Turkey Road Trip: Part 5

After our 2 night stay in Ankara it was a 4 1/2 hour drive southeast to Cappadocia. 



Some views from the road

We passed by a huge salt lake

All set up at our campsite. The kids had fun picking and eating apricots from the trees to their little hearts' content.

Swimming in the camp/hotel pool

The kids liked helping this lady knock down and collect apricots

These rock formations are known as fairy chimneys

On our first morning in Cappadocia we went to check out the cave churches. They were so amazing to see. These churches were carved out of rock, dating back to the 11th century!

Thus began the tons of pictures with silly faces and poses. Apparently standing still and smiling in front of yet another big rock gets old really fast with our kids.

Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Just amazing, isn't it?

Joel wanted a picture of our van in Cappadocia

Turkey Road Trip: Part 4

After a sleepless night in Eğirdir because of Isaiah feeling so yucky with his chicken pox, we headed 5 1/2 hours northeast to the capital city of Ankara.

It was an absolutely beautiful drive and we got to see a lot more of the lake.

The only downside was that this stretch our trip was on really windy roads. Not at all good for Vienna who gets carsick easily and she ended up throwing up in the van.

But we made it and it was nice to be greeted by cooler Ankara weather (and by cooler I'm talking low 90s here - ha!). We stayed in Ankara for two nights with some friends. 

Joel jumped right into work the morning after we arrived and it was fun for me and the kids to be able to tag along and see how much progress has been made on the bags since Joel's last visit.


The women had already made over 30 bags! 

We enjoyed meeting all the women and they especially enjoyed meeting Isaiah.

I loved watching Joel, who was totally in his element even though he was teaching all of this in Turkish. I am so proud of him!

Turkey Road Trip: Part 3

After 3 days in Pamukkale, it was time to hit the road again. We traveled 3 1/2 hours east to Lake Eğirdir, one of the largest lakes in Turkey. It was so beautiful! 


These two started getting tired of me taking so many pictures, so I ended up with lots of silly faces from them most of the time.

Driving through the town on market day. Lots of people buying and selling things on the side of the road.

We stayed at this bed and breakfast for one night run by a sweet Turkish family.

The kids enjoying the lake

And I enjoyed taking lots of pictures of all the beauty surrounding me

Turkey Road Trip: Part 2

The next morning we went back to the Natural Park in Pamukkale so the kids could splash around some more.

Isaiah enjoyed having his own personal spot to play in the water. Just his size!

There was more swimming at the camp pool, of course!

Almost every afternoon included a nap in the shade since it was too hot to do anything else. It was over 100 everyday.

I love this picture of these two!

On the first day of our trip we noticed a few spots on Isaiah. By day number two he looked like this. Yes, the chicken pox strikes again! We weren't surprised since Vienna just had it two weeks ago, we were just hoping he wouldn't get it over our trip. No such luck. It actually wasn't so bad though.

Still full of lots of smiles! Poor little guy had so many spots on his face and head.

Taking lots of cool baths with baking soda seemed to help a lot.

Walking around the town of Pamukkale one evening

I loved all the bright colors

Love this shot!