Travelling Pioneers

The most fascinating thing about the Pegamon Museum in Berlin is how the objects there are connected to the Bible. In this page I will try to share the top things that not only relate to the Bible, but confirm it’s authenticity. I will also share things that bring Bible accounts to light and make them more realistic. 1. The Ishtar Gate This is the crown jewel of the museum and has much significance to the Bible. It was likely seen by many Israelite captives, including Daniel himself! It was built by Nebuchadnezzar around 575 BCE. The walls were disassembled in Iraq and moved to this museum early in the 20th century. The beautiful and colorful glazed bricks retell the glory of Babylon. Original gate brought to Berlin from Babylon This was one of the gates through which one could enter Babylon. What is more impressive is that which is not seen. Babylon was so fortified that this wall extended 14 meters (45 feet) underground! It accounts for the confidence and pride that Nebuchadnezzar ex

One of the cool things about living in Turkey is that it fits our pioneer budget on many levels. Besides the cheap cost of living, access to the Istanbul International Airport give us good budget options for holidays. This makes travel on a budget possible to so many destinations in Europe and beyond. It fits perfectly with a pioneer budget and so I want to share our budget experience in Budapest. The culture shock hit us pretty quick though. A small bottle of water in Turkey is about 25 cents. Here in Budapest, it’s around $3. Same brand! After that initial shock, we were ready to experience some bonafide Hungarian culture. Here are, in our opinion, the best things to enjoy in Budapest on a budget. Hungarian Goulash – 15 euro After living in Turkey for a while, you really start to miss pork – especially bacon. Muslims don’t eat pork so it’s almost impossible to find in Turkey. So we asked a local at our hotel for a place that the locals go to for Hungarian food. We weren’t disappoin

One of the best hidden gems in Cappadocia are the pottery making establishments. Unlike most amazing things to see in Cappadocia, this one is completely free, well organized and is arguably the best pottery place to see. What I love about this pottery place is that the tours are well organized and completely free ! Better yet, they even give you a free little pottery souvenir. We reached the place by car and it is located here . The name of the place is Chez Galip and is one of many pottery establishments in the Cappadocia region. After visiting many of these establishments in Cappadocia, I have to say that this is hands down the best pottery experience that we have had. Let me give you 5 reasons why this is a must see in Cappadocia. 1. See Pottery Making Demonstrated in the Workshop Upon entering, you come to a room where there is a potter’s wheel. A well trained “potter” is ready to demonstrate how pottery has been made by hand for thousands of years. What we found amazing about t

I want to tell you about five things that you should not miss in Tarsus, Turkey that connect with the Bible. Tarsus is still a modern city and lies right on top of the ancient Biblical one. Besides being the birth place of the Apostle Paul, here are the things worth seeing if you are there. For each sight, I give the exact location on google maps. 1. An ancient road running through Tarsus Road running through ancient Tarsus The road is located  here  and runs right beside the the Tarsus museum. You can see that the surrounding site is excavated. It was discovered by chance during a modern construction project. The road itself was constructed in the first century and likely commissioned by Augustus * . It is extremely well preserved and likely a road that the apostle Paul himself walked on when travelling from Derbe or Lystra . It has ancient sewer pipes underneath and is constructed of basalt. 2. “The Tarsus Museum” The museum is here and is right beside the road from the previous

After going to Cappadocia many times, we have found that the best time of day to see Cappadocia in Turkey is at sunrise when the balloons are just rising. The trick is that the wind must be less than 7mph for this to happen. The best time of day is about 30 minutes before sunrise while it is still dark and the balloons are just firing up. Their plan is to take the tourists up so that they can watch the sun rise over Cappadocia. The Best Time of Day and Place The truth is that you don’t need to spend $300 or more to go up in a balloon yourself. There is a nice high cliff here at the edge of the city where you can watch them from the comfort of gold old terra firma. We recently went, and didn’t even need to be on that cliff. See the video below for the view from the patio of the hotel down in the valley where they launch. The time is just before sunrise when the balloons are starting to fire up. The Top Reasons to Visit Early in the Morning When it comes to seeing the fairy tale landsc

A little off the highway in the Taurus mountains of Turkey we found a lesser known known gem with a connection to the Bible called the Ivriz Rock Memorial. It is located here according to Google Maps, but this is a more precise location. After doing some research, it was surprising to learn that there is a connection to the Bible. This connection is what I want to share. The key to seeing it’s connection is to first of all understand the writing on the relief itself.  What the Rock Relief Shows On the left we see a god named Tarhunas. He has a horned helmet which was a symbol of divinity. He is holding some stocks of wheat in his left hand and grape clusters in the other. Just below his left arm we see a sickle. All of this indicates fertility and prosperity. To the right we see a person of smaller size in relation to this god, indicating inferiority. This is King Warpalawa. Notice that he is standing on a platform and is raising his hands. This is a gesture of worship. The location

Mount Ararat is probably one of the most remote places you can visit in Eastern Turkey. When visiting this place, we used the city of Doğubeyazıt as our home base since it has nice hotels and restaurants.  After being in Turkey for 5 years, I have to say that this area not only has significant sites for believers in the Bible, but some of the oldest history. The bonus is that Doğubeyazıt has delicious food and some cool, quirky sites to visit as well.  Here I want to share with you things that you MUST know and see if you can make it this far into eastern Turkey with the goal of visiting Mount Ararat. Interestingly, Jehovah started life in this area twice! Once in the Garden of Eden and second from Mount Ararat. I wrote another blog about our visit to the nearby possible location of the Garden of Eden here . Mount Ararat sits on the borders of Turkey, Iran and Armenia. It is located just North East of Lake Van, Turkey. Just to borrow a map from the old green Bible, here is it’s approx