Asia – Traveling Epic!

Natural Wonders of the World – Underground River of Puerto Princesa

May 7, 2018Posted in Adventure, Asia, Bucket List, Favorite, Island, Oceania, Photography, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, WonderTagged National Park, New7Wonders, palawan, Philippines, ramsar wetland, Unesco, Wonders of the WorldLeave a comment

Philippines is hidding a real gem. In fact, scratch that, they are hiding some of the most amazing islands for vacation in the world. I’ve been to the main island a couple of times, but it was this intentional visit to go see the 7 natural wonders of the world that brought me to the little gem of an island of Palawan. Puerto Princesa Underground River started with a motor boat ride to the nearby beach to an outfitter to provide us with smaller boats bright mandatory big orange life jackets and shiny hard hat helmets.

The puerto princesa national park is a limestone karst mountain landscape. The actual St. Pauls Underground River Cave is more than 24 km (15 mi) long and contains an 8.2 km (5.1 mi) long underground section of the Cabayugan River. The river system of the cave flows into the West Philippine Sea and is navigable by boat up to 4.3 km (2.7 mi) in from the entrance. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers, including the 360-meter-long Italian’s Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters of volume making it one of the largest cave rooms in the world.

Tourists getting ready to enter the cave

Just inside the cave system

On the first boat headed to the beach with the smaller boats

The island of Palawan has many uniquely styled canoe boats designed to move quickly over the water

The boat captains love and live on the water. It is life.

Bats, snakes, birds, there’s a lot of life going in and out of the caves.

Chili crab. Some of the best food on a banana leaf.

The boats are a very important part of life on Palawan island

I stand back to back with our guide and she’s next to one of the indigenous oldest elders. They are known as pygmy people due to their height.

Palawan not only has an underground river cave system, but also native tribes! This friendly looking tribe recently emerged from the forest. They danced with us and taught us about their mythologies and shared traditions. A young guide who is from another nearby tribe can speak their language and helped us communicate with them. The young ones are now attending a school built right next to the huts, the teacher resides nearby.

There are 70 indigenous peoples and the Bataks are thought to come from Asia 50,000 years ago. The island of Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, is home to several indigenous ethnolinguistic groups namely, the Kagayanen, Tagbanwa, Palawano, Taaw’t Bato, Molbog and the Batak tribes. They live in remote villages in the mountains and coastal areas. We drove as far as we could and then walked across 6 streams to this remote village. We visited this small tribe of about 17 individuals, some of the last of the Batak tribe. The Batak tribe is a group of indigenous people who reside in the rugged interiors of the northeast portion of the province of Palawan. These group of people lives close to nature and are extremely peaceful and shy, traditionally they believe in nature spirits with whom they communicate with through the aid of a shaman. At present, there are only about 500, or less, Batak people remaining in the Philippines. This group is now Christian and preferred not to talk about the old beliefs, but did tell us how much their lives changed when they found rice. It was rice ultimately that drove them from hiding in the forest to coming out and coexisting with the other people.

Mass Dance Pyongyang North Korea Travel

April 11, 2018May 7, 2018Posted in Adventure, Asia, Culture, Extreme, WarTagged DPRK, Korea, North KoreaLeave a comment

It wasn’t until I was in Chernobyl that I met my first traveler that had visited North Korea. I’d later meet a traveler in Mongolia. It always felt impossible until this older lady said she it was amazing adventure. I’m a time traveler, so I get a kick out of visiting the 60s. There are really very few places that allow one to go back in time and DPRK is definitely in that category.

Update: Travel is now blocked for the majority of US Citizens. I visited a couple of years ago when it was just thought impossible. Now it’s a lot harder for Americans.

More details on the Chinese Consulate website. If you’re looking for a special passport that would allow you to travel to North Korea you can get one here on the

Travel Restriction

As of September 1, 2017, U.S. passports will not be valid for travel to, in, or through North Korea (also known as Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK).

The U.S. Department of State may grant an exception to qualified applicants by issuing a passport with a special validation that will be valid for only one trip. These specific, one-time-use validations will be issued on an extremely limited basis.

Travel to, in, or through North Korea on a U.S. passport without this special validation may justify revocation of your passport for misuse under 22 C.F.R. § 51.62(a)(2) and may subject you to felony prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 1544 or other applicable laws.

Who Can Get a Special Validation Passport?

We will only issue a Special Validation Passport if your trip is in the national interest, and you meet all regular passport requirements.

Your trip might be in the national interest if any of the following are true:

You are a professional reporter or journalist and the purpose of your trip is to collect, and make available to the public, information about the DPRK.

You are a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross or the American Red Cross traveling on an officially-sponsored Red Cross mission to the DPRK.
Your trip to the DPRK is justified by compelling humanitarian considerations.
Your trip to the DPRK is otherwise in the national interest.
More information on the US State Department website on Travel to North Korea.
All of this being said, let me tell you a little about my trip to the isolated country.

I won’t use this post to talk about the politics… Anyone who ever decides to go to a place that has a required guide and package encourages one to follow the rules. Iran, Turkmenistan, and DPRK are all good examples of places where you should follow the rules to the “T”. It would be insane to cross any of these regimes as a traveler within their borders.

Mansu Hill Grand Monument

The central part of the monument consists of two 20-meter (66-foot) tall bronze statues of Supreme North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

In North Korea, the following – whether done knowingly or unknowingly – have been treated as crimes:
- Showing disrespect to the country’s former leaders, Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il, or the country’s current leader, Kim Jong Un, including but not limited to tampering with or mishandling materials bearing their names or images;
Entering North Korea without proper travel documentation;
Possessing material that is in any way critical of the DPRK government;
Proselytizing or carrying out religious activities, including activities that may be construed as such, like leaving behind religious materials;
Engaging in unsanctioned political activities;
Traveling without authorization, even for short distances;
Having unauthorized interaction with the local population;
Exchanging currency with an unauthorized vendor;
Taking unauthorized photographs;
Bringing pornography into the country;
Shopping at stores not designated for foreigners; and
Removing or tampering with political slogans and signs or pictures of political leaders.
Our guides explained to us if we couldn’t do the

September 9 Mass Dance

Pyongyang, DPRK

The old Korean Ladies at the Park who love to dance and sing

Pyongyang a city of contrast – Where else in the world can you rise to political marching music

Ride the train. Are we riding the train that rides to nowhere with passengers that are riding it because that’s what they were assigned to do?

History

Spectacular fountains reaching for grandeur

Mansudae Fountain Park The park’s centerpiece, 28 angelic-looking white statues of women performing a dance called the “Snow Falls.”

There are more statues in Pyongyang…

Sad, happy, the kids are the future.

The Times… The Pyongyang Times

A Chollima is a mythical winged horse that originates from the Chinese classics and is commonly portrayed in East Asian cultures. This winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted (by any mortal man)

My favorite thing about the very light traffic of Pyongyang was the old school but lovely super cool traffic police

Pyongyang Beerfest performances

Mass Dance under the watch of the Dear Leaders

It was on this ride in Pyongyang that I had a moment. I held the hand of a DPRK citizen for about 2 minutes. It was as if to reach out in a silent way and attempt to connect with my soul. It worked. I really feel for the people. I pray for the people of North Korea I wish them the best, I hope for them God given freedoms of faith, expression, and thought.

