Istanbul

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well i have to say overnight buses are not so fun. started out from selcuk at 915 and arrived in istanbul around 7. 2 hours of broken sleep is not enough! although i was pleasantly surprised by getting on a half empty bus so i had a free seat next to me for stretching out. and they have seatback tvs on the bus! unfortunately it was all in turkish. i watched a bit of the simpsons movie in turkish but it just wasnt quite the same. each company has a place they stop in along hte way so we stopped for a half hour toilet and snack break where i skipped on the fanta to try some cherry nectar. i don't know what kind of cherries they used but it was nasty. oh well.

anyways arrived at hte massive istanbul otogar (bus station) which is way out of town. the bus company says they have a servis which from the bus station will take you into town where you want to go. now i wasn't sure exactly how close they would take me to the hotel and since neither the driver nor any of the passengers spoke any english it was a good time trying to tell them where iw atned to go. i showed the guy a map with my hotel circled on it and he dropped me off at a tram station somewhere in this maze of a city. i finally managed to figure out how to buy a token for the tram and managed to get on the rigth one heading to sultanhemet, the district where my hotel was. sure enough i got off and within 5 minutes i was at the hotel! unfortunately it was only 8am and i couldn't check in till 12. they did offer me the free buffet breakfast though which was nice. so i had a chance to cool my heels and read up on what i could do for a few hours before taking a nap.

went to the aya sofya. it was a christian church started back in the 6th century under the eastern roman emperor justinian. once the ottomans conqured turkey back in the 1400s they quickly converted it to a mosque. its been a museum since the 30's and wow wow wow. its crazy to think they could build this stuff way back then. its HUGE. and its got a massive dome which looks like its just kinda hanging up in the air thanks to some ingenious planning where the supports are buried in teh side walls. mosaics all over the place made of the tiniest of tiles. must've taken forever (although i guess when you've got lots of slave labor that makes it that much easier!

made quick work of that one then headed across the park to the blue mosque. its also huge and impressive, built back in teh ealry 1600's. it has 6 minarets and is very imposing. i love how they have a separate entrance for tourists who can only come when there are no prayers on teh go. you have to take your shoes off at the entrance and they give you a bag to carry them around in. its called teh blue mosque because a lot of the interior is done in blue tiling. very impressive as well.

so after that it was finally time to check in to teh hotel. i booked it online and had no trouble on arrival. so the bellboy takes my bag up shows me my room and when we open the door its a mess and not been cleaned yet. my heart dropped because at thsi point i was just about ready to pass out on my feet. fortunately there was another room just down the hall ready and they just sent me in to that one. where i promptly passed out for a lovely 2 hour nap.

feeling refreshed i headed out to see the town. i'm a little kebaped out from the last few days so i just headed to mcdonalds for a nice familiar western meal. surprise surprise it tastes exactly teh same. then i just went for a walk over the galata bridge over the golden horn (waterway) to the beyoglu neighbourhood which is supposedly teh nightlife center of the city. it sure is. you climb this massive hill and are then treated to a km or two of a wide street lined with shops, beggars, food stalls, hawkers of all sorts before ending up at taksim square at the end.

one thing i am hating about istanbul is the touts/scammers... you can walk a foot without someone calling out "hey friend!" or the worse friendly turk asking where your'e from what you're doing in istanbul. one guy chatted me up for a few mins then started asking me if i had bought any carpets yet (think persian rugs)... then another two guys within 5 minutse start chatting me up and then asking if i'd like to go with them fora drink. this is suposely the bgi scam around here they befriend you, take you to a bar to meet some women and then they present you with teh bill for some very expensive drinks. thankfully i'm not stund enough to fall for that one.

then i just headed back to the hotel for a little reading then bed. i was too lazy/tired to search out the internet.

slept 12 hours! then got up this morning and went for hotel breakfast. its up on the top floor of the hotel with soem good views over the bosphorus. thats the waterway that connects the black sea to the sea of marmara which eventually connects to the mediterranean and eventually the atlantic ocean. very important over the years which saw istanbul (first byzantium, then constantinople, finally istanbul.) the heart of christianity for a millenium until the turks took over and converted it all to islam as we see it today.

