Day 3 - Istanbul 2012


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Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 3rd 2012
Published: July 21st 2013
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After another 11 hour fight, we reach Istanbul, and we find it is somewhat milder, a fresh 12 degrees at 6.30am. Our Neon Tours shuttle takes us to the Centrum Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Istanbul in the old quarter, our home for the next couple of days. Our Hotel is located in a really cool area full of tiny narrow cobbled streets and full of restaurants and little shops, also very close to many of the highlights of Istanbul.
There are mosques everywhere, almost every block has a mosque on it and the merging of Eastern and western cultures is everywhere. Our first experience of the “call to prayer’ was surreal and haunting with the call going out over the whole city but from the different mosques with different songs, very strange. To be fair my first feeling to this was one of fear, a typical western attitude but as the days wore on if we did not hear it we were disappointed, go figure.

If I thought that Hong Kong drivers were crazy, then the Turks are criminally insane. They drive with no room for error, often only centimetres between cars or pedestrians. If they need to stop somewhere, they just stop, no matter if they are down a side street or on a main road. There are very few road markings, traffic lights or even signposts, they duck and weave in between trucks and buses, they are either stopped, or full throttle, there were several occasions where there were 5 cars abreast, going into a 2 lane road and whoever has the biggest balls wins. Insane, absolute madness, just like Italy.



Istanbul is divided 4 ways, the Old and New cities and Europe and Asia side, as the city is actually on 2 continents, separated by the Bosphorus. As I said, our hotel is in the middle of the Old City, in walking distance of just about everything, the Spice Markets, Grand Bazaar, Süleyman Mosque, dozens of local restaurants and cafes. We start by walking down past Neiv mosque, which is being used to film the new James Bond movie, and into the Spice Markets. The smells are incredible and the spices are all in piles outside the stalls. Sugar, saffron, Turkish delight, caviar, and a dozen more different spices and foods are on sale. The Turks are very good at separating tourists from their money. We keep getting asked if we are Australian, but when we say "no, no. Kiwi" they smile and say "ah kiwi! Go all blacks!"



The Spice markets seem to go on forever, they are a maze of stalls and little narrow alleys selling all kinds of goods, souvenirs, electronics, metalwork, leather goods, too much to mention. The bargaining for goods is frenetic and a real skill we are still developing, you have to find the price you want to pay for an item and then somehow try to find a start price that does not offend the trader. We have found that if you wait long enough you find that they will give you the hint and start dropping the price without you even saying a word. But even after all of pour practice I still got screwed big time, walking past a shop selling Turkish Delight and spices and nuts and all sorts a guy literally grabbed my hand and began shaking it. After a quick firm Kiwi hand shake I tried to let go, he was having none of that and with a grip of iron literally dragged me into the shop.

Next up is Süleyman Mosque, this is the first time we have ever been inside a Muslim place of worship. We have to take off our shoes, and Pam has to cover her shoulders and head with a pashmina, a scarf. Inside is very peaceful and quiet, a lone man is praying, out in the middle of the floor. There is a separate section, behind a screen for the women to pray. The dome towers overhead, its mosaic is spectacular in its intricacy. The threshold is made of marble, which has worn smooth and round from centuries of people walking over it.



Next up is the Grand Bazaar, still one of the largest shopping complexes in the world with 18 entrances and over 4000 shops it is massive. It is completely covered, and once inside you lose all sense of direction. Tonnes of jewellery and gold is in here, as well as more traditional scarves, porcelain goods, knives, spices, food, restaurants, cafes, again too much to mention, we barely even saw 10% of it I reckon, I could spend days just wandering around and talking to the shop owners. Buying stuff here is so much fun, I love haggling with them, they get so involved. All day you hear "I do you good price!" And "Yes, you are first customer today, you get best price! Good quality!" Hilarious. While we all enjoyed the Grand Bazaar, the spice markets felt less touristy, there was a more local feel to the place.



After lunch we walked to the waterfront and along the main bridge into the Old City. It is lined with fishermen catching sardines and anchovies, and it smells badly in places where the vents from the restaurants below discharge.. There are dozens of seafood restaurants under the bridge, a novel idea. We wander back to the hotel, stopping off for a brilliant dinner at the restaurant outside the hotel, then collapse into bed.


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