Travel research - The Middle East

Several of you expressed interest in my research about traveling in the middle east.  This is a section of my trip that I'm doing with a couple of friends, so my thinking here applies toward their plans.  I'm copying the material here, though I'm just lifting it from emails I've sent, so parts of it won't make sense out of context:
( ginormous LJ-cut )

GIant ancient underground city in Turkey

Derinkuyu is an ancient city in eastern Turkey that was built entirely underground, carved out of soft limestone rock.  It's incredibly large and sophisticated, with enough space to house several thousand residents, a sophisticated ventilation and water system, and large markets and gathering rooms. 



It's several hours' drive from other points of interest in Turkey, so I am debating whether to go.  It looks incredible though.

More pics.

Video.

Milk!

Milk is the best movie I've seen in a long time.  It's an incredible true story, and is portrayed in loving detail in the film.  It's of course poignant to see it in light of Prop 8's passage.

Of course, it helped that my gf and I saw it in the Castro Theater on opening week, where people in the audience were having conversations about whether they had personally met the people portrayed in the film.