Antalya to Pamukkale -- Tuesday February 5th

So today was our longest travel day as we left the seaside city of Antalya and our tour bus headed Northwest toward Pamukkale, a total of 250km.  Immediately leaving the city, the road began to rise in elevation as we traveled into the mountains we could see west of Antalya from our hotel.

Before leaving the city, whose symbol is the orange (note orange symbol in traffic circle), I saw this picture which reminded me while Turkey is a very modern country its rustic roots are not too far beneath the surface.

As we rose in elevation the terrain reminded me of Colorado. In places the landscape was a mixture of rocky outcrops strewn with scrubby evergreens interspersed with high mountain plains and even some cropland.

Our first two stops for the day were in Acipayam, about two thirds of the way between Antalya and Pamukkale.  The first stop was a large Western-style dairy milking about 3,330 cows.  It looked like what you would see in western New York or more accurately the western United States, including an American dairy consultant who happened to be there the day we visited.  They took biosecurity very seriously as you can see from the Tyvek suits they had our entire group don, (including the bus driver who didn't leave the bus).

The second stop was a dairy processing plant and feed mill called Aynes.  The interesting connection here is that the son of the owner and heir apparent to the business had studied at SUNY Binghamton. It was a very modern plant dairy plant and they were building a large addition right next door. The feed mill was not quite as modern but very reminiscent of the types of facilities we have here in United States.

Some Aynes products including their banana flavored breakfast drink and some fruit juices, including cherry, my favorite

Bulk milk trucks have four separate tanks for farm collection

Dairy plant expansion, across parking lot from existing plant

An overload of strong tea (I'd become overly fond) wasn't agreeing with my stomach that afternoon (and thus the fondness quickly subsided) and as we came down out of the highest part of our journey into the city of Denizli I wasn't feeling great. Denizli did not put its best foot forward as we traveled through on a cold afternoon and with all the homes using coal or wiid there was a dense gagging smoke that covered the city.

We went about 10 km beyond Denizli for overnight lodging in the Pamukkale at a small boutique hotel. It was the one place where we couldn't get Wi-Fi very easily.  The food was okay but it had a mineral bath in the basement which we all tried out.

Atrium of the Pamukksu Hotel

Antalya area agriculture

These posts are coming a bit out of order as I toggle between devices with battery power on the road and uploading back at the hotel when I have Wifi. Still figuring out how to do this while on the road.  [And now finishing them up back in the U.S.]

So this post covers our tours on Monday, February 4th, before Aspendos. Our first stop was Antalya's terminal market where we met with the market's boss (an actual term used in some cases) who then gave us a quick tour of the facility including a company that was packing tomatoes. He seemed to enjoy marching through the facility with our group trailing behind like goslings.

The market is government owned with 600 tenant companies who buy local/regional produce from farmers in the region as well as import some and then distribute throughout the country and the region.

The facility was very reminiscent of Hunts point terminal market in New York City. In addition to the broker/distributors' units, there was an open air market were unconsigned product is bought and sold.

Much of Turkey's produce comes from greenhouse production which is prevalent in the Antalya region. There are huge swaths of land covered by greenhouses but unfortunately I haven't been able to get a good picture depicting that.

Fittingly after the tour of the terminal market, we visited a nearby greenhouse and nursery operation, Kurgu Peysaj,  though it grew indoor plants and ornamentals. The hosts were very affable and as was the case at many stops we were served tea, though unlike the usual black tea (which I'm becoming fond of) this was an herbal tea.

Nothing way out of the ordinary here except the proprietor seemed very intent on finding new varieties of plants making sure he had in stock what his customers were looking for.

After lunch our next stop was an orchard operation about 45 km East of Antalya.   This was a substitute stop in that we were supposed to see some of the orchards owned by Alara Orchards, whose CEO Yavuz Taner (who had flown down from Bursa to meet with our group) had spoken with us the previous evening, however his orchards were wet with the recent rains, so he had arranged a visit to some growers from whom Alara purchases fruit.

