• 2012 Morocco Itinerary
  • About me, Jane
  • Japan 2010 Itinerary
  • Morocco 2013 Itinerary

See Jane Travel

See Jane Travel

Tag Archives: unesco world heritage site

More touring, day one

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by seejanesblog in Istanbul

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

holy relics, marmara sea, unesco world heritage site

The tour group ate lunch at a place that’s open just for tourists and tours. The food is marginal and the only beverage included with the meal is water and every other beverage is exorbitantly expensive. I had water. We sat at tables of 8-10 and had to force conversation with people we either didn’t care to know or someone who didn’t speak our language. Or we remained silent (that’s what I chose). The guides all sat outside and smoked whilst they waited for us to finish eating. Everyone smokes. Up a storm. I wanted to go outside immediately since it was so warm and sunny but if I wanted to wait in the courtyard at the tables I was smoked out. And if I left the confines of the restaurant and its courtyard, I was accosted by merchants trying to sell me stuff. The best part of the whole thing is that it was across from the Marmara Sea – – a beautiful bit of scenery, especially with the sun. So I waited outside in a corner away from the smoke and watched the sea. Then they told us which bus to board. “You! Lady! You get on that bus!” So I’d board, find my spot in the back left of the bus, and wait to go to the next destination. In a way I liked being shuttled around, not thinking at all and not feeling the need to talk to people.

Next we went to other parts of the city: a little mosque near the Spice Bazaar. Beauty everywhere! And it doesn’t hurt that the sun was shining brightly. Here are some photos around the little mosque.

The tour ended with a visit to the Topkapi Palace. As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments. It is now a major tourist attraction and contains important holy relics of the Muslim world including the Prophet Muhammed’s cloak and sword. The Topkapı Palace is among the monuments contained within the “Historic Areas of Istanbul”, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and is described as “the best example[s] of ensembles of palaces […] of the Ottoman period.” From the end of the 17th century the Topkapı Palace gradually lost its importance as the Sultans preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosporus. In 1856, Sultan Abdül Mecid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahçe Palace (I saw this on a different tour), the first European-style palace in the city. Some functions, such as the imperial treasury, the library, and the mint were retained in the Topkapı Palace.

Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1921, the Topkapı Palace was transformed by a government decree dated April 1924 into a museum of the imperial era. The Topkapı Palace Museum is administered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The palace complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, but only the most important are accessible to the public today. The complex is guarded by officials of the ministry as well as armed guards of the Turkish military. The palace includes many fine examples of Ottoman architecture. It contains large collections of porcelain, robes, weapons, shields, armor, Ottoman miniatures, Islamic calligraphic manuscripts and murals, as well as a display of Ottoman treasures and jewelry.

It’s a beautiful place. The grounds are gorgeous with an excellent view of the Bosporus. I saw many of the things mentioned above; it was beautiful. But I preferred to walk outside on the grounds and to look at the people and the views.

After the tour ended and I was delivered to my hotel, I decided to head over to the Ritz Carlton and enjoy some high living in the bar there. It was beautiful and I had a great experience sitting in the bar blogging, listening to music, watching the view on the Bosporus, and being treated like a queen! That’s always nice, temporarily.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Never want this to end…

08 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

unesco world heritage site

After staying in the kasbah last night we awoke early to a delicious breakfast that the men cooked for us: omelets, juice, bread, fruit. Then we met Zara and her family on their side of the casbah for our bread-making course. I wrote about this on a previous post so won’t write about it again. After the bread-making lesson we were getting ready to go. Since I had not been able to take pictures the day before of a specific door I had seen in the village, Mokhtar arranged it for me and Achmed, our driver, to go back together and take photos. The others walked to the bridge where we would meet them which was actually only about 1/2 mile at most. With a few other people joining Achmed and I (I now assume they joined to keep me from taking pictures because I got yelled at AGAIN even though there were no people around at all!!!). We stopped and took pictures of the door that I had seen yesterday. It looked like it was encrusted with jewels yet was only painted. Amazing! The occupants of the home this door was on were intrigued that I was taking photos and stood and stared and giggled at the goings on. People on bikes stopped to watch. It was a spectacle!