As Kim Jong Un meets with the Chinese President and the American President may they all consider the future of the people of all nations. There are good innocent people that deserve our love.

I’m very hopeful for peaceful resolution. I welcome a denuclearized Korean peninsula. I visited Guam last Winter after the escalations. It’s no fun to travel with the idea that something may happen and everyone is on their toes.

I still can’t believe I was in my hotel room in Pyongyang when I found out a Nuke had been tested in North Korea and the TV in the hotel told me while I was there shared news through the only news channel in the hotel… Al Jazeera TV. Quickly our situation escalated. What if we couldn’t get home? The next morning we were bumped from our flight. The first plane leaving the country was overbooked and we joined a number of locals headed to China for education on the next flight. That easily was one of the highest risk nights of my life….

Here’s to peace and a denuclearized Korean Peninsula! Anyone in the world considering a trip should consider the risks and make sure you have no ulterior motives.

Top 10 Must See in Baku Azerbaijan: Fire Temple, Mud Volcano, and Early Man sites

November 3, 2014November 3, 2014Posted in Asia, Eastern Europe, Tourism, Travel, Travel Tips, UNESCO, VideoTagged ateshgah, azerbaijan, baku, fire temple, volcano, zoroastrian3 Comments

In my quest to visit every country I wasn’t sure what to expect with Azerbaijan. What looked like a small country with a checkered past sprinkled with war and conflict with Armenia. I was definitely interested in learning about the people, the culture and learning what Azerbaijan had to offer the world and for fellow travelers. I wasn’t disappointed, in fact I was blown away with the treasures of this land.

What I found was fantastic. Azerbaijan is a very culturally rich country with a deep past. A former soviet block country with it’s own history and it’s own identity, Azerbaijan is rich. Rich culturally and figuratively with oil and very culturally rich.

Baku is in and of itself a stand out city that should be held up against the greatest in the region in comparison with Dubai and Doha .

1. Baku Zoroastrian Fire Temple – Ateshgah of Baku.

The Temple of Fire “Ateshgah” on the List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO. It’s been a museum since 1975. The fires use to come out of the top of the 4 corners. This fascinating fire temple was a place of worship long ago and most of the history before 1700 has been lost.

In front of the fire temple

This recreated piece shows what it would have been like, complete with Zoroastrian pilgrims and Persians

Modern Baku – Baku is a fascinating city with many modern buildings that would boggle the mind. I thought I was in Dubai or Qatar when I started seeing the array of modern, brilliant and fantastic architectures.

2. Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center

– amazing example of modern architecture. The white building is a major landmark in the heart of Baku City. The immaculately white building comes in the shape of waves. It is no doubt an impressive structure and an great achievement in field of modern architecture and engineering. I can’t imagine trying to make the bricks for this. No lines are straight!

3. Baku Flame Towers

is a striking new addition to the skyline of Baku. Located atop a hill on the Caspian Sea overlooking Baku Bay and the old city center, the three towers were inspired by Azerbaijan’s ancient history of fire worshipping, and will illuminate the city and act as an eternal flame for modern Baku. 190 Meters… towering above old town.

4. World’s 2nd Largest Flag Pole – National Flag Square –

The flag square is one end of the boardwalk, so really you’re just on one end of the Caspian sea and 5K walk through the park across the street from the Old Town.

The flag you see was the largest in the world until Dushanbe Tajikistan took it over by just 3 meters. Big flag.

I suggest you either take the

5. Steps for City View Funicular and night time viewing of the Flame Towers

up to the top to get a close up view, or ask your taxi or driver to take you to the steps shown to get a close up view of the Flame Towers. This is a must see spectacle lighting up the night sky with fires.

6. Must See Sunrise and Caspian Sea and seaside boardwalk

Baku is a beautiful city, and walking along the seaside boardwalk and heading for a jog at sunrise is incredible. Beautiful sunrise creeping up over the Caspian sea. You can see the oil residue in the water. It’s not appealing, but the jog or walk along the the sea side can’t be beat. I recommend Milli Park, which is right near the Maiden tower, which is in Old Town. So very easy to combine visits to a bunch of this stuff.

Seaside Boulevard was opened in May 2012 and extends from the ‘Baku Sports Palace’ (Bakı İdman Sarayı) to the ‘National Flag Square’.

7. Mud Volcanoes

– The worlds mud volcanoes are in large part in Azerbaijan. They say that more than 50% of the worlds mud volcanoes are in this country. I don’t doubt it. It hasn’t become the tourist attraction it deserves. We had the whole place to ourselves. Our driver really didn’t want to take us in his nice car, but we twisted his arm and the offroad dirt roads he took to get there, I now understand his hesitation. It was probably my favorite thing we did there. The mud was bubbling up creating cinder cones of mud, we played around. It’s not hot to the touch, in fact it was cool. Very strange and fascinating world.

8. Gobustan Early man site and Petroglyphs – UNESCO world heritage site.

Early man carved out these holes to capture water for drinking.

Gobustan Rock Art – outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The invading armies of Alexander the Great and Trajan also left some interesting grafitti. We didn’t find this on our journey… may have been inside the gated area, but we really enjoyed what we saw. So much there, but you’d likely need a guide to get off the route and see more.

There were a lot of petrogliphys. We did the self guided tour, and later stopped in the museum that’s near the entrance of the park. It was fascinating to see. We combined seeing the mud volcanoes and the petrogylphys and early man stuff in Gobustan.

Walking through the center of town you’ll find a fascinating walking street through the town. Be sure to take the underground walk ways when you encounter busy streets and obey the traffic signs. The cars won’t stop for you. There are lots of fountains and fascinating things to view walking through the city.

9. Old City and Maiden’s Tower – Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage site)

First thing to see in the city and likely where you should stay near… this mysterious and eccentric tower was built somewhere between the 7th and 12th centuries and may have served as a fire beacon, defensive fortification, astronomical observatory, or Zoroastrian temple

Old City Baku

If you like Sports… check out the 2015 European Games planning on Baku Azerbaijan as the host. They are getting state of the art stadiums to host the games.

10. Bibi-Heybat Mosque –

The Bibi-Heybat Mosque is a historical mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan. The existing structure, built in the 1990s, is a recreation of the mosque with the same name built in the 13th century by Shirvanshah Farrukhzad II Ibn Ahsitan II, which was completely destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1936. The Bibi-Heybat Mosque includes the tomb of Ukeyma Khanum (a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad), and today is the spiritual center for the Muslims of the region and one of the major monuments of Islamic architecture in Azerbaijan.

What I missed, that I wanted to see.

Go and enjoy the oil baths of Naftalan. Seriously baths of crude oil… petrol!

The Baku Airport is one of the few in the world offering flights to Nakhchivan and travelers heading that way should book a flight from here. My friend Michael who traveled with me was able to fit it in and spent a good day there.

