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Published: November 16th 2010
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Touch down Turkey began with 3 days in Istanbul and all I can say is IT WAS HOT!😞 It was such a contrast to go from Scandi where we froze most days to 44 degrees in the shade. We were on our own for the first 2 days and had only 1 thing on our minds...... BEACH! I can't say the Istanbul is renowned for it's beaches but we were told to take the tram line to the end then catch the ferry to the Princess Islands. Little did we know it was about a 1 hour ride which made 2 stops. When we got to the first one we thought it looked great, deck chairs and umbrellas, the works. But the Ferry didn't stop long enough to let us off. When we got to the secong Island we were able to get off and found ourselves in the middle of touristville. Dozens of young boys ran up to us waving pamphlets and yelling in Turkish. We started to stroll and realised we had landed on an Island with no beaches! Then we discovered that the boys were flashing pamphlets to entice us to their private beaches. So 10 TL for
the ferry and then another 15TL we were on another boat and were wihisked away to a resort style sand beach. Looked good from a distance but terrible up close. The water was gross! and it was sooooo hot we couldn't lie on the sunbeds for a long time. After 2 hours we had enough and made the long journey back to the old city where we feasted on mixed platters and hoummus YUM! On the way back I experienced the all turkish charm when one of the street sellers, who was selling rabbits, got rather cross that I would not pat his fury creatures and as a result he called me a S*^%, so in my gracious and classy way I told him to F off! I'm lucky his cousind were'nt around. But besides that it became very clear to Bel and I that the next 3 weeks would be interesting! Filled with loads of attention, the occasional wolf whistle and one or two offers of a different kind.
Day 2 took us, now experts, back to the Princess Islands but with the intention of getting off at stop 1. A funny lady took us under her wing because
she had family in Australi and argued a price for a deck chair and umbrella with the guy who was clearly going to charge us the earth and then she kept an eye on us. This was a much better senario and it came with a slight breeze which meant I didn't feel the need to go in the disgusting water. I couldn't believe that the people just swam around and through the rubbish and drank bottles of water then chucked them into the sea. I ate a good Turkish Kebab and finally felt content and relaxed. That evenening, back at the hotel we met our Topdeck tour group and ate dinner with them. Although they were young they looked like a really good bunch. As usual dozens of girls and 3 very happy boys lol. We did have lots of time to ourselves in Turkey and it was great to hang out with Bel.
Our first day on the tour was spent in Istanbul as well. We visited the Topkapı Palace where the sultans once lived. The palace has beautiful views of Istanbul and also houses a very very large diamond along with many other beautiful jewels. Another stop
was made at Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque. We had to put scarves around our legs and on our heads and carry our shoes in a bag. I was taken aback by the amount of tourists who direspected the traditions and removed their scarves because it was hot. They had people patrolling the floor and telling people to put their scarves back on. Another quick visit was made to the Byzantine Hippodrome and by late afternoon the heat and tonnes of walking had all got too much. I have never wanted to sleep so much in my life, but I couldn't because we had to make an overnight train ride to Ankara. Grrrrrrrrrrr is all I can say. Our overnight train was actually filled with seats and the lights remained on all night. It was hell, especially when the man across from us started to snore. Grrrrrrrrr. By the morning I was exhausted, dying for a shower and hungry. We jumped straight on the coach and headed to a traditional breakfast of bread, cucumber and tomatoes then made our way to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum followed by the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Mausoleum. Mustafa Kemal was an army officer with great military capabilities,
a revolutionary and the first President of Turkey. During the Turkish Independence War, he successfully led his soldiers to achieve the country’s liberation and most people consider him, the father of modern Turkey. His Mausoleum is an incredible sight and I took particular interest in the gaurds who stand watch with their hands on the knife behind their backs. We were there for the changing of the gaurds. They have a really funny march that we all tried to do. Next stop.............
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