Turkey

TURKEY - October 1997

I left Boise early this morning, I am flying Boise/ Chicago/ Frankfurt/ and Istanbul, this is a new routing for me. Most of my trips have been via Bangkok and Kathmandu. This turned out to be an equally long flight, 22 1/2 hours later I arrived in Istanbul. I am here to join a tour group and it was a very pleasant surprise when I found a car waiting at the airport to pick me up.

When I arrived the weather was just perfect, nice and warm. The hotel is a typical third class tour accommodation with tiny rooms. After checking in, I went out to explore the streets around the hotel, and then I went into a cafe for a coffee. While in this cafe I started talking with an American couple from Oregon who coincidentally are on the same tour as me. We have teamed up to go sight seeing for the next few days before our tour starts.

'The Blue Mosque Below'

Our Hotel Hali, is situated in the Sultanahmet District, we are within walking distance to all the tourist sites and loads of shops and Cafes. We overlook the Mari Mari Sea which is connected by the Dardanelle Straights of the Mediterranean Sea, I think. From our roof top dining room we can also look out at the Blue Mosque and St. Sophia.

St. Sophia

After a good nights sleep, we had a great day visiting areas of the city we will not see on our tour. We went to Mosque of Eyup and saw the ancient cemetery on the hill called Great Cemetery of Exup, it overlooks the Golden Horn. We visited many more Mosques and also a Greek Orthodox Church called Our Lady Of the Mongul, which had beautiful Sanctuary Lamps. We did all our traveling by taxi today which saved our feet and legs from fatigue. In the late afternoon I walked down to the Grand Bazaar, which is a covered area with thousands of shops, this was a little too much for me so back to the hotel I went and met up with the rest of our tour group.

There are twelve of us in this group and our tour leader is Sharon from Australia and our Bus Driver is Mustafa, a Turk from the Black Sea area. Today we had a guided tour of Istanbul, including St. Sophia, which is now used as a museum. Originally this was a church and later became a mosque and now a museum. It was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian 1,500 years ago, even now the great central dome is the third largest in the world.

The Blue Mosque, the mosque of Sultan Ahmet, was originally built with the intention to surpass St. Sophia, it is located directly opposite its rival, and is still used as a Mosque today. Non-Muslims are allowed to tour inside the Mosque, but not at prayer times, you are expected to dress and behave appropriately and of course leave your shoes outside.

The religion in Turkey is 99 percent Islamic, the call to prayer is rang out 5 times a day and you can set your watch by this call, which comes from every mosque in the city at the same time, through loud speaker systems. Unfortunately they are not really synchronized and at time these calls can be very confusing and loud.

All these places were fantastic to see and I enjoyed it all. Istanbul is a city of 13 million people and is very western, and really turned on for tourism, the people being very friendly and helpful. On this trip I learned that a Mosque with two minarets or more was built by a Sultan or someone of equal or better standing and the ones with only one minaret were built by anyone.

The history for Turkey (not called Turkey then) has ruins and findings that date back to 6000BC. It had many rulers and empires and periods such as the Hittites, Persians, Romans, Byzantine and the Ottoman just to name a few and in 1924 Turkey was formed. It is steeped in so much history, including the Bible such as St. Paul in Ephesus, and Mary's house where she went to live with John the Apostle in her later years, also Abrahams cave and much more.

Today we are up early and will drive up to Gallipoli, to visit the ANZAC memorials; this is a place where a number of Australian, British and Turkish soldiers lost their lives during WW1 in the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.

We had an interesting drive through the city of Istanbul, then we followed the coast line along the Mari Mari sea on the left hand side. We went inland through a small low mountain area of Jack Pine trees and came out to a new coast line on our right hand side which was the Aegean Sea. It is pouring rain and there has been lots of sheet lightening for the past hour.

After visiting the ANZAC Site we took the ferry across the Dardanelles and spent the night in Canakkale. We were late checking into the hotel so it was decided to have our dinner here in the hotel dining room, which turned out to be a very smoky room filled with men. The story goes that Muslim Men have to spend all day Sunday with the wife and family and that causes much stress, so they all eat out on a Monday night.

