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Seven wonders

On the road again

We are back in a rented car and suddenly we resume where we left off six months ago. I am in the driver’s seat (Suzanne does not drive manual cars) and she is my copilot running the Google maps navigation and playing the role of DJ even if the music list on her phone isn’t always my cup of tea.

We have learned from last year where we rented a car for the whole 6 weeks which restricted our accommodation options in the main cities where lack of parking in old towns meant staying further out. This time we enjoy being walking distance to attractions and only renting cars to travel the countryside. Also we have gone ultra small with our cars and our zippy white Kia Piccanto navigates the narrow congested streets easily while still managing to comfortably maintain the allowed 120kmph on motorways.

Our first destination is Rila monastery located in the mountains 2 hours west. Founded in the 10th century it is the spiritual beating heart of the Bulgarian Orthodox church. The church itself is absolutely sublime. The architecture is unusual and every square centimetre of wall and ceiling space is covered in beautiful frescoes

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Seven wonders

Not the Orient Express

Passports…..passports! It’s 3 am and I climb off the top bunk and trudge out into the cold night air, beneath the grimy station underpass to immigration. I ask myself once again why are border towns so dirty and ugly? The process is repeated soon after at the Bulgarian side and it is back to sleep. One of the end termini of the fabled Orient Express was of course Istanbul and rather than fly to Sofia we are travelling on those same tracks as a century ago. It’s a shame that the rolling stock is not as luxurious but the train is lean and modern enough and we sleep well in our 2 berth cabin.

Bulgarian countryside


Lunch the next day was in the surprisingly pretty Bulgarian capitol of Sofia named after the patron saint of wisdom. We quickly discover that stews feature highly in Bulgarian cuisine. Also Bulgarian wines are yet another hidden gem and everything is so cheap here! We spent the afternoon wandering through pretty neighbourhoods and visiting some magnificent Orthodox churches. This place has a nice vibe and a vibrant cafe and bar culture with alfresco drinking and dining in abundance.

Pretty gardens
Sofia streetscape
Alexander Nevsky cathedral
St Sofia church built 4th century
Ancient crypt beneath St Sofia church

St George rotunda church
St Sofia statue
Presidential guards

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Uncategorized

Istanbul

Surprisingly little jet lag and we make the strategically correct call to be queued up at the ticket office at 8 am much to my wife’s chagrin who values her sleep ins. We only have to wait 20 minutes to gain entry. (Later in the day as we walk past the line extends back into the distance and the punters are up for a 1 ½ to 2 hour wait.) This place is gobsmackingly beautiful and massive. It is one of those places where you look around and ask yourself how did they do that in those days? The massive 90 metre dome soars 55 metres over the floor. The dome itself is an architectural marvel defying gravity by virtue of 16 ribs rising from the roof. It was the biggest church in the world at that time and it kept that title for 1000 years. In 1453 it was converted into a mosque and in 1935 a museum. Two years ago it became a mosque again. When I was here in 2018 it was still a museum and entry was by the front door to the ground level. Today tourist entry is to the second level the ground floor reserved for prayer. It is interesting to have done the two, the ground floor experience accentuates the dimensions of the place and today’s gives a prettier overview.

Hagia Sophia

On a roll we high tail it to the Blue mosque and get similarly lucky with the queue again. Built between 1609 and 1620 it derives its name from the blue tiles that dominate the interior. We are lucky to see a wedding happening there in full view of hundreds of us tourists.

Blue mosque

Now it is Suzanne’s turn to be blown away!. The grand bazaar here is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. Built in 1459 it has 61 covered streets and 4000 shops. My life partner was in 7th heaven!

Grand Bazaar
Suleiman mosque
Suleiman mosque
Wedding at Suleiman mosque
View from Suleiman mosque

A late degustation lunch and visit to the Basilica cistern completes the day. The latter was also built by Justinian in the 6th century to supply water to the Topkapi Palace. This is an intriguing otherworldly place that in all of my travels I have not seen anything like it. Since my last visit they have added some coloured lights and lit up crystals which may be “cinematically” attractive but for the purist who is more than satisfied with the historical appreciation of the place it detracts from the experience.

