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Published: November 7th 2007
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We awoke, dressed and left the hostel in a somewhat zombified state. We were out of the hostel by six thirty and onto the weirdly empty streets of Istanbul. We walked up to the Aya Sofia where we had to run to catch a tram nearer to the port. We got off and unable to find a road name, we set off in approximately the right direction. We are both rather proud of getting to the port on time and with minimal hassle.
The ferry crossing was ok once we had figured out where the hell to sit. We bought what we thought was a Danish pastry but turned out to have meat inside.
Once the ferry docked we knew we had to get a shuttle bus to the centre of Bursa. There were buses waiting outside the port so that part was hassle free other than for transport in Turkey you have to buy the ticket from a booth before getting on. We sat on the bus for about half an hour. The bus climbed up into the mountains and though the views were phenomenal, we didn't look to be anywhere near the centre of the fourth biggest
city in Turkey. Once people had started to leave the bus, a guy sitting near us told us we should get off and this stop and catch a tram into the centre. Feeling slightly bewildered we got on the tram/metro and positioned ourselves near the doors so we could jump off at any time. We consulted the guidebook and there was nothing of any use to indicate where to get off, so we had to rely on a favourite method of ours. We decided first to get off at the stop where the majority of people got off, however everyone seemed to leave at a station that was in the middle of nowhere. Next we decided that the station where the lines intersected was probably the centre but again when the stop arrived it looked very quiet etc. Just when we were preparing to get the tram back the way we had come, we arrived at a station that a lot of people decided to leave at. We also left the station and walked up into a pedestrianised area which was heaving people. I felt pretty uncomfortable in my strappy top which was drawing a strange amount of attention. Despite
the temperature being in the high twenties I put on my jacket. We were looking for either a big hotel that would have a map, or a sign pointing to the centre. Across the other side of the roundabout we saw a massive sign pointing saying "central hotel".
We did manage to get a map from the hotel which was good but the map showed us that the centre was back the way we had just come. I had to take my jacket back off because it is way too hot, so I just grinned and bared the stares and vowed to put my shirt on ASAP.
The hotel that we were intending to stay at was way too expensive despite Rob's best bartering skills. Quite overcome by the heat, tiredness from carrying the bags and impending despair from being unable to find accommodation we sat in some shade to come up with a plan B. A couple of people did stop to try and help us; we must have looked quite out of place. Eventually we decided to try one place we had seen on the way through the city and if they weren't a possibility we
were just going to head to the bus station and see if we could leave.
The Paris Hotel looked quite dodgy from the outside but the room was cheap and relatively cheap. Having wasted plenty of time already trying to find accommodation we just dumped our stuff and left. Well not before changing into some slightly more modest clothing.
Bursa is a love it/hate it on first impression place. I loved it instantly and Rob hated it. I thought it was such a welcome change from Istanbul where you find yourself constantly wondering whether things are genuine or for show. Bursa was a busy, sprawling city with people acting as they would and no pretenses laid on for the tourists. We did attract a lot of attention but a smile usually worked to ease an uncomfortable moment. There wasn't much in the way of sights but you could easily spend a day walking around the streets and in particular the bazaars. In Rob's words, he disliked Bursa initially because it was "unwelcoming, dirty and full of traffic". Also he was slightly disgruntled about the difficulty of getting to the centre from the ferry port.
Bits that we
both really enjoyed were the markets/bazaar. They felt so much bigger than the one in Istanbul and were packed with locals actually buying things. Almost unphased by the pushy vendors now we looked around so intently that we got completely and utterly lost. Rob was desperate for the toilet so we rushed down so many side streets trying to find a road we recognised. Though we didn't find the hotel all that quickly one thing that did amuse Rob were the few men sitting on the street with typewriters typing out documents for people who would pay them.
At the hotel I laid down on the bed whilst Rob went to the toilet. A couple of hours later we both awoke to an alarm that Rob had set when he realised that he couldn't wake me and he would be glad of the sleep.
Finding somewhere to eat was fun. Neither of us particularly felt like kebab or pide which is all that Turkish eateries seem to serve. We did find a drab pseudo Italian whose staff was lovely and though it took five of them and my dictionary to work it out, we did end up with
a great salad and pasta each.
Our hotel doesn't have the internet but there was an internet café around the corner which we used. We have taken way more photos than we anticipated so we had to burn them to disk to free up space on the memory card. Whilst Rob sorted out technical things I caught up with Nina which was lovely as usual. We left the café around one when it closed and skillfully found our way back to the hotel.
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Brian
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Duckies Demise
Great concern is being expressed at Duckies Demise, has he gone on holiday on his own, has he left you for another, has he found a soul mate, or is he lost in Europe somewhere, or worse still left in a hostel to his own devices?? Do we need to contact the international Red Cross to find Duckie