INCIRLIK TODAY
Notes from a current resident.

By Fred Moore

© 2006-2007

The village just off base has mostly grown up around the gate. It has tended to grow along the base fence line. It's called Incirlik Village, quaint name don't you think? HaHa! OK, so it's not as funny as I thought, it was just that the base's name is Incirlik and I was thinking "chicken & egg" which came first? Anyway, it has all the trappings of a tourist town. All prices are quoted in dollars and not the local currency (Turkish Lira). The conversion rate today is: 1.34 YTL to 1 dollar. Walking around out along the street is a kin to running a gauntlet, as in many tourist towns. Many of the shops have a person or two sitting out on the sidewalk trying desperately to push, pull or steer folks into their stores. They very much would like to separate you from your money. We find however if we use our meager Turkish on them, most will simply let us pass without a second urging. If you're polite and cordial with them they almost always reciprocate.

There are several restaurants along the street facing the base, only one truly fine classic Turkish however, both in their food and in their patronage. One "The Moonlight" is ALL American, we've been several times and we did not see a Turk eating there any of those visits. That tells us we need not eat there either, so we don't. (It's not a favorite of ours anyway). Nothing really wrong with the food, we just didn't come here to live an American lifestyle. The one place we do frequent is "Red Onion". It's literally out the gate and across the street. They have their menu like all the rest (quoted in dollars) but we find we can order things that are very Turkish and not on their menu. Dinner for the two of us is generally 7 or 8 dollars. Funny too, we both tend to eat vegetarian there. Nothing at all wrong with the meat dishes, it just happens that their veggie plates are awesome. They will make us almost whatever we ask. I sometimes ask for things that just don't come from this region. Memet (the gentleman) who we think is manager of the place tells us if we want something to simply ask and it can be done. He says it need not be on their menu. We do that quite often now and it's done. There are many differences between the food here and in Ankara where we were the other times we lived in Turkey. We find too, the way we ask for things makes a difference. The words are the very same but the meal can be quite different; same ingredients but made in a different style. Presentation is always good here as well.

Also out the front gate and close at hand are several other places to eat; The Royal, this place has a very nice 'pepper steak', The Great Wall, I think is the name, this is of course a Chinese place and it's quite tolerable but higher in price, Amigos is a Mexican knock-off with Italian; I know sounds very odd but their food is passable, their chips and salsa are fine! We tried all these places and simply prefer the ONE more often than any other.

Speaking of food let me try to describe some of what we eat on a pretty regular basis. There is a regional specialty here called the Adana kabob. Adana is the region/province we live in, as well as the city near by. This country is divided into many regions and each has its own unique specialties. The Adana kabob is ground (lamb) meat that is kneaded similar to meatloaf but is spicy like sausage. The amount of spice can vary from mild to quite hot. I like the medium hot, it seems to be a better favor than the not hot at all, and the very spicy one is a far too much spice for me.

The meat is molded around a skewer and grilled; the serving is probably 10 or 12 ounces. When it's served it's generally an inch or two wide, 8 to 10 inches long, and maybe half an inch thick not much more. Interestingly, no two places make it the same, it looks similar but the taste is always a little different. It's ordered by the portion: one, one and a half or whatever you feel you can eat, we usually order a portion, it's plenty enough. It has a hollow center of course where the skewer is removed. It is served on a plate with shredded raw onions (hot ones), carrots, romaine, and laid over pita bread that is generally cut into two-inch stripes. The pita bread tends to soak up the grease but it's still very eatable and there really isn't that much grease. It is served with pita bread as well, kind of a flat non-descript stuff, so lots of bread if you care to eat it. It can be and often is served with white rice as well; sometimes rice and fries at the same time. Another thing we have regularly is eggplant that has been somewhat pealed, chunked, seared and then put on a plate. It's then topped with a marinara type sauce. It comes stove hot, somewhat spicy and it's great. We also eat all types of bread; the greatest one so far on the stay here this time is flat, very crispy/toasty and covered with sesame seeds. It comes fresh from the oven, so hot at times you can't even hold it to tear it in pieces.

Bread too has regional roots, different kinds from different regions.
We order a salad of chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, little green (hot) peppers, those little things can be suffocatingly - take your breath away - hot! The salad is laden with lemon and olive oil. In a word: outstanding. I don't know how anyone can eat those little peppers I just mentioned; we tend to take tiny little bites off the end and at times we are overwhelmed with tears! We truly need to learn to ignore them on the plate BUT somehow I always have to try them. They are just not something we can eat! Another great dish is an entrée served on a plate in layers; pita bread chopped in small squares, lightly covered in a cream yogurt, sliced lamb meat, and then topped with tomato sauce and hot butter. This dish is just plain heaven; I could eat this every day, twice a day.

There are vastly more dishes I could spend hours describing but I'm making myself salivate! HaHa! Food will not be a problem for us, period! Could be a weight problem (I've gained 35 lbs. in two years) but we walk a great deal and I can rationalize it that way. There are simply very few foods here that we don't eat and few places where we won't eat it. We eat at fine dinning restaurants and at truck stops along the highway; we've never had a bad meal in this country.

So, aside from food places, there are the usual gold and silver shops. There are gun, rug, tailor, leather, watch, copper/brass, and iron fabrication shops. There are a number of furniture manufactures and automobile repair shops, fix your engine, upholstery or do body work. I'm told should you want a gun (shotgun that is) the prices are good and the quality is great. I'm not however at all interested in owning one, that could change before I leave but today I don't really think so. There are also several bars and discos that can go far into the night entertaining the GI with their loud music and usual GI treats (I'll leave the last to your imagination). The output at these places is getting attention from the base leadership right now too; a part of base housing is just across the fence and some folks are not sleeping well. I can certainly imagine, we're not close to the fence and we can hear the noise! In fact we're quite a distance across base from most of these places. I can often hear them from inside the house and as I've mentioned our home is solid concrete except for doors and windows. We have walked the entire fence line street from one end to the other. If we're not slowed too much by hawkers it takes about an hour to get from one end of the street to the other and back again; that of course includes a stop here and there.

Several of these village shops have web pages! One of them even has a branch shop in the US at Scott AFB in Illinois. They sell gold, silver, machine made rugs/carpets, towels, bathrobes and sports clothing (jogging suits and the like)! Again all the prices quoted are quoted in dollars at these shops; the prices in Illinois would be interesting to see.

