Since my trip was too big, here is a condensed itinerary of what happened!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

• Đstanbul - Left Superdorm (afternoon)
• Ankara
o Arrived at Kağan’s house and ate dinner
o Left Ankara and spent night in the van on the way to Şanlıurfa (overnight)

Sunday, April 27, 2008
• Gaziantep
o Picked up Laura
o Passed by a lake with Fıstık trees
• Şanlıurfa
o Arrived
o Ate Urfa Kebap
o Looked at a small mosque
o Explored the streets of Şanlıurfa, led by two little kids
o Visited the big outdoor mosque
o Hung out on top of the big castle
o Hung out in big area with the water and fishes
o Went to the garden and well where some biblical person stayed for a long time
o Went to the place with the women dressed in purple, out in the middle of the
desert
o Saw the first university
o Saw some other castle place, where the kids attacked me, Andrea, and Murat in
the van
o Drove to Mardin, with Sinan driving for part of it
• Mardin
o Arrived in Mardin, and ate dinner
o Stayed in Öğretmen Evi

Monday, April 28, 2008
• Mardin
o Climbed the rooftops
o Visited the holy school
o Had çay in this place where Andrea and Sevgi saw some soap opera star
o Walked around Mardin and visited another cami (Ulu Cami?)
o Visited a museum that was closed
o Visited an Armenian church
o Visited a touristy monastery
o Drove to another small town to eat lunch (where they had a special rice dish), but
had problems with van door on the way
• Tigris River – got in river, and climbed the big hill next to it
• Diyarbakir
o Arrived, and visited a mosque
o Walked around, and ate dinner at the place with the meaty merçimek çorbası


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

• Diyarbakir
o Drank çay while the driver took a nap
o Drove overnight to Mt. Nemrut
• Mt. Nemrut
o Arrived at Mt. Nemrut, drove to top, and climbed the rest of the way up
o Looked at the heads on the top of the mountain
o Drank çay on the top of the mountain
• Adiyaman
o Got tire fixed
o Ate breakfast
o Went to Armenian church, played ping pong
• Gazientep
o Dropped people off at bus station and airport; picked up Emiel
o Ate dinner at the place with the baklava
o Sinan and Emiel left
o Met with Hakan and Murat, and ate cheese oil
o Stayed in another Öğretmen Evi

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

• Gazientep – Went to airport, took flight to Ankara
• Ankara – Took flight to Izmir
• Đzmir – Took cab ride to Selçuk
• Selçuk
o Had breakfast at the Kiwi Pension
o Went to the carpet shop
o Visited the ruins at Ephesus
o Walked along the highway back to Selçuk
o Visited the temple of Artemis, where Brian got attacked by a dog
o Walked to one restaurant and decided not to go because the menu sucked; instead
ate lunch at Istanbul Café where there was a little kid for a waiter
o Visited the ruins of the Church of St. John
o Bought souvenirs at a place near the Church
o Watched the sunset on the back of a truck in Sirince
o Bought fruity wine
o Ate dinner and got lots of dessert
o Drank wine and ate dessert in Kiwi Pension


Thursday, May 1, 2008

• Selçuk
o Woke up in Kiwi Pension and had breakfast
o Took a bus to Denizli
• Denizli - Took a bus to Pamukkale
• Pamukkale
o Climbed Pamukkale
o Took a mini bus to the train station in Denizli
• Denizli
o Bought tickets at train station
o Ate in a brothel
o Took a train home overnight (for 18 hours!)

Friday, May 2, 2008

• Istanbul
o Arrived in Istanbul
o Took bus back to Superdorm