Merhaba everyone!
Excerpts, stories and experiences from my adventure in Turkey.
Climate:
The first thing people ask is was it hot?! Where is your Tan?! Well let’s just say I wasn’t travelling in peak tourist season... My dates in Turkey were 14th – 20th of November. It was very cold and for the first few day very wet. However when I ventured down to the Gallipoli peninsula the weather was fine but still brisk.
Istanbul:
Where west meets east and east meets west. Straddling the two continents of Europe and Asia, the city of 12 million plus people is bustling with markets, tourists, traffic and fisherman. Mosques dominate the city skyline while stray cats scurry around your feet on the streets. The city prides itself on being the cultural capital of Europe! And this was obvious with the number of exhibitions and street performers. The city has a mix of Trams and an underground. And there are no shortage of yellow taxi’s to get you from AB, or in my case to the airport when you are in a rush!
Food and Drink:
Let’s start with Breakfast. Hard boiled egg, cucumber, bread, feta cheese, bread and butter. I had this every morning in the hostel. I had lots of Kebabs (Chicken Durum was my favourite). Kofte(Turkish meat balls), Baklava and Turkish Delights. I drank a lot of Turkish tea out of their unique hour glass shaped vessels. I also tried Raki and Turkish Coffee and Sour Drinking yoghurt (which I just couldn’t finish..!)
Accommodation:
I stayed in a hostel, world house Istanbul. This place was recommended to me by a friend. I was impressed; the location was really central, between beyoglu and Karakoy. It was really quiet, because it was not peak season and for two nights I had a four person dorm room to myself. The staff were friendly and helped me with my less than perfect Turkish pronunciation! And the best thing of all in the hostel was the shower pressure it was amazing!!
Sites:
I visited a number of the sites listed in my guide book “Top Ten Things to do in Istanbul”. Most of sites are situated in the historic old city, now known as Sultanahmet. Sultan Ahmet Mosque “Blue Mosque” was the first place I visited. A very large colourful mosque with distinctive blue tiles and low hanging lights. Directly opposite was Sophia Hagia, I crossed through the square, picked up my audio guide and entered the Museum. Formerly a mosque, the large building is home to religious mosaics, marbled decorative pieces, Historical coronation locations , library’s, tombs and the impressive Ottoman Calligraphy Plates (large green wooden discs with golden Arabic inscriptions). Galata Tower.
About two minutes from my hostel was Galata tower, one of the oldest (528) and most beautiful towers in Istanbul. I went up the tower on a cold wet night, but still the views of the city from the 61 metre tower were truly amazing.
Back in Sultanahmet on the Saturday I visited Topkapi Palace. The largest and oldest surviving palace in the world (according to the brochure?!). Topkapi has served the Ottoman State for four hundred years. Highlights for me were the Harem (home to the Sultans mother and the concubines and wives of the sultan), the palace treasury (Topkapi Dagger), holy relics (moses’s stick and the prophet Muhammeds cloak and sword) the garments, the views over Istanbul and the Tile work which was absolutely stunning. The palace was heaving with tourists but you can understand why...
Experiences:
Wandering around historical sites and fighting my way through the markets was tough work. I needed a way to relax... This led me to a unique experience. The Cermberlitas Turkish Baths (Hamam). I was given my own personal changing room with a glass see through door, not too sure what that was all about. I got into my birthday costume then wrapped a pestamal (cotton fabric) around my nether regions. I went into a large heated room and lay down on a large hot stone in the centre of the room. Other men were being massaged as I waited my turn. First they splashed me with warm water from buckets, then they scrubbed me down from head to toe. My masseuse was ‘very firm’. Next they squeezed bubbles onto me and I got an all over soap massage. Splashed down with warm water I was then led to another room to get my hair washed. I went back into the main room and relaxed on the hot stone until I could take no more. I tipped my Masseuse a couple of Lira.
The grand bazaar. This was a unique experience. A giant covered market, which sold anything and everything but popular goods were, jewellery, porcelain, hats, carpets, fabrics and clothing. It was fun haggling with the shop owners. I bought Kim a ring here as well as other gifts.
I really wanted to come away from my trip with a Turkish rug. I spent hours looking at the different types, Chillum, Carpet, Wool and Silk Rugs. And I drank a lot of Turkish tea, as the owners tried to convince me to part with my lira. I ended up buying a carpet of a wholesaler (Tahir from Cappadoccia Carpets) for what I thought was a good price. My education of carpets is much improved after the experience.
Cruising the Bosphorus. For 10 TL you can take a ferry which takes you up the Bosphorus. We went up as far as the second bridge (FSM) Some of the buildings and palaces really showed how affluent the city was! A great half day trip.