Interestingly these two American educated brothers did not have a farm background as their family was in real estate development.  Their 150 acres were relatively new (in the background of the pictures of their tree fruit, plums - already flowering -- peaches, and cherries, greenhouses are evident.).  They were quite pleased to see us and even had a foamboard sign made up saying welcome Cornell University complete with the Cornell logo, which they had us sign upon our departure.  I'm not sure how they pulled that off given the short notice of our visit.

Dinner that night was in a funky restaurant that was in a converted carpark in the old part of the city called Parlek Restaurant.  Their roast chicken was great and I got to try some rock Raki which is the national drink of sorts of Turkey.  Flavored with aniseed, it tastes like licorice/sambuca, but I didn't care for it much.

Ephesus

Picture for now, narrative to follow. Started in Kusadasi, and before visiting an olive oil factory and an olive tree nursery, visited the ancient city of Ephesus pictures below.

At the end of the day was our home stay, where our class was paired in groups to stay with Turkish families in a nearby village. A wonderful experience (a bit nervous going in), and likely more to follow on that as well.

In Izmir tonight and flying to Istanbul tomorrow for final segment of the trip.

Kusadasi

View of the Aegean Sea and the city from the hotel room in Kusadasi (Trying out the panoramic photo feature not sure how it will come out)

Heiropolis

Haven't had much time to post anything the last couple days as we've been on the move and are currently on the Aegean Sea in the city of Kusadasi.

Yesterday before our agricultural visits we were able to visit the ancient city of Heiropolis near the modern city of Pamukkale. Pictures show the main thoroughfare of the ancient city which sits atop a ridge covered in white calcium deposits.

Antalya

So if it hadn't quite sunk in that I was in Turkey, it did this morning when I woke up at 5:30am and thought I could catch the end of the Super Bowl (which I wasn't watching for the first time in about 35 years). I wasn't able to find a broadcast of the game but did find the winning score on the internet about the time that the call to morning prayer at the nearby mosque, blared from loudspeakers and echoed through the city.

I had slept well after a busy day and a half without sleep. After arriving the previous (Sunday) morning and checking into the hotel our guides took us on a walking tour of Antalya, a city of about 1 million. Like many cities, it has a rich history with Roman and other influences. The photos below are of the view from the hotel balcony, the arch to the old city and views of the Mediterranean and the sheltered harbor surrounded by cliffs that first attracted settlers to this area.

Aspendos

Our agricultural visits today brought us near the ancient city of Aspendos, about 45 minutes East of Antalya. Though the city's origins predate the Roman period, (it, like much of modern Turkey was part of the Roman empire at one time) it is one of the best preserved Roman theaters in the world, built about 160 to 200 AD.

Unbelievably well preserved, our guide says it holds 15-20,000 people though that estimate seems a little high unless the ancient Romans were tiny. They still hold opera and ballet performances there.

We also visited the nearby ruins of an aqueduct from the same period which brought water from the nearby mountains to Aspendos' acropolis. Not nearly as well preserved, it's still impressive how they brought the water down from the mountains through the valley and up to the city on the hill.

Turkey Time Warp

Arrived safely here in Istanbul at a little after 6 am local time Sunday - 11 pm (Saturday) on the East Coast, after about a nine hour flight.

Ours was not a usual "redeye" over night flight. It was more of a "faux" redeye. We left early afternoon and were given dinner at about 4 PM and after the lights were dimmed for a few hours, were served breakfast at 9 PM (eastern) before landing. Not anyone's typical daily schedule. I suppose it is meant to get us adjusted to the local time zone.

So as a result not many people slept much on the plane (including myself) since many (including myself) would just be going to bed about the time the flight landed. Not complaining mind you, and I'm thankful that the travel has gone smoothly so far.

Anyway this post is intended as a trial run to make sure I can post entries from the road. This also allows me to get some of my logistical observations out of the way. I don't plan to focus on them in my future blog posts about the trip. I may lose my faithful readers if I start talking about the tour bus and what kind of plane we flew from Istanbul to Antalya :-) (don't know yet, btw). More to come!