Turkish Delights

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May 5th 2008

Published: May 22nd 2008

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Jimbob82

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This guy wandered around all over town carrying his bread on his head!

After waiting 3 hours at Sabiha Gokcen Airport for Nick (a guy Emily worked with) we finally made our way to the shuttle buses that would take us to Istanbul. After maybe 5 minutes on the bus Nick and I found ourselves sitting in a police station being questioned in broken English, we had no idea what was going on, why we were taken off the bus and how long we would be there for.

After 1 1/2 hours, many arguments and a mobile phone being passed around we were on our way. It turns out the shuttle was operating illegally and a taxi driver dobbed them in. We ended up getting a free ride to Istanbul in the end. Upon arriving in Istanbul we found Emily and Megan, and got stuck into some well earned beers and sheesa. We caught up with Nick's mate DJ and finished our night at 3am. That moring Megan discovered her phone and video camera were missing so it wasn't the greatest start to the day. We had a bit of a poke around Istanbul before our trip down to Gallipoli.

Bus Dilema 2:
Our scheduled departure time for ANZAC Cove was 1

The Long And Winding Road

Pit stop on our Gallipoli mission

o'clock (originally 12), due to the bus being stuck in traffic it was pushed back to 1:30, no big deal. We finally departed at 2:30 but still didn't even get out of the city until 3:30! Gallipoli is about a 4-5 hour journey, our bus driver managed to do it in a staggering 8 hours, he barely got the beast over 50 kms (60km was his record speed)! Our tour was a total farce and very poorly organised. We didn't get our promised meat pie (one of the reasons we chose that tour), we couldn't find our bus our guides in Gallipoli so we had no idea what was going on and we didn't get our breakfast until 2pm!

Aside from the shit tour ANZAC Day couldn't have been better. ANZAC Cove is a really beautiful place so it is hard to imagine that such a devastating battle could have taken place there and how the amazing blue waters were stained red. The landscape was pretty unforgiving, in the morning our first glimpse of the cliffs were when the lit them up was eerie blue lights, it was breath taking to think of the hardships and battles that were

Dawn Service

Early morning at ANZAC Cove for the dawn service

experienced by the soldiers.

We found some seats at around 11pm and settled in to hear the Naval Band play songs from 1915 that the Diggers were listening to. It was a very cold and windy night so it made it hard to sleep. I was in multiple layers and my sleeping bag, some kiwi boys rocked up in shorts and t-shirts but were soon kitted out with jackets and sleeping bags from people in the crowd, there was a real united spirit and everyone was banding together to keep warm. I lent the old boy next to me my gloves and the girls were handing out hand warmers to peope as well.

When the dawn service arrived I was knackered and struggled to stay awake. The service was fantastic, with speaches and interviews from all 3 countries. It is amazing to see how strong the relationship is between the ANZACs and Turkey. When the service concluded we hiked 3 kms up to Lone Pine for the Aussie service. It was pretty similar to the dawn service but still good anyway. At this stage it was blowing a gale so the sleeping bags had to come back out.

ANZAC Cove

The surrounding cliffs that the Diggers encounted.

After the Aussie service we had a look and the views and through the trenches then had a quick walk to the Turkish memorial before trying to locate our tour. Thankfully we found our bus and were one of the first to leave. We finally got fed and then started another slow 8 hour trip back to Istanbul. The only thing we overtook was a tractor and that was only just!

The girls went straight to bed after we got back so Nick, DJ and I drank till 4 am. the hostel had given my bed away so I slept on the roof top terrace for free. The next day ( or a few hours later as it was) we emabarked on a walk around Istanbul, unfortunatley the weather wasn't great but what can you do. We checked out the Blue Mosque, Ayasofia, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. We walked along the water, saw some dolphins and checked out the palace gardens.

The Grand Bazaar was a little different to what I expected, very much for the tourists these days. There is certainly no shortage of rugs, jewelery and people touting for you business. We lost

Lone Pine

The Australian Memorial at Lone Pine.

Nick and DJ for a bit but soon caught up and went for lunch. Baked spuds for 5 lira with more toppings that you can imagine!

Once full we wandered throught he back streets in what must have been the socks and jocks district as it was blocks and blocks of stores selling just that! We finally arrived at the Spice Market after the funniest haggling session for 6 pairs of socks, so much confusion! The Spice Market was awesome, so many great smells and colours, even Turkish Viagra! That night we finally got a decent kebab from a little street vendor, bid fairwell to DJ and embarked on our 12 hour overnight journey to Cappadocia.

Cappadocia certainly is a place to capture the imagination. Our accomodation was in cave dorms carved into the rocks and we had great views over the town of Goreme from the pool terrace (to bad there was no water in the pool). After a freshen up we embarked on a walk. We were aiming for the Love Valley but ended up hitching a ride in a tray truck and being dropped off in the small town of Cavusin. The guy in the

Lone Pine

truck then tried to charge us 5 Lira after saying we didn't have to pay, we didn't pay him.

The next few hours were spent exploring the ruins of an old cave town carved into the rocks and hillside. We climbed around ledges, crawled through tunnels and decended through little holes, it was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie! Once we had our fill of exploring we hiked for a while through some of the valleys and finished off with a beer at a roadside cafe (a tin shed) before the long walk back to Goreme. We ended up hitching a ride again.

