Turkey – Ullan Adventures

Interview with Beckett – A Year of Travel Wrap-up

Kirsten / June 5, 2014

Interview with Beckett at the end of our year of traveling (age 7)

Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year?
Beckett: Yes. I’ve enjoyed traveling because you can go a lot of fun places like Turkey and Thailand.

Q: What do you like most about traveling?
Beckett: That I get to do fun activities like paragliding and ziplining and stuff. And elephant camp.

Riding an elephant in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Q: What did you like least about traveling?
Beckett: I have to pack and unpack my bag. And as soon as I find somewhere fun, I have to leave.

Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you?
Beckett: Stuffies! Stuffies is like everything I brought.

Q: What were your favorite places? Why?
Beckett: Thailand because we went to an elephant camp and took care of elephants for a day and cleaned it, checked the poo, ate lunch then bathed it. And I also went ziplining through the trees in a jungle. We saw gibbons through the trees.

Turkey because I went paragliding and they have delicious pancakes – yum yum. The paragliding was so fun – you were 6000’ up – but the drive was really scary.

Santorini because we went ATV-ing. And Morocco because we went ATV-ing out in the desert and because of the cobra show.

Watching a cobra in the Medina in Marrakech, Morocco

Q: What were your least favorite places? Why?
Beckett: Istanbul. There was just nothing really good to see there. And Spain, there was just nothing really good to do around.

Q: What were your favorite experiences?
Beckett: Ziplining. Taking care of elephants for a day. Paragliding! ATV-ing. Going up the Eiffel Tower. Walking on the Great Wall of China and taking the toboggan down. Ice cream show in Turkey. Yee Peng. Tigers. Turkish Bath.

Beck and Mara running on the Great Wall of China

Q: What were your least favorite experiences?
Beckett: My least favorite experience was trying new foods. The ferry from Rhodes to Turkey – I hate that. I did not like Pamukkale. The scary drive up the mountain to paraglide. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace in Istanbul were boring.

Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled?
Beckett: Uhhhhh… don’t know. It was ok.

Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject?
Beckett: Science

Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject?
Beckett: Writing

Q: What have you learned from your travels so far?
Beckett: That traveling can be fun but also not fun. How bad the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey was. How boring plane rides are. How fun ATVs are. How fun paragliding and taking care of an elephant is. How fun ziplining is.

Q: What were some of your favorite foods?
Beckett: Turkish pancakes. Crepes. Mac n’ cheese from Hotel Letoon in Fethiye, Turkey. Baguettes. Food-go-round. MK in Thailand.

Eating Gözleme (Turkish pancakes) in Calis Beach, Turkey

Q: What do you miss the most about the USA?
Beckett: Having a house and not having to pack your bags every once in a while. And unpack them. Finding friends and not having to leave them.

Q: What will you miss the most about traveling?
Beckett: Going fun places and doing once in a lifetime experiences.

Q: Where do you want to travel next?
Beckett: Go on African safari.

007 — Me-O Veterinary Clinic in Kidzania in Bangkok

118 — Making curry paste at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Washing MaeBonChon in the river at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand

416 — Feeding a baby tiger at the Night Safari in Chiang Mai, Thailand

FC Barcelona futbol game at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain

Beckett and his magic genie lamp in Marrakech, Morocco

467 — Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

228 — Crossing the Mekong River in a longtail boat from Thailand to Laos

063 — Going Viking at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway

Fresh squeezed OJ from #63 in Marrakech, Morocco — Fresh squeezed OJ from stall #63 in Marrakech, Morocco

Feeding pigeons at Tha Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tree "snow" in Paris — Tree “snow” in Paris

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Interview with Mara – A Year of Travel Wrap-up

Kirsten / June 5, 2014

Interview with Mara at the end of our year of traveling (age 9)

116 — MaeKwan at Patara Elephant Camp in Thailand

Q: Have you enjoyed traveling this past year?
Mara: Well… it’s fun at times. But sometimes I miss just having a house. But it’s great – I love traveling the world and it’s amazing!

