Troy

Bursa to Troy

Travelling from the North Western direction, we saw vast masses of land covered with olive trees. Also some areas were left to fallow for more intensive planting later in the year.

Marmara sea was seen in the background and this strip was inundated with many inland lakes like Ulubat Golu.

Agriculture is the mainstay here.

Turbines energised by wind is also an important source of energy,

We saw stretches of land dotted with huge turbines.

Nur told us that seaside properties cost more than inland ones and she cheekily related that girls used to inherit seaside properties because they cost less than. But now the opposite has occurred.

Canakkale is a sea port town close to the historical town of Troy where much Greek and Roman influence are established. These are also memorial sites for filming Anzac wars. Ancient Greek mythology ruins as far back as 6 thousand years ago.

18 March annually was designated to remember war heroes here.

Why do people fight ? 

The 4 hour journey to Troy was not done without Nur playing the movie for our understanding of the place.

She played the latest version of the movie and the military scenes actually brought the place alive to me. You will never get tired of the love of Helen of Troy, the beautiful ladies, the episode of Achilles heels and the agony of kings as they fall into the hands of their enemies.

There, we travelled far and wide just to have the experience of seeing the wooden horse albeit not the original one. The breeze was chilly and no number of layers seem to be enough. We were at least dressed 3 layers under our skin. That still seem insufficient. 

I must admit that it is difficult to enjoy when too cold.

At the ruins of Troy, it was just history. Remnants and ruins to show the weaknesses and strengths of empires and wars. But the present generation still do not learn. Nations today is still fighting for power and fame causing unnecessary deaths and sadness. This has made travelling difficult and worrisome too. Nur was saddened that the tourism industry of Turkey has been badly affected by the recent killings and bombings as tourists are turned away from such threats.

We were escorted to witness the greater ruins and learn about the historical majesty back then.
Greek and Roman dominions were clearly depicted in the place.

Apparently Troy had been destroyed several times due to wars and earthquakes and reclamation.

There are markings to denote the position of the various times the city was rebuilt after destruction each time.

This picture speaks it all, 

It was educational to learn of the construction each time. 

The ruins do have a story behind it as they may indicate squares and meeting places for people to congregate and consider. Troy today however has nothing to show off as many nations in the past had a share in the archaeological findings and it is even believed that Berlin today has the original Trojan horse. What an irony.

Travelling out of Troy we stopped at an outlet selling olive related products and I can vouch that the lip gloss sold here is indeed very effective. It did a lot of good to my parched lips. Many other health products including bottles of the finest olive oil are found here.

After a good lunch feeding on sea breams, we reached yet another historical site with strong Greek influence; Asklepion.

Renowned for its healing activities, this place was known for rest and healing.

 Many are believed to receive healing feeding on the fountain water found here.

If I remember correctly, this was the site of the library and the strong Greek influence are seen in the pillars left behind.It was already evening when we reached the place and the chilly breeze took a toll on me.

Perhaps this was the most uncomfortable part of the trip when we had to rush to Izmir, the third largest city of Turkey. It looks very progressive but we hardly had time in this petroleum refinery centre. So we hardly saw the place except for being rushed to see the clock tower built in 1901 by a French architect.

That was the coveted landmark that was shown to us and it did us not much good for we were tired and hungry by then. We were further made upset when we had to travel another hour before we had dinner at Le Bleu at Kusadasi. That evening coincided with the first day of the Lunar New Year but the food was not what we wanted.

But the thoughtful Zaiton made us happy by providing the lou sang for us. We made the most out of it albeit missing the pomp and fuss which we would have experienced back home.

The hotel which hosted us was not so friendly. No drinking water and the room was small. The only consolation was the beautiful sea behind us.

Day three was indeed a long one.

But we saw Troy and Asklepion.

But we were secretly excited for the next day's travel to a biblical land.