Merhabalar!

The points of our odyssey to Eastern Turkey have been mapped and plotted.  The dates are set and the trip of a lifetime kicks off in Istanbul on October 16, 2009!  We'll romp through Upper Mesopotamia--exploring the ancient sites of the Assyrians, the Hittites, the Antiocheses, the Uratians at Urfi, Mardin, Ani, Mt. Nemrut,  Mt. Ararat and Trabzon, to name a few. We'll take in bazaars, markets, mosques, museums, mountains, with music, mosaics, food, fabrics, jewelry, and just so much more. We'll sigh, gasp, wonder, marvel, laugh, eat, drink and pray. We'll arrive back in Istanbul, October 30, exhausted and spent, but sated and full.   

The red stars approximate our tour route; we’ll fly out of Istanbul, the yellow star, to meet out bus and driver in Adana, the star on the furthest left, and drive north through Eastern Turkey, finishing in Trabzon, along the coast of the Black Sea, where we will fly back to Istanbul.