Q: What do you like most about traveling?
Mara: Going new places and experiencing new cultures. And I love to try the different foods. And the different treats are always fun.

Q: What did you like least about traveling?
Mara: I don’t get to have much stuff and it’s kind of hard to make friends when you know you’re going to be leaving soon. Sometimes I just miss having friends and having a real house and being able to decorate it.

Q: What toys/games are you happy you brought with you?
Mara: Well, I’m happy I brought my stuffed animals. Or some of my stuffed animals. And I’m happy I brought my Barbies. That’s pretty much all I brought.

Q: What were your favorite places? Why?
Mara: I loved Thailand because there were so many adventures and there are lots of crazy markets. I loved Paris because I wanted to go there all my life and I SO LOVED going up the Eiffel Tower. And I loved Hong Kong because there was a restaurant we called “Noodle Girl” and it was soooo yum! Santorini was AM-AZ-ING!

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower for the first time!

Q: What were your least favorite places? Why?
Mara: Well, that’s kind of hard but Spain was the worst place we went. But it was still pretty darn good. And in Istanbul, all the restaurants served Turkish food which got boring. Plus the Grand Bazaar was just ok. There are so many stray cats and dogs which got scary.

Q: What were your favorite experiences?
Mara: I loved the elephant camp in Thailand. It was UNBELIEVABLY cool! And I also loved the crazy markets. I liked the Noodle Girl restaurant in Hong Kong – it makes me so hungry for grilled steak. Yee Peng was amazing! Great Wall of China! Marrakech ATVs were awesome! Seeing my family paraglide was neat. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was amazing! It was so cool. And there were lights on it that blinked and made it looked like it sparkled.

All smiles while warming up after the Forbidden City

Q: What were your least favorite experiences?
Mara: Pamukkale (in Turkey) was ok. And Tiger Kingdom was ok. I really disliked the Louvre, Notre Dame, and La Sagrada Familia. The Alcazar (in Seville, Spain) was bor-ing. The Parthenon was boring. I disliked the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey because the sea was so rocky and wavy and over half the people threw up. Climbing up the Kotor wall was just so long and boring.

Q: Did you enjoy being homeschooled?
Mara: Yes because less school hours. And I don’t have to wake up early, early, early. I have the nicest teacher in the world. I also liked the way she taught multiplication and division.

Q: What was your favorite homeschool subject?
Mara: I don’t have one. I do like multiplication.

Q: What was your least favorite homeschool subject?
Mara: My least favorite was spelling.

Learning about Ancient Greece and hosting our own Olympics

Q: What have you learned from your travels so far?
Mara: A lot about how boring planes are. And how rocky and wavy ferries can be. And how annoying it is to wake up early. I also learned a lot about geography. I also learned how to negotiate. And how fun tuk tuks are. And I learned how annoying it is to have everything you own fit into a suitcase. And that elephants are fun and amazing creatures.

Q: What were some of your favorite foods?
Mara: Pizza in Fethiye, Turkey at Nil Bar. Steak at “Noodle Girl” in the Hong Kong airport. And Nic’s in Chiang Mai, Thailand had great meatballs and pizza. The baguettes we had in Spain were AMAZING! Mint tea in Marrakech. Mmm mmm. The crepes and macarons in Paris – yum! The gyros in Santorini and the olives in Athens were good. I also liked sushi and coconut milk straight from the coconut in Thailand.

I did NOT like the orange hot dog under the Eiffel Tower. Blahhhh.

Q: What do you miss the most about the USA?
Mara: I miss being able to talk to kids in English. And I miss English TV. I miss going to swim team. Girl Scouts! Toy stores!

Q: What will you miss the most about traveling?
Mara: I’m going to miss the food and the cultures and going new places.

Q: Where do you want to travel next?
Mara: Egypt to see the Pyramids. And Russia – I like snow.

