SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM (2002

The Organizing Committee has appointed Ortra Ltd. as the official organizer and travel agent for the Symposium.

Hotels
Rooms have been reserved at the Hilton Istanbul Hotel and Convention Center (Deluxe Hotel and Symposium Venue), Hilton Park SA Hotel (First Class), Taksim Gonen Hotel (Superior Tourist Class) and Taksim Select Hotel (Superior Tourist Class) at special reduced rates. Double and single occupancy rooms are available. The special rates can be booked through Ortra Ltd. only.

Hilton Istanbul Hotel and Convention Center is situated within walking distance of the business, shopping and entertainment areas. The hotel offers an extensive selection of business and leisure facilities, including a casino, two swimming pools, fitness center, sauna, Turkish bath, solarium and massage.

Hilton Park SA Hotel, a First Class hotel, is conveniently located in the city center and within walking distance from Istanbul’s entertainment areas and 15 minutes walk from the Symposium venue. Its rooms overlook the breathtaking Bosphorus and are designed for a most comfortable stay. All rooms have air-conditioning, satellite TV, direct telephone line, PC modem and mini bar. Please note that a shuttle service will be available to the Symposium venue in the morning and back in the afternoon.
Taksim Gonen Hotel, a Superior Tourist Class hotel, is situated in Taksim Square, 10 minutes walk from the Symposium venue, in the heart of Istanbul near a colorful shopping and entertainment area. The hotel rooms have carefully been designed to meet its guests’ needs providing elegant decor and modern amenities.
Taksim Select Hotel, a Superior Tourist Class hotel, is located in the heart of Istanbul’s business district, near the city’s shopping and leisure centers, 10 minutes walk from the Symposium venue. The Hotel’s guests will enjoy its warm atmosphere, attentive service and comfortable rooms.

Travel To Turkey
The best way to travel to Turkey is by air. Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport, offers the most modern, easiest and colorful gateway to the city. The airport is located in Yesilkoy, on the European side of Istanbul. The Airport offers flights and connections to and from Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Official Carrier

The Official Carrier of the Symposium is Turkish Airlines who are flying out of 78 destinations directly into Istanbul. As the Official carrier of the EMC Symposium, pre-registered participants will enjoy special discounts from Turkish Airlines. The reductions will be 50% on published IATA normal fares (Business and Economy Class) 10 % on published IATA special fares on TK flights (Excursion/Apex/Pex/Spex) and 10% on Turkish Airlines Special fares on TK flights. These reductions are valid on presentation of an official registration letter from the Symposium Secretariat; when reservations are made with the special booking code DD277 and when tickets are issued by Turkish Airlines Ticket Sales Offices. The discount is valid on any flight between May 2, 2003 and May 25, 2003.

Airport Transfers
Ortra will arrange upon request, transfers on a sharing-basis from the airport to the Symposium Hotels and back at cost of US$ 18 per person each way. Participants who book this service should notify the Secretariat of their arrival details no later than one week prior to arrival and they will be met at the airport by Ortra’s representatives.

Additional Tourist Services
Ortra Ltd. will offer pre-and post-Symposium tours. Participants are invited to make additional tourist services reservations as desired, such as hotel extensions, regular tours, private car tours, car rentals, touring in limousines with driver/guide, etc..

Thursday, May 8, 2003
Individual arrival in Istanbul. Meeting and greeting at Istanbul Atatürk Airport after customs clearance by English speaking staff. Transfer and check-in for overnight at your chosen hotel.

Friday, May 9, 2003
Departure in the morning to Istanbul Atatürk Airport for domestic flight to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Drive from Ankara to Cappadocia, a remarkable region in Central Anatolia, which is considered as geological wonderland. Lunch will be served at a local restaurant en-route. After lunch visit the "Kaymaklı" or "Mazi" Underground City, the place where early Christians hid from persecutors. Continue to Guvercinlik Valley, one of the most colorful points in the area, and visit Uchisar Valley for beautiful picture opportunities. Check-in to the Cappadocia Lodge Hotel for overnight.

Saturday, May 10, 2003
After breakfast drive to Open Air Museum in Göreme through Avcılar Valley and visit the early Christian churches decorated with unique frescoes depicting various scenes from the Bible. This juxtaposition of different materials has produced capped columns, pyramids and conical formations with dark-colored caps known as peribacaları, fairy chimneys.Lunch will be served at a local restaurant in the area. Following the visit of Zelve region and Avanos in the afternoon, free time for shopping, as the area is known with its handicrafts like carpet, onyx and pottery making. Drive back in the late afternoon to Kayseri airport for domestic flight to Istanbul and back to your chosen Symposium hotel.

Friday, May 16, 2003
Transfer to Istanbul Atatürk Airport in the afternoon for domestic flight to Izmir, the major city of Turkey’s Aegean Region. Meeting and greeting by English speaking guides. Transfer to the Izmir Kaya Prestige Hotel for overnight.

Saturday, May 17, 2003
After breakfast, checkout from hotel and drive to Bergama for the visit of Pergamum, the ancient city on the Aegean coast and the capital of a flourishing Hellenistic Kingdom. Pergamon attained a high culture in the Hellenistic era, boasting an outstanding library that rivaled in importance that of Alexandria, a famous school sculpture and excellent public buildings and monuments of which the Zeus Altar is the best example. Today it is worth to visit the Acropolis, the ancient city of the kings of Pergamon, which sits atop a rocky bluff towering over the modern town of Bergama; the Asclepieum, the ancient medical center. After lunch in Bergama continue to Kusadası for dinner and overnight at the Kusadasi Korumar Hotel.

Sunday, May 18, 2003
After breakfast drive to Ephesus, the world’s best-preserved ancient city. First stop will be the House of Virgin Mary, a little building found on top of "Bülbüldagi". This place was officially declared a shrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1896, and since then it has become a popular place of pilgrimage. Continue to the ancient site of Ephesus, a city, which formed a focal point in the ancient world because of its protected harbor and a starting point for the Royal Road via Sardis to Susa. The city has been excavated for more than 100 years. Among the well-preserved ruins, the Theater, the Hadrian Gate, the Celsus Library, the Street of Curetes, the Fountain of Trajan and the Odeon are the most remarkable ones. Lunch will be served in a typical village with some shopping possibilities. Return to Izmir for late afternoon flight to Istanbul.

Participants requesting to share a double room should send their Tourist Services Forms together. The Secretariat will not accept reservations for sharing double rooms unless the forms are received together.
Please note that the tours will operate only with a minimum of 15 participants.

REQUEST FOR TOURIST SERVICES
Kindly make your requests on the attached "Tourist Services Form" and return it with payment to Ortra Ltd. Payment to Ortra Ltd. can be made by bank draft, bank transfer to account no. #142-472330 at Bank Hapoalim (swift code poalilit), Branch no. 780, Itzhak Sade Street, Tel-Aviv, or by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Diners and American Express only). Please note that "Tourist Services Form" must be submitted with complete payment. Forms received without payment will not be processed.

CANCELLATIONS
In case of cancellation, payments will be refunded in full, except for US$ 80 cancellation fee plus bank charges, if notification reaches Ortra by April 15, 2003. Afterwards, US$ 100 cancellation fee, 1-night hotel charges and bank charges will be retained.

TRAVEL, TOURS AND ACCOMMODATION
Ortra Ltd.
1 Nirim St., P.O.B. 9352
Tel Aviv 61092, Israel
Tel: +972-3-638-4444
Fax: +972-3-638-4455
Email: emc2003@ortra.co.il