Travelling Pioneers

Kyoto Japon Park is better known as just Japon Park to the locals. I would like to tell you how you get there and the best time to go. I would also like to tell you about what food you can get there. Since this park is practically in my backyard, I go there with friends from time to time. Here is everything you need to know. A Japanese Park in Turkey? Why? The park was built by the city of Konya to kinder feelings of brotherhood between the Turkish and Japanese people, particularly between the cities of Kyoto and Konya. Temple in Kyoto, Japan Restaurant in Japon Park, Konya. Konya is considered a partner city (not a sister city) according to the official Japanese site . The difference is that while a sister city agreement is multi-faceted, a partner city agreement is based on some theme agreed upon by both sides. I have never found what that is exactly, but I think it is connected with education since it is near a university. What seems strange is I have only met a handful of Japanes

Kilistra, Turkey is practically unknown to foreign tourists. Yet it is rich with history and is definitely worth a visit. It’s like a mini Cappadocia trip with a little Christian history wrapped up into one visit. We stopped here on our way back to Konya from ancient Lystra. Kilistra is not Lystra Before telling about this city, I must state this first because the two get confused. Even on official websites that describe Kilistra, Biblical events that happened only in Lystra are described as happening there. The sounds of the cities are close to one another, even their proximity. But they are not the same. I wrote about the ancient Lystra that is connected to the Timothy and the apostle Paul in another post . How to get there The best way to access this ancient city is by car. This would enable you to explore much more of this place. Even when travelling to the city, you will see dwelling caves even 5 miles before you reach your destination. Though the city is spread over a vast

Today Lystra in Turkey is just a small mound north of Hatunsaray. I want to show you 1. How we know this is the site of Lystra, 2. How to get there, 3. It’s significance to the Bible and 3. Afew cool things you can find there. Lystra was not the highest on our list of places to visit. After all it has never been excavated. But we didn’t let this hold us back since we had just visited Derbe and it has historical significance to the Bible. Besides, it is only a half an hour drive from where we live in Konya. How do we know this was Lystra ? This visit to the site was inspired by a visit to the Konya Archaological Museum. In that museum are several roman inscriptions identifying Lystra. One of them unquestionably identifies the mound. Farmers around the mound continually dig up coins, inscriptions and various fragments identifying Lystra. Here is one of them: The circled line mentions Lystra. The translation of the inscription above reads as follows: “The colony of Julia Felix Gemina Ly

We decided to visit the ancient city of Derbe in Turkey. I want to share what we learned about how to get there and what to expect when visiting. Additionally, I want to show some pictures that give an idea of what you can expect to see. The information given on Wikpedia is scant, so I hope this can help. Significant Biblical events in Derbe 47 CE – Paul arrives in Derbe on his first missionary journey after being stoned in Lystra. Acts 14:19-21 records that “quite a few disciples” were made there. This likely included “Gaius of Derbe” mentioned later at Acts 20:4. He establishes a congregation of Christians in the city. 49 CE – Paul visits again on his second missionary tour. Acts 15:36. 52 CE – Paul again returns on his third missionary tour to the cities of Galatia. This likely included Derbe. Acts 18:23. How to get there The ancient city of Derbe is located here . Today it is called Kerti Huyuk by the local Turkish residents. Google maps will reveal a road that encircles it, wit

Pamukkale was our next destination in Turkey located here . Since visiting it about 18 years ago, we knew what to expect – more commercialized and more expensive. The pictures you see on Pinterest and wikipedia are for the most part fake. I’m sorry. I want to show you what the real Pamukkale is today and some tips to make a visit more enjoyable. Pamukkale is not what it you see in pictures anymore Why? We asked one of the locals at the site. He said that there is seismic activity under the mountain and that a number of years back the ground shifted and stopped the water supply. Now they must pump the water up to the so-called thermal pools. The result is less water and hence less thermal pools. Lower your expectations Even compared with the last time we came, there was a notable difference. The pictures that you see on tripadvisor and other sites are way out of date. Below is the picture that wikipedia advertises. We took the picture from the same spot today. Picture from Wik

On our road trip to see the seven congregations of Revelation, we just had to stop at ancient Smyrna in Turkey. We had just come Ephesus so our expectations were pretty high. We were told that there is not much to see here. True? Maybe. But hey, who would only go to 6 of the 7 congregations, right? Where is ancient Smyrna, Turkey located? Right in the heart of modern day Izmir. Nearly all of the ancient city has a modern city built on top of it. So what we saw was only a small section that was excavated. And this excavation is very beautiful . On Google Maps it is located right here . The ruins of Smyrna are right in the middle of the city of Izmir, Turkey The hardest part about this trip was navigating in the crazy downtown traffic and trying to find a parking space. Therefore let me make your life easier. There is a parking garage right here beside the entrance. It will cost a few Turkish Lira, but it is so worth it. Location in Proximity to Cities of Christianity When calcula

In this article I want to share 12 valuable connections to the Bible. We discovered them when visiting Ephesus in Turkey in 2020. This city has has deep connections to the Bible and if you know what to look for it really makes for a meaningful visit. The last time we went was in 2002 only 10 percent had been excavated. Today, it is now 20%. Lol. Still a long way to go! Even when we visited this time, there were archaeologists working away. Maybe in another 20 years they will be at 30%. Oh well. We were anxious to see if it could give up any more secrets. We went with the perspective of seeing how much we could connect with the Bible. This city is full of connections and I’m happy to share them the best of them. First, I want to share a little information that we discovered on our visit that might be helpful to anyone else considering it. Where is Ephesus ? The location on Google Maps is here . But here are a few other locations off the site that you should know. The turnoff p