Basilica cistern
Medusa head column

Our final day has us with an early morning visit to the Topkapi Palace and here it is me who is again blown away. While the sprawling palace complex is beautiful there is a particular pavilion which has a collection of incredible relics. Numerous relate to the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) but the ancient biblical stuff ranging from a pot belonging to Abraham to Moses’ staff to John the Baptist and David’s sword leaves me spellbound.

Topkapi Palace
Weapons museum
Moses staff
Sword of Prophet David
Prophet Mohammed PBUH foot print
More Topkapi Palace



The finale has us on the “wrong side” of queue management with an hour wait to ascend the Galata Tower. Built in 1348 by the Genoese it affords lovely views over the stretch of water known as the Golden Horn to the old city.

Taksim square
Galata Tower
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Seven wonders

Constantinople

Modern day Istanbul is one of the great cities of the world. East meets West, the city literally straddles Europe and Asia. It is bustling and vibrant. A city of contrasts it is predominantly Muslim but has a rich Christian history and embraces that also and the two cultures coexist freely in all aspects including dress code and issues such as the availability of alcohol, a marked contrast to so many other Muslim countries. Add to it a rich history that goes back to the year 300 AD and this place has something for everyone.

The Greeks first established an outpost on the European side of the Bosporus known as Byzantium. Roman emperor Constantine settled there in 330 AD and built a capitol there named after him and the administrative and spiritual centre of the Eastern Roman Empire. Interestingly it lasted 1000 years surpassing even the fall of the western Roman Empire. The Ottomans conquered it in 1453 and that empire became the greatest at the time stretching from the middle east through north Africa, Spain and Eastern Europe.

We land at midday and check in around 2pm and literally hit the ground running. Our hotel is right in the heart of the old town so most sights are within walking distance. First port of call is Sirecki train station to secure our train tickets onwards to Sofia but also admire the elegant architecture and memorabilia of the terminus of the Orient Express.



The afternoon is completed with a stroll through the iconic Sultan Ahmet Square. Named for the 16th Sultan of the Ottoman empire built the Blue Mosque within that square, a renown landmark of Istanbul. The other famous landmark here bookends the Blue mosque built by Emperor Justinian in 532 as a Catholic Basilica. The sun is shining and the crowds seem happy and our journey has begun. All is right with the world.

Hagia Sophia
German fountain donated to commemorate the visit by Kaiser Wilhelm 11 in 1898
Egyptian obelisk
Sultan Ahmed mausoleum
Blue mosque
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Niue

Crab

Sunday in the South Pacific is a Christian day of church attendance and rest. To varying degrees most of the various countries completely close down on a Sunday. The younger generation finds this to be an alien concept. Growing up as a kid in the 1960s I remember well that everything closed down at midday Saturday and only reopened on Monday. The Pacific islander Sunday closure is less religious zealotry and more just retro.

We indulge in a Sunday sleep in and drive down late morning to the little village of Avatele. It is just before 11am and the grassy surrounds of the pretty whitewashed church is packed with cars. Had we ventured into the church we would have been amazed at the singing voices of the congregation. Islanders know how to sing! Our destination was more hedonistic with Sunday brunch at Washaway cafe right on the beach, a Niue institution. We enjoy fish burgers and a beer before  a quick snorkel in the rough waters whipped up by the prevailing winds.

This is our last day here and we set out to find the last of our sea tracks. Motu sea track leads down to a beautiful bay but is unmarked. Probably because the walk involves more arduous walking on spiky lime stone and descents down 2 Dodgy ladders one of which is missing rungs. The walk was worth it and we returned to our Matavai resort happy.