Discovering Kyrgyzstan Land of Mountains

June 28, 2014March 9, 2016Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Culture, Favorite, Food, History, National Park, Nature, Photography, Road Trip, Tourism, Travel, UNESCOTagged Ala Archa, Bishkek, burana, issuk kul, Kyrgystan, kyrgz republic, lake, mountains, petrogliph5 Comments

Oh Kyrgyzstan, how I love thee. What an incredible culture. I really really enjoyed the people and mountains of this vast rugged territory. The loyalty and incredible friendliness of the people still strikes me. I really enjoyed visiting these amazing places that were important sites of the silk road and played an important part of the world’s history that has since been lost in much of the history books and easily overlooked. These former soviet republics have a history of their own and are very worth visiting as they each have their own cultures and traditions.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I discovered I’d have 4 days in Bishkek before we’d continue on to Almaty. At first I was a little worried by what I’d seen on simple image searches of Bishkek. As a city you can see it in a day or based on my drivers thoughts… an hour, but get outside the city and day trips and you’re in one of those lifetimes that you need to have to find the depth. I need to share some stories to help you really understand why Kyrgyzstan really captured my heart and became one of my favorites.

I want to help you understand how I saw this place which really reveals my formula. If you look at the pictures of what I saw vs. a quick image search of Bishkek or even a virtualtourist.com search of Bishkek and you see a big difference. On this trip, I took a traveler’s perspective. I did very little research before going. I made a reservation because I had heard from a friend who was there a few months prior that I might have a challenge in the airport. I personally have never allowed language to stop me from visiting a place, but I did once have to visit more than half a dozen taxis on an island in China to find one driver who could take me where I wanted to go. In this case, I like to build a home base. I like to make a connection with a local and a hotel to start my travel from.

On facebook I started with a search, “My friends who live in Kyrgyzstan” – 0 results. “My friends of friends who have friends who live in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan” – a handful of results. I reach out to Monica, and ask her if she could introduce me to her friend Azat. After being introduced, I discovered that not only did Azat live in Bishkek, but he spoke pretty good English and had even visited the United States. Monica had visited him while in Bishkek and with that introduction, I had a true friend. In the world of Kyrgyzstan that friendship I would find would be so profound. The people have a rich heritage and rich loyalty.

I was traveling to speak at a conference in Barcelona and planning a trip across Central Asia, but my friend Michael had already visited Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He’s the one who had mentioned language may be a challenge. With Barcelona as my starting point I found a flight on Pegasus airlines a very discounted airlines that has some really fascinating destinations. For approximately $250 I could fly from Barcelona and connect in Istanbul to Bishkek on a flight that would take about 10 hours or so to arrive. For the price, I was crazy not to take it. In all my travels across Central Asia, this flight would save me about $1000 vs other routes. I did some searching and made a reservation with Booking.com at RIch Hotel.

Four stars and an 8.4 user rating for $70. I was pretty excited. I was pretty happy with Rich Hotel. The facility met my needs. Good bed, clean sheets, ok (free) hot personally made breakfast (eggs and toast) and juice, but it was the driver that I really connected with. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but over the course of the few days, we both got really comfortable with each other.

My driver would me on private tours of the city, take us to some fantastic places. Here’s the quick list of where we went and amazing must see places. I’ve been surprised how some of these fantastic places haven’t really been discovered.

Bishkek

Ala-Too Square

This square is the central square for the city and in the past has been a place of gathering for political protest it still is a great place to see the people gathering and children playing around the fountains. Across central asia, fountains are found in the centers of cities and the people go there to relax and socialize with their friends.

Ала-тоо аянты Площадь Ала-Тоо is the central square in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan. The square was built in 1984 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Kyrgyz SSR. At one point it had a statue of Lenin that was later moved to a smaller square. Erkindik(Freedom) was installed in its place it has a statue of Chinghiz Aitmatov. You can read about it’s significance in the Tulip revolution for gathering and protest in 2005.

Interesting Soviet style buildings from 1984 surround the fountains.

It was at the square that I saw this wise man, I wanted to talk with him and ask him if I could take his picture. He didn’t speak any english, but my driver from the hotel helped us find out that he was from deep on the other side of Kyrgyzstan and he was visiting. He was anxious to talk with me and share. As my first real interaction with a local that wasn’t associated with airport or hotel, I was very impressed with how nice he was and how he was happy to let me take his photo and share his wisdom.

This little Kyrgyz girl was gathering dandelions and flowers. I couldn’t resist taking a photo to capture the memory. So innocent.

Old Russian Orthodox church in Bishkek was a quick pass by. I asked the driver to stop so I could take a picture. Going inside was even more fascinating. During the Soviet times, religion was repressed, and few of these buildings remain. The church on the right above is bombed out, but the domes remain.

It so happened while I was in Kyrgyzstan there were celebrations to honor the world war II veterans and remember… Never forget. With as much opposition as there has been it’s very interesting to think that the US and Russia were allies during both world wars.

Ala Archa

Less than an hour outside the city and for about $30, I full day trip to explore the mountains. Think Switzerland, but even more remote and unseen and unknown by western ways. Ala Archa is a national park that has a small fee, but has trails to falls and along glacial rivers with incredible views of the valleys.

Swiss Chalet? Looks like it, but here you can get fresh water or some soup or local horse or sheep milk yoghurt drink.

This is life in rural Kyrgyzstan. Simple, traditional, and living life the way the ancestors did. Huge respect for this type of natural living. Is there more green ways than the idea that no one should own the land and that we are simply transient and all of us will move on in our journey in life?

It wasn’t unusual to find shepherds tending their flocks of sheep, goats, and cattle. What was unique about this was my driver offering to talk to the shepherd to allow me to ride his horse. Sure enough he obliged and I had a great ride around the little hills.

I referred to my facebook friend Azat. He arranged to meet me after my excursion in the hills. He was getting off work and invited me to have a traditional meal with his family. I was very very excited to have such an authentic experience to really meet locals that I could talk to and better get to know what life was like in Kyrgyz. He was a technology guy like myself, so we already had that in common. He picked us up at our hotel and brought us to his apartment in the city of Bishkek. Azat has two little boys and an amazing wife who spent probably all day working on our meal. The food was amazing. What’s better than traditional Kyrgyz Home cooking? They made this traveler feel like I was a dignitary. Very special treatment. They were so nice and kind, and so willing to do whatever was needed. I wasn’t hungry for days afterward. I still get a big smile when I think about how incredible it was to make a local connection and meet a real family to experience the traditions and values. Even though I was only in Kyrgyzstan for a few days, this connection will last a lifetime. I hope I can return the hospitality some day Azat!

Azat and family were so cute. I had an amazing time getting to know them and sharing some of my life experiences with them. We shared stories and really connected. His wife played on her traditional instrument the komuz the national instrument.

At the top of the Yurt is the iconic symbol of Kyrgyzstan. At Ala Acha there was a family that was setting up their yurt and was happy to let us see it come together. There is much pride and honor in these portable homes. The history and family traditions run very deep.

The locals are very humble and extremely nice.

This is what the finished product will look like.

