Karatepe Day Trip

A young girl hand weaving a rug at the loom

Over the weekend, one the principals at the high school organized a day trip to Karatepe to see traditional Turkish rugs as well as some Hittite ruins.  It was a long, windy bus ride to the remote village of Karatepe.  We arrived in time for a traditional Turkish lunch outside.  Afterwards, it was every gal (and one man) for himself as people went inside to scope out the rugs and determine which ones to buy.

A display of some of the hand-woven rugs for sale

Kathy and me with our rug purchases.  I bought two small ones and a wall hanging
with pockets  and Kathy's shows a little country scene.

After our time at Karatepe, we went to an outdoor museum and archaeological site to see some Hittite ruins discovered in the 1940s.  Now, I am not going to hide the fact that I don't know everything about history, so therefore I don't know if I totally appreciated everything that I saw at the site.  The Hittites had their civilizations around 1300 B.C.  (I think!).  I was excited to see this view upon climbing the hill!

Dorky picture for you, Mom.  Maybe it can be a framer?

One of the statues in the park.  Sidenote:  I have no idea who this guy is posing,
but it was impossible to get a photo without other people in them!

One of the carvings at the site.  My favorite, hehehe

Our last stop was to see some ancient Roman ruins and castle at the Hierapolis ruins.  Rustu Bey, our trusty tour guide, informed the group that the pillars at the entrance is a sign of how wealthy this area was.  The castle was built by the crusaders later on.

Kathy and I, just hanging out at some ruin

Amphitheater used for theater performances

Castle fortress on top of a hill

Beautiful sunset over the countryside to end the trip

After the big day on Saturday, I still somehow had energy to do some shopping at the Mersin mall.  No fun shoes or clothes this time, but I did find a yoga mat and a big candle for my apartment.  The group of teachers who went ate at a place back on the Marina, where I was able to order a bloody mary (and an Efes beer chaser!) with my lunch.  On Friday night, before going to Karatepe, I went out for dinner with two of the other teachers in the apartment (we were in search of a restaurant that serves beer with meals!).  At the place recommended by the headmaster, we randomly met an alumni of TAC, the school we all work at.  We ended up talking to Refat for hours and he even bought our dinner.  He had many suggestions for places to go visit in Turkey.  He gave us his number and said to call with anything we needed.  Once again, I was impressed and grateful for Turkish hospitality and friendliness :)