So, as you can see the Village has anything you can possibly think of to shop for. The shops are open every day except Sunday; and even a few are open on Sunday. The hours are mostly ten to ten 'I think'; they vary depending on business, I would venture. I know for example that our rug man says he sometimes stays past midnight if there are people looking at carpets.

The other day we walked through the less American and smaller commercial part of Incirlik Village. We were walking an area of the central village several blocks from the base. Most of the base folks don't choose to get over there. It was a fascinating walk though because the afternoon we decided to do it there was a commotion with several cars parading down the central street blowing there horns. All matter of humanity was hanging out of car and truck windows waving at anyone walking and waving colorful scarves. A gentleman on a moped noticed us and pulled to the curb. He stopped beside us as we stood watching the parade. He explained to us the celebration was to honor several village boys who were being circumcised that day. As he put it, they were attaining manhood. This is a common practice here; the boys get all dressed up in royal capes usually of satin in brightly colored red, white or blue. They wear a hat that looks like a majorette hat with chrome and sometimes feathers along the side. They will sometimes wear a sash and carry a scepter as well. They look a little like toy soldiers. The boys are usually young (5 to 8 or even 10) and manhood certainly isn't what I'm thinking. We've not been to one of these celebrations but we've known of them for 20 years. I don't anticipate in this visit we will be going to one either. It's ONE cultural thing I would just as soon sidestep. However, I can tell you it's a very big deal here and holds an equal status with a marriage celebration.

After the excitement passed and went its way, we stopped by a local general store in the village. We bought fresh loaf bread (something like French) it's made fresh daily, several different types of local packaged cookies, Melba toast and local jam; I think it was peach. It's very likely we will go back to this store in the future for other things. There is just nothing on the economy that isn't as good or better than what we can get on base, and most all of it, FRESH! A lot of what comes to the base from the US is shipped here frozen; and that just tends to kill the flavor of some things. Produce is even imported for the grocery store on base, what a true tragedy that is, much of it from Germany. This is one of the finest places on the planet for (organic) produce and our government imports for the on base store. But there are many families here who would die if they had to eat off the economy I'm afraid. Makes no sense to us, it really unfortunate.

While walking through the village last night after dinner, we saw a brand new Porsche SUV, the model was written on the back but I can't tell you what it said at the moment. It was shiny and black and it was beautiful. Was shaped like the Nissan Murono (that is spelled wrong I imagine). I don't even want to think what it must have cost. Some Turks tend to flaunt their riches. It was here from Izmir, Turkey. Izmir is a pretty affluent little community (3.5 million) on the Aegean coast, quite a distance from here. And that was easy to tell because all license plates in Turkey are numbered by province, here we all begin with 01 and in Ankara our old city, they begin 06, and it's all done alphabetically.

Another thing we see a lot of are pushcart vendors selling all matter of things. One sells nuts, another baklava (Turkish sweets), someone else ice cream, another vendor will sell sandwiches and other food. These little carts are interesting because some are on three wheeled bicycles that can actually be peddled to where the person is going; some are four wheel flatbed carts that have to be pushed everywhere but they're still on bicycle type wheels. Some have glassed in tops and others are simply open to the elements. The hazel nut is the seller's choice right now; they are apparently in season. Most every thing here is sold by its season. There is a watermelon seller too. The vendor that sells the baklava we're told does a very good business as he walks from shop to shop pushing his cart. We've not purchased from any of these vendors since coming here this time but we still have plenty of time. Along the coast these type vendors are far more plentiful and I would guess make a very good living during tourist seasons.

VISITING KAHRAMAN MARAS

We're traveling with our good friends Jim & Chelly once again on holiday; we're on our way to Kahramanmaras as we travel east on the autobahn. This city was once known solely as Maras; Kahraman was later added as a prefix meaning 'heroic'. In Turkey's War of Independence, Maras lost the greatest number of souls to the people's cause to save the land now known as Turkey. Soon after WWI, the European allies tried to divide up Turkey's land as spoils of war, giving parts of the country to each of the allied powers and leaving only a small portion of land for the Turkish people.

Our view today is filtered through a haze making the landscape difficult to see off in the distance. We've had a great deal of rain the past several weeks and the landscape has come alive with shades of green; it's a patchwork of grain fields and forests. We can see snow on the mountains in the distance; it looks very cold and uninviting. Quite honestly, though, I love the white blanket that covers the black of the mountains. The snow cover softens many jagged cliffs and they seem far smoother than we know they actually are. It's near 50 degrees today and will edge toward 60 before the day is done; it's a beautiful day for a drive in the country. Usually at this point in the drive we can see the Mediterranean Sea off to our right but today that is simply not possible; that beautiful blue ribbon of water just isn't there. It's early in the day though and the sun has not yet had time to burn off what could be mostly fog.

Since this is Monday, the traffic is heavier than we're used to but still it's easy going. Again, I love to crest this hill overlooking Osmaniye; the valley floor is so green today and the collage of fields below look so fertile with new growth. The road ahead too is stretched out for kilometers across this great expanse of valley floor to the mountains in the distance; it looks like a belt that was dropped on Astroturf.

Now we're across that lush green valley and we're climbing up the mountain and those amazing tunnels I've talked about in the past loom just ahead; the first one we approach we can see from start to finish all the way through. All we see ahead is sky; it's as if we were going to exit the tunnel and fly! Along with the tunnels are the viaducts for the next several kilometers, as the autobahn skirts the mountains here. We traverse this tunnel and immediately shoot out across this viaduct and then the next set comes into view. Without the haze, our view would be nearly forever up here. I'm sorry my literary description can't fully illuminate this awesome landscape.

Time has marched away and we've come to our exit. We're well into the trip now and we slowly glide down the off ramp and into the tollbooth to pay our fee. Right here at the tollbooth is a gentleman selling fresh simit; there's no one behind us so we linger for a moment and get four. There nothing more delicious than a fresh soft simit for breakfast (these are very fresh) or even a snack after breakfast. I can't explain it but these simit seem especially good!

Immediately after we get past the tollbooth and the simit vendor the ramp ends and we turn north on a two-lane blacktop road. We go just a short distance though and pull into a service station for our first rest stop of the morning. As we get out of the van, I look toward the mountains behind the station; the snow cover is just picturesque. Fully refreshed we continue on our way; beside our two-lane, construction is under way to add two more lanes. This highway is obviously going to be transformed into a four-lane divided highway in the not too distant future. Traffic is steady but very tolerable; it would appear we're not headed for an unvisited community.