Adventures:
I really wanted to visit Gallipoli, the site where many New Zealanders lost their lives in WW1. Little did I know this was going to be more of an adventure than I bargained on. I bought my bus tickets from a travel agency near Taksim Square on Wednesday night. They told to me to come back at 10:50 am the following morning where I would catch a shuttle van to the Otogar (Bus Station). I was there at the time they requested, but our bus service had been cancelled, so I got transferred to another service leaving an hour later. So I sat in the travel agency and practiced my Turkish with my fellow passengers. I got a few wry smiles. So now I was at the bus station but it turns out the bus had been delayed (due to the weather for a further hour) I talked to a nice Turkish girl who was living in the UK. Finally on the bus two hours later than planned we sat in our assigned seats. I was sitting next to a guy. I said hello and how are you in Turkish. And that was where my Turkish virtually ended. Thankfully he spoke good English, the next five and a bit hours we chatted away. His name was Tolga and he was involved in the distribution of ATM’s for his Bank in Turkey. He had been to Dundee of all places as well! I told him I wanted to see some of the sites around Gallipoli. My plan was to stay in a hotel in Eceabat and organise a tour for the following day and come back sometime during the night. He was picking up his car from his bach in Seddubahir, and driving back to Istanbul, with his partner’s father. He kindly offered for me to stay with him and he would show me some of the historical sites the following day on the way back to Istanbul. I kind of just went with the flow. I went into the hotel and Eceabat and asked them to cancel my booking. Turns out they had no record of a booking, so I lucky I had a place to stay (turns out I had accidently booked the following week! Whoops!) So anyway, I met his Partners father Zeki (88 with bad vision and hearing) and his friend Yener Abi (this translates to “Winner brother”) We picked up some food and drove to their house about 45 minutes away right at the tip of the peninsula. There place was absolutely freezing they had one small oil heater to heat the whole house. Tolga prepared the meal while I watched Turkish television with the old man, we shared some “stimulating” conversation. He told me Turkey’s new president was “the new hitler”. Dinner consisted a vegetable soup then a tomato/olive oil/red onion salad, cooked chicken breast with spices sprinkled on top and bread. I was starving, it tasted really good. This was all washed down with Raki, Turkish aniseed vodka! One downside was their oven was quite smokey and the house soon filled with smoke, this made my eyes water, nose run and I had a sneezing fit. I had to go outside for some fresh air. Yener Abi came round as well to say hello. Most of the conversation around the table was quite heated, mostly about politics. Tolga kindly translated some of it for me. Zeki soon retried after dinner whilst Tolga and I chatted about our cultures and beliefs, it was really interesting. I went to bed around midnight. I slept on the sofa/bed in what looked the library.
The sun was shining brightly through the shutters at 07:30, I lay awake for 30 minutes then I got up. I took my camera and went out into their back garden which had fantastic views over the strait, which saw a constant traffic of large freighters. There place also looked back toward Sehitler Abidesi a large monument to the Turkish Soldiers. Breakfast was tea, bread and some sweet bread. Tolga and Zeki locked up the house and we were off, or so I thought! Our first stop was Helles point where mainly british and French soldiers died on V beach. Site of a very large landing and consequent battle between allied forces and a small contingent (around 60) of Musafa Attaturks men. We visted grave sites of Allied and Turkish soldiers. At the head of the bay on the hill was a monument and further memorials to the soldiers. It was quite a moving experience, it even brought Tolga to tears. Then we went around to Yener Abi’s place to help him erect some scaffolding (not exactly the safest in the world) and drink Turkish coffee! Then we were on the road back, we were hoping to visit the Anzac memorial but the road leading to the site was closed (It was off season!) I was a bit gutted. We stopped once on our way back to Istanbul at a place called Tekirdag. The apparent home of Raki and Kofte (Turkish Meatballs! We stopped at a restaurant and Tolga ordered for me Kofte, A bean salad, Baklava and Turkish coffee. Back on the road and the sun was setting fast! Tolga was on a mission to beat the rush hour traffic, his driving was quite aggressive, but then again so was everyone else’s on the road. Then we hit the traffic like a brick wall, we didn’t move far for about an hour we ended up jumping off the motorway and taking all of these so called “short cuts”. One particular shortcut I found particularly amusing was driving though a petrol station forecourt to jump 3 places in the queue of cars! I was dropped off at a metro station and we parted ways! We promised to keep in touch.
Final thoughts:
A hustling bustling city of trade, a melting pot of cultures and a magnet for tourists. The city has a certain charm and I can see why it would be considered a romantic destination for travellers. But I guess the highlight for me was seeing the real Turkey, staying with one of the locals, who are now my new friends. I was extremely impressed with the Turkish people’s friendliness and hospitality. A great trip!!!
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