Carol H. - New York
29 September 2004

Dear Rina, 

Sorry for the delay in replying to your kind email. It was fabulous, fabulous, ALL THE PICTURES CAME OUT!!!. I will send you some. You should see me atop Mt. Nemrut, frozen but happy. The mule experience was one I will have to describe in a separate email , I had the best trip I ever had despite the difficulties. All the hotels were good, the Palan was wonderful, I would hope that in future it will be a two night stop as they have such wonderful amenities. I loved the Gaziantep hotel as it has a lovely spa and pool and I had a great swim and sauna and the pool attendant was wonderful. But naturally the Daphne remains my favorite hotel of all. I have not known such loving attention and kindness anywhere at anytime, even at Kempinski. I will recommend them highly and hope they get lots of business. Did you know they stood outside when I left for airport and waved me off?

Food was great through out but I love Turkish food anyway as you know. We had some exceptional meals though, one in Erzerum in the restored house was the best in my opinion. Great grilled chicken. Also a great meal in I can't remember where, near a Mosque in a garden. I'll look it up in my trip notes and let you know. That was sumptuous, we all enjoyed it. Yashar the driver was superb, I have promised to find him an American wife and will start looking soon. We are very busy here and it's easy to see that being away three weeks sends everyone into a panic but I am already thinking about next year. Will write more later as I have detailed comments. All the best to you, it was great meeting you and I hope to see you again next year unless you come to NYC before then. Best wishes to Suleyman, he was tops. 

Regards, 
Carol H.

Hi Rina, 

Hope all is well with you. I am trying to get back into the swim of things but it's difficult. Here are the rest of my trip notes I hope they are useful: Lake Van was wonderful, I loved Akdemar Island and boat ride but every fly in Turkey seemed to be there. Next time I will bring some fly repellent. But it was a lovely, spot flies notwithstanding. Lunch was good too, very good chicken and salad was I think the best I ever ate. I loved the Buyuk Urutu Hotel, I loved the decor - very Ottoman and working refrigerator which was good. 

Dogubayazit - what a great place. I loved the waterfall with it's little bridge. It reminded me of the rope bridges in Nepal, just a little more sturdy. The countryside around it was wonderful and beautiful. Lunch was boiled beef just like Mama used to make! What a good meal in a neat upstairs restaurant with grocery store downstairs where I was able to buy film and other stuff. What can I say about Ishak Pasha? Breathtaking is one word. My pictures from here are spectacular. The Sim Er hotel reminds me of mountaineering hotels in Switzerland. The atmosphere and friendly staff make it a great place to stay. The rooms are basic but it has a lot of charm. The dinner buffet was very good, a lot of variety. I got great pictures of Mt. Ararat - no clouds at all. We were very lucky and saw lots of large hawks which I thought were golden eagles, alas they weren't. 

Kars reminded me somehow of Haifa Israel - maybe the steep streets. I liked it very much. The lunch restaurant was super duper, lots of variety and great food. If I weren't embarrassed I would've eaten more. 

Erzurum is a great place. I enjoyed the place, the people were friendly and interested and inside the Medrese there was a market going on with lovely things. For some reason the women I talked to kept patting me, this happened in Urfa too, I can't understand it. The local stone from which jewelry was made was very lovely. Palan Hotel was first rate, I loved it, it had a wonderful breakfast buffet and I wish we could have stayed there a second night to use all the amenities. 

Sumela was great but taxing, I didn't think I could make it all the way up but I did with Suleyman's help and Gene's help and Coleen's help. I did however do those steps all alone and I have a picture to prove it. Frescos in great shape as my pictures will attest, it is truly a very worthwhile site and I would love to go back there. 

Then back to Istanbul, all flights in Turkey were perfect but my bag was the very last one. Back at lovely Daphne to a warm welcome and tea and rest and bath they very kindly put me back in my same wonderful room with the view of a minaret with a tree growing out of it. Next day spent at Arasta market finishing up shopping, as Grand Bazaar was closed. Good flight back to US with no problems. 

Rina it was a wonderful trip. I had the best time I ever had on this kind of trip; you did a splendid job as did Suleyman and Eastern Turkey is truly wonderful, more Americans should go there and see. I can tell by the reaction to my pictures that people never saw such beautiful sights. The ones that made the biggest impression were of course Mt. Nemrut, also Ishak Pasha and Mt. Ararat and the Goreme Open Air Museum which is truly a jewel in its newly restored state. Yashar was the perfect driver even in difficult places, I hope he was satisfied with what we collected for him. He was funny and personable. Well Rina, that's about all I have to say. See you in Istanbul next time unless you come to NYC before next June.
All the best to you and Suleyman, 

Regards, 
Carol