The marble vase,a closer view
part of the downstairs lobby
Ayia Sophia plan
Istanbul,Ayia Sophia
flying over Turkey
Kayseri airport
On the road to Kayseri,notice the size of the bag of crisps the Canadians are holding
the special Mount Ararat expedition coach to Kayseri
Ayia Sophia ,another view
The great batresses
some of the old windows,now bricked up
the batresses above the main doors
Ayia Sophia courtyard,ruins from the first church
Ayia Sophia,part of the old church freeze
The old church,part of the roof apex
Ayia Sophia courtyard,sarcophagoi
Ayia Sophia courtyard,col umn with greek inscriptions
the Imperial door
One of the doors,arou nd 6m high
the dome
view of the half domes
A giant vase,curved out of solid marble
A mosaic,at one time the surround of an icon
moslem inscriptions ,added after the city'conquest
the lobby after the main entrance
the stairwell to the gallery
on the gallery
a decorated arch lelow the dome
view from the upper gallery
half domes,vie w from the upper gallery
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day 14
We had a 4 am wake up,the fetta cheese and cucumber breakfast didn't go down very well.We boarded the pink Mount Ararat expedition bus and started the trip to Kayseri airport on a dirt road.After about an hour it changed to surfaced road,we had a chance to grab a bit of sleep in the bus,a short stop for toilet and snacks,the Canadians bought the biggest crisps bags we ever seen,another 2 hours and we arrived at Kayseri airport for the domestic flight to Istanbul.The coffe tasted good at the airport cafe,even the Canadians had coffe (they seemed to be on a detox course),it was only 9 am.At Istanbul airport we were greeted with banners from the Turkish brewers association wellcoming us to the city,we felt better we were back in a city with well stocked bars.Quick shower at the hotel(HOT,HOT,HOT)we split into groups for sightseeing and off we went.Our group visited Ayia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar.We returned back late afternoon we had some drinks at the bar opposite our hotel and waited for the group to gather for our last meal together in Turkey.The restaurant was near the cisterns,before the meal one member from my group fell asleep and left,the other had an encounter with a very hot chilly pepper and allmost choked.The Canadians were back to their normal alcohol consumption(they were staying for 3 extra days,lots of time for sightseeing and bar crawls).We had to say goodbye to some group members because not all the group was flying together back to the UK . TRIP SUMMARY, a very good,easy going group,some very good characters (especially the North American natives).Istanbul is stunning,it has such a long history,the scenery elsewhere was so unusual if bizarre,if you like religion and history there are churches and mosques galore.The mountains were high and wild,there is a real sense of adventure throughout the trip.Ersin, our guide,was very caring,obliging and most of all very knowledgable.The only drawback was the lack of hot water for 8 days,but we were in wild country,what you expect?We seemed to have done everything on this trip,overnight sleeper train,balloon ride,hairy bus rides,high altitude walking,rough camping,cold showers and fetta cheese breakfast.I might have to go in to hiding after the publication of the web pages, the Canadian secret service are after me for defaming threir country.