139 — Cooking Thai food at Sammy’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand

454 — Loi Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

224 — Longtail boat trip on the Mekong from Thailand to Laos

Riding a bull at a carnival in La Herradura, Spain

Europe Markets Turkey

Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

Kirsten / May 26, 2014

Enjoying apple, cinnamon and mint tea plus treats in the Grand Bazaar

One of the things all of us were most looking forward to in Istanbul was visiting and shopping in the Grand Bazaar. So much so, that we went to visit it as soon as we arrived in Istanbul. Maybe it’s because we’d been to Marrakech just a couple of months before and we’d been in Turkey for a month, but we found it a little disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still neat to see. And the history and scale of it is pretty cool.

But at the end of the day, it came off like a gigantic tourist-only market selling only touristy things. Sure there are cool lamps and beautiful tea sets, rugs and scarves, silver and jewelry. But it didn’t feel or look authentic and there wasn’t nearly as much stuff I was dying to buy as I expected.

That said, we did wander through it at least 3 times. And Mara did buy an awesome pair of “Turkish slippers” – unfortunately the picture came out very fuzzy.

Fuzzy picture of Mara and her fun slippers

One thing we did enjoy was the free samples of Turkish Delight from the various shops.

The whole wall was full of various flavors of Turkish Delight

We so enjoyed having tea and treats at this little stall that we went back twice. We ordered 3 teas: Beck got the apple tea, Mara got the cinnamon tea and Chuck and I split a mint tea. They were all delicious and we bought some tea from a stand afterwards to bring back to the States with us.

Aside from Mara’s slippers and the tea, the kids each bought a keychain for their keychain collection and I bought myself a little “Genie lamp”. Overall it was much easier on our wallet than we were expecting.

Here are some pictures of the Grand Bazaar:

Here are some pictures of the various items for sale:

Video Mara shot:

Europe Turkey

Topkapi Palace

Kirsten / May 26, 2014

Topkapi Palace was our final sightseeing stop in Istanbul, so Chuck and I enjoyed it, but the kids were over it. Topkapi was one of the main residences of the Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years. It housed over 4,000 people and consisted of many buildings and courtyards.

One of the most impressive buildings is the Imperial Treasury that houses the most amazing jewelry, art, and heirlooms that I’ve ever seen including staggering amounts of massive emeralds.

The Privy Chamber houses “the most sacred relics of the Muslim world” – hair, a tooth, and relics that belonged to Muhammad. They also had the Staff of Moses on display. It was really cool to see such amazing historic objects.

We spent a large part of our time visiting the famous “Harem” where the Sultan’s mother, wives, children, and concubines lived.

Definitely worth a visit if you got to Istanbul – unless you’re a worn-out kid!

The Harem:

Other buildings:

The Grounds:

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Turkey

6 Days in Istanbul

Kirsten / May 26, 2014

We flew up to Istanbul after spending about a month in Fethiye, Turkey. This was one of the last stops before our year of traveling was up and the kids were kind of over traveling by this point. So while Chuck and I were amazed by the various sites around Istanbul, the kids, especially Beckett, weren’t very enamored with the city.

We still managed to have fun while taking in the big ticket sites like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, and the Basilica Cisterns.

We rented an apartment in the Sultanahmet District which is the old city and where the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi, etc. are located. This meant we were walking distance to all those sites and could even hear the Blue Mosque’s calls to prayer from our apartment. The apartment was a true find – 2 bedrooms, room to spread out, and a great location for an amazing price.

View from our apartment:

Walking around was an interesting experience. There were so many stray dogs and cats that we starting having a daily dog and cat count. I think one day we were up to 40 stray cats!

Streets in Sultanahmet:

Fresh squeezed orange juice carts were found all along the streets. Delicious!

A few times we strolled to the waterfront area. This was lined with restaurants and always had a ton of people. We’d also walk across the bridge to the other side. This was almost always lined with lots of fishermen.

Under the bridge is filled with restaurants which we ate at once or twice.

One of the days we went to the famous Spice Bazaar. It was a similar but different experience from the Grand Bazaar.

We spent most of our time in Sultanahmet which is on the European side, so one day we took the ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul. It was fun to get out on the Bosphorus Strait and visit a different section of town. There was a big protest happening when we arrived, but it remained peaceful. We spent a few hours wandering around, eating pastries, and checking it out before we took the ferry back to Europe.