The road makes many a twist and turn and the construction has caused some damage to the surface but the drive is quite pleasant nonetheless. We come to and pass through a number of small villages; Beyoglu is most notable in that the city hall compound has a wooly mammoth statuary in the courtyard. The sight of that mighty, tusked beast begs the question; is there something significant about it? I will not answer that question today however; my research has turned up nothing. We pass through Turkoglu, a major village at the half waypoint on our route to our goal, and Kilili; I only mention this one because the name seems fun to say.

We've come to an area of considerable water; seems there's a river flowing here and great mounds of crushed stone or gravel has been piled up. There appears to be a dragline set up on the riverbank but I can't see it all that well, as it's behind a very large pile of stone. Off in the distance there's either a lake or some very swampy wetlands; the roadway is far too low for me to be certain what's out there. We're crossing a bridge now and up from the river rises a white heron, they are so graceful; then Chelly notes there are several off to other side of the road along the river. The water appears to be moving fast and it isn't very clear so maybe this is runoff from the combination of rain and snow.

We don't go far now and we enter the outskirts of Kahramanmaras; the sign indicates the population to be 332,000, not a small village. My meager literature tells us that there are over fifty textile mills here; we've passed a good number of them already so I don't doubt it. There's an immense statuary in this first traffic circle we encounter; this must be in commemoration of those who died fighting for independence. There are a number of bronze relief panels around the base depicting scenes of battle and the whole center pedestal is shrouded with a sculpted Turkish Flag with a hand trust outward with a gold medal facing us; very stunning work. I'm sure my description has not fully conveyed the majesty of this monument; it's quite dominant here in this traffic circle.

Just past this monument we see the sign for the city center and head in that direction. As Jim drives into the city it's evident this is a city full of life. We're not at all sure where we're going and Jim simply drives through town until we see another sign that indicates the direction to the castle. Jim and Chelly have been here before but not recently and they have not been to the castle so we follow the signs and make our way there. We wend our way through the streets and upward toward our goal. As we make the final ascent there's a hairpin turn and we're on the cobblestone street leading up to the castle. At the top we have to make a 90-degree turn right in through the castle wall. This edifice is believed to be Hittite from the 8th century B.C.; it's perched atop a hill in the center of the city and inside is this lovely small park. It's very well maintained and there is a museum containing Hittite relics from the area; we won't get inside however because it's Monday and museums are not open on Monday. This certainly will not be our last visit here though so there's plenty more time to see this attraction. We park next to the museum and get out to walk around the interior castle walls.

We're hardly out of the van before the resident security man greets us. The gentleman is very cordial and is very pleased to see us visit 'his' sight. The view of the mountains to one side of this hilltop is fully blanketed with snow and clouds; beautiful from the warmth of the park we're standing in. There's a light breeze up here and it's lovely; from here we get a panoramic view of much of the city stretched out below us. We spend a pleasant half hour walking around and Carol talks with the security policeman about where we're from and what we've come to see (he has a number of questions, just friendly chatter mostly). He's anxious to show us around and points out a number of attractions in the park, he makes a special point of showing and talking to me about the cannon on display; it looks like a small version of a howitzer; it's not new by any means, probably WWI vintage. Off the one side, on another hill, we see a very large mosque being constructed; it's very imposing on the hill adjacent ours. I'm awed by the three Turkish Flags set just a few feet apart on the castle wall; I've taken a photo trying to get them in their full glory. The Crescent & Star on that Red Field against the mid-day sky is stunning.

I must digress here for a moment; I don't know that I've ever mentioned it before but the design of the Turkish Flag is quite powerful. The design came to be after a fierce battle when a soldier noticed a star and the crescent moon reflected in a pool of blood; the Turks are a fiercely proud people and this nation was formed quite literally on the blood of their forefathers. The Flag of Turkey may be a simple design but make no mistake; this Flag symbolizes incredible depth of emotion.

As we prepare to leave the viewing platform where the flags are flying on the wall's outer edge, the security guy motions us to the far side where it overlooks the entryway we drove in through. Chelly notices the ancient entrance to the castle, a large set of green doors (probably tarnished copper) across from where we're standing. They open into a large foyer that makes a right angle toward an open entry archway, very sound ancient security measure, and no direct entry to this castle. I continue to wonder how far we have to go to be as safe as our ancestors used to be; but then I too have to laugh at how much security we have today that isn't at all secure.

OK, we've walked around the park and have seen what we could from each side and thank our security host and descend to the city below looking for a place to park. As I've indicated so many times before, parking is simply not something that gets a great deal of consideration in these cities. After a bit though we do find a parking garage and we enter and begin the descent into the bowels of the complex. I'm accustomed to ascending in a parking garage but this time we go down, and down, and down some more! As we descend it gets darker and darker; lighting does exist but it is very sparse. Lighting costs a great deal of money, so in the interest of economy there are few lights and security is not a consideration. Unlike the states, crime here is rare. There may be a florescent light ever fifty or seventy five feet! Down on the forth level we finally find space and pull directly into it; we get out of the van and the lighting is simply so weak we must adjust our eyes before we start walking and then it isn't an easy task. We ascend the ramp we've just driven down and I'm looking for an elevator. There's a wisp of sunlight sneaking in around the edges, but for the most part we're in the dark. Signs indicating an elevator exists do not make an appearance; it takes us a few minutes to even find the sign indicating what level we're on so we can find the van when we return later.

Careful movement gets us to the elevator just above us and off in a dark corner; well actually a gentleman joins us in the semi-dark and goes directly to the elevator he knows is there. He ushers us aboard the elevator and it only takes four people so he indicates he'll take the stairs and he closes the outer door. The interior door closes and we descend another floor; ops, we didn't intend to do that. We push the button and raise one floor but stop, we push more buttons but nothing; we are momentarily entrapped. Finally the door does open but we're still on the same floor. We all get off, I get in alone and suggest I'll see if it works with only one person aboard and they can call it back. I don't know why, but I get in push ZERO for the ground level and up I go. OK, I get out, shut the outer door and see that it's going down, good I think, the others can ascend shortly. Minutes later Jim and Chelly have come up to join me. The elevator again goes down; a minute later it opens in front of us and we expect Carol to emerge; Jim greets the open door as if it will be Carol but it's another gentleman. Oh well, there it goes down again, and here comes Carol, finally! That was certainly interesting.

