The week after the trip to Cappadocia, we took a week off and drove eight hours to a resort on the eastern edge of Turkey, near the town of Muğla.  The little ”ğ” with the funny hat is silent, but it indicates that the preceding vowel is extended.  So it is pronounced Moola.  The resort we stayed at, Han Sarigerme is owned by close friends of a local-guard supervisor at the Embassy.  The supervisor, Burak Ozbaba, and his wife Funda invited us to go with them.  Burack learned his English by working in the Southern part of the US, so he has a southern drawl.  Speaks very good English and like most Turkish men, ornery.With them, they had their little 6½ year old daughter which was a delight to be around.  If you ask her how old she is, she will tell you she is 7, because she doesn’t like having that ½ year business in her age.  She is actually very mature for a 6½ year, er seven-year-old and was not afraid of anything.  She literally spent at least half her waking hours in the pool.  Both parents spent time with her swimming and was nice to see the love of the three.  But many times she was by herself in the pool and she is such a good swimmer, they never worried about her.I used to be a good swimmer, but now when in the pool my butt end just sinks.  I can thrash around, but I don’t go anywhere but down.    – so I stayed out of the water.  As indicated below.Here is a butt load of pictures of the resort, and then I will tell you about the owners.  First the pool area. The front area with samples of food and drink: The little kitchen where the good food comes from:One day, Terese and got into the truck and took a five minute drive to the Mediterranean coast and sat on the beach a few hours.  In the first picture, look at the two women in the burka swimsuits.  Blue and green/brown.One of the more rockier beaches: Since the owner of the resort is a good friend of Burak, he set up a boat ride for us to enjoy.  Below are pictures taken.   Burak’s little one, Aysan wanted to steer the boat, so the captain put her on the stool and let her have it for awhile.We were scheduled to return on Saturday so we could recover before work on Monday, but that Friday before, had the “coup” that took place in Turkey.  I have much to say about the fiasco but it is wise for me not to say anything at this point.  But we were told by the Embassy in Turkey to stay put.  Luckily we were able to return the next day, Sunday.

So we ended up staying an extra night, Saturday night which happen to have a BBQ/party for the 11th wedding anniversary of the owners, Butch and Hundun.  Plus there were many other close friends who came to the dinner.  Below are pictures of the celebration. The next day we all gathered for a final picture.  There several of these and I had to find the best one of me smiling.  Understand, I was indeed smiling on the inside.This was truly an enjoyable and relaxing trip.  It was interrupted by the coup attempt which had many of the people in tears, but the resort was a good place to be at the time.  I realized the place was small and quint, yet it had the touches and style of the 4-5 star hotels I stay at.  Incredible place.  We are even discussing flying back here from Brazil, just to spend time at Han Sarigerme again.

This incredible city is one of the few places in the World that I feel uncomfortable being in.  Not near as much as the cities in Afghanistan, but still a place that my core does not like.  Hopefully, I will be there only once more before heading back to the States, and will leave it for the good man who will replace me in Ankara.

But, regardless of how I feel, I am amazed at the beauty of the place.  This may be hard for some of you to understand, but Gaziantep has some of the best food I have ever eaten, with the exception of BBQ in Ron’s backyard.

The only pictures I have to show you are of a section of the market area where several of us went to purchase lamps that are made in Gaziantep.  I purchased a set which we will leave packed up until we get to Sao Paulo. Below is the type of lamp I purchased.The following images are taken inside the first coffee company in Turkey.  Or at least that is what I am told.I went up the stairs and took the following pictures below. A picture of the Brew-Master below.The group of us trying the pistachio coffee.  An amazing smooth and sweet coffee!And lastly, a quiet evening outside the hotel before leaving the next morning.We are heading to a resort in MUĞLA, Turkey Monday morning and will take a week-long and well deserved vacation.  I should be able to post another butt-load of pictures.

We took a few days off for a long weekend, again traveling to the Cappadocia area.  We stayed at the place we stayed last time because of the beauty of the hotel and the good man who runs it.  Halil.  We discussed him before.  So we didn’t do as much traveling around the area this time, because we just wanted to sit and relax and enjoy Halil’s company.  … and I purchased a few more rugs again, much to the consternation of my wife.

I love the architecture of the place, hoping that wherever we retire, it will have the same stone buildings we see here.  The best I can do, is post a mess of pictures with a few comments.

Pictures of the hotel inside and out.  Some of these may have been in the earlier post. … And the food!  Below is Terese breaking open a pot of lamb stew that was slowly cooked over a period of two hours.And the resultant dinner! And the last meal we had there.And a nice relaxing afternoon.I love rugs.  There is a certain satisfaction being in a rug shop that is actually inside of a cave. Terese deciding she didn’t like the one they displayed.And a pic of Murat leaving to find more rugs he thought we may want to look at.Notice in the three next images.  They are of the same rug, but seen from different sides.  100% silk. Nearby is a building that is well known because a TV series was filmed there about a decade ago and people still come by to see it.  Like the house where “Dallas” was filmed.  I show it here because I like the architecture. Some of the local residents of the hotel. On the way home we stopped in a little village that takes alabaster and creates beautiful items with it, along with some incredible ceramic bowls, etc.  First is the good gentleman who is working the grindstone.And last, but certainly not least, is a picture of Halil with us.  He has decided we are now family.  I told him I will inform my Dear Mother that she now has another son!  He was most appreciative.  I sincerely wish we had more time to travel there and visit.  Perhaps we will since it is only about a three hour drive.MotherDear, meet your new son, Halil Elalan.  And for the rest of you, it is still possible to fly into Turkey avoiding any area you are concerned with and we will pick you up at the airport near Cappadocia and can spend time there with Halil and drink the local wine and relax in an area unlike you have ever been before.

Next, I will post some wonderful pictures of a city in the SE of Turkey.  A city called Gaziantep.