For some strange reason Hio cafe is open on a Sunday night and we have pre-booked the coconut crab. Unsure of what we would get we are blown away by the feast of crab before us. We spend a happy hour and a half clobbering away at crab claws extracting delicious crab meat from their shells. Our hostess guides us through the process of breaking down this crustacean including the tail which has an amazing paste that tastes like an amazing paste. Died and gone to heaven, a perfect ending to a great trip.

I pointed out earlier that Niue is unusual in that it is limestone thrust up from the sea. This makes it different to the Fijis, Samoa and Vanuatus of the South Pacific. There are no sandy beaches here. This is an island for able bodied active tourists. Bizarrely almost all of the tourists here seem to be at least 10 years older than me and I am 67 years old. The beautiful bays and sea access is at the end of rough, often rugged, sometimes precarious walks on rough limestone. Swimming with the whales entails jumping off the sides of zodiacs over the seemingly bottomless ocean. Very few of the tourists I have seen here would be able to enjoy this, but if you are fit and have a sense of adventure this is an exquisite unspoiled, off the beaten track destination.

This is it from me until October when I have 6 weeks touring Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. To all my faithful readers, talk to you then.

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Niue

Round island drive

We complete the ring road around Niue today. The scenery has been amazingly varied to date and today does not disappoint. Back east over the potholes to the nicely presented village of Lakepa and from there the sea walk to Puluhiki. Again the reef and rock pools are beautiful and varied.

Breakfast at Crazy Ugas
Main road at Alofi, the capitol
New Parliament looks more like a secondary school gym
Lakepa church
Puluhiki sea walk

Northward bound the roads are terrible and it suddenly seems that we have crossed some sort of dividing line between east and west and the potholes disappear and we are on smooth, newly laid road. A lot of this is courtesy of China who as throughout all of the South Pacific are building infrastructure in return for influence. Our destination is the Tavala Arches which, since their depiction on Niue stamps, has become emblematic of this country. The walk down is grueling over spiky limestone rocks where every step has to be carefully measured. Suddenly we are confronted with a small cave opening. Holding onto guiding ropes we make our way down and are afforded a magnificent view of the arch through a large opening in the cave. Every bit worth the effort getting here.

Talava Arches
Dinner at Vaiolama Cafe
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Niue

Windward

In 1774 the master mariner Captain James Cook was the first westerner to land here. I greatly admire this man who explored and mapped all the way from Alaska to Antarctica and throughout the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. It was under his command that ship’s surgeon Joseph Banks discovered that limes prevented scurvy. Up until then it was a major killer of long voyage sailors. I reject the ignorant cancel culture woke warriors who deface and topple monuments to him. 

Cook was a man of his time. He attempted landing here repeatedly before on his third attempt he managed to find a gap in the cliff faces that the island presents. Here his gifts of beads, nails and metal were met with a warrior’s spear. Nonetheless he managed to come ashore and raise the Union Jack and claim the island for the British Empire. His landing site is just down from the capitol, Alofi at a site called Opaahi. Walking down the wind has whipped the seas up to an inhospitable torrent and it is hard to imagine how a rowed wooden dinghy could make landfall.

Cooks landing is to the left
Old Parliament house
Brunch at the Crazy Uga cafe

We drive south for the first time and visit Anapala chasm where a short steep walk takes us down to the chasm with a freshwater pool. Historically this was the only source of fresh water for local tribes who had a long walk down to harvest water in empty coconut shells!

Hakupu village
Anapala Chasm

Togo chasm is next and the walk down is fascinating. Firstly we are enveloped with luxuriant jungle. Close to the sea the landscape is dominated by spikey limestone peaks. The descent to the gorge includes a steep long descent on a ladder. The gorge is a unique microcosm With limestone rocks atop a rare patch of pristine sand and palm trees. The diversity of this island does not fail to amaze.

Togo canyon

The town of Liku on the eastern, windward side of the island reflects the fact that this less touristed side of Niue is also the more neglected. As we drive through at least half of the houses are derelict or burnt out. The road is pockmarked with epic potholes. The sea walk does, though take us down to rock pools and the reef through a pretty limestone cave.

The day ends with a rainforest walk along the Vinvini Forest road.

