Alas, I can’t keep my promise about uploading pictures… and it was my one goal for the day! Stupid ‘vacation’ getting in the way of my blogging duties. Today we planned for a nice relaxing day at the beach, but ended up going paragliding instead! And are now out for dinner and drinks… maybe afterwards.
*Where by smoking up I mean apple tobacco hookahs
On Friday, after my last entry, Kate and I were again up to no good. We decided to visit the Galata Bridge, walking about 1 mile through refreshingly non-touristy areas of Istanbul to get there. I think the special thing about the bridge is the view over the Bosphorus and the restaurants on the lower level. It had a quite nice atmosphere but even so Kate and I didn’t plan on stopping… at least until we saw the group of people drinking beer. We immediately made a beeline for the next available table. I think the hawker was surprised that we put up so little of a fight. For the record, the beer here is delicious, Efes Pilsner. Mmmm.
Afterwards, we were on a roll so we walked back to the touristy areas to fınd another bar wıth nargileh available (those tobacco hookahs.) Our first attempt was a total failure (expensive, no nargileh, and a staid atmosphere. We even saw sequined fanny packs, which is never a good thing.) In desperation we set out for a bar listed in the Lonely Planet, but kept getting lost. Right around now we were starting to worry, because it had been hours since we’d last been bothered by touts. Hours! Fortunately, our luck turned. One carpet seller remembered we were from New Mexico, and started asking us questions about Albuquerque (clever of him!) He was entertaining, so we stopped for a minute, but when he offered us tea we demurred, instead asking for a business card. He gave Kate a ’special’ card, complete with hand-drawn hearts, then complimented her on her eyelashes. Apparently they match her nose.
Our next tout encounter was fortuitous. A Kurdish carpet-seller from the east of Turkey saw us wandering the streets looking for the Şah bar (the one listed in the LP) and managed to point us in the rıght direction. Of course, he then stayed to chat for an excrutiable 30 minutes (made more difficult by the fact that neither Kate nor myself could understand his accent) but eventually made his way to the door. He did comment on my ‘nice’ shoes (again!) and ask if we were sisters (again!) before he left.
Then, it was time to smoke up! We managed to wave down the waiter and get a nargileh pipe, which was VERY exciting. I was terrible at it, but many humurous pictures were taken. I think photographing smoking is way more fun than actually smoking… and once I can upload some pictures I’m sure you’ll all agree.
Now doesn’t that sound like a pleasant way to end the day? Hahahahahaha. Coming soon… a description of a terrible overnight bus trip (by a very special guest blogger!) Also, our first day in Selçuk (spent mostly relaxing from aforementioned trip) and a description of the classical ruins of Ephesus, plus pictures! And may the upcoming bus trip to Fethiye be less painful than the last (leaving in about one hour and arriving at the otogar (bus station) at midnight!)
So I know everyone is desperately awaiting my every update, so even though I no longer have free internet access I felt obligated to write another entry (or, the battery in my camera died and I’m bored while waiting for it to recharge, you decide.)
The last 24 hours have been chock full of touristy type events, ranging from actually visiting the inside of Unesco World Heritage sites to getting scammed by cab drivers to getting sick off of the food (although not actually “sick sick”, just a little sick.) Also, there was a full-body massage. And if that doesn’t get you interested, I’m afraid nothing I say will…
Basilica Cistern was the first place Kate and I paid actual money to go see. It’s a huge cavern from Roman times used to store water for the city, abandoned for a thousand years and only recently discovered. Apparently in the past it was used to store corpses, but all we saw in the water were fish. The lack of lighting made it difficult to take decent pictures, but Kate and I go by the slogan that quantity will eventually result in some comparatively high quality ones, if only by the law of averages. Of course, notice that there are no actual pictures available on this website yet…
Afterwards we braved a Turkish bath (Cemberlitas Hamami, for the record) telling ourselves that we better go for the full bath, exfoliation, and massage because otherwise we’d only regret not paying the extra money for it. Of course, when we arrived and the price was 50% more expensive than the guidebook’s price, we had second thoughts - but bravely continued on. We had no clue what to do or where to go, but there were a number of locals there to imitate. When we saw them hanging out in their underwear, we figured we better do that too. (Best decision of the day, although its competition was pretty measly, with the getting scammed by a taxi driver.) So I’m out in this little room with about twenty mostly naked women (including Katie) and covering basically everything I can with my little towel. Until I was dragged aside by a skinny Turkish woman and forced to lie face-up on the towel. She took an exfoliation mitten to my skin and then began the massage portion… and when I say full body massage, I mean FULL BODY MASSAGE. I was very thankful for the underwear but wishing I had thought to bring a little more. After a few minutes of this my masseuse moved me to the faucet where she sprayed bubbly water all over my face while I gasped for breath. At least I was allowed to face away from her for this portion - Kate was facing inward and her head was actually physically pushed into the masseuse’s breasts (uncovered, of course.) After about 15 minutes it was over and we headed outside, sans underwear. (And returned to our hostel as quickly as physically possible.) Normally I might regret any decision that involved my walking back to a hostel commando, but the massage was definitely an experience.
A famous supposedly good kebab restaurant was next on our list, but the lamb kebab with pistachios made me sick (not bad bad sick though! My stomach continues to be made of steel!) However, lamb has been crossed off the menu for the time being. (Kate’s was fine, and she really enjoyed it.) Because of this, and the rage we were feeling towards the evil taxi driver, we took the rest of the night off.
Today we’ve visited Topkapi Palace, the Aya Sofya, and the Blue Mosque, braving hordes of screaming children and picture-taking Asian tourists (and old Americans as well, of course!) I don’t have a lot to say about these things - they’re pretty much must-do’s in Istanbul but not a lot of super-interesting things to describe (especially without pictures.) One note that we copied from the guidebook about the weeping column in Aya Sofya: “Legend has it that… putting one’s finger in the hole can lead to ailments being healed if the finger emerges moist.” We had a lot of fun taking pictures at that column…
Anyways, we’re totally mooching internet time off of our old hostel from last night, so I’ll cut this short. We’re taking an overnight bus to Selcuk tonight (mm, overnight busses are always fun) and will see Ephesus tomorrow - wish us luck!
Shortly after writing the last entry I went back to the hostel room and accidently deleted all of my pictures. Fortunately, this was only the first day of travel so there weren’t many irreplaceable ones - I’m sure I’ll manage it again somehow though.
Our total tea number is only up to four a person because Kate and I are getting better at turning touts down - we’ve discovered the “We’ll visit you later because we’re in a hurry now, please give us a business card” technique, as well as the “We’re from New Mexico” version (infinitely confusing to touts, who then assume we’re from Mexico and comment on our striking Turkish looks, excellent English pronounciation, and very nice shoes (??) and then assume we’re too poor to buy any carpets and leave us alone. Haha, except that last part, they never leave you alone.) We’re rating the salesmen based on looks and personalities and will return to those high enough. Let’s just say our standards are very exacting and unlikely to be met. Unfortunately, some lecherous old man touts are very persistant and I was waylaid by one of them last night (hence the increase in the number of teas we’ve drank.) I think the best description of the situation is that of Kate’s last night: To set the stage, while hovering in the corner of a street trying to decide which direction to turn to avoid them, you can hear ”Hello, would you like some tea?” echoing through the alleyways - ”Like a Stephen King novel.” We just can’t escape!
This morning we had our Turkish cooking class, which was delicious. And enormously filling. And best of all, involved no carpets! I’m not sure I can actually replicate any of the dishes (my jobs tended to be fairly simple and along the lines of “Cut these carrots”), but everything was excellent. And I ate and enjoyed lamb, and some tiny onions. (Although I’m not an onion traitor, I just relax my principles while visiting other countries.)
Another interesting thing to point out about Turkey is the calls to prayer. Basically, there’s a huge speaker system over the entire city (and for all I know country!) that pipes the sound of people praying approximately 18 times a day. Okay, technically only 5, but it seems like more. (Interestingly, the prayers seem evenly split between female singers and male singers.) Everyone, including the locals, seems to ignore this, but after hearing the call for the 8th or 9th time last night Kate and I were joking about what time we’d hear it next. Obviously, it would be at the most annoying time possible - my money was on 6am and hers was on 1am. I’m pleased to report that we were able to decide which actually was more annoying because at 1am we were woken up by drunk Americans trying to get into our room (apparently thinking it was the exit of the hostel?) and at 6am by, of course, another call to prayer. Lovely.
(I of course was correct - it’s much more annoying to be woken at 6 than at 1, for the record.)
Anyways, we’re off to visit a Roman cavern used for storing water and a Turkish bath, I’ll be sure to report back though!
Well, I’ve been awake for almost 30 hours now and somehow it managed to become Wednesday without my ever noticing, but Kate and I have safely arrived in Istanbul. The three flights weren’t what I would consider “fun” - too many hours on a plane with loud children, loud Turkish talkers, and (worst of all) loud man who had a hole cut in his throat from some sort of smoker’s disease. Clearly I’m evil for being totally grossed out by the fact that I could hear any liquid he drank bubbling down the hole in his throat… but I think I’ll just have to be evil. On a happier note, Turkish Airlines official colors are apparently baby blue and pink. Awesome. Also, we were provided with the most useless purse full of random things ever - a pink shoehorn, slipper socks, and eye cover (etc!) The eye cover might have been useful had it not been light pink and therefore unable to block any light at all. Don’t worry, I’ve taken plenty of pictures.
For the most part we’ve spent the time in Istanbul walking around the Old City, seeing a few of the less famous mosques and unsuccessfully trying to avoid carpet salesmen. Normally when I’m travelling I have no problem avoiding touts, because you can just ignore them. When you’re the only non-tout on the road, that’s much more difficult, because they just follow you, for-freaking-ever! Now that I’ve realized resistance is futile, I have a new goal - see how much of the total tea supply in Turkey Kate and I can drink (provided, of course, by the touts, who just want to give you some tea! and look at this nice carpet…) We’re up to three glasses so far (each) but I’m sure more are still to come. I’ll keep you updated. Oh yeah, and I have some nice pictures of mosques. Well, let me restate that as pictures of nice mosques, as I can make no promise on the quality of my pictures.
This blog is started for a two and a half week trip in Turkey, starting on March 28 and ending on April 14th. The approximate itinerary is: Istanbul, Ephesus, Fethiye, Cappadocia, Istanbul.
