked Greek food – souvlaki, moussaka, pastitsio, and more. Incredible!

For our last few days in Turkey, we took a 4-day sailboat cruise on the Mediterranean from Fethiye to Olympos along the southern coast of Turkey. With 14 other people on a 70+ foot sailboat, we had four lazy days of sailing, swimming, and snorkeling… with a few stops at small port villages along the way. The dazzling blue-green water of the Mediterranean was a great temperature for swimming and the views along the Turkish coast were spectacular.

David’s highlight: anticipating diving around the fabled sunken city (ask him about that when he gets back…).

Steve’s highlight: succeeding in his first attempt at a back flip off the sailboat into the water (click on the image to see the epic video).

We enjoyed Turkey and the Greek Islands much more than we expected and we only scratched the surface, so we’ll have to come back some other time to enjoy more of what these countries have to offer.

Next up: We travel to Indonesia where David’s 17 year-old brother Blake and his 15 year-old friend Riley join us for 3 weeks. We’ll be volunteering in two or three orphanages on different islands in Indonesia, but there are rumors that they have some beautiful beaches there too. J

- Steve

Israel and Palestinian Territory

This is Terry, Melissa, Zach, and Jeremiah Rhodes who we met on a bus crossing from Jordan to Israel. While on the bus we learned that Terry is the principal and his wife Melissa is a teacher at a K-12 school in Bethlehem (which is located in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank). On a short trip touring Israel they saw the need and felt the call to work and teach in the West Bank. If you don’t follow the news it may be helpful to google Palestine or the West Bank to get an idea of the history and current events in the West Bank to understand what the Rhodes saw. After a year of preparation the Rhodes moved to the West Bank and began working in a Christian school for Palestinian children.

Although they hardly knew us, the Rhodes invited us to stay in their home and speak to the senior class at their school about our travels and volunteer work.
Since the media paints a dangerous picture of the West Bank and Palestinians, not many tourists stay there. We were lucky to have the opportunity to do so as it gave me a new perspective on the Israel/Palestine situation and a small window into the lives of Palestinians. Entering or exiting the West Bank I felt almost like a caged animal. We had to cross through several large concrete structures with iron bars and cameras everywhere and show our passports to prove we weren’t Palestinian (since they aren’t allowed to cross).

It’s hard to describe what it felt like to be in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. By reading books and seeing documentaries on the Berlin Wall and the U.S. before the civil rights movement, the West Bank felt a bit like I would imagine a combination of the two to be.
This is part of the wall surrounding the West Bank that keeps families from seeing each other and isolating Palestinians from the rest of the world. Many Palestinian families have been separated by the wall and haven’t seen each other for years. What also really shocked me is the separate bus system for Palestinians living in Israel.

But on the other hand, Jews have experienced terror and warfare against them from the beginning of recorded history. And Palestinian extremists have killed many innocent Israeli citizens while neighboring countries threaten total annihilation. If you’ve experienced decades of violence from people that live within your borders, it’s not surprising that some might want to build walls to contain the threat.

Two of our guides gave us a sense of the widely differing views among Israelis. We commented to one guide that Israel’s hard-line Prime Minister Netanyahu seemed to be making it harder to achieve peace with the Palestinians. He responded, “That’s why we elected him. There will never be peace. It’s only a question of how many dead bodies. And there will be fewer dead bodies with Netanyahu.” Another guide we talked to was one of the first soldiers to liberate Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and has lost two nephews fighting in Palestinian territories. Yet he was hopeful that Israel would one day achieve peace with the Palestinians. More than anything else, we learned just how complicated the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories is, with no easy answers in sight.

For most of our time in Israel, we visited famous places from the Bible. As you can see in the pictures, many of the sites we visited in Jerusalem were nearly empty. Our guide told us it was the fewest people he had seen in a long time. We have to thank the Pope for our nearly private tour. As the Pope was visiting many of the sites the same day, many parts of the city were blocked off for several hours, scaring most tourists away. Luckily we were able to work around the Popes schedule and get a crowd-free tour.

Though the room was rebuilt several centuries ago, this is supposedly where Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples.

