ISRAEL & PALESTINE __ Land of Contradictions Jerusalem

Temple Mount

Damascus Gate, one of the gates of the city walls built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient

Inside the Al Aqsa Mosque

Narrow streets of the old city

Black tea with fresh mint

Western Wall (Wailing wall)

Western wall

A few of the hundred different types of halwa being sold

An old man doing his Shabbat shopping dressed in traditional Hasidic attire of black suit, with a plastic bag protecting his hat from rain

Dried onions with herbs, spices and grains used for salads and rice dishes 

Enjoying our araks at Sirtaki bar

Popular among the younger crowds for a romantic dinner date, Eldad Vezehoo restaurant

We visited the Israel Museum very first thing in Jerusalem. The gigantic museum has a very rich collection of everything from arts to history, from ethnography to archeology. You need at least two to three days to do justice to the museum but since we didn’t have so much time, were only able to reserve couple of hours to the section we would benefit the most while sightseeing, the Middleeastern History.  Especially visiting the etnoghraphic section feels like getting a crash course on Jewish culture and religion. After the museum we headed straight to the Old City and tried to enter to the Temple Mount to fulfill our religious obligations but the complex was closed to the non-Muslims for the next four days. As we were going back in deep disappointment, Senem and Aysun suddenly discovered the Muslim living within them, deep inside their souls, and decided to go in. As three sinful nonbeliever men we were enjoying our mint tea and hookah when we noticed our two faithful ladies having an argument with the guards at the gate. I was thinking that they had failed the test of faithfulness but later found out that the argument was over their seductive outfits. They were allowed to go in once they covered the tight jeans they were wearing that would arouse every single male around them. Life in the old city comes to an end very early especially in the short winter days. Therefore we headed over to the lively markets of the new city. Everyone was in a rush to get their shopping done before the Shabbat started, which is when the Jewish are prohibited by their religion from engaging in any activity that quallifies as work. Mahane Yehuda, in which all sorts of produce is sold, is the ideal place to explore different products and to be part of the Shabbat rush. After walking around a bit we stopped by a bar called Sirtaki that was a small place to have a quick drink on the run, nestled in between the shops in the market. Settling in at a table placed right in the market we people watched and enjoyed the hustle and bustle while sipping our date and fig flavored araks…

 (arak is a spirit made from distilled grapes flavored with anise)

ISRAEL & PALESTINE __ Land of Contradictions Haifa / Akko

Baha'i Gardens

Al Diyar Restaurant and our first Israeli beer "Maccabee"

The sweet lady sitting behing Giovanni and Senem had family ties to Turkey and spoke some Turkish

Young Israeli soldiers in green uniforms are on a field trip visiting historic sites

Our breakfast in Akko - bread with herbs

Akko

One of the many traces of the Ottoman presence in the older days

All the doors of houses and shops in Akko were painted in blue with unique designs on them

Completing the gang, we hit the road to Haifa (we preferred the train, which operates very quietly and smoothly, with comfortable seats, highly recommended; our choice of hotel in Haifa was Loui Hotel Apartments, simple but nice for the price you pay, also recommended). To be honest, there’s nothing to see in Haifa as a tourist. The city is like a ghost town,  including the displays of the shops everything seems to be frozen in time 30-40 years ago. Streets are quiet, buildings are worn out. The major sight is the Baha'i gardens, which consists of the tomb of the so called Bab (the gate), one of the founding fathers of the Baha'i religion, and the well maintained, perfectly designed gardens surrounding it. Bahaism is a religion with a history of 150 years that synthesizes the three monotheistic religions, set upon a few universal principals. Not that well known in modern Turkey, it actually is a religion very much interrelated with late Ottoman history with the founder being exciled from Persia to Ottoman Empire, coming first to Istanbul, then to Edirne (Adrianapolis), and finally held under house arrest in then Ottoman now Israeli city of Akko. The same thing that happened to me in India at Taj Mahal happens to us here as well and we happen to be there when the gardens are closed. Having to settle with a view of the gardens from the hilltop we took refuge in a restaurant when suddenly were caught in heavy rain (Al Diyar Restaurant - recommended). With the daylight diminishing by the minute we decided the best thing to do in this not so attractive town would be enjoying some wine, so we returned to the hotel with the bottles we bought at a grocery store. Sipping our wine on the terrace we were all surprised by the taste of the $12 bottle wine(Carmel Winery-Private Selection-Syrah). This wine which was way superior to the ones in Turkey in the same price category, became the highlight of the day. 

