Turkey is best traveled by buses, of which there are many, frequent, and cheap. This is what I did in a loop that took me south and then east along the coast from Izmir, cutting into the center of the country to wondrous Capaddocia, and then north-west to Istanbul.

From Izmir, I headed south to the city of Selcuk and the amazingly well preserved Roman ruins of Ephesus. From there, I headed on to the exclusive beach resort and yacht club in Bodrum. I tried my hand at scuba-diving there before heading along the coast to more everyday folk beaches at Fethiye. Fethiye involved a lovely hike, a crowded beach, and a 12-island cruise on clear blue waters that was very refreshing. Next I hopped on a slow bus that drove along the coast over cliffs to Antalya, and then overnight to Capaddocia.

If I had to pick a single highlight of the trip, it would have to be the unreal scenery of Capaddocia and the Ihlara Valley, where I spent a great couple of days hiking and camping. The nearly two rolls of film I shot during those days is a testament to how much I was entranced by the land, deservingly so in my opinion.

After Capaddocia I spent three days in Istanbul, a true cross-roads. It seems that every civilization in the Western world needed to go one way or another or another through Asia Minor (a.k.a. Turkey), and from the Romans and Greeks through the Mongols and Ottomans and to the British, they have all left their marks. I was surprised to find out that there are more Roman ruins in Turkey than in Italy, and more ancient Greek ruins than in Greece. Turkey is a live history lesson of western civilization.

My next stop was to be the source of much of western civilization - Greece.