went to the topkapi palace this morning where the sultans lived over the years. huge complex on a hill overlooking the bosphorus and golden horn. lots of impressive rooms all coated in tiles. they ahve a treasury with so many things it was mind boggling. thrones, crowns, swords, boxes... mostly gold and all encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, turquoise... if you could get your hands on just one you'd be a wealthy man!

they also have the harem there where teh sultans kept their women. concubines which were always foreign women (cant enslave muslims) who started out low, and the best and most beautiful were selected for the sultan to sleep with. he could have 4 wives i think but had as many as 300 concubines who bore they lots of and lots of children.

after that just kidna walked around and took in soem sights. headed down to eth waterfront where the whole place is lined with fisherman. most of what they pull up are little tiny fishes and i feel bad that they're destroying all the fish. and i can't bring myself to eat fish in any of the restaurants because the water isnt' exactly teh cleanest and i can't imagine whats in some of these fish.

anyways after a quick pit stop for a rest and a fanta in the hotel room i set back across the golden horn to climb the galata tower. built by the genoese back in teh 600's or something. crazy that there are buildlings this old still on the go.great views from the top of the old city, across the straight to asia (crazy that the city is in both europe and asia), and even right over the old town into the marama sea. just before sunset too so great views that way.

then went back up towards taksim walking along the main drag there with hoardes of people. and i found gelato!! wooop had a double scoop of course. and fed a little to my cat friend who was practically jumping on my shoulder to get some.

there are soooo many stray cats and not a few dogs here either. they're everywhere. sad because most of them look starved. mostly friendly though i had one in my lap for a while earlier. they don't look rabid anyways haha

so some thoughts on turkey. turkish men are a)avid smokers, b)sit around all day at tables on teh sidwalk drinking coffee or tea, smoking and playing backgammon. those that aren't doing that are either driving cabs or hasseling tourists to go into their restaurant/cafe/shop anything... on the street there are lots of stalls for roasting chestnuts (or some nut like that), corn on the cob, fish sandwiches, kebaps, etc...

also the toilets are hilarious. they'er a toilet/bidet combo. the one in my hotel room when i flush, the water squirts out the back of the edge of the basin as well. so odd.

anyways i'm staying at a best western in the heart of the old city. great location, good hotel. i find it amusing that the place i stayed in in selcuk was 10 dollars a night. now its 100 dollars. loving the upgrade though and having my own space, my own A/C and heater and a shower with unlimited hot water that comes out at more than a trickle. now that i'm makin the big bucks i can splurge once in a whiel hahah

been eating terribly since i got here. i'm kebaped out so i had mcds yesterday and burger king today. the hotel has a great buffet breakfast though thats a little more authentic with all kinds of fruits and olives and eggs and toast and turkish teas. and of course sicne its included i stuff myself silly and then just need to eat again around 3 or 4 which does me till bedtime!

anyways not sure what i'm going to do tomorrow. i still need to hit the grand bazaar (huge covered marketplace) and try to make it over to teh asian side. i want to get on one of teh many many ferries before i'm done but cant decide if i should do teh bosphorus cruise which is a whole day thing going up and down making lots of stops or just kinda take the fast ferry across and explore that way.

anyways off i go before i go past an hour at the internt cafe. home on thursday. sad. will be nice to be home for more than a few days stretch at a time thats for sure!

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Comments

[Nan]

Glad to have you bak!
I thought you had given up on the blog and left us all stranded but this is VERY interesting. Hilarious that the 'Simpsons' were on in Turkish. With MY hearing, of course, I mightn't know the difference (ha ha). Lots of interesting stuff in your description of life in Istanbul -- you paint a vivid picture. Not a place Westerns would want to settle in though. Take care, see you soon

[manu]

those fishes in the restreraunts comn from aagean and black sea.no worries bout them.and the things u describe is maybe a lit bit awkward for the foreigners who has been for the first time.but istanbul n turkey is one of the places in the world both westerns n easterns live in peace n safeşy.have fun.