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Rif's Travels, Summer 2002
Rif wrote us about his summer holidays, starting July 9,
2002
Hi everybody,
It is summer, yes finally. After my wife and I had thought whether we
should go for a holiday this summer or not, we decided to take our chance with
our new-born baby to the mediterrenean coast - of course with the
encouragements from Vance and his experience.
We headed from Bolu to Ankara two days ago with my car. We stopped by
in Ankara for the day and stayed there for a night. Anakara is the capital of
Turkey with 3.500 000 million inhabitants. My wife's uncle came from Italy for
a short holiday so we had the chance to see him as well.
Yesterday we left Ankara for Nigde. Nigde is in the Capadocia region. It
is also where I work. On the way to Nigde, there is really not much to see.
But, there is a lake called Salt Lake. It is the source of producing iotic salt
for Turkey as well. I took a picture of it but I am not sure whether I can send
it here. But as soon as I have time, I will put them it the web somewhere.
best wishes for now, more later
arif
Here's Rif's dispatch from July 10, 2002
We are now in Mersin. Yesterday night we arrived in here from Nigde.
Nigde was not so fun because I had some paper work to do and I mostly spent the
time with that. The university was almost deserted. Nobody was around and the
fourth year students were around asking when they would get their diplomas.
Nigde is in the center of Anatolia and has a remarkable past. I found a
web site describing the city pretty much. You can find more information if you
are interested at http://www.anatolia.com/anatolia/destinations/nigde/
I meant to send this email yesterday night but I was tired after a
drive of 4 hours. Driving was fun! We drove through the Taurus mountains. They
are enourmous, still with snow on their hills. We stopped several times to
taste the spring water and local fruits. It was an enjoyable drive, mostly on
the highway.
I am with my brother here in Mersin. He has been here for about 8 years
by now. Today I will see what we can do. More about our Mersin stay later...
After Bolu and Nigde, Mersin is really hot in weather. I think I had
better go and swim to get cool.
arif
Susanne enjoys the travelogue, July 10, 2002
Dear Arif!
Keep telling us more about your summer holiday! Travel letters is a
great idea for our ongoing communication and cultural understanding. I like
that you have found some links to sites you've visited; that will add to my
learning about Turkey as a country.
My brother and his little family sent me a postcard from Alanya (a
holiday resort in Turkey where people from Denmark often come on a charter
holiday). He writes that his children, three and five, suffer from the strong
heat, about 40 degree celsius (the date was June 28.) How is your newborn and
your wife doing on the long car rides?
Yours, Susanne
Rif replies, July 12, 2002
Dear Susanne, and the efiwebheads people
Thanks for your email. I will try to put together some more information
about the places I have gone through with the pictures I have taken soon. It
seems that I will have time to do that soon.
>My brother and his little family sent me a postcard from Alanya
(a holiday resort in Turkey where people from Denmark often come on a charter
holiday). He writes that his children, three and five, suffer from the strong
heat, about 40 degree celsius (the date was June 28.)
Alanya is in our list. We are planning to go there. But, the heat makes
us double-think on that. As your brother says it is pretty hot in there.
Moreover, the mosquitos are worse. Let's see how will it go!
>How is your newborn and your wife doing on the long car
rides?
She is pretty ok. It seems that she liked to watch around in the car. I
hope she continues like that. But, we don't want to push the limits of
course.
arif
Rif replies
Hi all,
After staying a day and a half in Mersin, we are now in Antakya (also
known as Antioch). Mersin was hot (around 34 degrees), and we decided to leave
there earlier than we had planned.
Antakya is a very historical place. A lot to see and to do. More info
is here: http://www.anatolia.com/anatolia/destinations/hatay/default.asp
We had arrived in Mersin on Tuesday. We had thought that we could do
some shopping and sightseeing in the downtown before we left. HOwever, the
weather was so hot that we couldn't take the change to walk around. Generally
it was nice to stop in Mersin. We had the chance to see my brother and Aunt.
And ,they had the chance to see the baby :-) We had a bbq party at my brother's
house on Tuesday night, and we gathered at my aunt's house on Wed noon. It was
nice to see the relatives and my cousins. We had a great time!
Wednesday late afternoon, we decided to leave for a cooler place, which
was also in our plan. The first interval was in Asos, on the coast. We stopped
by to have a break and supper. There was a nice wind blowing from the sea, and
we had some nice vegie before heading off to Antakya (also called Antioch). It
was almost 11:30 pm when we arrived in Antakya. I meant to send this email but
I felt so tired. I will see what we will do today. MOre later...
As Suzanne mentioned, too, Mersin is as hot as Alanya. Alanya is in our
plan too. We will have air-condiitoned hotel rooms, but we are still not sure
whether we should go or stay here in cool.
Arif
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Last updated: July 19, 2002 in Hot Metal Pro
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