  

The next day was reserved for visiting Akko, which was about 45 minutes away by bus from Haifa. Akko, which was an important port town during the Crusaders' rule over the holy lands, was like a smaller coastal version of Jerusalem with its well preserved old buildings made out of yellow stone, narrow streets, and temples belonging to all three Abrahamic religions. Israeli soldiers were the only ones visitings the sites besides us. As part of a field trip for the whole batallion, they were forming an interesting scene with their green uniforms, young ages and mixed genders. Every Israeli out of high school has to do a military service of 3 years for the males and 2 years for the females.  Arabs are exempt from this requirement, therefore the percentage of non-Jewish in the army is very low. The situation of the ultra-orthodox Hasidics, Druzes and Bedouins in the army is another area of contraversy in recent times. We returned to Haifa from Akko, and from there took a bus to Jerusalem. 

ISRAEL & PALESTINE __ Land of Contradictions Tel Aviv

Our first dinner at Hummus Ashkara

We had no idea how much hummus we were going to be eating throughout the journey 

Hebrew alphabet

We recieved our very first hint of what was waiting for us ahead at the airport. The diverse appearance of the passangers waiting for the same plane as we were was only a small sampling of the complex structure formed by the people of Israel and Palestine. We had our first little celebration for the beginning of our trip by enjoying the sandwiches prepared by Aysun, accompanied with the small bottles of champagne we bought at duty free. Unlike most other times, none of us had done any research about our destination. It had been a month and a half since Aysun came up with the idea of taking a trip to Israel, inspired by the cheap airline tickets she came across online, and us approving it immediately (perhaps with a few drinks playing a role in the decision making as well). We hadn’t given it much thought ever since buying the tickets, and now when the day had arrived, we didn’t know what to expect upon arriving there. Despite the disadvantage of having to carry a guidebook in your hand all throughout the trip, going somewhere without an itinerary or solid plan has many advantages with all the different possibilities it offers.  We had heard about the high security measures taken for the passengers traveling to Israel, but going through the customs easily we stepped on the Israeli soil. After dropping off our luggage at the hotel we went out to explore the area and grab a bite while waiting for Senem and Giovanni who were arriving with another flight a few hours later than ours. We started pretending to be gourmets (food experts) ever since we started guiding food tours, and were ready to research and rate the Israili cuisine. We were planning on stopping at many different places and having a small bite in each but it didn’t go as planned. Thanks to the friendly and enthusiastic owner of Hummus Ashkara, we had a much longer and filling stop there than planned. Not being aware of the amount of hummus we would end up consuming throughout our trip, we excitedly devoured our first plates of hummus and other complimentary appetizers they served. When we left the place with our bellies full of pureed chickpeas in tahini sauce we decided that we needed a little walk before having another stop. Old port of Tel Aviv had recently undergone a redevelopment project, but unlike similar projects undertaken in Turkey, the whole coastline was set up with parks, beaches and recreational areas utilized by the public, with restaurants, buildings and roads starting much further in from the coast. Completing our little walk, we succeeded in digesting enough food to have room for a beer in our stomachs. Being in a Soho-like neighborhood the local pub didn’t carry any Israeli beer but only imported ones with fancy schmancy names. I was ordering one that sounded nice when the song “lucy in the sky with diamonds” started playing in my head, triggered by the smell traveling through my nostrils, well recieved by the receptors, enjoyably beamed to my brain, evoking fond memories. I realized the smell neither belonged to fresh basil, nor fresh mint, but rather to a fresh-rolled joint, and noticed that people sitting out on a street bench, as well as people sitting next to us in the bar were all enjoying one. I later discovered online that medical use of marijuana was legal in Israel. I guess the residents of the neighborhood we were in sadly were all fighting against cancer…

ISPARTA / "Friends, this is a Roman road!!!" *** (Day 6)

*** A famous quote by Benoit Paul Denis Joseph Marie Yves Hanquet

A functioning Roman fountain

Ancient city of Sagalassos

On our last day of the trip we just had enough time in the morning to visit the ancient city of Sagalassos. It’s a Greco-Roman city (even though the history of it dates much further back, the remains found are from that era).  There’s a successful restoration project in progress, and it already has become a site well worth a visit. There’s also the only functional Roman fountain found in the country on this site. After erecting up the ancient fountain, archaeologist were able to supply it with water coming from the same natural spring that had fed it 2000 years ago. There was another chance not to be missed, so drinking water from an ancient Roman fountain became the highlight of the day.  After visiting the site we hit the road to the airport to conclude a trip spent in a beautiful enviroment surrounded by beautiful people. 

