April 21st – May 10th


Rudy and I have been cleaning Boundless to make room for Jaclyn and Jason.  
We now have a place for them to sleep and put their clothes!!

On April 25th, Rudy and I drove to Kayseri in Cappodocia area while Jackie 
and Jason were flying to Istanbul.  We got as far as Isparta and stayed the 
night at the Otel Bolat.  We looked around the town, went on line to get 
messages and visited the local shopping area.  The local Internet Café was 
filled with young teens ALL playing the same war game through the Internet! 
The Café probably takes the place of the Arcades we used to know. We ate 
dinner on the top floor of the hotel and all around us we could see 
beautiful mountains and inspiring minarets against the setting sun!!!  What 
a view!!! There were no tourists and practically no one spoke English, which 
made it even more alluring. Isparta is not a tourist location.

The next day we left Isparta and went to Konya for lunch and then on to 
Aksaray.
It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining on the mountains making the 
valley seem like an ocean with colors of blues and greens!!  We arrived at 
Goreme to make reservations at Gumus (means silver) Otel for rooms for the 
next two nights in a Cave.  Yes I said Cave!!  They have hotels in the sides 
of the Fairy Chimneys and a few rooms were dug out.  We then went to the 
airport in Kayseri to pick up Jaclyn and Jason.  We took a short cut through 
the mountains and went through snow, hail and sheet. We were probably at 
about 6000 ft.  We picked up Jackie and Jason and went back to Goreme, but 
took the long cut this time, which saved us time!!  We had dinner and all 
went to sleep in our snug caves.  The next day we visited many of the same 
sites as before with a few additional attractions.  We had the same guide 
and he wanted to do something completely different, but we wanted Jackie and 
Jason to see many of the sites we enjoyed and they did!! They were also 
impressed with the frescos in the churches and the amount of work the people 
had to do to carve everything by hand. Jackie made a vase at the pottery 
place in Avanos and we all bought more Christmas presents.

The next day we went to the underground city in Kaymaki.  It was not as deep 
as the one in Derinkuyu, but was larger horizontally.  The ventilation 
system was different and most of the rooms had a kitchen in them instead of 
a central area for eating.  Both cities were similar in that they both made 
wine, had churches, schools, large stone doors and wells.  Since this city 
seems to have much lower ceilings than Derinkuyu, Jason couldn’t stand in 
most of the places since he is at least 6feet 5 inches, but we had fun 
exploring it all!! (the height didn’t bother Rudy…he was waiting in the 
car!!)

Again the topography of Turkey is very unique! (Jason felt he was back in 
San Jose in one area!)   In one day we saw areas of farmland, rocks, ruins, 
mountains with snow, evergreens, orchards of cherry trees, apple trees, 
grapes, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and olives!!  Some villages are big and 
some as small as a couple of streets, but they all have animals which 
include horses, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys and some of those horses and 
donkeys are pulling wagons.

As we arrived in Pamukkale, after traveling all day, a man on a motorcycle 
approached our car and asked us if we could please take a look at his and 
his wife’s hotel.  He assured us he only wanted us to take at look.  We 
followed him to his hotel called Venus Hotel and after Jackie and I checked 
out the clean rooms, decided to stay.  Oh yes… and the price was half of 
what our hotel was the first time in Pamukkale.   We then walked around the 
town and found a place to eat and had some ice cream.

The next day we took the car to the top of the hill.  We walked a few steps 
and peered over the top of the Amphitheater to see the awesome sight through 
the eyes of Jaclyn and Jason.  We watched as they climbed down the steps and 
onto the stage.  We walked through the ruins and then Jaclyn and Jason 
walked along the ledge of Pamukkale. Then Jackie and I swam in the pool 
where the water of the hot springs flowed.  It was fun and we both felt 10 
years younger…I needed 20 years, but the flyer said 10!!

Then on to our long drive to Ephesus.  We stopped again at Konya for lunch.  
At lunch, Jackie ordered something that was a surprise and she didn’t eat 
it.  The waiter refused to listen to her insistence that she had enough 
food.  He came back a few minutes later and told her to close her eyes.  
While her eyes were closed, he placed a dish in front of her with two baked 
potatoes on it. She thanked him and ate her potatoes.  When we looked at him 
he was smiling as though she gave him a $10 tip!!!

At Ephesus we all walked among the ruins and envisioning what it was like 
living in those days.  The place was magnificent!!!  This site had the 
Church of the Virgin Mary, theatres, library, meetinghouses, fountains, 
temples, baths and even a mass latrine for the town. The first we have seen. 
Here, we were told, the slaves would sit on the cold marble toilet seats to 
warm them up for their masters!!!  Of course, we took turns practicing the 
role of the slaves!!!

Then home to Marmaris where we had dinner at Pineapples, our favorite 
restaurant.  Some friends joined us as well.  For the next couple of days we 
showed Jaclyn and Jason around the area and then on Friday they took a ferry 
to Rhodes for the day.  Pineapples gave the cruisers a free dinner that 
night and we all enjoyed seeing each for a while and everyone got to met 
Jaclyn and Jason.  It was a last chance for us all to get together because 
many would be leaving the area this coming week including us!!!

We said good-bye to Jaclyn and Jason the next morning.  The will spend the 
day in Istanbul and fly out on Sunday for their marathon trip to 
California…about 24 hours!!!  We all had a FANTASTIC time and the only thing 
I wish we had more of is time!!!

Rudy and I are making last minute preparations for leaving Turkey to go to 
the Greek island of Simi and then on to Kos to wait for our friend Shawn 
Sasse of Sasse Too and her friend Nancy. It will be great to get out in the 
open again!!











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