A not-to-be-missed experience when you're in Turkey: the Turkish Bath. This is not just for tourists, but for Turks as well. This ritual comes from a time before most homes had indoor plumbing, it survives as a social and relaxation experience. Your job, when you go to the bath: to do nothing.

We indulged at a Hamam in Cappadocia. Many baths are segregated, but this bath was not (men and women were together,) so we wore bathing suits under our pestemals (cotton wraps.)

Relaxing and chatting by the basins, we doused ourselves with hot water for 5 or 10 minutes. Then some time in the sauna. Then relaxing on a marble slab in the warm room, or more dousing. The idea is to relax and get your skin soft. After a time, an attendant beckons you into a bath room. Sitting down, you are scrubbed raw with a rough silk glove, and it's amazing how much dead skin comes off! A massaging shampoo and rinse. Then lie on a bench for a soapy body massage. More rinsing, relaxing. And feeling cleaner than you can imagine. Voilà, the ultimate cure for office stress!

One of the highlights of our trip hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia. Fourteen people and a pilot in a very large basket. With the interesting landscape and nearly always calm morning winds, this is a popular activity, and the sky was filled with balloons.

Our hostess, Fahyire

We had the opportunity to have lunch with a Turkish widow, Fahriye, at her home. (Twenty-six pairs of shoes all lined up outside her village door.) She spoke to us through our guide, Alp, answering our questions about Turkish life, and posing questions to us. Lunch was a traditional stew of beans and meat, with bread and a fresh salad.

Fahriye's mom joined us for lunch. She is in her 80's, and still works in the vineyard every day. Mom took a liking to one of our single tour members, and tried matchmaking Marleigh with one of her grandsons.

One of things we love about taking tours are the opportunities we could never arrange on our own---such as a visit with an imam.

An imam in Turkey is the equivalent of a minister, priest or rabbi, although imams are civil servants, paid by the state. There are no mullahs in Turkey, and being an imam is a spiritual, not political position.

We spent some time with a local imam in the town of Guzelyurt, with Alp translating our questions and his answers. Imam Seyit is married and has a one and half year old son. He has graduate degrees in theology, having studied all monotheistic and some eastern religions. Bob's question: what is the part of his job he enjoys the most? His answer: doing what he was doing right now, teaching and educating people about what Islam truly means.

Unless you speak fluent Turkish and know exactly where you're going, a trip to Turkey will include the mandatory visit to a carpet shop. Some very friendly Turk will notice you on the street...Where are you from? Welcome! Come, let me show you something... Everyone wants just five minutes of your time...come into my shop, have some tea... Although it's hard sales, everyone is very friendly, and the carpets are truly beautiful.

We visited a carpet co-op, where we had the chance to see carpet weavers at work, and learn about the different materials that are used.

Unlike single-knotted Persion carpets, Turkish carpets are made with a double knot technique. Watching some carpet weavers, we could not keep up with how fast they could tie these knots, especially considering the intricate patterns they worked on. A single carpet can take six to eight months to complete, and a fine carpet may have over 500 knots per square inch!

One evening after dinner at the Greek House, we had the chance to enjoy Turkish dancing & music, thanks to some of Alp's friends. The instrument on the right is the saz.

One night, we had a sleeping berth on the 9 hour train ride to Ankara. The berth was actually quite cozy, with two convertible bunks, a small refrigerator, sink and some towels. The bunk was not quite long enough for Bob, but that didn’t stop him from catching a good night’s sleep. (No such luck for Diane. The overnight train is an interesting experience, but once is enough.)

Left: Our cabin on the overnight train

Way more comfortable than the train was our room at the monastery in Güzelyurt. This stone building was converted into a hotel, with enormous second floor rooms right under the stone arches. Our room had beds for five people, and beautiful handmade quilts and wall hangings.

This monestary was so peaceful, we could have spent a week there.

Right: Our room in the monastery in Güzelyurt, under the stone arch.

All over the country, in any souvenir shop you'll find the ubiquitous nazar, or blue glass evil eye. This is not just for tourists, as Turks believe the eye will ward off jealous eyes, and they hang them in their cars, homes...where ever. (Our bus driver had two.) The eye is made into magnets, jewelry, wall hangings, and all sorts of trinkets large and small.

Diane's first restaurant toilet experience. Some tourist before her apparently didn't know that the paper goes in the trash bin.

We also saw one car on the highway with chicken blood on the license plate. When a new car is purchased, some people will kill a chicken and give the meat to a poor family, first smearing some of the blood on the plates---this is meant to protect the occupants.

Although our hotels all had European style toilets, many public restrooms had both the European and Asian style ("squatter") toilets, which is pictured here. (Small restaurants sometimes only had the latter.) All European style toilets have a built-in bidet: a handle on the wall turns on the water to the spigot near the back of the bowl, washing your backside. It works great, but when we looked into them at home, the cheapest available in the US is at least $2000.