We leave the garage and meld into the mass of humanity on the sidewalks. We've decided we're going to put off lunch for a while since we had simit just a little bit ago. We make our way to the old shopping area that is very much like a covered bazaar. We're in dreamland; shop after shop of the old world greet us -- copper, brass, wood crafts, fabric, GOLD, silver, carpets, glassware and spices, it's all here. These little alleys go in every direction; we take the first one up a flight of six or eight steps. The alley follows the contour of the hillside and ascends straight up in front of us; a number of alleys move off in both directions to our right and left. A number of vendors have greeted us as we enter this first alleyway. The ladies as usual have to stop and quiz the fabric merchants; one can never have too much fabric, HaHaHa. Jim and I humor ourselves by moving on ahead but never far enough to get away from our trusted partners. For Carol, I can't get far away because I carry the bank. Jim and I scout the next turn or alley for things of interest; yes, our interest I guess. Carol and Chelly are benevolent; they don't linger a long time in any one place so we move into and out of a number of shops, as we immerse ourselves in this experience. Chelly decides she needs some wooden rods for rolling dough; these are finely crafted sticks, maybe a meter long and used very much the same as a rolling pin. I find a shop with kilims hanging out on the alleyway but it turns out to be mostly wood chests and other types of boxes; the young lady running the shop insists we have tea and we leisurely oblige. Carol thinks we should have one of the hand-carved Koran boxes; we'll use it for our Bible. The Bible can be stored inside the box or laid open on top the box where a folding platform has been carved for the purpose. I'm very impressed with the kilims they have on display; most of them are not for sale. It's obvious to me why; these are beautifully handcrafted antique works of art.

We happen into another shop with stacks of carpetbags and small kilims; I can't resist a small bag and while I'm looking through them Jim spies a couple he wants. These pieces simply are not made anymore and they are not available in Adana either. Don't either of us need these pieces but they just can't be passed up by either of us. Everywhere around us here are gold shops and I've seen a coin in this one window I simply can't leave without. We continue to browse and window-shop for an hour or more. Down another alleyway Chelly sees a large kilim bag hanging on the wall and wants to know how much it is; we stop and question the vendor and bargain the price down to a good deal and Chelly has her bag. We find ourselves in one alleyway filled with shoes; it doesn't seem to me there are enough feet in the world for ALL of these shoes. Every city we visit has a street or bazaar alleyway that is filled to overflowing with shoes!

Our treasures are in large plastic bags and they are beginning to get unwieldy and down right inconvenient; we decide to make our way back to the van to drop them off. Right across from the garage there's a restaurant (Yenisehir Lokantasi) and we decide before we go down into that dark garage, we'll have a late lunch. We cross the street with our packages and before we get to the door of the restaurant a gentleman at the door is ushering us in. We ascend a couple steps and enter an auditorium-like facility with multiple tables and the wall to our right lined with booths. The kitchen cooking area is off to our left and everyone is smiling as they usher us to a booth. The tables are covered in white tablecloths topped by burgundy accent cloths; the wait staff is similarly attired, burgundy on white. As is our experience in these settings, the wait staff simply can't help us enough; they want to be of service in way they can. The make us very welcome.

The headwaiter has come to the table; I tell him we want to go over to the kitchen area and look at what's available. We can order from there and we do. Carol orders five different appetizers; we get soup (a specialty of the city) and we order meat dishes. When we return to the table, a large fresh mixed green salad, a large plate of yogurt and the bread have been served. Carol and I have ayran and it too is at our places. The staff hovers around the table until I tell them we're fine and will call if we need something. The food is nothing short of great; we all agree we'll come back to this place to eat another time. We don't hurry with lunch and enjoy our social time together. We talk about all we've seen and about the next time we will come. After lunch Jim and I take the bags to the van and return to the restaurant to meet the ladies who stayed behind. On our departure the staff insist we have a card, well actually a number of cards, to pass on to our friends; we take them with our thanks for the wonderful lunch.

We decide to go back for some more exploring. Jim stops to buy some pastry for his office the next day and we each have a piece; want to make sure all is good, you can't be too careful, HaHaHa. Then we walk some more, first up one street then down another. Jim and Chelly need a couple baby gifts and we go into a store for little ones. A young lady turns the shop upside down trying to get them just what they want; we leave the store with two outfits for each baby.

Kahramanmaras is noted for ice cream of a very unusual flare; it's akin to taffy, it's said you must eat it with a knife and fork. Jim and Chelly don't remember where the shop is and we have not located it on our walk so we head back for the van. But Carol wants some of this famous ice cream and simply stops a man on the street and asks where this shop is. As it turns out, we are nearly on top of the place where we stand; it's simply up the street a half block and around the corner, and we've been walking all around it! We collectively decide there's time yet in the day so up the street we go; sure enough, Yasar Pastanesi (the original Mado Ice Cream shop) is right where we're told it is. This shop is famous Turkey wide; it's filled with antiques of the ice cream business. We are lead to a very comfortable table in the back of the store and we have our ice cream. Jim and I both have standard lemon ice cream; ours is served in a metal pedestal dish. Carol and Chelly have the genuine product and theirs is served on a small dessert platter. Carol has chocolate and vanilla while Chelly has only vanilla. I very much enjoy Turkish ice cream and this treat is NO exception. Even though I didn't have the specialty of the house, I had really good ice cream. It was fun to watch the ladies eat theirs though. It appeared to be very hard and it didn't seem to melt much. Carol said it was quite delicious.

The ice cream was gone and we were preparing to leave when Chelly discovered she was short one of her packages. She searched around the table and concluded it had been left behind at the baby clothes shop. We'd been gone for a while but since this is Turkey and we know how things are here, we simply make our way back to the store in question. We're only a couple blocks away so it isn't a lot of effort even though we were not going to walk much further after all the walking we'd done already. Sure enough, the owner was glad to see us back and immediately ran to get the package Chelly had left. He said he had run down the street after us but we were already gone. Greatest people in the world, these Turkish folks.

The day was quickly escaping and we wanted to get back to the autobahn before dark, so we didn't linger anywhere on the way back to the van. Country roads are not all that inviting after dark; too many people drive without lights or ride motorbikes or bicycles without lights. Many Turks walk on the roads at night in dark clothes; it's a real challenge to drive in unfamiliar places at night. We encountered some of these exact situations toward the end of trip; drivers simply have to be alert and careful.

---------------------------------------------------------

Further Reading from Fred Moore's Travels

Fred is an inveterate traveler. It isn't enough just living and working in Turkey. He wants to pry into Turkish history, the beautiful lands of the countryside, and has a wonderful camera eye for capturing moments from his tours. The stories below have been sent to merhabaturkey.com after his original story above. They are listed newest first.

