Road trip north of Dakar to Lac Rose, les dunes et la Grande Cote.

I love road trips in Africa. I love being in Africa! Is it ok to say that if I've only been to three African countries...probably not! I love watching the villages and people and sights we pass by and never tire of keeping my eyes peeled for more beauty and busy activity. Respite from the hustle and bustle of Dakar was a night and a couple of days staying by le lac rose sur la grande cote au nord de Dakar. Tranquility, beauty and pastoral serenity. And a/c in our circular traditional Senegalese huts to boot. Not that I used it at night it was so fresh and cool. Came here just for a day with Laura last year and fell in love with the place as a destination for my students. They all loved it, the pink lake and the salt harvesting, the huge beautiful sea and dunes and the miles long, wide beach. When we all had some free time I wandered around the campement and spent some time with some absolutely charming, hard-working, salt of the earth ('scuse the pun) farmers (pictured above.)

I am posting photos and student journal blogs on:

http://worldperspectivesprogram.wordpress.com/category/senegal-trip/

Back in Dakar, Senegal! June 2011

So good to be back in the hustle bustle and the colour and the song and the Teranga, the unique, friendly, welcoming hospitality of the Senegalese! The people are so tall and poised walking so regally and with such perfect posture and easy gait. They are stunningly beautiful in the rich and diverse colors of their pagnes and boubous.

This time I have five intrepid students in tow who are adjusting very quickly to the sights, sounds, and smells. They are taking all relative discomforts in their stride till already after just a couple of days it's as if they have been here for ever and are ready to embrace each new experience.

I'm here a month earlier than before; June is dryer, cooler and breezier. As the rains haven't come in yet there are fewer mosquitoes, hardly any.

Everyone at the centre Baobab is so welcoming and helpful: so good to see Rama, Gary, Samba, Ismael, Al Hassane again and to meet Aida, Daour, Thiaba and Fatim. My internal bells and alarms and need to schedule and get it done now....have completely dissipated and evaporated onto Senegal time. Which is: all in good time. Oh, yeah.

The food is even more delicious than I remember: lots of thieboudienne: capitaine (perch) and spicy onion and piment with turnip, carrot, peas or other vegetables and rice; followed by deliciius teas or the mangoes currently in season or bissap, (hibiscus flower juice) or pain de singe (baobab flower juice)

Çay and Nargile

Çay, (pron. Chai) is what oils the wheels in Turkey; from negotiations on the black market to purchases in the bazaar to romantic conversations in a mehanes (cafes) with nargile (Turkish water pipe.)

Made from local black tea, Çay is served ina tulip - shaped glass with a few lumps of sugar on a saucer that is usually ornate. The cay is then served on elegant brass trays held by a central handle, many of which you see being deftly swung around the streets or the bazaar from merchant to merchant, or even from a mobile street stall.

We enjoyed many Çay stops!

Ephesus, Hieroplis and Pamukkale

We were fortunate to have wonderfully well-informed guides at both Ephesus and Hieropolis who brought the ancient cities alive for us as we wondered around their huge expanses in awe. We also went to the House that Mary is said to have lived in after Christ's death, the Archeology Museum and the stunning ruins of St John's Basilica.

You see David on a Roman crapper here

And a few old relics

here!

Pamukkale or White Castle was what brought the Romans to build Hieroplis here: thermal waters and brilliant white travertine pools formed naturally by warm water from volcanic activity cascading on the limestone. Stunning! We swam in the old thermal, Roman pool and wandered all over the hill.

Not snow but travertine:

Cappadocia, Turkey 2011

This area, so rich in geological and cultural history, resembles a moonscape and reminded me of the Himalayas in Ladakh. Volcanoes and lava have created cone shaped structures that you can see being weathered and created: the fairy chimneys as they have become known. Early Christians in Turkey lived in fear of attacks from the Romans and later from the Muslims.

Many gravitated towards Cappadocia to hide in caves that they made inside the cones, below ground and in the soft stone. These weren't just caves but sophisticated cities if you like on six levels in one case, where furniture (and many wine distilleries !) were carved and where people lived from a month or two at a time during attacks.

Defenses were impressive and consisted of preserving water that could not be poisoned, for example, and huge circular stone "doors" that could be wheeled into a blocking position.

Word of a planned attack from Constantinople would be relayed down very quickly using fire or glinting stone from beacon to beacon and people would literally go underground. Well hidden churches were made in the fairy chimneys and caves, where beautiful frescoes remain to this day although many caves are crumbling. Some areas reminded me of Zion with their huge pink or white stone formations.

Some caves are still inhabited, particularly by tourists, us included! We saw the area on foot and by balloon, incredible.

We walked along the Red and Rose Valley, visited the old Christian village of Cavusin, the Pigeon Valley, Kaymakli Underground City, Ortahisar Castle and Mustafapasa Greek village, Devrent and Monk's Valley, Avanos, Goreme and Uchisar. Wow....

We stayed at Elkep Evi in Urgup and dined next to the Turosan winery in Dimrit and further down in the brilliant Ziggy's.

We also visited ceramics and carpet workshops:

Istanbul, Turkey, March 2011

David and I continue to make an excellent recovery from our empty nest daze by travelling at every opportunity! This month brought an incredible adventure and those of you who know Turkey will relate. We spent time in Istanbul, Cappadoccia, Pamukkale and Ephesus discovering more about the history and people of this incredibly upbeat and dynamic country each day. It seems that every thirteen years I get an itch to move on and frankly, Istanbul was very, very appealing ...the stories from the Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman empires are richly tapestried, colorful and full of characters you cannot but admire and artistry that blows you away.

Perched above the Blue Mosque, our hotel the Turkoman was the perfect spot from where to explore the treasures of Sultanahmet. The mosque seemed to hum below us on the restored Hippodrome as if it were a space ship about to take off. Its blue mosaics are very beautiful.

The dome at Aya Sophia is awe inspiring. How did Justinian execute such a marvel in 532??

Equally dazzling was the harem in Topkapi Palace

and so were the treasures at the archeological museum:

Above are details of the tomb called Alexandra's tomb as he appears here on the left. See the incredible beauty of the horses on one of the greatest works of antiquity.

The mosaics at the Chora church are so touchingly beautiful and exquisite:

We silently assisted a Mevlevi ceremony as the Dervish whirled before us at the Hodjapastra center and enjoyed a luxurious bath, scrub and massage at the Cemberlitas Hamam! We were wined and dined by Hamdi on the Bosphorus. We walked everywhere: along the Golden Horn and over all the bridges watching fisherfolk, nargile cafe activity and all the boats; and all the way up to Takshim square and back down Istakkiel Cadessi to Tunel, occasionally taking a tram or a funicular and often stopping at a mehane for cay, lokum, baklava or kebab.