We met up with everyone after our bumpy and beautiful ride to the main road. We drove for quite awhile until we reached the Ait Benhaddou. Aït Benhaddou (Berber: Ath Benhadu, Arabic: آيت بن حدّو‎) is a ‘fortified city’, or ksar, along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. It is situated in Souss-Massa-Draâ on a hill along the Ounila River and is known for its kasbahs, although they take damage with each rainstorm. Most of the town’s inhabitants now live in a more modern village at the other side of the river; however, ten families still live within the ksar.
Aït Benhaddou has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987[1] and several films have been shot there, including;
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Sodom And Gomorrah (1963), The Man Who Would Be King (film) (1975), The Message (film) (1976), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Time Bandits (1981), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Sheltering Sky (1990), Kundun (1997), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), Alexander (2004), Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Prince of Persia (2010).

We walked across the river to this most beautiful place and climbed the stairs to the top – – although I only went halfway and stopped at a place for tea and respite while the others (except Carolyn, who stayed with me) went on ahead. It was sunny and relaxing and beautiful there! I enjoyed tea and a good chat with Carolyn that I was happy to have. We walked down again sort of shopping along the way. It looked like rain so we walked through the town fairly fast but I managed to take some beautiful pictures along the way. We made it to the van just before the sky opened up on us and poured. It was a nice rainstorm that didn’t last for long.

Obviously, we were heading back toward Marrakech and this part of the journey would be over soon. There was no denying it. So we stopped along the way at some scenic spots and took some photos of Achmed and Mokhtar together. Whilst at the top of one overlook spot a guy appeared selling trinkets. He had apparently climbed all the way up from the bottom to greet us so we chose to oblige and purchased a few little things and took pictures with him. We continued on until we came to a beautiful area with white almond blossoms and a white minaret in the city. Our home for the night! What a picturesque place! It was beautiful.

Although we thought we had the place to ourselves, a biking group from Poland showed up part-way through our dinner. It was fun to see them and all their gear. One of their group, a talkative fellow, joined us for stories and eventually took our tajine (at some of our team’s urging). Turns out they had ordered couscous from the hotel but when we gave them our tajine they cancelled their couscous order. The hotel was not happy with them for that (and I suppose not happy with us). I learned of this story through some translating from Mokhtar after some very animated conversation took place.

After dinner we spread out in the large dining room/living room area and ate almonds, drank wine, and played cards. Catharine and I learned Mokhtar’s version of Rummy, a very convoluted and confusing game for us to learn. But when in Morocco, as we say. Of course Mokhtar won and kept accusing Catharine and I of somehow cheating – – because apparently he wasn’t winning by the margin he expected and thought maybe we were messing with the cards when he stepped away. Ha! We didn’t know enough to do any funny business but we let him think we just might be doing something fishy. We laughed a lot and I feel like I really got to know Catharine better on this night. It was very fun. Everyone went to bed, as usual, and Mokhtar and I stayed up in the common room talking for quite some time. Those were fun times of the day, when everyone went to bed. It gave me a chance to learn more about Morocco, about Mokhtar, and about the environment I was in. Very fun.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 732 other followers

The Calendar

August 2022
S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Apr    

The recent past

  • Living above my means
  • The broken palm tree and a hug
  • The little old man of Bab Doukkala
  • The kindness of a stranger
  • Walk gently on this earth
  • Love everlasting
  • And suddenly it hits you…
  • It’s not what you’re given, it’s what you do with it

Stuff from my past

See Jane Travel

  • @BravoObsessed6 He sure has a type. 5 months ago
  • @bmvwood @debbie_bros Same! 6 months ago
Follow @seejanetravel

Blogs worth reading

  • Moroccan Sahara Tours on Facebook
  • My trips: Argentina, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica
  • My trips: Tibet, China and Vietnam
  • Nomadic Matt's Travel Site
  • Susan Atherton's blog
  • Travel Notes by Mr. and Mrs. Globetrot
  • Turkey Travel Guide

Food! Glorious food!

  • Street food in Marrakech

Stuff worth knowing

  • Barbara Robinson's Trip Report – Istanbul
  • Definition 'kasbah'
  • Definition 'riad'
  • Definition 'souq'
  • Morocco Travel Guide
  • Turkey Travel Guide
  • Volubilis, Morocco: about it

My traveling past in Flickr photos

... beneaththestreets...Mount Rainier WildflowersShining pathHubble Gazes at a Dazzling Star ClusterWhen there was a belly and spinach from the gardenHole in the SkyFQ97. Rush at blue  hourThe Natural way.Hemaris fuciformis-Hummelschwaermer-(P70B0116)North Cape_Norway_2890
More Photos

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • See Jane Travel
    • Join 732 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • See Jane Travel
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: