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Published: June 23rd 2009
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Greetings!
Our time in Turkey was far too brief. Having only a few weeks to explore a country that is worthy of months, we chose to stick to two highlights: Istanbul and Cappadocia. In the end, we were glad to have seen two very different sides of Turkey, but are definitely planning another trip to Turkey sometime in our future to give the country its due.
When we touched down, spring had sprung and Istanbul was chockablock with blooming cherry trees, tulips and lilacs. Judging from the plastic masks worn by every single airport worker and the dirty looks we received at the Istanbul airport (this coming from Israel, which reported only one case), you'd think Swine Flue had sprung, too. We eventually checked into one of the many boutiquey hotels cluttering the cobblestone streets near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. We were glad about our choice when we arrived and saw bunches of people dining al fresco in sidewalk cafes lining the streets under the shadows of history. Welcome to Europe! .... well, sort of. Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus and therefore has one foot in Asia and one foot in Europe. The minarets dotting the skylines and
AMAZING cuisine mark a stark contrast with its western and northerly neighbors while the easy availability of alcohol, modern shopping streets and cafes set it apart from the Middle East. We stayed on the European side, in the old city, and spent our time crisscrossing between continents.
One of our favorite neighborhoods was the Beyoglu District, where raucous pedestrian street İstiklâl Caddesi cuts a swath through the heart of modern Istanbul and the Genoese-built Galata Tower, circa 1300s, provides views over the Golden Horn. We originally hit the area in search of a fish market but were drawn in by the cafes and bars tucked away in graffittid back alleys. It seemed like half of Istanbul had the same idea and were all strolling along the street. We managed to pull ourselves away from our Turkish coffees long enough to walk down to the water and check out the fishing action. After getting a bit lost, we finally found our way by following the cats, who became noticeably fatter and more sanguine each block closer to the waterfront. The waterfront was clogged by the hundreds of fishermen with their long poles wiling the day away eating fresh cheese sandwiches
and hoping for a bite, and a fish market where swarthy fish-hawkers shouted out the day's prices in well-loved rubber boots.
On another day we checked out the Ortakoy neighborhood, which sits right on the water and was a beautiful place for an ice cream and people watching. Suddenly, however, our peaceful stroll turned a little scary as we heard blasts and shouts and saw burning flames and smoke in the distance. As it turns out, we timed our excursion at the same time the local soccer team had just won a big game. We were soon overtaken by straight up soccer hooligans, complete with burning flares, M80s, crepe paper streamers, and drunken, unintelligable chanting and singing. Anna, queen of the worst-case-scenario, sort of thought she was in the middle of a military coup and that she might die, while Jub wanted to paint his face, rip off his shirt and join the maelae. Middle ground prevailed and we spent some time watching it all go down while trying to avoid being hit in the face (or camera lens) by flying debris.
Of course, we also saw the big three sights - the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and
the Topaki Palace. All three were massive and beautiful. The Blue Mosque is gorgeously humbling, but has been so taken over by tourists that women weren't even covering their heads when inside. We also walked through the Grand Bazaar, a massive covered market where one can buy any number of super-tempting Turkish carpets, woven tapestries, glass lanterns and pottery. A house-decorating shopping trip is somewhere in our future, but we shockingly managed to walk away with our wallets intact this time, enjoying a few Turkish coffees instead of going bust.
From Istanbul we caught an overnight bus to Cappadocia. After Egypt, we vowed to avoid overnight buses, but our travel agent talked up the comfort and speed of the bus, and we bought it. Unfortunately, he also booked us the worst two seats, right behind the "wet bar," hemming our knees and toes in at an almost humanly-impossible angle, especially for poor Jub. So, 12 hours later, we got off the bus in foul moods with stiff backs and legs. Fortunately, when we looked around, we were surrounded by gradiose, surreal nature and could walk off our stiffness on Cappadocia's many hiking trails, which wind through crazy looking "fairy
Bedazzled
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul chimneys" and other weirdly-sculpted landscapes.
Cappadocia is famous not only for its landscapes, but also for its underground cities and rock-carved churches, some used by early Christians as hiding places during tulmultuous times, others as working monastic centers and churches. Because of the sheer size of the region, we signed on for a couple full day tours, which turned out to be a good call but made for some interesting contrasts. On our first tour day we tagged along with four couples who had probably never set foot on a hiking trail and were not-so-nimble-seniors, with whom we visited the Kaymakli Underground City (max depth 60 meters, where a cross-shaped church is carved out of stone), and hiked through the Ihlara Gorge. The Gorge trek was a struggle for some of our companions, who had difficulty navigating their way through boulders, and we ended up getting stuck in a massive downpour and helping the group finally stumble to the end of the trail. Our second day, we saw the Goreme Open Air Museum and several local rock formations with a group of young Chinese tourists. That day our speed was hampered not by the terrain, but by the sheer
number of SLR cameras in action at every turn. Not that we should talk.
Aside from the nature, we had a great time hanging at one of the local Goreme cafes, where we feasted on Gözleme and listened to a local guitar player. It was on our way home from there that we met another dog friend, who took up a temporary home outside our hotel room on Jub's travel towel. He was a little more scrappy than the two blonde dogs that accompanied us on a hike earlier in the day, and who were so friendly and photogenic that our second-day tour included a good half-hour photo shoot featuring the dogs and the fairy chimneys.
Saying goodbye to Cappadocia, we spent one final day in Istanbul ("So take me back to Constantinople") before heading to the train station, well marked as the former end of the Orient Express. For us, it was the end of the Orient and the beginning of the last leg of our trip in Eastern Europe. Stay tuned for stories from Bulgaria and north.
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laetitiaaroundtheworld
Laetitia
Looks like you found Borat!
Ehehe :-) Glad to read your latest blog, and all the best in Bulgaria! Love your picture of Borat, great way to start the day! Cheers, Laetitia