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Niue

A whale of a time

Niue is a tiny country under the tourist radar. On arrival we figured that we would easily get onto a couple of whale swim tours. Imagine our dismay when on the first day, Monday, we discovered that most of the slots had been pre-booked. Niue Blue penciled us in for Thursday afternoon. We went into town Tuesday morning and another company, Explore Niue had a possible opening for Wednesday afternoon pending the cancellation of an existing group. Tuesday evening we are sitting on our balcony overlooking the ocean and we are treated to the deep groans of the humpbacks along with the sound of the fin slapping on the ocean and in an amazing coincidence receive the email to say that Wednesday was on!
Wednesday afternoon again had us at the wharf with our zodiac lowered down. We are a small group of 5 passengers and initially the signs are not great. Much time was spent sailing around looking for a whale. Suddenly, out of the blue, a sighting. When I saw the black ridge of whale sitting above the waves the excitement factor hit the roof. Jump over the edge of the boat and a short swim has us seemingly a few metres from this beautiful creature. Nonchalantly it gracefully descends to the depths. The vibe is one of calmness and peace that is at odds with the epic size of this mammal.


Another sighting a short swim away of the same whale has him/her swimming towards us eyeballing us before again descending into the depths. It is a magic experience and one that I was beginning to doubt would ever happen to me. I am a happy and lucky man.

The above pictures are mine. Below are the guide’s pictures.

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Niue

Deep sea fishing Niue

A black shadow emerges from the predawn water. It glides past us and emits a dismissive snort through its spout before peeling off to the starboard. It’s our first encounter with a humpback whale on our trip.
Prior to this in the predawn darkness we meet our charter and, only in Niue, The wharf is built high above the water line and boats have to be lowered down on a hoist. It is unique jumping onto a boat in mid air and then lowered down into the water below.


Our captain takes Anthony and myself 40 minutes out from the wharf and sets up the fishing lines. We are trawling for tuna initially. The daylight is just winning the competition with the night. The sky is a pretty cerise blue with crimson overtones and suddenly the rod to my right emits a zinging sound that something is on. Our captain,Ian, hands me the rod and it is an enjoyable few minutes contest dragging in a 4 kg Yellowfin tuna. Admittedly it was not so enjoyable for the fish! Half an hour later it is Anthony who pulls in a pretty blue skipjack tuna.


A bit later another hit had me briefly battling unsuccessfully with what was probably a shark. The fish was amazingly powerful and I was losing ground. Ian took over and brought him close to the boat before the presumed shark bit through the line.
I am a very intermittent fisherman but this takes second place to an amazing fishing trip off Noosa in 1996 where my rod seemed blessed and I pulled in a number of big fish including a 15kg dhufish.


Unfortunately the rest of the trip consisted of hours of tedium without a single nibble.The trip was bookended though back near the wharf when a massive humpback launched itself out of the sea perpendicularly with only its tail below the water crashing back into the sea and then repeating the pirouette. My camera was not to hand but Anthony captured on grainy video the end of the performance. For me this amazing close encounter is forever etched in my mind.

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Niue

A Niue country

“Where are you going this time doc?” My reply to my patients “Niue” invariable evoked furrowed brows and confused looks. It is situated 2400km north east of NZ between Tonga and Cook Islands.

Our Matavai resort
The capitol Alofi is initially underwhelming


This island country has a tiny population of just 2000 residents and relies on NZ for administration. Geologically it is unusual as it is a coral reef that has been thrust out of the sea by volcanic activity. As a result it has a narrow coral shelf and the ocean floor drops away dramatically a short distance from land.


It quickly becomes obvious that this is an island honeycombed by limestone caves and the coastal encounters are all about collapsed caves and rock pools. This is not a destination for beach lovers.

Tauei Puplu fort built in 1846 to protect Nukai Peniama who first brought Christianity to Niue

Uluvehi

Matapa chasm
Limu Pools
Magical Avaiki Cave and the rock pools around it
Sunset Makefu