I was in Port Vila for the opening of the annual Nawita Contemporary art exhibition, showing off the best works by young Vanuatu artists. The opening night was held in the Alliance Francaise gallery on Rue Mercet and was packed with dignitaries including the Prime Minister, respective diplomatic representatives, and all the artists. With typical French flair extremely tasty, and highly alcoholic, punch was served, alongside the ubiquitous massive tub of Kava to the crowds admiring the work of Vanuatu's top artists.
Looking down on the rainforest canopy |
Sealand at sunset |
Another tiny dot in the Pacific Ocean is Norfolk Island, 1670 Kilometres from Sydney and officially part of Australia, although mostly self governed. Geographically it is actually closer to Vanuatu than Australia. And it is small, with only just over 2000 people. All of which makes for a very expensive flight, it is cheaper to fly from Sydney to Indonesia or Japan than to Norfolk Island.
I was toying with the idea of going to a Turkish bath. It was a 'Must Do' according to all the advertising boards outside the travel agents lining the streets. It was just that something about the idea of lying on a slab being pummeled by a big bloke did not attract me, maybe if it were a lady working on me I might have changed my mind, but that would be far too unseemly for Turkey's fairly conservative morals.
In a restored Silk Road Caravanserai near Urgup, the Sufi religious ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes is performed weekly. It is a separate order within the Sunni faith of Islam and although once practised throughout the middle east, it is now limited to small groups in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Indonesia.
Discovered by chance in 1963 when a homeowner, renovating his cellar, broke through an earth wall and discovered a passageway, Derinkuyu is a huge subterranean city in the Cappadocia region.The region has many of these cities which were built in the seventh century and used to hide from marauding armies, particularly the Romans who had a tendency to raid the Anatolia region to procure slaves.
Slow cooked lamb kebabs |
View from an abandoned Cave house looking towards Pink Valley |
Volcanic eruptions two million years ago caused the region of Cappadocia to be covered by thick ash, which became soft rock (or in geological terms,Tuff). Erosion over time left only the harder remnants of the Tuff, which has been shaped by the elements into amazing formations; towers, chimneys, mushrooms, and rocks that appear to have been sculpted by Henry Moore. The soft rock also enabled the inhabitants to carve out their cave homes in these towers, and to go underground at times of danger.
The Basillica Cistern |