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those microsoft paint skills, bitches
So, after about a week in Bulgaria [gratuitous link to Bulgaria blog], I took a night bus to Istanbul, Turkey. Take the bus they said, it would be fun they said. No. Honestly, it wasn't bad, but you wake up every hour or so for breaks, noisy neighbors, border stop (wtf, which is like three total stops), first drop off point and then final drop off point. So, don't expect to be refreshed in the morning. Also, I arrived at my hotel (where my friends had already checked in) at 5:00 a.m. and because it was past the breaking point for sleep, I just laid in my bed waiting for everyone else to wake up. Anyways, it was cheap, but I am not sure I will do it again. I really should stop being so cheap with my money. Also, the train sucks; a landslide or something knocked out the tracks and it takes them years to fix apparently.
Without further ado (and bitching), I give you Turkey.
Turkey
I only went to two places in Turkey even though I spent the most time here out of all the countries. the first was Istanbul, and the second was Cappadocia. The first is a major metropolis (I heard there are like 12 million in the greater Istanbul area), and the latter is a rural tourist destination.
Before we begin, you must listen to the following music video because I was singing that shit all through Istanbul. And, I didn't know what the hell it meant until I got there (Istanbul and Constantinople are the same freaking place!!). By the way, Turkish people don't appreciate this song, or at least my lack of singing ability--I choose the former.
totally playing this while I write this blog by the way...
Alright, I'll stfu and post some pics. Pics or didn't happen, right?
Istanbul
The view from our hotel (in Turkey, lots of people eat on the rooftops, which is what we were doing).
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Blue Mosque
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Aya Sofia (Christians' fuck you to the Blue Mosque)
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Topkapi Palace (including view from the palace)
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. . . Topkapi Palace Harem (no concubines, very sad, but the tile work is amazing!)
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Basilica Cistern (this is the area under Istanbul where they stored water; all of this is under the city, including the area around Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia and the Topkapi Palace--amazing!)
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Grand Bazaar
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Spice Bazaar (Turkish delights are basically gummy bears covered in powdered sugar, yummy!)
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View from the bridge towards Mosques, Topkapi Palace, etc.
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Galata Tower
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Boat Tour (you can see the old city walls)
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View from a really high hill
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Cappadocia
So, after Istanbul, we flew to Cappadocia. Cappadocia is known for beautiful valleys, hot air ballooning, an underground city, faerie chimneys, churches carved into the rocks as well as many other things.
Goreme Open Air Museum (where people carved churches into the walls and worshiped to hide their religion).
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Valleys (we hiked through Rose valley as well as many others)
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Faerie Chimneys
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Kaymakli Underground City
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Another valley with churches (forgot name)
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three wise men
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jesus is in there
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turkish evil eyes
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Monastery (all carved into the rocks)
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My pictures are screwing up from here on out, so I am going to end it here and put the rest in the first post. Turkey was amazing and a lot of fun. However, it was nothing compared to Jordan, which is one of my favorite trips so far. I'll write up that blog a little later though. Feel free to go look back at my Bulgaria blog to see where I was before Turkey.
Bulgaria
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