September Notes from Istanbul

Here in Fatih, on the mail boulevard, we were heading to dinner with our hostess (food photos will be posted separately). Blaring horns, scooters, pedestrians crossing any time – welcome to an average evening in the big city.

Fatih

Leaving our residence to have dinner on the main road, we realized we are on a hilltop.

Hilltop Fatih, Istanbul

On our second day, we used our map to walk all the way to the Grand Bazaar. We passed this aqueduct on the way.

Aquaduct in Istanbul

Well, the Grand Bazaar was rather disappointing. To me this was just another tourist trap. Yes, the building and the feel itself is nice, but I got tired of the haggling vendors in the end. I was looking for an everyday bag (one, which doesn’t mind if a banana gets squashed in it), but vendors were trying to sell me expensive leather bags. There was just too much hustle for my taste. I’m glad I went there, but once is enough. This is like going to the Oktoberfest in Munich. I don’t need that a second time either.

On the way out, I spotted a beautiful opal bracelet. The price was out of my range (with or without haggling). In the end, I found some beautiful opal earrings and an emerald ring. I was so tired of the hustle and bustle by then, so I made a somewhat ridiculously low counter-offer and it was accepted. Lack of coffee in the morning, tired feet, and having to give constant polite refusals, can do that to me.

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

By all means, go to the Grand Bazaar. I just wanted to let you know what to expect.

Notes from Antalya, Turkey

Nobuko, world traveller and occasional guest-blogger, is reporting from Antalya, Turkey.

Antalya in November 2012

I took the bus from Konya to Antalya. I basically had no particular reason to go there besides the fact that Konya was getting very cold, and I wanted to go to a warmer place, any place with 20°C or more.

Antalya has a beautiful old-town section called Kaleici. But I have to say, Antalya is better for couples or group tours. There are tons of shops and many bars playing all sorts of live music. I went to a bar and listened to traditional Turkish music and had three glasses of wine. Oh my god, did I mention how good their wines are??

Anyway, despite Antalya’s near-perfect set up to entertain tourists, I felt out of place as a single person traveling alone. I stayed only two days – long enough for my washed clothes to dry in 22°c temperature.

Antalya, Turkey

Edit: Nobuko, the wine must have been pretty good; especially since you sent a beer photo along with this post.

Notes from Konya, Turkey

My friend, Nobuko, traveller and guest-blogger, is reporting from the city of Konya and the village Sille (Turkey).

Konya  in November 2012

After leaving Cappadocia, I arrived in Konya four hours later. There, I was hosted by the couch surfer, Mr. Huseyin, a professor at a university’s drama department and I was instructed to wait for him at a local police station. When I arrived at his house, I had the pleasant surprise of meeting two other couch surfers staying there – Sasha (Ukrainian) and Yigit (Turkish).

Huseyin cooked dinner for us everyday despite his busy schedule. The three of us went around together for three days. The city of Konya is known as the center of Dervish Sema and for the Shrine of Jalaluddin Rumi, also so-called father of Sufism. Most sites are close to one another. The teaching of Sufism is almost identical to that of Buddhism and Hinduism, about which I had learned in India.

Sufism teaches:
1. In generosity and helping others, be like a river.
2. In compassion and grace, be like the sun.
3. In concealing others’ faults, be like the night.
4. In anger and fury, be like death.
5. In modesty and humility, be like the earth.
6. In tolerance, be like the sea.
7. Either exist as you are, or be as you look.

The three of us went to a small village called Sille, a mere 8 km from the city center of Konya. On the bus, we met two cute 11-year-old boys. They kept smiling and whispering to each other as they kept looking at us and so we invited them to sit with us. They emitted such very happy and warm energy. If Turkey has more children like them, I think its future is bright. Meeting little angels like them always seems like a good omen.

It was rainy and cold, but Sille was full of warmhearted people. We were so glad to have gone there. We found a photography gallery / cafe and its owner has a cat named Sushi, because she likes sushi so much! We took a hike on the hill, which sits on the opposite side of the town. We enjoyed listening to the call for prayer. To listen to it in a village like Sille, especially with mist rising from the ground into the sky, and no other sounds besides chickens and dogs, was magical. Sille is also famous for its pottery.

On the way back to Huseyin’s house, Yigit proposed that we hitchhike. He had spent a month traveling all over southeastern Turkey by hitchhiking. So Sasha and I said why not! I hitched the first car successfully which took us about 5 km. Then Yigit hitched the second car. The driver was (yet again!) very nice and went out of his way to drop us off at the city center despite the traffic. This experience got me hooked, and I continued hitchhiking in the following days.

On the last day, Huseyin took us to see the famed Dervish Sema. Here in Konya, the devotional dance is presented to the audience for free. The whole performance is about one hour, accompanied by music and singing that can send a chill down your spine (I mean this in a good way).

Sille/Turkey

Notes from Cappadocia

Nobuko, a guest-blogging friend, is reporting from Cappadocia.

An overnight bus operated by Metro bus company took me from Istanbul to Cappadocia; this 10-hour-ride cost about 60 TL (about $35). The cost of things in Turkey was a shock to me coming from India. For a similar ride in India, I had paid 400 Rupees (about $8). But I have to say it is just because buses in Turkey are very nice, and even come with an attendant serving (non-alcoholic) drinks and snacks to passengers. They stop every few hours for restroom breaks / food, and even announce how long the stop is! And they are pretty punctual.

On a different note: I had enjoyed my bus experience in India as well: They have “sleeper” seats which can be closed off by a sliding door or curtain for privacy. It is tiny but you can lay down – though you cannot remain reclined for too long since the roads are bumpy and I nearly hit the ceiling several times. But they do not stop for restroom! One time I contemplated using a plastic bottle, but the bumpiness of the road prevented me from entertaining the idea any further. I begged the driver several times and he finally stopped one hour later to let me go into a bush.

OK, enough about my bathroom on bus stories. Now back to Cappadocia.

It had been my dream to go to Cappadocia ever since I was eight years old. And when I saw it with my own eyes, it was so much more than I imagined. Looking at pictures or even seeing videos does not do justice to the beauty and expansiveness of this place. I met a mother-daughter team from Mexico. We had breakfast at a family-run Cappadocia Cuisine. The mama looked tough at first sight, but she was very hospitable. She gave us coffee on the house. Then I checked into a dorm at the Flintstones Cave Hostel ($14 including a pretty good breakfast).

My friends and I rented a car from the rental car company, OZ Cappadocia, for two days. Driving in Cappadocia was my first time driving outside the U.S.A. Being low season, the roads were pretty much empty, so it was easy to drive. On the first day, we had great fun driving following the Red Tour route. The second day’s Green Tour route would have been difficult without a guide. So we hired a wonderful man named Ahmet. He normally works as part of the ground crew for the Royal Balloon company. He guided us to Pigeon Valley, the underground city of Kaimakli where I nearly had a panic attack (I realized I cannot do darkness or underground), and Ihlara valley.

The day went fine; the sunset was beautiful beyond what words could describe – until we were on the way back home. Ahmet decided to take a short cut which led us to the middle of field without a road in  pitch dark hours. As the ride became increasingly bumpy and we were getting further and further away from any light in sight, I asked him if he had driven that way before, to which he replied, “No, I have not”. Then he said cheerfully, with a big smile, “Remember the prison we passed this morning? We are just behind that prison!” I think he tried to make us feel better by telling us where we were. We asked, “That prison?” Ahmet, still smiling: “Yes, yes, that one! The one that had 12 people escaping this year!” We retorted,  “… OK, so we are not picking up any hitch hikers.”

After 40 minutes of driving through a field and getting nowhere, Ahmet finally decided to turn around and go back  the long way.

On the third day I was alone, since my Mexican friends had left. I rented a bicycle and rode from Goreme to Avanos, which is about 10 km away. Going slower is rewarding for the eyes. On the way back, I stopped at a pide shop and had chai and pide (Turkish pizza). I was the only customer and the owner and his worker were very kind. We showed each other’s pictures on our cameras while they talked to me in Turkish, which I do not understand, and I talked to them in English. They offered me a huge piece of Baklava and another cup of chai. In Turkey, I was offered many meals and even accommodations from various strangers and I accepted them. This kind of experience restores my faith in humanity. I need to acknowledge the priceless value of such encounters, because they prove that we can act out of kindness even when there is no incentive involved.

Cappadocia

This was my last night. After picking up some beer (the Turkish Efes Pilsen is a very good beer, in my opinion), a guy from Oz Cappadocia (the rental car company) and Ahmet took me to a panorama look-out spot at night and made a bonfire! How fun! The next day they came to the bus stop to see me off. Yes, Cappadocia is a wonderful place to visit. For me, it is the people I met that made Cappadocia one of the best places to be in.

And Nobuko plans to return to Turkey by spring 2013.

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