Some of the other highlights of our trip were seeing famous places from Jesus life:

- where he was born and where the angels announced his birth to the shepherds (in Bethlehem)

- where he grew up (in Nazareth)

- where he fed 5,000 with two loaves of bread and five fish (in Tabgha)

- where he preached the sermon on the Mount (near Capernaum)

- where he was crucified, buried, and resurrected (in Jerusalem)

It was both funny and sad to see what had become of many Biblical sites. Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Coptic denominations claim rights to many of the same sites which proves to be precarious situation. In the past, Churches have fought (both verbally and physically) over some of the sites to hold their rituals, though neither fighting nor rituals seem to have been encouraged by Jesus.

These are some ancient Roman ruins at Beit Sha’an where Jeff and I were able to reenact gladiator battles.

After our trip around Israel it was time to say goodbye to Jeff. We were very sad to see him go after 2 months of traveling with us and now who is going to tell us "your mom" jokes...

Next stop Turkey and a sailboat cruise in the Mediterranean!

- David and Steve

Jordan - Petra

On the way to Israel, we decided to take a side trip to Jordan to see the stone-carved temples and tombs of Petra. But as we crossed the border into Jordan, we were encouraged by another traveler to take a detour to spend a night at a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum, a beautiful desert valley. A night in a Bedouin tent in the Jordanian desert? Why not? (David and Jeffrey would find out why not later.)



Several hours later, we were bouncing around in the back of a pickup truck as we crossed the sandy route to a remote Bedouin camp (see photo above). When we arrived in the dark, the desert air was cool, the stars were unusually bright, and the desert was eerily quiet, with dim silhouettes of jagged rock formations breaking up the flat desert landscape. We were ushered into Bedouin tent, probably 20’ x 40’, with every inch of ground covered by Persian carpets. Guided to seats by a fire, we were given a cup of Jordanian tea (very sweet, with a spearmint flavor) as we met the 3 Jordanian brothers who would be our hosts. After they dug up our dinner (meat cooked in a pot surrounded by hot coals in the ground) we feasted on chicken, rice, salad, hummus, and pita bread. After a long day of traveling, we went to our beds on the ground made with several layers of blankets and pillows piled about 8 inches high. It was one of the most comfortable beds I’ve slept on in my travels.

In the morning, I rose before sunrise to see a faint orange glow behind the towering rock formations. The desert was peacefully quiet with the sand and mountains stretching to the horizon without a trace of civilization in sight. We were truly off the grid. I climbed one of the rock formations and enjoyed the serenity of the desert until sunrise.

After hiking back to camp, we had breakfast, spent a few minutes being harassed by a camel, and then went on our way to Petra. It was an unexpected and memorable side trip in our travels… and perhaps the source of some trouble.

Within an hour of leaving the Bedouin camp, Jeffrey began to feel sick. Either from brotherly sympathy or from Bedouin chicken roulette, David quickly followed suit. For the next 2 days, the Conway boys enjoyed the inside of a Petra hotel room as they battled an intestinal bug. I’m not sure how I dodged the bullet, but they soon recovered and we were ready to see Petra.

A big part of the mystique of Petra begins long before you see the work of human hands. To get to the ancient city, you walk 1.2 kilometers through a narrow gorge that in places is only 3-4 meters wide. Beside you, rose-colored sandstone walls tower up to 80 meters (260 feet) above you. It is one of the most beautiful rock formations I’ve ever seen. To walk between the towering rock walls is an awe-inspiring experience. As you round a corner at the end of the narrow gorge, you see Petra's most elaborate structure, Al Khazneh (popularly known as "the Treasury"), carved into a sandstone cliff. It is absolutely stunning.

You may have seen this impressive façade when it was featured in the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. Al Khazneh is the best-preserved and most famous of dozens of temples and tombs built by the Nabateans in their capital city around 100 BC. Since they controlled trade routes that linked China, India, and Arabia with Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the Nabateans became very wealthy collecting tolls from traveling merchants. They built a large city which is surrounded by hundreds of stone-carved tombs in the sides of mountains. Petra was probably abandoned around 551 AD when an earthquake destroyed many buildings and crippled the water aqueducts. Petra was unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, who paid a Bedouin shepherd to guide him to a rumored lost city
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If you visit Israel or Jordan, it’s definitely worth a side trip to see Petra. Often cited as one of the wonders of the world, the natural gorge and stone-carved structures are unforgettable.

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- Steve