As we were hiking, I saw this group of Kyrgyz teens. They were making soup. Cutting up carrots and potatoes. Really.

Kyrgyz picnic spread

Cooking the soup!

Traditional meal after our hike. Carbonated yoghurt sheep milk and soup.

Kyrgyz Money – som, com, pronounced some or soums

All of this talk of nature and simplicity should also include some caveats. While the cities have plumbing, the more remote villages have out houses. This make shift outhouse has a hole and boards in a very traditional rest room out back behind the restaurant.

In life and in death there are many of the same symbols. Religious symbols and the national symbols that are incorporated from the Yurts are very common. Lots of symbols in the impressively ornate graves that celebrate the next chapter of our journey.

Burana Tower

80 KM from Bishkek on great roads. The tower, along with fascinating stone grave markers, some earthworks, is all that remains of the ancient city of Balasagun, but now there’s a yurt with souvenirs, and a little museum of odd things from the area. (Not much in English. Mostly Russian.) This area was at one point a large city established by the Karakhanids at the end of the 9th century.

The Tower is fantastic. It’s been restored, but it really is very unique and if you’re claustrophobic you’ll find a real challenge. It’s quite dark and daunting, but as you can see in my pictures, if these kids could make it up, I could. There is an external staircase and then a steep, winding stairway inside the tower allowing you to climb to the top.

The grave markers and stone carvings contain a fascinating mix of Buddhist, Islamic, and early man. It’s a fascinating area that gives you the impression that this place has been inhabited since the dawn of man and is a very important place.

All that’s left of the city is earthen mounds and rooms. It’s still amazing to feel like an archeologist to walk around and put together stories of the castle and mausoleums that once were here.

These mounts were once a great city in the 9th century. The ancient city of Balasagun also known as Gobalik (pretty city) by the Mongols who captured the city in 1218.

Balasagun was founded by Soghdians, a people of Iranian origin and the Soghdian language was still in use in this town till the 11th century. It was the capital of the Kara-Khanid Khanate from the 10th Century until it was taken by the Kara-Khitan Khanate in the twelfth century. The Khitans used this as their capital, but were a mix of buddhist nomads, and muslim people as well as traditional khitan.

Old Arabic in grave markers

The food in Kyrgystan is not to miss. The freshest meats you’ll ever find. Sheep, Chicken, Beef skewers called Shishka. The dinning is nice. Traditionally we’ll sit on the floor with cushions around a short table. It’s very family and socially oriented. It’s not about eating fast, it’s about enjoying the company you are with. The drapery helps you get some level of privacy if you want it. There are similarities in the food across central asia, but each country does their traditional rice dishes very different. Each tribe of people has their own way, so you’ll often find different cities have their own flavor. In Bishkek it’s traditional to have a little bit of horse meat with the Osh (regional rice dish).

Fresh food!

Lake Issuk Kul

One of the largest lakes in Central Asia and really what the locals consider going to the beach. There are even changing rooms and sand. Highly recommended to see what a Kyrgyz retreat is like. With the help of our driver we found a variety of small cheap hotels for around $20 even with wifi. I did end up jumping in the lake and swimming around with some Russians on vacation. They didn’t speak any english and my handful of words in Russian didn’t keep us from having a good time splashing around in the fresh, but freezing water as the sun set.

Beautiful and serene Lake Issyk Kul (Иссык-Куль) in the northern Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the tenth largest lake in the world by volume and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. (Wikipedia)

The lake is a very important region supporting life of all types and is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Izzyk kul. The snow leapord is in the mountains surrounding this lake. Ladies sell dried fish and honey on the road near the banks of the lake. Also near the lake is a prehistoric tribal outdoor museum that contains many mounds, mausoleums, rock carvings, and petroglyphs.

Glacial Mountains in the background of the sandy beaches of lake Izzyk kul.

Kyrgyz Kids playing on the beaches on the coastline of the worlds 2nd largest high lake of Izzyk-Kul.

I dove into Kyrgyzstan and made some great friends and a new favorite place in this world. I highly encourage it you to visit Bishkek and surrounding. Don’t stay in the city, go into the mountains, and valleys, visit the lake. You must roam! Don’t let Kyrgystan be one of those places you’ve never been. It’s an incredible experience.

A Day as a Tourist in Afghanistan

June 9, 2014March 9, 2016Posted in Asia, Bucket List, Culture, Extreme, Religion, Tourism, Travel, Travel Tips, Unique, WarTagged adventure, Afghanistan, Blue Mosque Afghanistan, border, burka, excursion, islam, Mazar-e sharif, muslim, Shrine of Ali, Termez, tour10 Comments

When I started planning my trip across Central Asia, I always had the idea that it would be fascinating to visit one of the most talked about places on the planet. A place where tourists really don’t get. In 12th century Spice Route Afghanistan was an important stop to visit the shrine of Ali, even Genghis Khan felt it was worth a visit or a razing. If you think about it, Afghanistan hasn’t been as safe as it is now, for the past decade, and even before that it may have been since the 50’s that it was a place that outsiders could visit. After getting all my visas for the variety of places I was going I got in a good conversation with my traveling partner about the possibility of visiting the city of Mazar-e Sharif. I had a friend on Facebook who I connected with over the past couple of years and have been asking him all about life in Afghanistan. Zaki, my good facebook friend said he’d be willing to show me around his town. It really came together and Zaki fulfilled his promises. Not only that, he ended up spending a couple of extra hours waiting at the border for us to get through. After getting through security and walking across the bridge at Termez going through Uzbekistan and Afghanistan security we finally made it and what an adventure it was.

Is there really anything to see in Afghanistan? Oh Yes!!

Shrine of Hazrat Ali, also known as the Blue Mosque – The Shrine of Hazrat Ali, also known as the Blue Mosque, is a mosque located in the heart of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. It is one of the reputed burial places of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in law of Prophet Muhammad. The site includes a series of five separate buildings, with the Shrine of Hazrat Ali being in the center and the mosque at the western end. The site is surrounded by gardens and paths including an area with white pigeons. You can see more of them in my pics in this post. Read more about the Ali shrine on Wikipedia

Our driver, the head of security in Mazar-e Sharif, and the uncle of our friend Zaki.

We all piled into Zaki’s uncles taxi and headed out from the border for the city. We decided we didn’t have enough time to make it to Balkh, but we were anxious to see the Blue Mosque and Shrine of Ali.

On the drive to Mazar-e Sharif, about an hour from the border, we drove by a number of homes build by mud bricks and natural elements.

The sands of the desert working their way to the road. It won’t be long before the sands need to be handled.

Peace to Afghanistan!

This little guy was persistent. He didn’t speak a word of English and I don’t know what he was saying, but he was carying a can of hot ashes and mumbling something in a persistent manner. He wouldn’t let go of my clothes. I’m sure he was very poor and hoping for assistance, but not sure what I could do to help.

These young boys were a joy to talk to. While language wasn’t our forte, I had some real moments where we exchanged smiles and introduced ourselves.

My friend and I with our Afghan Friends Zaki and Hamid in front of the Shrine and Blue Mosque of Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.

