Thursday
(November 08)
Well not
too much to write about today except a day of travel. I thought it would only
be a 4 hours bus ride to Antakya fro Urfa but it ended up
being 7.5. I also assumed that the otogar (bus station) was literally 50 metres
from the hotel I planned to stay at, which is what both my guidebooks said.
However it seems that a new otogar had been built well outside of town and I
got dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I was able to get a service
bus to my hotel for free, so that worked out OK.
Lonely
Planet described my hotel as "scary", and while I think that may be a bit harsh
I can see how they came up with that description. But still I was being a
tight-arse, and it has to be expected that sometimes cheap hotels are a little
(or in this case very) rough around the edges.
I took
around the main drag of Antakya that night and
the streets were quite dead even by about 8 at night. I got myself a cheap meal
then went to a very nice pub with cheap beer (2.50 Efes - whooo!) but
unfortunately it was full of Turkish men listening to the soccer on the radio.
I retreated back to my hotel room for an early night.
Friday
(November 09)
I was woken
by the sound of rain pelting against the iron roofs of the surrounding
apartments. I looked at the window and it looked like a really crappy day. So
what better way to spend a crappy day than inside a museum. The Antakya museum is meant to house one of the world's
finest collection of mosaics, so I was really looking forward to it.
The mosaics
were very impressive indeed and a good way to spend a couple of hours until the
rain cleared. Some of them were nearly 100% intact apart from a small patch
here and there and the detail in some of them was quite extraordinary, I really
hope my photos do them justice. After the museum the weather was still crap so
I went to a Kunefe Café, which are dotted all over Antakya.
Antakya is famed for its Kunefe which is a
shredded wheat and soft, mild cheese concoction, baked in the oven and served
in syrup. Whilst it was a bit weird at first having cheese in a desert it
tasted really good and was well worth trying.
The weather
was now clear so I made the hike out to visit the cave-church of St Peter.
Modern day Antakya is the biblical city of Antioch mentioned in the
bible on numerous occasions. It is thought that the cave here is the first ever
church in the world and also the place where the term "Christian" was first
used. Despite its historical significance the church was quite humble, and it
was interesting to think about the things that went on and were said within the
first church, as there would have been no bible, rituals or songs of course.
On the way
back from the church a very friendly local man (his name was Metin) started
chatting to me and then invited me inside his shop for some tea. He wasn't
trying to sell me anything as what he sold was pumpkin mixed with water and
sugar to form some sort of pumpkin jelly like material, I should have really
asked what it was used for as I saw it all over Antakya
- maybe it was a street snack? Anyway he was very keen to practice his English
and learn all about me and Australia,
he then got me to fill out about 10 of his lottery cards which took a lot of
time! He said his dream in life was to win the lottery and travel, I really
hope he wins the lottery - he deserves to. He said if I ever return to Antakya to come see him and I can stay with him and his
family any time- what a champ! He then had his friend take some photos of us
together and I was once again on my way.
Before the
sun went down I had a chance to check out the old part of town, which was a
warren of colourful medieval houses. I didn't take any photos unfortunately as
I really didn't want the kids pestering me for money, which seems to happen as
soon as they see me with my camera. For a very late lunch I went to a small
hommus saloon which only sold hommus - so I thought to myself it must have been
good hommus if he could make a living on selling hommus alone. It was
absolutely delicious and filled me up for the small fee of 2.50 - bargain!
For dinner
that night I probably had my best meal so far in Turkey, a starter of Baba
Ghanoush (an eggplantish salad thing), an Antioch kebab (meat mixed with
cheese, olives and walnuts) and a beer (Efes of course) - all for only 11
dollars, another bargain. So that concludes my time in Antakya
- I really enjoyed this city, especially because of the food!
Tomorrow I
am off to Aleppo
in Syria
and am really looking forward to it.
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Antakya Hotels
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