ANATOLIA AND CAPADOCCIA

In April (2004), we took a 6-day-jeep tour in Turkey.  This was an organized trip run by the Geographic Society of Israel and included 2 days (the first and the last) by bus, and the four days in the middle by jeep. The jeeps were either for 2 or 4 passengers and were driven by us.  It was a great trip!  The group was terrific, and the weather was absolutely perfect. 

Most of our time was spent in the Anatolyian mountains but the highlight of the trip was the time we spent in Cappodocia.  Cappodocia is an incredible place, with wierd geographic formations and people who live in them.  It's got ancient churches, underground cities, fantastic scenery, and lots of it.   It's impossible to describe with words, and even the pictures of it do not do it justice.  At the bottom of this page is a list of links which should help you understand Cappadocia.

Our itinerary was as follows:

Our Israeli guide was Zvika, who kept us on our toes with his "wry" sense of humor and never ending collection of 'red herrings" and humorous diversions. His knowledge of Turkey is  impressive and he clearly loves the country and enjoys imparting his knowledge to others.

Assisting Zvika was Salih, a doctoral student in Byzantine history, who has figured out that it's easier making a living in tour guiding than in Byzantine history!  He was a great help and everybody enjoyed his company.  You can see both Zvika and Salih in several of the pictures below.

The group was great.  We were 26 travelers in 7 jeeps (9 including guides and local staff).  Everybody got along and the most interesting aspect of the group was the wide range in ages.  The youngest was 13 (Gilad on a Bar Mitzvah trip with his father, Avi) and the oldest was Lilo, a lady who has done a vast amount of traveling and almost 90!!  We also had an entire family, parents Rami and Dorit, with their 2 teenaged daughters.

Everybody had a great time.  The pictures below speak for themselves.  

Click on the thumbnails to see a full size picture.