What better way to finish the day but to head to a Turkish Nights experience full of Turkish cuisine, folk dancing and more importantly, belly dancing. Staying at our hostel happened to be a couple from Australia, Soren and Donna, who were also on our Gallipoli tour. We all went to the dinner together and had a great time, although a little hungry at the end. Through out the evening we were treated to dips, salads and various other Turkish fair. We were entertained by by a traditional band and watched traditional dances

ANZAC Cove

Amazing views, hard to imagine what it was like in 1915.

including a mock wedding ceremony (complete with donkey), twirling dervishes and of course a belly dancer who decended from the ceiling!

The belly dancer was very entertaining as she chose male audience members to participate in the dancing and I happened to be one, thanks to my table dobbing me in! I'm glad I had a few drinks under my belt, but I wasn't drunk enough to be belly dancing. I thrusted and gyrated my hips for a while and learnt a couple of moves along the way (there is video footage too!). The guy who runs the hostel picked us up and took us to a pub for a few beers (even saw Larry Emdur on some Turkish funny videos show, it was from The Price Is Right when a lady goes crazy, hilarious). Nick and I proceeded to drink until 3am back at the hostel.

Today we had booked a tour to take us to a few places that were just that little bit too far to walk. So after a great brekkie of Menemen, a scrambled egg dish with tomatoes, peppers, spices and olive oil, we departed on our tour at 9.30am. It was an

Trenches

Some of the network of trenches. They lie just off to the side of the road.

easy start to the day with a panoramic view over Goreme. It was a fantastic way to take in a full view of the landscape in which we were staying. We then made our way to the old Derinkuyu underground city that was used in times of invasion and as the people were small so were the tunnels. The city had everything they needed to survive, kitchens, church, school, wells and most importantly, a winery. It was very interseting and once again the Indiana Jones theme was playing in my head and images of The Goonies running around.

Our next stop was the Ihlara Valley. We walked along the Melendiz River for about an hour through the gorges. It was a nice easy walk and a lot cooler down in the valley shelter from the sun. It was also starting to cloud over. After about a hour we ended up at a small restaurant for lunch. Nick, Emily and I opted to sit on a platform built inthe river full of comfy cushions, very cool. The rain held off while we ate, on a little drizzle for a few seconds. We had a fill of salad and meatballs before

Turkish Memorial

The last moment of the Turkish Memorial Service.

heading off to the Selime Monastery, another great building carved into the moutains. It is rumored that some of Star Wars IV was filmed here but I have failed to find any conclusive evidence in my research. The area certainly looks like it could have been in Star Wars and if it was it is said to have been on Tatooine where the Tusken Raiders (Sand People) live.

After a nap on the bus, we finished our tour with another panoramic view this time over the Pigeon Valley, so called for all the pigeon holes carved into the rock walls. Wealthy people kept pigeons, the more wealth you had the more pigeons, kind of a status symbol (I'd prefer a Merc). Finally we had a tour of an Onyx workshop and were given an onyx turning demonstration and the chance to purchaces ornaments and jewelery, at least it wasn't another rug shop!

That night Nick was heading off to see more of Turkey. We met up with Soren and Donna and went for Turkish Pizza. We got 30% off our meal so they could get us through the door, we didn't even have to barter! Finally had an

Grand Bazaar

The enterance to the almighty Grand Bazaar.

early night and got some much needed rest. The final day in Cappadocia was a big one, after more menemen for brekkie Emily and I embarked on a hike that would take us past the Goreme Open Air Muesum to the Rose (red) Valley, it was a great start to the walk, when we were passing some sort of winery or farm thing a dog ran out and kept trying to bite emily's ankles, funny as. We headed into the valley and cam across an old couple selling dried fruits, as we didn't bring any food we purchased dried apricots, apples and apricot kernels. We then hiked onto the Love Valley, so called for the interesting rock formations, through creek beds and natural tunnels. We finally came across a horse (as Cappadocia means 'land of the beautiful horses') and made our way past the White (honeycomb) Valley to Pigeon Valley, where I got as lost twice, and back to Goreme in time fo a shower, rest and night bus back to Istanbul (I'm really starting to dislike buses).

As our time was drawing to a close we spent the day looking around Istanbul seeing sights such as the Blue

Grand Bazaar

Mmmm sexy!

Mosque, very impressive on the inside, we wandered past Aya Sophya, went in the palace gardens then down to the Spice Market for kebabs. After the kebabs I started to feel sick but pushed on through the back streets and dodgy markets selling what one would assume to be black market electrical equipment. We had our last fill of the Grand Bazaar and I got a couple of things. We made our way back to the hostel had some Turkish food and the restaurant opposite, now I was really feeling crook. I pushed on to try and enjoy my final night but struggled to smoke sheesha and drink one beer, Emily was well into her second and I had only had half of mine! Game over, I skulled my beer and went to bed.

The last morning I managed some brekkie and had heaps of water, I finished reading my book on the roof top terrace and started writing this here blog which I have now finished a month later. Turkey was amazing and I really want to go back for a month or more and see the whole country. I loved Istanbul, it is such a warm and