UPDATE: 12/1/2007:

The Cave Homes of Göreme

The earliest indication of such caves is given by the Greek author Xenophon, who in 401 BC passed through the highlands of Cappadocia together with Greek mercenaries on the way to Persia. He reports on the how wine, grain, fruit and vegetables were stored in underground magazines. Pliny the elder tells in the 1st century AD of how grain was stored in subterranean silos in Cappadocia, a practice that is still very much alive, and apparently kept well for decades.
    Even if Göreme is not alone in the world in having rock-cut cave dwellings that are still in use, they are, however, the most interesting due to their unique historical and geomorphological connections and their versatility. Göreme has a large number of these "fairy chimneys" which are tufa cones that have been hollowed out over the centuries to produce several stories of dwellings and storage chambers extending right up to the peak. Göreme is the only place in the world with free-standing "sky-scraper" caves. An advantage of the topography is that it allows the cave dwellings to be lit with relative ease, making them anything but the cliché picture of damp, dingy caves. The dry, breathable tuff stone also ensures a pleasant climate inside the dwellings.

If you would like to take an up-close group tour of Göreme, or would like to invite her to visit your U.S. town with her Turkish slide show and talk, contact Mehlika Seval at www.melitour.com

On 7 Oct at 10:30 in the morning, our group gathered at the information center in Göreme square, across from the bus stations, to tour five cave homes in the village. The Göreme Charity Restoration fund ( www.Göremecharity.com ) is sponsoring our tour today. We begin our tour with a short overview from Ruth Lockwood and Pat Yale of what homes we'll be visiting, along the path through the village. Also joining us on the tour are two local residents: Nico Leyssen and Ali Yavuz. We will visit Nico's home and Ali is the chairman of the fund I mentioned above. Our tour today has thirty participants and our guide is Pat Yale, the author of "A Handbook for Living in Turkey," which is available at www.Amazon.com and is well worth your review! This book is your "owner's manual" for acclimation to this wonderful country.

Pat leads us off across the parking lot, over a canal that cuts through the center of the shopping district and up a hillside to our first home visit. Pat points out the old mosque as we pass and begin to climb the hillside. We stop for another minute at a fountain that was once a central village laundry facility. Pat points out the carved vats for washing and rinsing clothes as well as the built in oven portion of the wall to one side; you can wash your family attire and cook simultaneously.

I notice just to the side and behind this laundry/cooking façade there are several carpet/kilim looms in a garden. It appears this garden is set up to dye wool and transform it into colorful carpets and kilims. I tell Carol we need to investigate this more thoroughly later!

We continue our ascent and once again briefly pause so Pat can talk to us about the five-star hotel we've come to, "Anatolian House". She tells us visitors fly into Turkey in their private jets and come to Göreme to stay here, and that one of the founders of 'Google" was a recent guest here. We ascend the hill even further now and come to the first home. We walk an incline cluttered with a bit of construction debris to get to the gate then move through it into a very lovely courtyard. A portion of the courtyard at the entry is covered with a grape vine breaking up the sunlight that comes into the space. Access to the home is attained by climbing a series of slightly curved uneven steps from this small courtyard.

Once inside our group gathers in what we would call a living room or family room. Our group is nearly too large for this small space but everyone squeezes in for Pat's lecture on the home's history. This one is a traditional home with neither renovations nor 21st century amenities. The walls are painted with a special coloring material - pigments mixed with water (white wash comes to mind) - and have numerous layers on them from annual painting. The space is small but quite cozy in appearance. We're actually in two rooms as we have the sleeping quarters to our back as we stand and sit facing Pat. But that space, too, is small, about half the size of the living room and higher than where we're standing. We keep reminding ourselves that we're in a cave home and its rooms are on different levels.

No one with a disability could easily live in these dwellings. Every room you move into has steps attached to it or ramps from one to the next. The doorways are narrow and the ceilings are low. Obviously, in times past folks were a bit shorter than today's tour group. Most of us had to bend down to get into and out of different rooms. This whole "house" was smaller than most of our own, by far. There are very few decorations adorning the walls or tables other than some artificial flowers and a few personal photographs of family. Pat points out one that is the Grandmother. We must keep in mind that this home is for the comfort of a family not accustomed to western opulence. The family dwelling here is also probably far more closely knit than most of us "modern" folks. Carol and I both wish the lady of the house a good day and thank her so much for letting us invade her personal space, even for charity.

As we carefully make our way down the steps and into the courtyard to leave, we notice the men working next door have shoveled out of our path some of their construction rubble, making our exit far easier than our entrance. The entire panorama of cave dwellings and other homes along our walking path - actually a village street - seem to be under construction. As we continue our walk, we pass piles of stone and a number of men chipping away on them to make them smooth and square for walls and other support structures. One mason I walk quite near was, I surmise, chipping away at a block to carefully curve the surface for an arch. Another was carefully carving a decorative façade into another stone that appeared to be a piece going into a series of blocks to form a tree of life or some such decoration.

Pat had planned to turn our tour group down this side street but construction required altering our route. Walking down and around the next several streets and back up to the next home on the tour we find it is fully renovated and up to date. We enter the courtyard and discover a magnificent view through a breezeway. There's a stairway to our left one can take to the roof for a more sweeping view of the valley stretched out below. Each room is separate and is entered from the courtyard; even in winter, moving from one room to another is through the courtyard. It's only a few steps between rooms but still one must pass into the courtyard. To our right is a dining/sitting room, then there are stairs down into what I'm told is an unfinished bar area, additional bedrooms and again the breezeway with benches and rocking chairs. The rockers are wrought iron with wood accents, very comfortable and wonderful with this outstanding view. This home is very lovely; one of our tour group comments, "I could easily live here!"

Pat has some challenge here gathering everyone around so we can leave - I understand their reluctance to leave this wonderful home. Everyone relents and we move on again, down the street to nearly the city shopping centers and back up the other side. Climbing and climbing we continue now into a very narrow street and come to Nico Leyssen's place which was once a restaurant and now is his prize renovation project. The facility once belonged to an Ottoman Pasha who served in Istanbul. The Pasha actually enticed a Topkapi Palace painter to come to Göreme and paint his home's interior walls with elaborate scenes. After only a few steps up to the entrance, once inside the building we're confronted with far more steps leading up to a large sunlit loft-like space. Again, we have steps into two rooms above our level and steps down into the kitchen area. There are a few photos on the wall documenting the state the building before Nico's extensive restoration. The renovation here is ongoing, and research is underway to capture the full origins of the home.