IT University. Talking with Ahmad professor at the technical college in Mazar-e Sharif.

Mother in Burka with her sons…

Burka with Arm holes and lady with Hijab

Burkas

One of the differences between Afghanistan and all of neighbors to the north is the Burka. In terms of cultural differences I found it to be the most start contrast. I’ve been around a lot of Hijabs (head scarves) in a variety of places, and even ran into a lot of Saudis in black full burkas in Kuala Lumpur, and Dubai. I haven’t gotten use to it. It’s really a fascinating thing. The women cover up when they go out. It not only keeps the sun off their faces, but keeps them from being attractive to men outside the home. The thing that really surprised me was seeing women that would pull up the burka to interact with their kids at the park. I wasn’t expecting that. Based on what I’d heard and gathered on TV I was really worried they were going to get in trouble. In this far north town in Afghanistan, there were plenty of women in the city that both wore and didn’t wear the burkas. It did seem like most that didn’t wear the full burka would wear the hijab.

I grew out my beard for months in planning on my visit across Central Asia and “the Stans” coming to Afghanistan hoping to blend in, but ended up not noticing too many beards. I did see some good beards, but for the most part the young men in their twenties would shave, and the older men involved in business seemed to shave into mustaches.

I wore an Uzbekistan hat and a shirt I also got in Uzbekistan a couple days earlier. I’m sure it confused the locals, but at the time I wasn’t going for American, even though I’m sure I came across as traveler or tourist which may not necessarily be a be a best practice.

The locals were a mix of stand offish, and quite a bit curious. I only had a couple of stares that came across as mean ones. I ended up in a line at the mosque and park to visit the toilet, or what was really just a line of Turkish style toilets or better said, hole in the ground. First time I’ve waited nearly 5 minutes in a toilet line for a squat style toilet. The conditions weren’t great. A few more public toilets would be a good thing when they decide to open up the town as a tourist attraction.

Why did I decide to come to Afghanistan?

I have been told that I’m crazy for wanting to visit a country at war. In reality, I found a people very in need of outside love. They are ready for outside investments, education, access to more. I’m sure there are many challenges to getting the right kinds of services in. The youth are very anxious to better understand the world, and connect. I’ve had a number of facebook messages since my visit. There’s so much hope. I pray for my friends Zaki and Hamid, and the Admad at the technical school. Be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Hamid wants to be involved in security, and Zaki wants to be successul in consulting and IT. Personally, I’m very anxious for this area to blossom.

This far north the risk wasn’t as great. It really is tightly controlled. We saw the drone balloon, and there were reminders that we were being watched. Even crossing the border we went though a couple of check points, and got some strange looks, but overall, it wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be getting in and out.

Getting the visa for Afghanistan took less than a week, the easiest of the visas on our Central Asia tour.

I felt like we timed this right. We spent an afternoon, I wish we could have seen Balkh which was another hour and has so much more history, but based on our plan of get in and out while seeing what we could in daylight, we did pretty well. I have no regrets really. I have been blessed in my life to live where I do and I hope the time I spent in this part of the world has helped me and my perspectives and outlooks on life, and I hope that the time I spent with my new Afghani friends helps spread peace and inspires them in their righteous pursuits.

These pigeons look like doves. They bring peace and happiness to the people. They make people smile and laugh.

So do I recommend Afghanistan?

I think for those who are real travelers, yes. Mazar-e Sharif has a lot to offer as does Balkh based on my research. At this point, our strategy of in and out, worked quite well. We weren’t there long enough to cause a stir, which I find has been a great strategy for us. Whenever we feel like we might be going to an area involving any kind of risk, we play it safe and not spend too much time in any one area, and we don’t back track. We’re always moving. That’s been a great strategy for us. We try to be unpredictable, so no one could plan anything. I don’t have a death wish, it really was a fairly safe and calculated risk. On my pursuits to see and connect with folks in every country in the world, this was an important one for me. I still have strong feelings for the people I met. It really makes this place very real to me now. I think that’s really important. When there’s a war on the other side of the world in an unknown place that’s being fought in a way that’s unimaginable, it’s easy for ignorant people to say, just bomb the place. I have friends there, and it means something to me. The only way to find peace is to find empathy and understanding. Travel has helped provide a mechanism for that. I’ve never met a military person who would want to go back to Afghanistan to visit, but I would. I have friends there that are great people who are making a difference for life in there town.

I admit I am a bit of a travel junkie, and I believe that there are good people everywhere as do many of those that visit every country in the world… a pursuit of mine.

You can read about some of my extreme travels to Iraq (Kurdistan), Tunisia, Venezuela, Egypt

Traveling the Silk Road from across the “STANS” Introducing Central Asia

June 2, 2014March 9, 2016Posted in Animals, Asia, Bucket List, Culture, Favorite, Food, History, Middle East, Nature, Photography, Religion, Tourism, Travel, Travel Tips, UNESCO, Unique, WarTagged 12th century, Afghanistan, Bukhara, desert, Kazakstan, Kyrgystan, precolumbian, Samarkand, silk road, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Unesco, Uzbekistan, Yurt4 Comments

I recently got back from traveling across Central Asia. Some things have changed and some things haven’t. The road is now mostly paved roads, but you will still find sheep herders, and wandering camels in some places. When I shared with my friends I was going to Central Asia and even mentioned some of the countries by name… Most don’t know what I’m even talking about even when I added Silk Road or Central Asia. I needed to fill in the detail between China, Russia and Turkey. In this post, I want to give you some of the highlights and background.

My friend Michael and I have been planning to travel the silk road and visit “the stans.”

Our plan involved spending time in each of the following countries:

Kyrgyzstan – Serene Kyrgyzstan Land of Mountains
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Afghanistan – A day as a tourist in Afghanistan
Tajikistan

I plan to share some of my experiences from each of these amazing and diverse countries. Each of them is different in their own way and I saw amazing and fascinating things in each of these places. There are incredible people in every country. I continually get asked if I ever felt threatened or at risk. No, I didn’t. I did have some moments where I was feeling eyes watching me and moments where I felt like I was out of place, but I really enjoy that feeling of being the minority and feeling odd. If I’m traveling and I’m not feeling that then I’m not challenging myself enough. This trip was the most logistically challenging. It took over 3 months just to get visas and I still didn’t get all the visas I wanted. I missed out on Pakistan due to my Jamaica and trip to Quebec and Montreal earlier this year. The only country that didn’t require a visa for US Citizen was Kyrgyzstan, and the hardest to get into ended up being Turkmenistan who assigned us a monitor and required traveling company which ended up being our most expensive of the trip. In addition Pakistan was a challenge for time. The visa would have been an additional 4-6 weeks and I couldn’t surrender my passport long enough make it with my Jamaica plans.

Samarqand, Bukhara, and so many of these places stir up the magical and mystical old world of East meets west. Where Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and a variety of old faiths like Zoroastrianism met through caravans and trade routes. I had the incredible opportunity to visit some of these places and soak up the influence of this melting pot of culture, religion, food, and history. I plan to share the highlights and some favorite stories, but wanted to get this post out as a placeholder. I’ll link to the subsequent posts from this one to be as a landing page of the best of Central Asia.

