Wednesday, May 6, 2026 Aphrodisias
Before
visiting Aphrodisias, we lunched at another small café. One of the owners played a baglama, a
traditional Turkish instrument resembling a lute. The baglama has 7 strings, arranged usually
arranged in combinations of 2,2,3. The
highlight of the performance was Tango, a parrot who jumped up and down in time
with the music. Tango is a little hard
to see in the photo because he blends in with the greenery in the background,
but he is sitting atop the chair.
Aphrodisias
is one of the most complete ancient cities and is a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. It is still being excavated and
was almost completely buried. The city
and its temple were dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite.
In the photo above, all of the columns are original. The bas relief friezes are copies, but the originals are in the museum on site.
This
entrance gate led down a grand walkway to the temple itself.
For
a relatively small population, this site was amazingly involved. The stadium would hold all of the population
several times over. Athletes would enter
through the tunnels at either end of the competition field.
When the site was discovered, only the top sections of the stadium could be seen. The rest was covered in earth and rubble. Local villagers would sit and play backgammon on the stadium seats that poked haphazardly out of the ground.
and
a similar but smaller council house.
Much
of the complex is still being reconstructed, with most of the reconstruction
done using existing materials. All of
the stone is marble, quarried on the nearby mountain. The agora, or marketplace, is just now being
uncovered. The Roman baths are more
complete, and the large public park is under reconstruction.
There
were also large stone sarcophagi recovered from the site. They were ornately carved.
After checking into our hotel, we paid a visit to the whirling dervishes. Dervishes are followers of the Sufi sect and are almost all Muslim. There is no outward way to know if someone is a dervish. They wear no outward symbols. It is worth noting that all dervishes are Sufi, but not all Sufi are dervishes.
The
whirling is just a small part of their worship.
The entire service might take hours.
They first recite all of the 99 names of Allah, sometimes for several
hours. Then there are prayers. Only then do they shed their black cloaks and
begin to whirl.
What we saw was a performance, not an actual ceremony. No photography was allowed during the performance. Afterward, they took the floor again for us to take photos.
Their
hats (as mentioned at the Tomb of Rumi) represent the tombstones of the Ego,
because one must cease to exist as an individual and become a part of the
universe. Removing their black cloaks
symbolizes the casting off of their earthly worries. They whirl and move in a circular pattern,
with one hand pointed upward and the other downward, to bring the love from God
from the heavens down to the earth. Circular
movement is important because if you move in a linear pattern, you are always
focused on the end. With circular
movement, the end is also the beginning.
Thursday, May 7, 2026 Balloons, Hierapolis
It was another very early morning, up at 4am, but this time it was a clear and calm day – perfect for a balloon ride. The crews were beginning to fill the balloons when we arrived. The baskets were quite large. Our group was 18 people, and we all went up together, along with our pilot.
The
balloons were partially inflated using large fans, then the gas jets heated the
air inside to life it upright. At that
point, we each climbed into the basket, and away we went!
Do you see the smaller circle inside the top of the balloon? The pilot can pull that section in using attached lines such that air can escape out of the top of the balloon. That causes the balloon to drop lower. Heating the air with the jets will cause it to lift. By rising or descending, the pilot can catch different air currents to guide the balloon.
We drifted across the travertine flows and over the ancient city of Hierapolis
I know this last picture looks like an illustration, but it really is a photograph. As we gained altitude, the fields below looked like patchwork.
We have been surprised at how green and fertile this country is. We didn’t expect it to be a desert, but also didn’t expect such lush greenness. According to Yaren, Turkiye is self-sufficient as far as food, and produces many items for export.
We
did get quite a nice sunrise across the mountain range. I think its one of the best photos of the trip.
And this one has only a single balloon, but I like the way that balloon is juxtaposed with the gibbous moon.
We had a bit of difficulty finding a good place to land, but our pilot came through and the support team was there to meet up, with sparkling juice and a certificate for everyone.
After a rather hasty breakfast (because we got back later than expected), we packed onto the big white bus and drove across town to Hierapolis, another very impressive ancient city. This city was a retirement community, probably located here because of the thermal springs.
Again, the city is still being excavated, since most of it was underground, and some even covered with travertine deposited by the springs.
Below
is a rendering of how the city would have looked in the third century.
Some
of the original Roman roads still exist here.
The
city is believed to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of St
Phillip. There is a tomb atop a hill
said to belong to him, and the remains of a church dedicated to him.
Up
yet another set of stairs was the hospital area, where patients were given both
medical and moral support.
At
the Plutonium we find the Gateway to Hell.
This small cave became known as a place of magic, and of death. It was curious that animals that wandered
into the cave never came out, and some people who explored the phenomenon died
mysteriously. Although the people didn’t
understand what was happening, there was a fault at his spot that allowed the
buildup of carbon monoxide gas. The
priests learned that they were safe as long as they did not inhale. They would lead large animals into the cave,
then drag out the bodies of those animals that had “magically” died, albeit
with no wounds. It gave them huge
prestige.
A
temple was erected here to Pluto, ruler of the underworld. At this site, parts of the statue and columns
have been reconstructed.
Of
course, no community is complete without a theater, and this one was very nice
although the second story of the stage is yet to be reconstructed.
And
the thing that made Hierapolis famous, the thermal pools have been excavated
and reconstructed and have opened just recently.
Those
who did not want to immerse in the hot waters could wade in the travertine
pools, as these random people are doing.
We did neither, as we had experienced thermal pools in Iceland, and had heard that the travertine was rather slippery. Instead, Lyle rested a bit, and I took a walk toward the northern city gate. As might be expected in a retirement community, there was a fairly large necropolis at the northern end of the city. Indeed, tombs and sarcophagi could be found scattered throughout the site.