Our group collects in the uppermost room (the men's room. No! Not that men's room!) here we sit around the room on benches skirting the large space. This is old Ottoman custom: male and female occupants were not entertained in the same rooms, thus we have the men's and the ladies reception/sitting rooms. This men's room has all wood-frame construction, walls, ceiling, and floor. The room is painted with murals of country scenes and ornate decorations with some scroll patterns and scripts from the Koran. We're surrounded by windows; large ones at our level and smaller ones above with another full valley view. We're offered refreshments here - soda and water. Nico and Ali alternate the lecture as they describe the life of the building. It's abundantly clear that this was a very fine house in its day. Carol and I are immediately reminded of the magnificent Ethnographic Museum Building in Kayseri. Next to the men's room is the ladies room, again a very lovely painted room with murals of flowers and other appropriate feminine flair. The woodwork again is ornate and something not to be missed.

I don't wish to overstate the appearance of each home visited today or its full ambiance because I don't want to remove the tremendous pleasure you would get from being here in person. The immense craftsmanship in Nico's home is extraordinary.

Our next stop is Pat's personal residence. She has mentioned she has nine cats; this is not a stop for those with allergies to the feline. I notice first off the two meter wall holding up the pathway to Pat's front gate. There's NO protection from a fall should one weave off the narrow path. The gate is two wonderful ancient wood doors. Immediately, one notices the "cats' door" cut in the bottom of the gate. We enter into the usual small courtyard; there are many plants and shrubs about the area. Pat explains a small hole in the courtyard paving; seems there's a root cellar below her courtyard. Her neighbor has asked that she not cover the hole since it supplies air to his cellar. With a short introduction out of the way, we enter into the sitting room and toward the back into the dining room of her home. The dining room has two mangers carved into the wall; this was once the stable for past occupants: animals. yes, it was a stable. In the distant past many families occupied two cave homes side by side; one for the human occupants, the other for their animals. Often the heat given off by the animals was radiated through the walls to the human side, and, supposedly, some of the barnyard aromas as well. We followed in Pat's footsteps, and several of those smells arose along our way, so the past isn't far from those living with their animals even today.

Just inside Pat's front door we passed through another door to our left that opens into the kitchen created by Pat. She tells us it was simply an open space when she bought the home. She opens a door to the rear of the room and exposes a staircase to her bedroom; this used to be the chimney for the fire place. Pat says she does not wish to change the exterior appearance of her home and thus makes changes internally so the exterior maintains its original facade. She also made the staircase (where the former chimney was) to avoid going outside to the other rooms of her house. Even so, she has to move through a common outdoor hallway to go to one room. Tongue in cheek, Pat says it is a little unhandy in the wintertime!

Now, I'm afraid I must drop my story here. I simply could not continue the tour to the last home. Walking up and down all those streets and climbing untold numbers of stairs had worn me down. My knees were crying out for some relief. I left my wife with the group to visit the last home on the tour. Carol will pick up the tour from here on:

Well, up another cobbled street we go to the top - this time to view a nearly-finished cave hotel. The outlines are there but there is no furniture. Pat says the owner already has it completely booked for the Seker Bayram (a post-Ramadan candy feast/holiday during which candies and presents are given mainly to children.) which is the following weekend. Pat said she is confident the hotel will be finished! It will be very interesting to come back to see it in its final state.

Believe it or not, we are now going DOWN a hill - probably one of the steepest in the village. We pass the Kelebek Cave Hotel, the Canyon View Hotel, a couple of other pensions and even the Ottoman House (at the bottom of the hill) on our way to the last house. We walk up a gradually inclining hill about six blocks, then across the front of a group of three dwellings. Surprisingly, we are finally asked to take off our shoes. Guests and family members in most Turkish homes always remove their shoes when they come in from outside and I am surprised this is the first place where we actually do so. Fatma and Hasan own this home. They have lived here for the past 25 years, but the home has been in their family for many generations. We are ushered into the guest/reception room, a large room furnished on three sides by seating areas with cushions. Each large wall is hung with a large carpet that Fatma has made in the Avanos style. One took about seven months to make and the other (a much more elaborate composition) took eleven months. Sadly, she no longer makes carpets. True to Turkish hospitality, even during Ramadan, the Muslin month of fasting, we 'guests' are offered tea. While we wait, Fatma tells us about her family and their home. They have had many guests; last year the President of New Zealand was here and her picture is proudly displayed on the wall. The tea is ready and we are served a delicious cake as well. As we begin to leave, Fatma has set up a table with many handmade items she and her daughter have made and wish to sell. I could not resist yet another crocheted doily, this one in a large diamond shape.

This time I called it quits as the rest of the party went around to the back of Fatma and Hasan's home to view a church carved in the other side of their "fairy chimney" in this complex which was, at one time, a monastery. It is for a fascinating setting for a "modern" cave home.

The cave house tour is an extraordinary opportunity that should NOT be missed. I'm told the tour will once again be offered next spring! Keep an eye open for it, and bring your walking shoes and your camera! ENJOY!

--------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: 8/18/07:

Kastabala Hierapolis and More!

Hierapolis may have been a Greek holy city. It is an ancient city atop the famous Pamukkale hot springs located in southwestern Turkey near Denizli. As the hot springs of Pamukkale were used as a spa since the 2nd century B.C., people came to soothe their ailings here. Many of them retired and died here. The large necropolis is filled with sarcophagi.
    The great baths were constructed with huge stone blocks without the use of cement, and consisted of various closed or open sections linked together. There are deep niches in the inner section of the bath, library, gymnasium and other closed or open locations. The complex, which was constructed in the 2nd century, constitutes a good example of vault-type architecture. The complex is now an archaeological museum and is a prominent UNESCO World Heritage Site. .

Today, with several friends we head toward Osmaniye, to visit three sites: Kastabala Hierapolis, Karatepe Rugs and Karatepe Aslantas open-air museum. This will be a different adventure from those we normally take; we have two cars and five friends to show around. I'm riding with Greg, Candi and Susan; Carol will be traveling with Scott and Glenda. It was a simply beautiful day and we'd all planned to see new things. Each of us has seen these sites before to some degree but today we will see and hear things new about each one.