Turkmeni ladies of the desert selling camel hair trinkets on the side of the road

Desert Yurt in Turkmenistan

One of the friendliest camels I’ve ever met. This friendly hairy camel enjoyed posing with us.

Old Dome in Merv

Merv, Turkmenistan

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Blue Mosque and Shrine in Mazar-e Sharif Afghanistan

Countryside in Uzbekistan

Wandering Sheep in Uzbekistan

Old Shakrazabh, Uzbekistan

Ark of Shakrazabh, Uzbekistan

Touring Iraq – Travel Adventures in Kurdistan

December 13, 2013April 14, 2014Posted in Asia, Extreme, Middle East, UNESCO, WarTagged Amna Suraka, arbil, citadel, erbil, iraq, irbil, kurdish, kurdistan, kurds, Sulaymaniyah, sulimania, travel2 Comments

Everyone I know who have ever visited Iraq were there for military reasons. When I told a local in Iraq I was a tourist, they said… “Tourist?” What’s that? Tourism is really a foreign word, but no longer. The Kurdistan region of Iraq is open. Visa restrictions in Iraqi Kurdistan aren’t bad for many western countries. For Americans you can currently get a 15 day visa on arrival! I was impressed how easy it would be to get into such an incredible place. The cradle of civilization. Abraham himself is said to have traveled to this area. Chaldeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, there is a serious history to this region of the two rivers. I stayed in the Kurdistan region my entire stay, but traveled through a number of check points going both ways between Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. We ultimately took two routes between the two cities by cab. One went on the highway and through check points. We were worried there might be problem with driving between the cities, but the road itself was controlled by Kurdish forces. So while we did get our passports checked a couple of times. We did avoid entering Kirkuk and we avoided Mosul. I really wanted to go to Nineveh and the tombs of the prophets, but instead stuck with our plans to spend time exclusively in the cities.

Our route through the Iraqi-Kurdistan region. Syria just on the other side of Mosul and the hills of Iran on the other side of Suliamaniyah. Yep those hills! While we were in Erbil (Arbil/Irbil) we met a man in the square who was a Syrian refugee.

Erbil, Iraqi-Kurdistan

I started my visit with the best, the ancient Citadel. At 6000 or 7000 years old this citadel is the one of the longest continuously inhabited cities.

The fountain and clock tower attract vendors and families coming to the beautiful square to shop and take pictures.

Old pictures of Erbil show the Citadel and the Minaret. Over 500 years ago the city of Erbil was only what was on the hill protected by the city walls, and the minaret.

We walked nearly all the way around the citadel hill. “A city on a hill cannot be hid.” I have to wonder if this old saying came from this city. As we walked I saw a group of old men. I needed to find a restroom. I just had to go and decided to ask them. We found this tea house was actually a game center. The men were drinking tea and playing some high volume game of dominoes involving slamming tiles. Even though they spoke little english and we spoke little to no Kurdish or Arabic we were able to build trust enough after playing a couple of games and getting tips from our new friends. In travel I have found there are moments to really dive in. It’s not all about going to tourist destinations. It’s about learning to understand people and visit new people and cultures.

Most people if you told them you were going to Iraq to visit. They would say avoid crowds. Well, in a local market in Erbil we seem to have met the real masses.

The faces on the people do seem to be hard, but I can attest that the Kurds are some of the kindest people you will meet. They have sacrificed much. It has not been an easy life.

Life goes on… Kids on their way to school

Our last night in Erbil we went to the Christian part of town. This Chaldean church was in service. My friend Michael and I enjoy visiting cathedrals, mosques, temples, and find that you can learn more about it’s people by understanding their passions, their worries and their faith in God. We stayed for the entire service. The prayer for the Filipinos was so strong it brought tears to my eyes. The group of minority Christians in this vast land of Muslims with their faith prayed for those suffering in the Philippines. It was so touching to see them turn their thoughts. They have not had an easy life here in Iraq, but many came here to provide a better life for their families back home. They saw this as a land of opportunity. One of the people at the church had lost 30 members of their family in the Philippines. It made the disaster personal talking with this group and hearing them pour out their hearts.

(This picture above and a couple of the others were taken by Michael Noel travel blogger at http://travelingtheglobe.com, my good friend and my traveling companion on this and may of my trips.)

Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi-Kurdistan

When we first planned to come to Iraqi-Kurdistan we tried to find connections in our technology. You can read more about the visit to the University and our technology sessions with the Computer Science students and faculty of University of Human Development (UHD) in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. Those who wonder how I travel the world best understand it is my passion to visit the world and connect with people of all cultures and people. How I do it is through my connections and relationships. I sacrifice my time and money as well to visit places around the world like this, and not only are the people changed through our encounters but I am changed. Hearing stories from the students blows my mind making Iraq real and the horror stories of Saddam’s rule. One of the assistant professors told me about his 3 brothers being killed and how he barely escaped and just recently came back from spending many years in the UK. Amazing personal stories. I feel for these people. Over night I became friends on Facebook and LinkedIn with over 15-20 of the students in the room. I hope I can help them in the future in their pursuits.

So after a couple of nights in Erbil, the next morning we left for Sulaymaniyah by cab. We arranged for a driver to take us on the road through the hills through the Kurdistan region. On the way back we were feeling more confident and drove back through the highway faster route through Kirkuk.

When we first arrived I did a quick search and came across the Amna Suraka Museum known as red prison or Red Intelligence Museum. This prison was the former Ba’ath intelligence headquarters and prison. Just as some death camps and concentration camps have been preserved, this captures the essence of torture and death in the treatment of Kurds. In my travels I have found it fascintating to visit places in the world where minorities have been treated poorly. I see a lot of parallels in how the Armenians were treated by the Ottomans as the Kurds were by Saddam’s regime.

Turned into a museum at the behest of First Lady of Iraq, Hero Talabani, in 2000, the façade still bears the bullet holes evidencing the scars of its past.

Our cab driver shared his person experience having been there only 11 years prior. His wife and 3 of his family were killed.

You really could feel the emotion of the place. The prison was haunting with

Hall of mirrors… represent those that were killed in the mass genocide

There are other reminders of mass death in this region. So many unmarked graves, and these that are marked with simple rocks that dot the hillside.

Interesting food choices!

Hope is strong in this region. They are ready to bring in the New… The tower in the background which looks like it’s from Dubai is made by the same architect.

It still isn’t Disneyland, but would you believe that there is an amusement park and gondola? The construction going on is also quite impressive. There is a lot going on here. Change is coming. The people are ready to see change.

Their faith will carry them.

On our final departure we saw this wild tower piece of metal near the airport. It took at least 4 scans to work our way from the street to the gate at the airport. They are very serious about security. I felt safe while in Kurdistan. Speaking of God, I felt like he was watching out for me on this trip. The faith of so many in this region is very strong, and the people of this land itself has had a strong connection Abraham’s God for thousands of years.

