Istanbul to Ayvalik via Troy (Troia)



Day 4, November 15, 2013 Istanbul, Troy, Ayvalik

After breakfast, we left Istanbul at 7:00am to avoid the morning traffic and set for a long drive down the Marmara coast. The country side was absolutely beautiful! We passed through many seaside towns and villages that reminded me a lot like the California coast. We made one rest stop before arriving Gallipoli, where we were to take the ferry across the Dardanelle.

Gallipoli is kind of like Normandy. It was a WWI battlefield with many lives lost here, especially many soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. There are memorials around this area that should be visited but unfortunately we were not scheduled to see any of these places. We only boarded the ferry here to the other side of the strait to continue our tour.

Decent breakfast at the Grand S Hotel.

leaving Istanbul

busy morning traffic on the highway

interesting looking building along the highway (front)

same building (side)

getting on the ferry in Gallipoli

a snack bar is inside this deck

fierce seagulls

inside the bus, on the ferry

arriving Lapseki

About half an hour after we got to Lapseki, we stopped for lunch at the Hotel Kolin. This looked like a very nice hotel to spend the night. Lunch was fixed menu and served in the main dining room.

appetizer

salad

main dish--fish

Not bad, except my pieces of fish had bones inside. Other people were fortunate to have boneless pieces.

delicious dessert

view of the Dardanelle

dining room

lounge

Hotel Kolin

Troy (Truva)

The legendary city of Troy was made known by Homer's lliad. First sight of the cheesy wooden horse was disappointing but the ruins remained interesting especially if we make connections to the records in the Bible. Apostle Paul departed on his first visit to Macedonia from Troas when it was a principal seaport, 19 miles south of Dardanelle. On Paul's second journey, the apostle and his companions came to Troas, for "the spirit of Jesus did not permit them to go into Bithynia." (Acts 16:9-12) After leaving Ephesus on his third journey, Paul came to Troas and preached and later on came back again and stayed seven days ministering in Troas. The night before leaving, as Paul was preaching, a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and tumbled to his death and Paul miraculously brought him back to life. (Acts 20:6-12). Paul had spent many of his days here in Troy when he went on his missionary trips. These background information made our visits to Troy much more interesting and worthwhile.

The "cheesy" wooden horse, not the one shown in the movie either.

not as big as I thought

some pictures of the ruin

nine "layers" of history/eras

This was the coldest day on this trip.

Yes, you can climb up to the top.

After our visit to Troy, we drove a few more hours to the hotel where we spent the night in Ayvalik. Dinner was at the hotel, buffet style. Not much to write about.

Dated and simple room, but it had coffee/tea kettle.

Another day ended.