Next day was a very gray and windy day and we were back on the bus early, we stopped at Pergamon which is an acropolis sight in the town of Bergama, then we went on to the old city Of Troy. This was a great sight. On our drive we are seeing lots of Olive trees, cotton and tomato fields. We arrived in the town of Selcuk about 8 p.m. and went to dinner at a cafe on the Ocean. Mustafa the Bus driver, seems to think I need looking after and he does all my ordering for me, he seems to know what I want to eat or drink. He does not speak English and I sure do not speak Turkish and every day he gives me a new word to learn, he is a cutie.

Troy Ruins

It was a noisy road in front of the hotel, it reminds me of Calcutta, if we close the windows it is too hot to sleep so we leave them open. We are in a quaint hotel named 'Otel' Kalahan, they have great coffee. After breakfast we are off to see Ephesus along with 2000 other people, apparently an Italian Cruise ship is in the harbor and they are all coming to see Ephesus.

The Library at Ephesus

We had a marvelous guide in Ephesus and he walked all over with crutches. He has the ability to keep us out of the crowds and we are seeing so much, it is mind boggling and fascinating at the same time. I need to revisit this place at another time to see what more they will have unearthed.

Mary's House with prayers put on the wall

In the afternoon we were on our own and I went with the Belgium couple to see Mary's House. Here I talked with a Nun who really wanted to talk English with a Catholic. I am sorry I couldn't stay longer. From there the three of us went to a museum and to visit St. Johns Church. It was a long day and I welcomed my bed this night.

Today, a morning drive brings us to Pamukkale (pronounced Pamookala). Most of the area has been closed off to walking by the public, so you are unable to get into the warm pools that have been calcium calcified on the hillsides from the hot springs. Some of our group went swimming in the hot springs pool at the lodge. There were lots of tourists here. We had entertainment after dinner which incidentally was a very good buffet, there was a magician and a belly dancer doing the entertaining, so- so.

Next day we drive to Konya area, home of the Whirling Dervish sect and the religious center of Turkey. We went to a museum which was mainly about the Whirling Dervish Sect and we saw many old Korans. The founder of the Whirling Dervish came from here, they are a fascinating group and I understand they do a dance where they go into a trance and then they really whirl. They do this once a year and there is one troupe who go out on tour. Now that we are getting further east into Turkey, the people look more like I expected, the ladies all wear head scarves and do not dress so much in the western style.

We really had a bad dinner tonight, our tour leader Sharon, would not eat at the normal place because she did not like the owner. He apparently made a pass at her when she was here with another group. The hotel was equally as bad, however this is a great town to purchase carpets and a number of our group are doing just that.

Today is overcast and we are on the bus to Cappadocia. Thoughts on Turkish drivers...they really tailgate within a foot of the car in front of them, and then they dart out and pass within inches from the other car and then pull right back in, with only a foot from the car they passed. They all do it so I presume they are use to it. I prefer not to look.

On the way to Cappadocia we stopped and toured a Caravansary, a place where the caravans with their loads of supplies would stop for the night. We also saw the underground (caves) in the City of Kaymakli, along time ago people lived in these caves for protection. The rooms were fascinating and we saw how they could cook in one room and then have the smoke disperse through chimney like tunnel vents. The smoke would come to the outside surface several blocks from where they did the cooking. This was so the enemy would not know where they were in the underground. We had to bend down double to get through some of the entry ways which could be closed off with a large rock in the shape of a wheel.

We went to a market place after visiting the caves and we got into the worst storm ever. It was hail and lightening for over an hour. There looked to be four inches of snow all over the area. The merchants were trying desperately to keep their merchandise dry (they did not succeed). Our bus was parked quite a distance from where we were shopping, so we all got very wet running back to the bus.

After dinner we went to a Cultural show, it was very good and then It was party time. That night I learned how to drink Raki which made me think I was queen of the dance floor. Mustafa taught me how to do the shoulder shrug and we all stayed until one a.m. A really late night for us but such a fun time.

We are in Cappadocia now and our hotel last night is called Sofa Otel, it is five houses joined together up and down. It is still rainy outside and kind of cool. We drove to the top of a hill and then hiked a little further up, then we hiked back down through the Cave houses and Churches. It was called Rose Valley and it took us about three hours to come down. I would really like to stay here several days and hike in the entire area. We saw lots of different cave houses, libraries, churches and a monastery. This area is famous for its surreal landscapes and unique man made wonders.

Millions of years ago two volcanoes covered a vast area with layers of a light and easily carved rock called 'tufa'. Man has carved dwelling and churches from the rock and even entire underground cities. In 1958 people were banned from living in these dwellings. The rains make the rock slough off, just like an avalanche slab comes off the mountains so does the rock slab come off the dwellings, which expose all sorts of rooms in the dwelling.

This afternoon some people went to the Turkish Baths, I opted to go shopping with a few others. We had visited a very good pottery factory and I went back and purchased my one thing to take home. It is a hand painted bowl, a copy of an ancient one. It cost $268.00 and I hope my husband will like it. This has been an exciting day here in the Cappadocia area and is definitely on my list to see again.

Today we all slept in, which was nice, our bus has gone into the garage for a check up. Mustafa and Sharon are not getting on very well, they have had some shouting matches, she in English and he in Turkish, interesting to say the least. Somewhere in the past day I have lost my camera and am dismayed it has my best pictures on it. It is raining very hard today and we are going through and over lots of mountain passes. We saw a bad accident on the way, a bus was hanging over the edge of the road on a steep drop off. Emergency vehicles were all coming from each direction. We all agreed, we have an excellent driver.

The drive today has mostly been over the Eastern Toros Mountains ending up at a town called Adiyamin where we will stay for the night.

Next day we drive up Mt. Nemrut, which is located in South Eastern Turkey, we saw the massive Commagene stone heads. It is a cloudy, rainy day and it was very foggy on the top of the mountain, but one side cleared up so we could get a real good look around. There was a little cafe on the top which was a container box off a ship, it was warm in there, so we all went in and had tea. We stayed overnight in Adiyamin and more of our group are out looking for more carpets.

Next day a short drive brings us to the city of Urfa, located close to the Syrian border, Urfa has a far more Arab feel than most places we have seen in Turkey. It is also the birth place of Abraham, the first prophet of Islam and Christianity as well as Judaism. We went to see the 'Pool of Abraham' containing the 'holy' fish - the most overfed carp in the country. The tourist buy fish food and feed the fish, it is my understanding the Carp cannot be eaten by humans.

Next we went to the Big Bazaar for a little shopping and then we are off to see the strange 'beehive' shaped mud brick houses in Harran. This was great fun we had tea at the local guides house and dressed up in old costumes, which I think he was hoping we would each buy.

Marge and Mustafa inside Beehive house

Tonight we are staying in Gaziantep, however Mustafa and Sharon are going at it again, she could not remember the name of the hotel and he kept telling her the name and she would not budge, she just kept saying drive on...so we kept driving in circles.

Here we are all dressed up

Next day we are up very early for our flight back to Istanbul, the weather is still raining. After being in Eastern Turkey the city of Istanbul seemed very crowed to us. We are back at the Otel Hali and our tour is at its end, people are starting to make their way in different directions, I have another five days before I go home so I will explore a little more of Turkey on my own.

Today I took a sightseeing boat on the Bosporous and really enjoyed it. I have decided to go to the Black Sea area, I have my airline tickets and the itinerary all planned with the help of a few tour guides here in the Hotel.

I said goodbye to a lot of the group and went out to dinner with those who are left. I was able to leave all my luggage I did not need for this short trip here at the Hotel until I returned, which was nice.

I caught a early bus to the airport and I know there are two terminals in Istanbul, the Domestic and the International and for some reason I am at the wrong one for my flight to Trazbon. I hired a taxi and got to the correct terminal with fifteen minutes to spare for my flight. The flight was uneventful and is was raining very hard in Trazbon. I booked into a hotel that was recommended to me and it is too dark for me to venture very far.

Next day I went to the Sumela Monastery which is built into the hillside of a rock mountain. There are no tourist around so I had to take a taxi for five million lira and they would wait two hours for me. On the way up the road we picked up a Japanese girl who was walking up the road to the Monastery and she was quite happy to split the Taxi fare with me. At the end of the road she and I hiked up to the Monastery which took about 45 minutes. I enjoyed the Monastery and the hike was worth it. After lunch I went to the Bus station to see where I should go tomorrow for my Bus. I took what I thought was a Dulmish back to the Hotel...got taken...he said he was a taxi and charge me 750,00 Lira, it was my own fault, I should have asked how much before I got in. It gets really dark here by five p.m. so this evening I sat and read all the Time magazines in the lobby of the hotel. They were the Asian version and are really different. Trazbon is getting close to Georgia and the Turkish people appear to have lighter skin and fair hair in this region.

Today I took the bus to Gaykara and then changed to another bus to Uzun Gol. We came along the coast of the Black sea and it was fantastic. Then we turned into the mountains and came to Gaykara, a small town which appeared to have all the residents out on the street, we arrived there at 10.30 a.m. and I could not find a coffee house for me to go into. They were all filled with men so I just went back to the bus and waited there, which is what the Bus Driver wanted me to do in the first place.

Finally at noon my Bus leaves for Uzun Gol, we turned onto a dirt road with a drive of 9 1/2 miles (15 k) to my destination. We followed a canyon with a roaring river and in spots the river was over the road due to all the rain. We kept climbing up a narrow dirt road to about 6,552 ft (2000 m) and finally arrived in a very small town. The motel I elected to stay at was just out of town at the other end. I had read all about this little village and it appeared to be quite the tourist spot and was famous for its fish dinners, the fish being contained in big pools. It sounded good to me as I read it, I thought I would be able to take a day hike or two. Well, there are ten very small motels situated around a very small lake and it appears that I am the only tourist in town. I walked back to the small town and still could not find a coffee. The two places were full of men and I really did not feel welcome even if I had of gone in.

It is very cold here and it looks like it will snow. I return to my motel and the old man who runs the place is also the cook at the small restaurant across the street. I now see the lights on and I will go over about five p.m., it gets dark very early here in the mountains. The restaurant had one choice, Lentil soup or salad and fish. I opted for the fish and then ate the bread. They found some Nescafe so I finally had a cup of coffee. I have now decided to leave here in the morning and I made arrangements with the old man to have the bus pick me up, I am thinking about going to Rise on the Coast. I am very use to traveling all over the world, but I have come to the conclusion that a woman alone in a Muslim country is not all that much fun, I do not think I will ever go alone again.

I left on the 6.30 a.m. bus, it is really cold in this small town and there is not much to do without the proper clothing. My bus goes to Chikara and then I got on a mini bus to OF and there transferred to another mini bus to Rise pronounced 'Rezay' which is a sea town. On both these mini busses I sat alone, no man would sit down next to me, if a woman had gotten on then the place next to me would have been for her.

Well again I went to a recommended hotel, but I had not realized there were two towns with similar names. I ended up at a hotel that was actually a brothel of sorts and the young man renting out the rooms took one look at me and then quickly sent me to a tourist hotel...I realized my error when I saw the blonde Russian ladies with their skirts up to their crotch...oh well I can't win them all. I am now installed in the correct Hotel which had a lousy dining room and it is too dark to go out and look around.

Thoughts on Turkish men...those who are between the ages of 35 and 59 are the most fantastic looking men I have ever seen, they all have either gray or whitish hair with black mustaches and eyebrows and really sexy eyes. Then it seems once they turn 60ish, they all turn into little old men with a cane and fingering their prayer beads.

To-day I catch the 10.30 a.m. bus for Trazbon and what a great bus ride, the black Sea was really wild, it is pouring rain and blowing and the big waves appear to come right over the road at times. There are number of rock sea breakers built along this road and I appeared to be the only one who was fascinated, I think everyone else were just use to it. This Bus was filled to the hilt with four or five people standing. It is so funny how lady's have to sit next to another lady and the bus is constantly being rearranged so that this can happen. From Trazbon I flew back to Istanbul and once back at the hotel, I reserved a spot on the mini bus to the airport for tomorrow morning. I took all my stuff out of storage, went out and had dinner and then spent all my Turkish money on Raki and Turkish Delight candy.

Today I started the long flights back home. This trip was really fantastic, I saw everything I wanted to see and loved the entire experience. I was glad to get back home as always, where the things you take for granted like being able to drink the tap water, have a cup of filtered coffee and the best of all the toilets that are not squats and where the toilet paper goes into the toilet bowl and not in the container beside the toilet (small vignettes of life)

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