One of my most fascinating trips. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It isn’t for everyone, but I do see reason for investment. I see passion and interest in the people. People are ready for change. As well, the Kurds are great people, a great heritage that has suffered greatly, and will rise from the dust. I made some great friendships that will last though the years.

Taj Mahal of Agra India – New 7 Wonders of the World

July 31, 2013December 14, 2013Posted in Asia, Bucket List, Photography, Road Trip, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, WonderTagged Bikaner, Bikiner, Blue City, Dehli, featured, India, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Pink City, Rajasthan, Rat Temple, Taj Mahal3 Comments

My trek through India was truly EPIC. One of the most interesting and amazing trips. The assault on the senses was so intense fascinating world of spice. Some of the oldest cities on the earth are in India. India is the second most populated country in the world, but driving across the country you wouldn’t know it. The Indus of 3000 BC had a written language, a complex society. In a country with 1.2 Billion people with one of the richest cultural destinations in the world, I highly recommend India for the adventure seeker, the world traveler, and for those looking to find themselves. The eat pray love movie suggested that Bali and India are great destinations for getting at your soul. Trying to find your inner being. I agree. India is fantastic, and the wonder the Taj Mahal is the most impressive display of love in the world. You haven’t seen India, until you’ve seen it the way I have.

This post is in an Adventure Travel Series on the “New 7 Wonders of the World”

I wrote about my experiences with the holy rats of Bikiner. That one incident was culture shock like no other. I definitely dove head first and loved it. I throw out everything I have ever known about rats, and listen to the kids and humble followers that told me to remove my shoes and walk among the rats barefoot. They say no one has ever even gotten sick from these special rats. Hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of rats in the temple. That was my real introduction to India and while an extreme it prepared me for what I would experience through the nearly 5000KM trip across India and ultimately to Kathmandu, Nepal and up into the Himalayas and up around Mt Everest.

The Gates of Jodhpur, the Pink City

Three dips in the Ganges the dirtiest but holiest river in the world as well, was a fascinating experience that made me really consider the healing effects of water and help me appreciate and respect the faith of all people.

The Gattes… steps to the Holy Ganges river

As these men hosed down the steps into the water, not far pilgrims were drinking the holy water

Dipping in the Silty powerful Holy Ganges River

We drove nearly straight for 3 days across the Rajasthan province of north western India through the the most amazing cities of Jaipur (The Pink City) and Jodhpur (The Blue City) [map].

Mehrangarh Fort high on the high on the hill in Jodhpur

Above Jodhpur the Blue City!

Floating Palace near Jaipur

It was after seeing these awesome examples of great kingdom with palaces and forts, that I arrived in Agra the home of the Taj Mahal. I had already been in India for about a week by the time I arrived. We parked outside of the site, and walked. It was a pretty good hike. In our visits across Agra and even in the south in Pune and Chennai we hadn’t seen many tourists, but here we weren’t alone. Here we across our trip we saw more tourists than we had seen in total. I try to avoid tourist spots, but I also have to see the wonders of the world. They draw me in.

The Taj Mahal Mosleum – Designed for the Favorite Wife of the Emperor Shah Jahan built in 1632–1648 as a tomb

India has such a rich culture. Amazing people filled with joy, sadness, and a rich history.

Watching sundown from the Taj Mahal

World UNESCO Heritage, Wonder of the World, as a true legend of eternal love of an Emperor for his favorite Queen! It is an amazing story.

Though he spent much of his time subduing Hindu kingdoms to the south, Shah Jahan left behind the colossal monuments of the Mughal empire, including the Taj Mahal (his favorite wife’s tomb), the Pearl Mosque, the Royal Mosque, and the Red Fort. The Taj is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife. It is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.

Great Wall of China – New 7 Wonders of the World (1 of 7)

July 23, 2013October 29, 2013Posted in Asia, Bucket List, History, Photography, Tourism, Travel, Unique, WonderTagged Beijing, china, Great Wall of China, Wonder of the World, Wonders5 Comments

If you ever feel like getting to China is just too impossible. Have Faith. It’s definitely possible. I had seen most of Asia before I made it to China. For some reason I just kept finding other things, and I felt like if I was going to visit China, I wanted to see it all, I wanted to have enough time. I changed my attitude. The forbidden city wasn’t going to remain forbidden any more. I visited the Chinese embassy on a visit to San Francisco and within a couple of hours I had my visa. I was on my way to the Forbidden city with explicit plans to see the Great Wall of China one of the most exclusive travel lists in the world… the New 7 Wonders of the World!

The Forbidden City, in Beijing at night near Tiananmen Square

I decided, I wasn’t going to have time to spend a month or more in China anyway so I should break up my trip to China and plan it like I would Australia and simply break it into regions. Same as seeing Canada, you just can’t see it all at once. I’m sure many people say the same thing about the USA, or they should. Those who go to NYC and Las Vegas and think they’ve seen the US are kidding themselves. Those who rent an RV and Drive along route 66 are still only seeing one piece, but I understand the draw.

This post is in a series of 7 posts on the 7 Wonders of the New World

Gate to the Forbidden City

China is an amazing country. Looking for a culture shock!?? China is awesome at that. I’ll save another post for digging into my travels into China, and share my Wonder Experiences in a series.

We woke up early to head out to the Great Wall of China. It was surreal. Dux one of my techie friend’s from the Philippines who speaks great Chinese was our real connection to the locals. He helped us arrange a van to take us out to the Great Wall. We drove for a good hour from our hotel. The homes were getting more and more spread out. As we drove along it felt like we were entering the country side. I can’t remember if it was 2 hours, but it seemed like when we thought we were there, it was another 20 minutes. Then once we got into the parking lot, we realized it was going to be another 20-30 minutes of hiking up steps. The wall wasn’t designed for accessibility.

Seeing the wall was promising, but we could really see it from the car. We could see it weaving across the mountains for as far as we could see.

At first it just seems a lot like a wall made of bricks, but then as you take it in… in its magnitude, and splendor to realize its age, its role in history and in its preservation of culture and history… and then really start to understand the sacrifice of this man made feat. It brings humility and awe. Lots of sacrifice.

While we all decided we didn’t want to go down the way we came up, Michael and I decided we wanted to go for a walk, and the other guys decided to take the roller coaster. There were some interesting options once on top. You could walk 2 miles to a gondola one way, or another way was the gravity based roller coaster with a metal track, it was next to an impromptu zoo. We all decided we’d meet back at the bottom of the hill near where they were.

(A few of these photos are from Michael at Sharing The Globe a Traveling companion and Great photographer.)

Walking from tower to tower it seems close, but it really isn’t. It might be 1KM or more between towers. The area where we were while there were a number of tourists, we found space to be alone and found it not too challenging to take people-less photos. Yes, that’s me trying to run between the towers. It isn’t the easiest running, but I imagined those working the walls trying to share a message.

I picked up the Chinese Police hat. While it didn’t go with my jacket, I did like the fun reactions from the locals.

