From Empire to Footrest
Position: 37°03’58″N 38°22’41″E All great empires fall at some point. Or at least they have so far. The ultimate cause of failure is usually internal. If you’re a small kingdom, a duchy say, or have a castle at the far …
Category: Underway
Americans, Antiochus, and Arsameia
Position: 37°58’04″N 38°43’52″E Slipping on the snow and ice, Clio’s tyres whined with increasing urgency. She refused to move forward. Fortunately, she wasn’t involuntarily moving backwards either. The steep, narrow road was in relatively good condition. Only, it was covered …
Şanlıurfa and Monoliths
Position: 37°08’57″N 38°47’22″E Fans of 1960s epic films are familiar with two of the greatest cuts in cinema history. I’ll give you a second to consider which ones you think I’m referring to. […..] If you said the moment early …
Hatay/Antakya/Antioch
Position: 36°12’41″N 36°10’25″E Cordoned off by the police, the crowd hung back behind makeshift barricades at our hotel’s entrance. A big red and gold tour bus was the focus of most people’s attention, including the cops. That allowed us to …
Brown Signs
(Click on the map to enlarge it) Position: 36°54’08.0″N 36°44’44.3″E Brakes screeching, smoke and dust billowing from under her rear tyres, Clio, our trusty Renault, juddered to a halt. Coaxing her into reverse we pulled back for another view of …
English Practice
Position: 36°12’29″N 36°10’06″E Tourism in eastern Turkey dropped off sharply 10 years ago. The conflict in Syria, the rise and fall of ISIS, and long-standing internal struggles between the Kurds and the Turkish government meant Southeastern Anatolia was broadly off …
Of Marginal Value
The real joys of travel are found in the margins. No matter where you’re headed, a national park, an ancient monument, a museum displaying the pedestrian origins of civilisation, the things you take away are the things that engage you …
Pigeons
Position: 37°08’54″N 38°47’20″E Hiking down Rose Canyon just outside Göreme took us along its arroyo’s tortured course to an open plain five kilometres distant. In a heavy rainstorm it would be deadly. Water must cascade over the huge boulders then …
Poppin’ a Cap’n into Kapadokya
Position: 38°38’37″N 34°49’53″E Yep. Kapadokya. You’ve been saying it wrong ever since you learned the word. It’s not your fault. Some nameless Latin scholar with a speech impediment back in the dusts of time transliterated the Turkish word and forgot …