We also caught up with Chuck’s friend Erman for dinner and drinks on this rooftop cafe that had amazing views.

We were lucky enough to catch some sunsets too.

Here are some other pictures from our time in Istanbul:

Chuck photobombing Mara in the Blue Mosque

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Basilica Cistern in Sultanahmet / Istanbul

Kirsten / May 25, 2014

The Basilica Cistern is a large cistern located under Istanbul, near the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. The cistern was built in the 6th century and used into modern times until it was forgotten and rediscovered. The kids really enjoyed place and gave it a thumbs up!

It’s a fairly quick attraction to visit – probably no more than an hour once you’re inside.

One fun part of the visit is a dress-up photo station. We really enjoyed our picture.

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Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Kirsten / May 23, 2014

Another one of my top things to see in Istanbul was Hagia Sophia, known locally as Ayasofya. I knew of it but not much of the history until I taught the kids Roman History as part of the 3rd grade curriculum. It was the largest Christian Cathedral in the world for 1,000 years (until the Seville Cathedral was built), and eventually became a mosque. Eventually it was removed from use as an active mosque and became a museum.

The interior is faded and rough but the different colored marbles, gorgeous gold mosaics and all the paint must have been awe-inspiring in pristine condition. Even faded, it’s still a remarkable building and interesting piece of history.

The interior:

318 — This is a view from the upper level. The columns don’t really pop here, but most of them are colored marble that would be insane if they were polished up.

The marble panels were brought in from places far and wide. In person, you can see the different colors, but they’re all faded a bit.

Gold mosaics from the 11th and 12th centuries:

312 — These aren’t relics, just replicas of the period for sale in the gift shop. We agonize over buying the bowl in the middle, but didn’t pull the trigger.

The exterior:

Beckett and Mara weighing in with their impression of Hagia Sophia - Mara gave it mixed reviews and Beckett gave it 2 thumbs down — Beckett and Mara weighing in with their impression of Hagia Sophia – Mara gave it mixed reviews and Beckett gave it 2 thumbs down

Cultural Europe Turkey

Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Kirsten / May 22, 2014

Visiting the Blue Mosque, technically known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, in Istanbul was one of the top things on my list. Our first morning in Istanbul, we visited the mosque and I was quite happy to finally be here! The mosque was built in the early 1600s and it get its unofficial name from the thousands of blue tiles in the interior.

My first reaction was “Wow!” Then I think I uttered a few more wows as I took it all in. Unfortunately my pictures don’t do it justice.

Beckett was less than impressed but personally I really enjoyed it.

The interior:

The details everwhere are pretty amazing. You can see them a bit if you click this picture to zoom in.

Outside the entrance:

The courtyard and views of the mosque from the courtyard:

The outside:

Europe Favorite Moments Turkey

Paragliding in Ölüdeniz, Turkey

Chuck Ullan / May 22, 2014

We can now add paragliding to the list of activities we didn’t know we wanted to do until presented with the opportunity. Turns out that where we’re staying in Turkey (Fethiye/Calis Beach) is about a half hour away from Ölüdeniz, which is famous for both its turquoise blue waters and fantastic paragliding.

We weren’t 100% sure if we’d do it, but once we got to Ölüdeniz and saw everyone coming down, we knew we had to do it. Since we couldn’t leave the kids on their own, only Kirsten went on the first day.

She had a great time, which made me want to go, and then Beckett REALLY started begging us to go. He’s been relentless for the past two weeks, and we finally gave in and said yes. So a couple days ago, we all went over there again so Beckett and I could get our turn.

All the companies have offices down by the beach and you just show up and sign up with whomever you want. Most of them have flights 4 or 5 times a day. Then all the people doing it will hop into a van with their pilots and take a 30 minute drive up Babadağ mountain, the top of which is about 6,500 feet.

They have 3 launch areas at the top, and the winds dictate which one you use. It’s basically a big slope filled with paver stones. You’re not actually jumping off a cliff, but instead just catch air and get lifted off the slope.

