Turkish Delights: From Istanbul to Kusadasi

Istanbul has a number of ancient wonders. The Byzantine Hippodrome and the Blue Mosque, which has six minarets and a middle dome of 109 feet should definitely not be missed. The Hagia Sophia, Yeni Cami and Topkapi are also worth a visit. Finally walk around the Spice Market the Grand Covered Bazaar, which covers over 4,000 shops under one roof to get an essence into the life of the locals here. Also find time to go on the Bosphorus Cruise along the Bosphorus, the winding water strait separating Europe and Asia.

Spread across the middle of Turkey like a lunar landscape, Cappadocia is home to a bizarre field of anthill-like cones, rock-hewn churches and underground cities where Christians once hid to avoid persecution. It is a spectacular sight and one that has captivated travelers for centuries. First visit to Kaymakli Underground City; carved out of rock and completely self contained. More than 200 people lived on each of seven floors. Next will be the natural citadel of Uchisar. The Goreme Open-Air Museum, which is full of pink, rose and white tapering columns is not to be missed. The caves were settled in the 4th century as monasteries. Wander to the nearby Pasabag Valley and Avonos Village and survey the fantastic panaroma

See the blisteringly white terraced pools of Pamukkale's hot springs, the result of thousands of years of deposits by the calcium rich hot springs. For thousands of years visitors have extolled the healing powers of Pamukkale's hot springs, which created a unique, snow-white landscape of terraced pools and petrified waterfalls as the spring water cascaded down a hillside. Visit the Ancient city of Hierapolis, a World Heritage Site where you'll find The Necropolis--the largest and one of the best preserved cemeteries in Anatolia with approximatively 1,200 graves. Most of the sarcophagi bear inscriptions and some contain decorative reliefs in which the occupant is sometimes depicted. Also see the Basilica ( 5th century) which was originally a Roman bath and the well-preserved theatre with a seating capacity of 20,000 people.

Despite a steady flow of cruise ships, Kusadasi is still a working fishing port (check out the Balik Aile Cay Bahcesi restaurant on the roof of the fish market, where the boatmen eat and drink), and it's also a great base for exploring the lost cities of the Menderes valley or the wooded forests and wetlands of the Dilek peninsula and the Menderes Delta National Park, home to feral horses and cattle and flocks of white pelicans. Go to Ephesus which is only half an hour from Kusadasi and overshadows them all and in summer it can be very busy. But not far away there are superb ruins where you'll encounter only a handful of other visitors poking around among arches and columns carved with the graffiti of 2,000 years.