Running in a circle

HALF MARATHON

BOZCAADA ISLAND

The Aegean Sea has a myriad of islands, and most of them belongs to Greece.  Only a few of the islands are Turkish, and one of these is Bozcaada (Greek name Tenedos).

Every spring Bozcaada hosts a Half Marathon, and this year our star joined the race.

The runners runs a loop around the island, and finishes back where they started.  The size of the island might be the reason why they don't have a full marathon.

The race follows the coast and offers the most beautiful views.

Not everyone paid attention to the race taking place on Main Street.

His official time was a little faster than what this clock says.

Happy and sweaty.

The oldest runner (76?) finishes as the town tractor clears the spectator railings.

Chilling with a game of Back Gammon.

Fresh catch on the menu.

Watching the sheep.

Top of the roof

Welcome to a bird's view of Istanbul:

East/North-East

You can see the Bosphorus Strait in the distance and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge.

We are here on the European side of Istanbul, and Asia is on the other side of the Bosphorus.

All these pictures are taken from the roof of the Sapphire Building, which according to Wikipedia is the tallest building in Istanbul and Turkey (238meters/781feet)

East

South-East 

It is amazing how much building, construction and new development there is going on in Istanbul.

Behind the furthest sky scrapers in the middle of this picture, is the Bosphorus Bridge (a.k.a. the First Bridge).  Under that bridge, on the European side, is our little "village", Ortaköy.

South

The Sea of Marmara in the far distance, and the Bosphorus winding up like a river towards the Black Sea.

The small peninsula to the right where the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara meets, is the Sultanahmet district.  This is the old, Byzantine city centre, where Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar is located (among with most of the tourists)

West

More than 13.500.000 people are said to live in Istanbul, one fifth of Turkey's population.

Just start counting.......

North-West

All of a sudden the city stops in the north.  

Part is the Belgrade Forest, part is owned by the military, and the rest....?

Plenty of Pictures from Petra

Petra is one of Jordan's most treasured and visited places. One of the world's most famous archeological sites, it is a prominent member of Unesco's World Heritage List.  Petra has also been on my 'bucket list' since I first heard about the place a long, long time ago.  

Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses) is the closest village to Petra, and is said to have been
the spot where Moses struck his stick against the rock and extracted water.
The stream seems to me to have dried out by now, and the village might need to be renamed Valley of Hotels.

Walking down towards the ancient city that more than 2000 years ago was home to 30.000 people. 

The Siq is a more than 1 km  long, narrow passageway or gorge that leads in to Petra.  This passageway must have been one of the reasons Petra was such an important and protected metropolis in its time.  The gorge could also be a death trap if you got stuck there during a flash flood that might occur on a rare, rainy day.

And finally, at the end of the tunnel...

Duh da da duuuhhh,  Duh da da! Indy Jones  in search of The Grail.

The Treasury

None shall pass!

Beautiful, hand stitched detail on a woman's dress.

The main thoroughfare of ancient Petra would have been lined with shops & merchants with a Temple at the far end.

Remnants of tombs carved into the rock face.

This local girl selling souvenirs rode her donkey up this steep rocky trail like it was a trot in the park

C climbing after to the High Place of Sacrifice.

Free at last! 

Sometimes difficult to know which rocks were carved by men and which by nature.

Hard to believe these four photos below are closeups of a cliffside - more like the surface of Jupiter.

The view across to the Soldier's Tomb 

Inside one of the Tombs 

Look closely, M is in the doorway. The threshold of the Monastery is taller than he is!

Johnny Depp's Bedouin cousin was our camel guide 

The Theater - closed to exploration due to erosion

Looks like the cake filling in this huge, layered cake spilled over and ran down the side.

You can hire a donkey to carry you up to the higher places,
but how can you ask someone that looks this sad and tired to do the job for you? 

....so we gave M the job to be our mule.

The shots with people give you a sense of the humbling scale in the Siq

Tiny shadow people

Next stop, the desert of Wadi Rum!

(Cue the Indiana Jones theme music!)