We continue to be surprised how fearless Beckett is in certain situations, such as with the zipline, and now the paragliding. It’s kind of odd, because he gets freaked out by other things, such as strange dogs, even when they’re not hassling him. The drive up made him a little nervous due to the steep hillside, but once we got to the top it was all systems go!

If the weather is good, you’re out of the van and into the air in about 3 minutes.

Unfortunately, Kirsten’s flight got delayed by clouds, so she was up there for 3 hours! Right before sunset the clouds broke just long enough for her to take off.

And here was Kirsten’s reward for the long delay – a beautiful sunset from the sky!

Finally, just one shot from my flight. I didn’t pay for pictures, so just did a selfie while hoping not to drop my camera.

OK, all the photos of us aside, the views up there were amazing. The ride is so smooth and gentle that you just enjoy the feeling of soaring like a bird.

089 — Ölüdeniz is the little town in the foreground.

112 — This is the mountain we launch from.

Even if you don’t go paragliding, the views of everyone landing are really cool, too.

037 — At times, you can see a couple dozen paragliders in the air.

All good things must come to an end, but landings are part of the fun. There’s a little strip of grass along the beach where all the gliders come in. Our company had the flights go between two buildings to land close to their shop.

Finally, an action video of Beckett’s launch, Kirsten and Beckett’s flights, and Beckett’s landing.

We’d recommend this to almost anyone. It’s easy to be a bit nervous about doing it, but once in the air, all worries are forgotten. The views are incredible and all three of us agree that it’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever done.

TIPS

The cost here runs from 150 to 220 TL (about $70 to $105 US), which includes transportation, admission to the mountain, and your ride. Prices are probably higher in peak season. Kirsten used ReAction and Beckett and I used Gravity, which was a bit cheaper.

Photos and videos are extra, and they generally will end up costing you $30 to $50. Yes, it’s a lot, but the photos are an incredible souvenir.

We didn’t make any reservations, and that was ok for May. In Summer, you’d probably want to, especially if you have a large group.

Turkey

1 Month in Fethiye, Turkey

Kirsten / May 21, 2014

We were trying to figure out where to go when our Schengen visa time was up in Europe. We heard about other travelers loving this small town of Fethiye on the Mediterranean Coast. Most stayed in Calis Beach which turned out to be a big British tourist area and has a great, long promenade lined with restaurants and shops.

Getting there consisted of a short (but choppy and stomach churning) ferry ride from Rhodes, Greece to Marmaris then a couple of hour drive to Fethiye. We arrived on the day before Easter and the Easter Bunny did in fact come to our rental apartment on Easter morning! We immediately set out to find a rental house for the next month. It took us till the 2nd day to get our rental which was a townhouse at the far end of Calis Beach. We signed a lease for a month and moved in.

Since we didn’t have a car, we had to take a dolmuş (think big minivan) to/from the grocery store. This meant it was a pain to cook so we usually ate at home for breakfast but went out for lunch or dinner every day. Luckily the promenade was a short 5 minute walk away, so we’d head there and pick up some food. We loved going to the promenade to eat/shop/stroll.

One of the kids favorite activities was jumping off the rock wall onto the beach.

Of course Chuck and I enjoyed the sunsets as we ate dinner outside.

One of our favorite places to eat wasn’t on the promenade but was a 3 minute walk from our place. We went there so many times to eat Gözleme which is a bread stuffed with filling. Beckett loved the cheese while Chuck and I usually got 1 stuffed with minced beef and another stuffed with potatoes and cheese. We’d always get tea too!

One of my favorite things to order was the testi kebab cooked in a clay pot. When it’s time to serve, they’d come out and use a machete to break off the top of the clay pot and pour the food onto your plate. It was delicious! Well the first 2 times it was – the last place I got it I swear I had clay pieces in my food and it wasn’t very good. The guy had even said if his food wasn’t the best he’d jump into the ocean. The food wasn’t that good but we didn’t have the heart to make him jump in the ocean.