ISPARTA / "Friends, this is a Roman road!!!" *** (Day 5)

*** A famous quote by Benoit Paul Denis Joseph Marie Yves Hanquet

A poem written for Epictetus carved on to the rock at Yazılı Canyon

English translation of the poem

Taking a dip in the cold waters of the canyon

We were getting close to the end of our trip and we wanted to see a couple of more places in the area before we left, so we called the truck driver to drive us back after a nice breakfast which was crowned with thyme honey (honey obtained from bees feeding off of wild thyme). Picking up our car from the village, we drove off to Yazılı Kanyon (Inscribed Canyon). The name comes from a poem engraved on a rock in the canyon, attributed to the great philosopher Epictetus. The words of the poem still hold true to this day. Arriving at the site, we first treated ourselves to a nice lunch of trout, farmed right there in the river, which flows through the canyon with its ice cold water yearround. Afterwards we took a pleasant walk, passing through the woods in all shades of oranges, yellows, and greens. Once again the water looked so inviting just as Lake Egirdir had looked earlier in the trip, and this time around I didn’t want to miss my chance of taking a dip in the water despite the coldness of the water. I was only able to stay in the water for about a minute, but it was well worth it. We warmed ourselves up with some thyme tea and took off for the town of Aglasun, in which we were to stay overnight. Hunting down a dinner spot in town, we came across informational signboards about the ancient city of Sagalassos, which we were planning to visit in the morning before heading back to Istanbul in the afternoon.  We called the phone number found on the sign but they did not answer. Couple minutes later we recieved a short text message stating that the person was in a meeting and would get back to us in a couple of hours. Surely enough, the person called back in a couple of hours, and answering the phone I immediately started talking very informally, without even introducing myself, about our enquiry for information for the site and such. When I finished there was a moment of silence, then he asked me politely who I was, and introduced himself as the mayor of the town. Once I got over the first moment of surprise, I changed my voice to a much more serious and polite tone, and we agreed to meet shortly even though it was 10pm by that time. We were greeted warmly by the mayor of Aglasun, Mr. Aydın Kaplan. He was an enthusiastic guy with a vision for the town and had good intentions with high motivation. We were glad to see an exception to the usual cold, bureaucratic, high ego officials. 

ISPARTA / "Friends, this is a Roman road!!!" *** (Day 4)

*** A famous quote by Benoit Paul Denis Joseph Marie Yves Hanquet

Gorgeous fall colors along the way

Aysun and Emirhan enjoying the merry go round

Three Musketeers

Deep in thought

Our accommodation for the night

Yaylim Point

Beydili village

My best buddy Emirhan

Our dining/living/bedroom in the house

The best prepared of us all, Benoit first gets tucked in his sleeping bag, then covers himself with the blanket

The next morning we headed over to a village called Çobanova that contained about 150-200 people living in it. The villagers talked us out of driving over to the Beydili village with our rental car and recommended higly to pay the truck driver to take us there.  It was a dirt road of about 10-15 miles, and given the dry weather and good road conditions we could have easily made the trip with our car but didn’t want to take the chance after the convincing arguments of the villagers. Well, you gotta support the local economy too. Beydili village was even smaller, with only 20-25 houses, with many of them deserted, there were only 25-30 people living in the village. It’s situated in an isolated area, surrounded by mountains, and because of its lower altitude compared to the other village, villagers move here during the cold winter days. All the houses were constructed with the same stone that covered the whole terrain, therefore from a distance you couldn’t tell apart the houses from the rocks and trees. Electricity came to the village after the 1980’s, they still get the water from the wells and cisterns, they have only been connected to the other villages by a road for the last seven years. Until then the only way of getting over to the village was by taking a long walk for a few hours (longer with the load of animals).  Thyme grows abundantly in the area and provides a second source of income for the villagers after the goats they heard on the steep, cliffy mountains.  The family who was hosting us in the village had a 3 year old son named Emirhan, who instantly became the mascot of our group, and accompanied us on our walks. We took a walk to Yaylım Point, which was on a cliff looking over a valley cutting deep through the high mountains. We all meditated in our own way watching the impressive view. We returned to the village, and were welcomed to a delicious dinner.  By the time we finished our meals, sat around and chatted for a while, we were feeling like it was getting close to the bed time, but it was only 8 or 9pm, which was way too early for any of us going to bed, and made us realize how slow the time passes in an isolated village without all the distractions of an urban life. Houses in the village are very much similar to each other, in which there’re two rooms, one to sleep in, one to sit, dine and such, with a small patio in front that has the fireplace which is used as the oven, and a storage space underneath the house. Even though the family prepared both rooms for us to sleep in, it was way too cold in the bedroom without any source of heating, so we decided to share one room with all our beds laid out on the floor around the wood stove.  We were just about ready to fall in a nice deep sleep when we heard some squeaky noise coming from behind the built-in wooden cupboard in the wall.  Aysun was alerted immediately, claiming that it was a mouse making the noise, and that it was going to come into the room and eat off our ears and noses at night (which she really believed was going to happen). We calmed her down and fell into a sweet sleep by convincing her that the noise was coming from something else such as wind or flies, even though we all were well aware that it was a cute little mouse talking to us behind the cupboard…