Kanak-Kanak Çanakkale
Albeit not being a crazy fan of Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom, I would still go gaga if I ever met them in person. Seeing the iconic ‘wooden horse’ from the film Troy, which both handsome men acted in at Çanakkale’s seafront was truly half as awesome to me.
Three reasons for you to view this post at all: 1. The gorgeous set of sunset photos at the end; which I’ve left as raw as possible to be enjoyed naked, 2. the fact that this is presumably my last post on Turkey you’ll ever read on this blog forward and 3. not to forget as always – for the interesting, if not fun facts that I collected throughout my 2-week voyage.
Should you ever visit Turkey and have a love for artifacts and romantic sunsets, take time to witness the Top 3 Places that Make You Fall into Bewilderment featured in this itinerary.
1. The Asclepeion at Pergamum city
In this healing temple, patients were treated with opium and wine. (Cool or not?!) Mental patients were taken in too.
Both metal and baked clay organs were sold at this holy but psycho ground. What people did was purchase and keep them in the temples. The doctors would then ask if they felt better. If they didn’t, the doctors would repeat the same question over and over until the day they said they felt better. (Can I install a LOL button here?)
Unlike the Balinese or Thai, this artifact is not a phallic symbol.
There was once a man who felt pain everywhere and since he couldn’t be cured, he wanted to commit suicide until . . . he saw two snakes drinking and vomiting milk (WTF button, where are you?). The man drank the milk and to his surprise, he recovered. That was how the snakes you see on this broken pillar became the symbol for medical.
The longest aqueduct in Turkey lies in Pergamon, thanks to the existence of what they called the ‘hydrotherapy room’:
In here, patients were drugged and asked questions, whilst the doctors kept telling them they would be well – even if they would never be.
{The ‘water hole’}
Gaylin wrote about blood and the nerve system here, and learned it by cutting up wounded prisoners.
What you’re about to see in the next few pictures were once facilities in this ‘hospital’:
{Mud pools, library, and even a Roman theater; as patients were actors as well}
2. Troy, the legendary town in the Iliad of Homeros
The true story of Troy:
I bet you didn’t know that Troy city was rebuilt so many times due to fire and war, that it had 9 layers and 42 cities built on it (the 6th level during 1250 BC).
The Odyssey story claimed that a woman named Hellen was the reason of war, though it was actually more a political reason than anything else – the Greek attacked because they had to pay expensive tax at this strategic location.
But who is Hellen and why did men fight for her?
Once upon a time, Lady Hecabe had bad dreams when she was pregnant with Paris (a boy, not Hilton) so she went to seek an oracle; who said that her baby boy would be the cause of Troy’s end unless he was killed. Like most old-fashioned tales, the king told his servant to kill the baby at Mt. Aida but instead, the kind servant left Paris in front of a bear’s cave, where he grew up with bear’s milk.
Cassandra, Paris’s sister, was also an oracle. She said that Paris was still alive and had a girlfriend who was a fairy up the mountain. During an archery competition in Troy, Paris joined when he was 16 and won the gold cup. Cassandra recognized her brother but the king said Paris can not stay despited his survival so far.
One day, Paris gave a party invitation to the king of Sparta and fell in love with Hellen, who is Sparta’s WIFE. War begun. This actually happened but truth is, it was more of an excuse for battle because everyone wanted the straits.
German archeologists, on the other hand, actually wanted to find the gold of Hellen, so they went to Greece, then Russia to seek for it.
3. Çanakkale
Packed with students, cute boys and girls hanging around in chic outfits, rich flavorful ice creams, unique color palettes and life imitating art; Çanakkale is every traveller’s dream. Just one evening to bask in the wonders and happiness of grand sunsets was enough to make me feel truly lived – I can only imagine what it’s like to stay a little longer . . .
– End of Turkey tour with the sweetest of memories, dancing vividly –