Once on the autobahn, we head east toward Osmaniye. After about 40 minutes we pull off the highway for a rest stop. This roadside stop is just outside of Osmaniye and a few minutes from our exit ramp. While we all take an opportunity to stretch, a red car pulls into the lot which is nearly empty and parks so close to our car the man can almost not get out of his own car. He bangs the side of our car as he extricates himself from his own; sometimes you have to wonder what goes through the mind of someone like this. He's kind enough to inspect our car (rubbing his fingers across it) but then goes about his business obviously satisfied he has done no harm.

After a short 15 minutes we get back onto the autobahn and continue to the Osmaniye exit. There is a heavy haze in the air so there is no clear view of the beautiful landscape toward the hills and mountains in this part of Turkey. We're just past the wheat harvest and many farmers are burning wheat stubble from their fields; this makes a beautiful landscape impossible to appreciate. As we near the exit for Osmaniye, we ease off the gas and glide down the ramp to pay our toll. Once past the tollbooth, I direct Greg to turn right, then shortly to turn right once more. Scott is following in his car as I provide leadership from the lead car.

We've come onto a two-lane road but it's paved and in good repair. It isn't far before we come into a village and then what appears to be a major waterworks area. The Ceyhan River flows through this region but also there are major man-made canal systems and this road seems to parallel a channel of the region's irrigation system. We come to a rise in the roadway, then a bridge that has plenty of hardware mounted to one side: mechanical locks for water diversion, we think. The channel today is full to near capacity and truly appears to be on the verge of cresting its banks. I speculate the water to be extremely cold; it is flowing with serious force as we look out across the surface.

Again we continue but not far along we encounter some brown signs; these always indicate something of historical significance. Today the sign directs our course to Kastabala-Hierapolis. It's about four miles ahead; we turn yet again onto another paved road along another irrigation channel and continue to drive.

We very much enjoy these adventures into the countryside, never knowing what to expect but never leaving disappointed by the time taken to adventure out. I especially like it when the roads are paved! The land we are passing through is all agricultural; it's fall so most of the crops have been harvested or are near harvest time. As we round a gentle curve we draw nearer to our first goal, we begin to see the castle looming far above some scattered ruins. We're looking at Kastabala Bodrum Castle. Here, just ahead, is the sign directing our turn toward the site itself.

The pathway is not paved (the weather has been dry though, so it's fine) and would be more accurately described as a two-wheel rocky tractor path to a farmer's field. It only a short drive, so we ease onto the unpaved surface then up and over a knoll in front of us to the parking area. At the entry to the site, there's a small cleared lot for parking; one might get six to eight cars in here. Also, to one side, is a wood shelter maybe ten feet square where the site attendant seems to be lodged. Opposite it is a marble fountain, with faucets, for fresh water.

We pull to a stop and park the car in the little shade available. The gentleman attendant says the entry fee is two liras per person. We give him the fee for three of us (since we've been here before some stay behind) and begin the trek up an unimproved narrow footpath strewn with loose rocks and debris; lined to each side with upright and toppled columns and other ruins. The incline is not steep but you are constantly ascending the hillside.

The colonnade is probably the length of a football field or two, it not easy to see the end from where we begin but as we look back from above it's not that long a climb. Our literature indicates the site was founded in the 1st century BC; the castle dates from the medieval age. Two thirds of the way up the pathway we find the ruins of a church. The site once boasted a magnificent column street, amphitheater, basilica, church, stadium and bath complex. At the top of the rise we're actually standing overlooking the Roman Period site; above us quite a bit higher on the jagged rock cliff stands the Bodrum Castle/Fort from the Middle Ages: 1300 - 1400. As we look away from the castle above across the valley below, we see the theater with seating for some 10 or 12 thousand people, maybe more, it's a small theater as compared to some we've visited. It's also fairly intact for something from the 1st century BC. Just beyond it and in the flat of the valley are some partial ruins of two structures, the stadium and the hamam. But the imagination must be engaged to view these structures. Around the entire site off to some distance there are remains of constructed tombs and tombs carved from the rock cliffs above us. I find it quite fascinating that the signs at the entry to the site were only placed there in 2001. Obviously this is one of those numerous archeology sites that just has gone unattended for a very long time. It's a site worth your time!

The literature, to which I refer, I've collected from the Internet, as the books I have do not discuss this ruin at all. We're given a leaflet at the entry point but it fails to fully enlighten us to what we're viewing as well. Those books that do mention it simply state its existence and move on with no discussion of it in any full way. That's a real pity because it's obvious this was a center of some renown at one time in the very distant past. This is a fate of many sites throughout Turkey; there simply are not enough resources on earth to excavate the multitude of sites across this great country. How sad!

Again referring to the literature, it is noted that in the fifth century AD this whole area was rich in olive oil and exports from here were considerable. However, today we see little evidence of that; from where we're standing, I see no olive trees at all. There is a great deal of agriculture in progress here though and the earth looks very rich.

We spend about thirty minutes wandering around these ruins and carefully make our way back down the trail to the car. We bid farewell to the attendant and turn the car toward Karatepe and our second goal of the day, the kilim cooperative.

We wend our way through some more beautiful countryside as we ascend the hills ever climbing toward Karatepe. We progress first turning this way then that way then back until we curve and climb into even more spectacular landscapes. We come to the brown sign for Karatepe but I tell Greg to pass it by we have a few miles yet before the right turn to the kilim village. Another ten minutes or so and there's the sign indicated our right turn; we descend onto a gravel road and curve and fall into the valley below. This is a road you hope you don't meet anyone coming at you on; it's passable but only in places and it's simply better to not meet anyone. We descend for ten or fifteen minutes and then out on the plateau we see the village just ahead. As Greg makes his final turn into the village the road narrows even more with fencing on both sides of the car. Look out there's a chicken, it's a hen; it's extremely thin but running like mad right down the left tire track just in front of us! We simply follow behind as there's no where to go, then as quickly as it came it's gone.

Immediately on the right is the kilim facility we've come to visit. We pull into the parking area and under the tiny bit of shade there for us. Before we can get out of our cars two young women have come out to greet us. We're taken first into the show room; this is a large open room with kilims hung all about the walls and draped over easels. There are bench seats around half the room all adorned with kilim works from the looms on the premises. We all take time to visually consume the pieces strewn about showroom. After a short period of investigation we all move to the building adjacent to the showroom - one I'll call the loom-room. In this building there are 12 or 14 looms set up and 8 or 10 girls weaving kilims as we watch.