After walking along the wall for a few miles at a pretty fast pace (Can you believe there is a Great Wall Marathon?), I took a couple of early moments to reflect on this incredible structure. While I know it wasn’t all maintained as well as where we saw it, it was amazing about it. It started as far back as the 7th century BC against intrusions and nomadic groups and incursions and in protecting the spice route. Amazing how these towers were used in defense and in notifying the troops of what was coming.

How long is it actually? Depends on if you count the structures that also help support the defense of the wall. I’m going to say more than 5000 miles! Wikipedia proposes a couple of different estimates:

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi)

This post is designed to be post 1 in a series of 7 of the Wonders of the World. Follow this blog to be notified of the rest of the series.

Cappadocia Turkey Underground Cave Cities

July 21, 2013July 21, 2013Posted in Asia, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO, Unique, WonderTagged cappadocia, Derinkuyu, Goreme, Kaymalki, Ozkonak, Troglodyte, turkey, Underground cities, Yehalti Sehri3 Comments

It was while watching a SCI FI Ancient Aliens show I first heard about the underground cities of Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and Ozkonak. These and the other 200+ Underground Cities are a huge mystery that may never come to full light. Everything we know is just from what has been found in excavating what remained. This could be remnants from those who were last there, as these caves could be much much older. There really are so many cave systems and underground tunnels and essentially full cities underground that it may never be fully excavated. These cities contained wineries, stables, churches, school, cellars, storage rooms. The largest of the underground city of the in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey. It’s only been open to visitors since 1969 and less than half of what has been excavated is accessible to tourists. At peak this city could have supported 20,000 residents and was up to 85 Meters deep!!! According to the Turkish department of culture the cave is 8th to 7th century possibly built by the Phrygians either for religious purposes or refuge.

Now if you’re looking to visit this region, Goreme, Turkey is a great central location and really setup well for tourists where you can sleep in your own cave, but not part of any major tunnel system. Goreme has shuttles to and from the airport. Warning: If you are planning on not renting a car (which you shouldn’t need to do), you need to make sure you arrange ahead of time with one of the shuttle companies, the small airport in Kayceri has no ticket desk for shuttles and the taxi ride is pretty steep comparatively. I was denied entry into a shuttle bus even after offering to pay him his price. The driver won’t take money, it has to be pre-arranged. I ended up catching a ride with an older couple that was headed into the city. Really I got lucky, I didn’t want to pay the high price of the taxi, and there were no bus options that were convenient. It was going to be a long walk and an inconvenient trek to the bus station, and who knows how long I may have had to wait. WIth as many tourist shops and vehicles as there are in Goreme it was amazing to me how there was really NOTHING at the airport.

On the surface you really wouldn’t even know it was down there, save the entrance sign and a few air vents that look like wells.

Based on the size of the 500KG door that’s only able to be opened from the inside, I can definitely imagine it being used for refuge and for hiding from someone or something.

There are some spaces that are very wide open such is just outside the church which makes the shape of a cross, underground, or the very tight spaces that is speculated as being a doorway that forces the person to be penitent. They must go onto their knees to enter. The self inflicted punishment is they would go around and around through the small tunnel to learn humility, kind of like the hail Mary or doing rosary beads.

When inside unless you’re claustrophobic, you feel very safe. The walls seem very solid and there isn’t any crumbling rock. There are some areas where you need to bend over to avoid hitting your head, but the hall near the church has a lot of room, and supports really large gathering of people.

You can take a virtual tour of the caves at http://www.muze.gov.tr/derinkuyu

Look closely at these boards and you have one of the primary tools used to carve the stone with much sharper stones. The would drag the board across the softer stone and it would essentially carve away the stone. In this way they could remove the stone in large swaths. For smaller areas, they would use smaller tools.

Those who speculate that it was designed to be very temporary need to explain the graves in the area called the Morgue. Here the rooms in this section of the cave are designed to handle the dead… Is it possible these graves were temporary holding places for the dead until they could find peace long enough to bury their dead.

Yes, it was very dark 7-8 stories down. The little lights are wired up and brought in through wires attached to the wall.

Nevşehir Province has several other underground cities and Derinkuyu itself connects to Kaymakli via an 8 km tunnel. The deepest cave city is Derinkuyu and the widest is Kaymakli. You can’t travel the tunnel between them. Derinkuyu is about 30 minute drive from Goreme, which is the city where most of the hotel and tourist support is. Access to these cities is no longer open to local residents without going through the main entrance. They remain generally unoccupied. In excess of 200 underground cities containing a minimum of two levels have been discovered in the area between Kayseri and Nevsehir. Some 40 of those contain a minimum of three levels or more. The troglodyte (underground) cities at Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu are two of the best examples of habitable underground structures. Reaching Derinkuyu or Goreme and the underground cities and cave churches, one can purchase a domestic ticket on Turish Airlines to Keyseri or Nevsehir. There are overland bus routes as well from across the country with flying being the shortest and not a bad way to reach the city. Turkey is a big country so plan accordingly.

Why you need to visit Cappadocia the Underground Cities and Cave Churches

There are so many incredible things to see in Cappadocia that you could spend a weeks here and still discover new places. The main ‘must-see’ attractions are the open-air museums which are essentially groupings of caves, cathedrals and homes and the two best underground cities. At the same time it wouldn’t make sense to go this whole way and not see the incredible Rose Valley, the Ihlara valley which has many of its own small cave churches, but even just outside the Goreme Open Air museum is one of my favorite cave churches. What you’ll find when you arrive is there are many tourist companies that have organized the tours into the blue route, and red route, and so on, to group the various activities for those with limited time. As well, don’t forget to get up as high as you can to check out the valley, this may be in a hot air balloon or on a hike to the top of the canyons. One thing you must do is explore. There’s so much to see and not everything is behind closed doors. Even just hiking the valleys, you’ll be amazed to find abandoned caves.

Goreme Open Air Museum: cave churches with frescoes
Zelve Open Air Museum: an empty cave town with churches
Kaymakli Underground City: the largest underground city
Derinkuyu Underground City: the deepest underground city
Ihlara Valley: the deepest gorge of Anatolia
Uchisar: Roman rock-cut castle. You’ll see it driving back and forth. Very cool looking.
Ortahisar: Roman rock-cut castle.
Pasabag: mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys, monks valley
Devrent: animal-shaped fairy chimneys, imagination valley
Hacibektas: center of Bektasi sect of Islam
Gulsehir: first settlements in Cappadocia

I shared some of my stories on the Open Air Musuem, the Ihlara Valley and Monestary in “Early Cave Churches of Cappadocia Turkey” and more on the “Underground Cities”

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Travel Restriction

Who Can Get a Special Validation Passport?

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1. Baku Zoroastrian Fire Temple – Ateshgah of Baku.

2. Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center

3. Baku Flame Towers

4. World’s 2nd Largest Flag Pole – National Flag Square –

5. Steps for City View Funicular and night time viewing of the Flame Towers

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9. Old City and Maiden’s Tower – Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage site)

10. Bibi-Heybat Mosque –

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Erbil, Iraqi-Kurdistan

Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi-Kurdistan

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This post is in a series of 7 posts on the 7 Wonders of the New World

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Why you need to visit Cappadocia the Underground Cities and Cave Churches

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