Since I’m speaking of food, one of the highlights for the kids was the ice cream shows. When you order ice cream in Turkey, the vendor puts on a show which is hysterical. The kids got a kick out of it every time.

That's a big ice cream cone! — That’s a big ice cream cone!

We had a great time while in Fethiye. Some times we’d head down to the main town of Fethiye, a couple of times we headed to Ölüdeniz to paraglide, or some days we’d visit the local market. One day we did a day trip to Pamukkale to see the white travertine pools.

One of the times we went into Fethiye, we found a kid trampoline area for the kids to play in. They had mini ATVs the kids could drive, plus the kids loved playing on the trampolines.

We also just had fun hanging out at home or just doing random things.

Picking lemons off the lemon tree out back

We found Hotel Mara downtown. Love the guy in the doorway!

All in all, we had a good time in Calis Beach. Chuck and I loved walking to the beach in the morning, we loved strolling and eating along the Med, we had some great time playing in the pool, and we had fun doing some big ticket activities too. Definitely a great month!

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White Travertines and Blue Pools in Pamukkale, Turkey

Kirsten / May 2, 2014

When we were scoping out cool stuff to do in Turkey, photos of Pamukkale really jumped out. Pamukkale is a hillside of white travertine terraces created by hot springs depositing minerals that slowly accumulated over time.

Pamukkale is about 3 hours from where we’re staying in Fethiye. We are so not tour group people. But, since we didn’t have a car and the tours would’ve cost the same as us doing it ourselves, we booked a tour. And promptly got reminded why we never take tours. It worked out ok in the end though and saved us 6 hours of driving it ourselves plus navigating and all that.

Unfortunately, we only got about 2 hours at Pamukkale and didn’t have nearly enough time to explore the terraces and also see the ruins and swim in the hot springs. There were also a number of nuisances during the day but at least we got to see it. Most importantly, neither kid got sick on the bus trip, which is a win for us!

The travertine terraces were the highlight of our visit:

To protect the travertine, you’re only allowed to walk in them in bare feet (or socks). Shoes would’ve been nice as some surfaces are quite bumpy and hurt.

In addition to the travertine terraces, the site contains the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis. Hierapolis was built in the 2nd century B.C. but has largely been destroyed. The theater is still intact though and was pretty darn cool. Unfortunately that’s the only part of the ruins we had time to explore although I doubt we would’ve wandered around them too much as the kids are pretty over ruins at this point.

Also on site, there are natural hot spring pools you can bathe in. The one main pool has ancient ruins in it which you can sit on or swim around. We skipped the pools, much to Beckett’s dismay, partly due to time constraints but also because it would’ve cost us an extra $45 which seemed absurd. It looked cool though.

Logistics: We booked our tour at one of the many tour booths located in Ölüdeniz. Our trip was through Seaside Travel and I wouldn’t recommend them. The tour wasn’t awful but you can probably do better. We were crammed into a 12 passenger van in tiny seats for the 6+ hours. Plus we only had about 2 hours at the site before we were taken offsite for lunch and then taken to a onyx factory for a “tour” (i.e. try to get you to buy things) which no one cared about.

Our tour guide didn’t do a good job of explaining our itinerary and rushed through the site so fast that if you stopped to take a picture, you would have to jog to catch up. Also, the price didn’t include the hot spring pools even though it was implied that everything was included. A tour is still maybe the way to go but pick a different company. Another tip: We didn’t get lunch till around 2:30pm (even though we left at 6:30am) so pack snacks if you tend to get hungry or have kids in tow.

Europe Markets Turkey

Markets in Fethiye, Turkey: A Photo Tour

Kirsten / April 27, 2014

One of our favorite things to do here in Fethiye is going to the weekly markets. There is a Sunday market near Calis Beach which is more geared to tourists although you will see some locals there. And then there is the Tuesday market in Fethiye which is almost all locals.

The kids always ask to go and they have a great time walking around and sampling the Turkish Delight, buying fresh fruits or getting some freshly grilled corn.

Here is a little overview of both markets:

Beautiful produce: