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Published: January 18th 2008
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We are in Turkey!!!
After doing the whole "group travel thing" (ie: our guide holding our hands for two weeks in Egypt), we were both itching for some independance again! Three months ago neither one of us would ever imagine saying that! We expect Europe to be very expensive, and so far, Turkey has not disappointed, so we chose to start the budget thing early. First task was to get ourselves from the airport to a hostel (ANY hostel, haha) via public transportation!! Considering we speak as much Turkish as we do Russian, it was a bit of an adventure - and we definitely did not "blend in" on the subway (something about the big backpacks and staring at the map) - but we made it ... and for only 5.20 YTL you can make it too!!!
Istanbul is a bumpin city ... definitely not a "Turkish" city, but more of a "world" city! We are more interested in experiencing the culture and the food than we are in seeing the sights ... so unfortunately we don't have oodles of museum/mosque pictures for ya this time around! Our first dabble with Turkish cuisine was so-so ... in the effort
Blue Mosque
The sheer size of this mosque is incredible! to stay on budget we have been eating 3 YTL kebaps and donairs on the streets (hardly what all the people are talking about.) But, we also discovered BAKLAVA!!! Now, we know baklava exists back home, but not like this!!! We are talking about REAL baklava ... baklava that comes in so many varieties that entire bakeries are devoted to it ... baklava that melts in your mouth and makes you happy you are alive! One thing we find quite amusing is the vendor/street selling culture here ... you can buy ANYTHING on the street!!! Underground, on the way to the subway, one can purchase an ipod, cell phone, shiny new pair of shoes, scarf or mittens, suit and tie, showerhead (used or unused), hammer and nails (incase maybe you need to fix something on the way to work?), or a "real" rolex (WOW, imagine our good fortune!). Our personal favorite though, happened to be when we came across the fellow selling baklava from the back of his stationwagon - apron, scale, cash register and all! We spent a few days wandering around Istanbul ... did a few of the "obligatory" sights and hunted for some winter coats in the
Donairs!
REAL donairs! Grand Bazaar (we CAN'T handle the damn cold anymore and the rest of Europe is only going to get worse!). The Grand Bazaar is incredible ... it is a giant covered "flea market" type thing - where again one can find ANYTHING. There are 22 entrances and more than 4500 shops ... we spent as much time trying to find our way out as we did trying to find our jackets!
After a few days, we decided to head south to the Mediterranean and took on the monsterous otogar (bus station) to get a bus ticket to Antalya. The Turkish people have something crazy going on with the otogar ... it is a massive place with some 168 ticket offices competing for your business, so it helps to drive the prices down for the lonely backpacker from Canada who is living off kebaps. Each company clearly advertises which cities they travel to on the outside of their offices, making it very user friendly (we just had to wander up and down and go into the offices that said "Antalya"), but that sure doesn't stop the eager salesmen (looking for the confused traveller) from pushing overpriced tickets to unaware travellers
Spaghetti in Turkey?
To thank Rabia and Mamed, we cooked them some good ole fashioned Canadian spaghetti! ... "Oh, you want to go to Antalya? I can help you! A ticket is just 65 YTL, wait right here!" Ha! The price of the ticket is only 40 YTL! We have gotten very good at saying "Go Away! We can do it ourselves!"
Anyways, we have decided to try a new thing for accomadation in Europe ... there is a website called "couchsurfıng" in which locals in countries around the world offer their homes to travellers. We are staying with a wonderful lady named Rabia ... and have been absolutelly blown away with her hospitality!!! Rabia stays with her father Mehmed during the winter (the flat next door), so she has offered her entire flat to us while we are in Antalya! We weren't sure what to expect with couchsurfing, truthfully we thought it was just a free place to sleep, but Rabia and her dad have really welcomed us into their homes! Everyday they prepare delicious home cooked Turkish meals for us (Rabia works during the day, so we have her dad to ourselves for breakfast/lunch and in the evenings when she returns from work, we enjoy a meal together). He doesn't speak any english though
Bakla-Mino
This fellow was selling baklava from the trunk of his car - weight scale and everything ... Turkey Rocks! ... so the three of us play a very amusing game of "dictionary pictionary/ shirades"! It is hilarious!!! Also, we have had the opportunity to meet some of her friends and last night they took us out to a cabin about an hours drive from the city for an amazing fish feast! We stayed out late, drinking, dancing and visiting ... we sure did not expect THIS from couchsurfing! To thank Rabia, her dad and her friend Mehmet for their kindness, we cooked them an old fashioned "Canadian" dinner ... spaghetti!!! (and we have to say how awesome it was to have just a tiny taste of home again!) It has been such a great experience and we are sad to be leaving them (and can't wait to host surfers ourselves!)
Happy Travels,
Trevor and Kristena
P.S. We loaded a video on facebook of us trying to dance Turkey style - check it out, it's pretty funny!!!
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Adrian Zermeno
non-member comment
wow
this sounds great guys! I'm glad the couchsurfing thing turned out well and I'll be asking for your advice for using for the summer. happy travels!