The first loom to the left inside has two girls, one working from the front and one working from the back. Very interesting; I had not thought one could weave from both sides but it looks easy. These girls are using 100% wool to create these wonderful pieces; all the work is done on site from the dyeing of the wool to the weaving of each piece. Designs can be brought in and commissioned kilims can be produced as well. We are all taking special note of one loom where the young lady is weaving a kilim with Adana's Roman Bridge, Mosque and Ceyhan River in it; this is a beautiful kilim and we try to buy one. Not for sale we're told, too bad. It appeared that several were being made; I suspect they were probably for an Adana business or individual.

We spent about an hour at the cooperative; the ladies all bought a small sample of the kilims available and then we departed. It was nearing lunchtime so we decided to do lunch before we stopped at the Karatepe out door museum. I suggested we weren't far from Kadirli and should go to lunch there. We ascended the same road to get back where we'd come from; we met no one as we climbed either, thank you.

Once atop the mountain again we headed off for Kadirli. We drove across one razorback after another with serious drops on both sides of the car. The roadway seemed to be placed on the only flat surface available at this elevation. One curve brought us a panorama with a lake view the next spread out before us a vast agricultural vista. Cultivation of crops has to be a significant challenge on these hillsides. I can't imagine a tractor on many of them but it's obvious they use tractors up here; we see them everywhere. We travel for nearly forty minutes before the city comes into view. I know my companions were beginning to think I'm crazy talking about this city that never seemed to materialize.

We drive the full extent of the city and as we leave the city limits on the road to Kozan we come to our lokanta for lunch. This is a service station "Opet" where Carol and I have had a wonderful meal in the past. We all review the meat selections in the cooler (there's Adana kabob, chicken, lamb chops and shish kabob) and name our choices. We move a couple tables into place so all seven us can be seated together; we get drinks and salads while we await our main courses. The salads have come and everyone comments on their size. Greg and Glenda think these may be for sharing; no, they simply are individual serving. Along with the salad are three serving plates (to be shared) of onions, chopped tomatoes and a combo of hot peppers and pickles. We get through our salads and here come the main courses; again there are comments about portion size.

We spend at least an hour savoring this wonderful meal; great friends, great food and lively conversation make our day to this point very rewarding. We wrap up our leisurely lunch with tea and a rest stop. The proprietor bids a fond farewell and asks us to come back soon. We all get back into our cars and head back to the mountaintop at Karatepe-Aslantas. Our drive back up the mountain didn't seem as far or as long as that trip down to the lokanta.

We arrive at the final goal of the day and pull into the parking area. Immediately the ladies are captivated by the spoon carver. This gentleman must have several hundred carvings available for purchase. There is a multitude of spoons and then there are bowls and other adornments for one's table. Each of the ladies buys a number of different things and we tuck them away in the cars so we can walk the trails unencumbered.

We ascend the hillside to the museum building to pay the entry fee - 2 lira again. This site dates from the 8th century BC and was brought to the attention of archaeologist by shepherds who tended their sheep and goats through these mountains. There were stories of a lion stone in the mountains but the archaeological community was always skeptical until finally in 1946 a group decided to investigate the sightings. The stone was found and the site excavation began shortly afterward. In 1952 the site was considered completely free of further discoveries and the original excavator (Dr. Bossert) chose to abandon the site; his colleague (Dr. Cambel) chose to stay on, ultimately making Karatepe-Aslantas her life's work. She is fully responsible for the open-air museum we visited today; the first of its kind in Turkey.

Once we pay our fees we want to see the indoor museum but we are directed up the hill path; we protest we want to see the museum contents first. Fortunately we have Candi along and she makes our case for the indoor museum. We learn the 'usual' and the staff's preferred method is that you do the outside trail FIRST then you do the inside and finally wrap up the whole trek with the video presentation. We wanted to complete of visit 100% backward; video, indoor museum them outdoors. We only won a concession on the indoor museum so we did two, one and three instead of one, two and three!

This is NOT a visit to be done in August! This whole complex is well worth the visit but the height of summer is NOT the proper time. There is NO air conditioning in the museum facility except in the video room. The climb and the circular trail of the outdoors is demanding and it ascends and descends steeply. This is NO walk in the park if you pardon my pun! Our initial ascent is to the south gate where you can mount the wall and get a view of the entire mountaintop. The Ceyhan River has been dammed at this elevation and the reservoir created by the dam is very beautiful.

As we turn our backs on the river view we are staring directly into the south gate with its walls of pictographs and hieroglyphics. Another most important historical notation here has to do with language translation; thanks to a parallel Phrygian and Hittite hieroglyphic the Hittite was finally translated. This was the first real breakthrough to any translation of Hittite hieroglyphics. Some of the significant pictographs at the south gate are the galley, the hunting scene, a women suckling a baby and a life size statuary of the storm god Baal. There are plenty of individual scenes to review and all are fairly visible for rocks that are nearly 3000 years old! Once we leave Baal standing alone, we begin our descent down the other side of the mountain. We're now headed for the north gate and a whole new set of stone panels. This could also be called, the sphinx gate, as there is one to either side of the entry here. This gate deserves another pause as you walk around looking at a completely different set of stone etchings. Two fierce lions flank the outer most walls at this gate just beyond the sphinx.

We leave the north gate now and descend further to the museum below. Once we get back to the museum we are directed into the video building and sit for a 30 or 40 minute presentation on the site we've just traversed. The video is partially narrated English and peppered with English subtitles elsewhere. The Adana Rotary Club on the 50th anniversary of site's first excavation created the video and a brochure to highlight the site. Karatepe-Aslantas is dedicated to Dr. Cambel, a bust of her likeness stands at the entry to the site. Dr. Cambel was also instrumental in the creation of schools and educational opportunities for children in the shadow of this amazing discovery. Her thoughts was simple; to preserve the historical significance of this area the population living near to and around it must know and understand their ancestors and their ancient life.

Once again, even though we've been to each of these three destinations before it's always great to join like adventurers for more discoveries. It's extremely difficult to venture out, even to those places one has already been and not stand in awe before the magnificence of these centuries old ruins. Scott and Greg both reminded me of my fantasy of standing in the mist of ancient Rome or Hittite civilization; stand silently among these ruins and hear the cacophony of commerce, social intercourse and nature all about you! This thought brings our day to a close, we head for the cars and for home.

Fred Moore GS-11
QA Orientation/Trainer
TBMC Contract Administrator