Page 64 - 2022 & 2023 Adventures by Land & Sea

Itinerary we’ll meet with a Syrian refugee and a Turkish citizen DAY • Cappadocia • Underground city
to discuss a Controversial Topic about the challenges excursion • Optional Whirling Dervishes tour
refugees face in Turkey, and the divided attitudes that This morning we’ll take an hour-long hike among
DAY 1 • Depart U.S. the Turkish people have toward the refugees. the serene Cappadocian landscape before riding out
Fly overnight to Istanbul, Turkey.
B — Armada Old City Hotel or similar to visit an extraordinary underground city built by
early Christians. Following lunch at a local restaurant,
DAY 2 • Arrive in Istanbul, Turkey DAY 5 • Fly to Cappadocia • Visit Göreme we’ll attend a craft demonstration by local artists at
Upon arrival in Istanbul, you’ll be met at the airport open-air museum a rug-weaving cooperative. This evening, you can
and transferred to our hotel. There, we meet our Trip This morning we fly to Cappadocia, whose wondrous join an Optional Tour to witness a performance of the
Experience Leader and fellow travelers, including and historic landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Whirling Dervishes. Dinner is at the hotel this evening.
those who took our optional pre-trip extensions to Site. We enjoy lunch at a local restaurant upon arrival,
Untouched Azerbaijan or New! Turkey & Georgia’s Black then we explore Göreme—a vast, open-air monastic B,L,D — Alfina Hotel or similar
Sea Coast: Castles, Forests & Promenades. complex of rock churches covered with frescoes DAY • Overland to Konya • Whirling Dervish
Armada Old City Hotel or similar dating from the tenth to the 13th centuries. Dinner is monastery visit • Overland to Antalya
at a local restaurant this evening. After breakfast we’ll head across the Taurus
DAY 3 • Explore Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar & B,D — Alfina Hotel or similar Mountains to the seaside town of Antalya. To break up
Topkapi Palace our journey, we’ll stop in Konya, home of the Whirling
Today we discover Istanbul, beginning at the DAY 6 • A Day in the Life of a Cappadocian Dervish orders and a bastion of Seljuk culture. We’ll
Hippodrome, followed by the Grand Bazaar, one of the village • Grand Circle Foundation visit the Mevlana Muzesi (Museum), the former tekke
largest and oldest covered markets in the world. After visit: Women’s Education & Handicraft (dervish hall) that now holds the tomb of Celaleddin
lunch on your own and some free time, we’ll explore Cooperative • Optional Ballooning Over
Topkapi Palace, which served as the main residence Cappadocia tour
and headquarters of Ottoman sultans in the 15th and Early this morning, you may choose to join an optional
16th centuries. Then, we’ll enjoy a Welcome Dinner at hot-air balloon ride over Cappadocia. Afterward, we’ll Watch this independent video to learn
a local restaurant. drive to a small village for our NEW A Day in the Life more about this adventure
B,D — Armada Old City Hotel or similar experience. We’ll join local men in a teahouse, visit
a women’s cooperative supported by Grand Circle
DAY 4 • Explore Hagia Sophia • Foundation, and sit down to lunch with a local family
Controversial Topic: The challenges facing to discover a traditional Turkish way of life. As we
Syrian refugees in Turkey with a female make our way back to our hotel this afternoon, we’ll
refugee and a Turkish citizen make stops at a few of Cappadocia’s most famous rock
After breakfast, we visit the Hagia Sophia—a true formations, such as Three Beauties or Camel Rock.
wonder of the Byzantine world. Completed under Dinner is at a local restaurant.
Emperor Justinian in AD 537, this massive building was a B,L,D — Alfina Hotel or similar
Christian church for nearly 1,000 years. Then, we’ll take
a stroll along Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian street lined watch video
with Art Nouveau and Ottoman-era buildings. Later,

Meet the people who call Turkey home

Refugees in Istanbul : On Day 4 in Istanbul, learn about
the Controversial Topic of Syrian refugees in Turkish
society during an enlightening conversations with some
Syrian women and then get the Turkish perspective from
a local Turkish woman.

Cappadocian Villagers : Discover traditional ways of life in
the Turkish heartland on Day 6 during A Day in the Life of a Cappadocian village,
where we’ll sit down to lunch in the home of a local family.
A Whirling Dervish : Have an exclusive conversation on Day 8 with a practicing
member of the Whirling Dervishes, a 700-year-old Sufi mystical sect known for
their whirling—a ceremonial mix of movement and meditation.

Local women in Antalya : On Day 9, discover how women are adjusting
to their country’s increasingly conservative society when you meet with a
local woman who will discuss the Controversial Topic of women’s rights in
contemporary Turkey.
On Day 4, we’ll visit Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia.

64 Turkey’s Magical Hideaways www.oattravel.com/tmh2022

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