Istanbul, Turkey: Aug. 26 - 28

Highlights:

a) All of Cappadocia, b) Ayasofya Mosque, c) Food d) People e) Spice Market in Istanbul

Lowlights:

a) Humidity b) Not enough time

Istanbul , Turkey : Friday August 26, 2005

Hello Turkey!! It’s great to be out of Russia. Though the sites were magnificent, the people couldn’t have been more tiresome. Their personality must have been a hangover from communism. Our flight from Ljubljana was excellent and we arrived ahead of schedule. For those of you who might wonder what the Istanbul airport might be like at 2:50 in the morning, don’t feel alone. We were pleasantly surprised. The airport was spotless and very modern. We had some initial anxiety about our ability to communicate and purchase our visas. We had heard we could purchase them prior to clearing immigration but we expected long lines and lots of forms. Nothing could be further from the truth. We had to wake up the Visa lady hidden away in a well marked booth. With a quick transfer of $60 USD per person (no paperwork,) we were on our way and through customs around 15 minutes after having stepped off the plane. We couldn’t have cleared customs any faster in Calgary!

Our ride guy was waiting outside customs with our name on the sign. (Sierra with her sharp eyes spotted it first) and we were zipped off to the hotel. We arrived around 3:00 after having traveled through a bunch of progressively windier streets. It looked like we were in the slums, though we could see shadows of big mosques in the night. The hotel staff was waiting for us and after a quick check in we were in our suite. Fabulous!! After Russia, the rooms were amazing. We quickly conked out with nothing but a terrific first impression of Turkey.

We got up 5 hrs later for a bite of breakfast (included) and while the kids did a bit of grumbling they were pretty good sports about the whole thing. Breakfast was a shock! There was real fruit and stuff that looked like bread. Not to bash the Russian cuisine we experienced but I have a firm belief that you should be able to distinguish what you put in your mouth as animal, vegetable, or mineral.

We had planned on using the day as a rest day and to get caught up on a bunch of things. Our tours of the city weren’t supposed to start until the 27 th. We identified the 4 things we needed to accomplish as being: a) get money from an insta-bank (we forgot at the airport), b) find a UPS office to make the first shipment back c) contact our travel agent to confirm times and finally d) find a local source where we could by drinks and water.

We managed to reach our travel agent by phone from the lobby and confirmed the next day’s travel plans and we got instructions on the banking stuff and the UPS office from the lobby guy. According to Lobby guy the UPS was really close. Go down the hill, turn right, then left, then go a little ways, then turn left and then right again. Big office with two big dummies standing out front. It turns out these directions would have been perfect if the first turn was to the left rather than right. Forty five minutes later having walked down big hills and up bigger hills and through windy little alleys and turning at yellow police stations and getting two more sets of directions we found ourselves outside the famous Blue Mosque in a building puddle of sweat.

We were somewhat cheered as we were in an interesting place and only slightly put off by the giant fake looking obelisk from Egypt (how tacky and more on that later) that was parked in the middle of the street. Then a light shone down from above!!!! And it shone on a …. Bank Machine. Actually it was 4 bank machines all in a row. We confidently put in our card and did what we always did when we have absolutely no idea of the exchange rate. We took the second biggest offered amount which was 200 Yeni Turkish Lira. Expecting a couple of bills we were floored to be given a 2 inch stack of 5’s and 1’s. We couldn’t fit them all in the wallet and ended up cramming bills into every pocket we owned. We left the plaza for the next day having now accomplished 1/2 of the items we needed to do.

Faced with a decision to continue walking uphill or downhill we elected to follow gravity and headed back in the direction we kinda sorta thought might be towards the hotel. As we walked around a corner there it was. The giant UPS dummy man standing there. Turns out the store was about 5 minutes from the hotel if we had done it correctly. A quick transaction and we were 8 lbs lighter in our packs and the kids’ treasures were on their way home.

Now, overly cocky in our ability/luck to navigate the alleys of Istanbul we set off to find the actual office of our travel agent (Insight Travel). Turns out maps in Turkey are more guidelines than actual navigational instruments and are not to be taken literally. With so many alleys and lanes, it’s impractical to put them all on paper. We continued to stumble around and found a great place for lunch. Still sweating and half starved the owner asked if we wanted to sit inside or on the terrace. Inside was around 120 degrees and so we elected to take the terrace. Five flights of stairs later we were rewarded with a great view of the Marmara Sea (tons of boats) and a terrific lunch all for around $15.

Down the stairs we were off again and stumbled onto a Bazaar. Debbie found some plates that she loved and instantly liked a big carpet hanging in the window of one of the shops. We managed to receive a quick lesson in carpet and pottery. Had I known what was to come I would have OK’d the purchase of the first thing we saw. BIG MISTAKE!

We left with no purchases and wandered onto the street of the travel agent. A quick hello and we got some suggestions on a couple of walks (if we were feeling ambitious). The group said yes; so we trundled into a cab and were off across the bridges over the Golden Horn to the other side of Turkey, and a square on the top of the hill in the middle of the city called Taksim. From here we were to walk down and across the bridge back to the hotel.

As we were getting out of the cab, the driver warned of many, many pickpockets. Forewarned was forearmed and the kids formed a protective ring around Brian to avoid any picks. The money was safely stowed away however and though Brennan had fun thwarting a couple of failed attempts nothing untoward really happened.

From the square, we walked down Istiklal Caddesh which is a very large shopping street. Hot and packed full of people (and pick pockets) we worked our way through the various sections. Each couple of blocks had a theme. One was clothes, one was electronics, another stretch was just musical instruments and so on. As you got lower on the hill, the merchandise became progressively cheaper in quality. About half way down the kids spotted an ice cream place and informed us they had to try Turkish ice cream. It was quite a show as the merchant throws the ice cream around into and out of the cone. He teased the kids for 5 minutes all the while whipping the ice cream into a gummy substance. Turns out this is a traditional way of serving a special kind of Turkish Ice Cream. The kids loved it and we were off again for all of about 100 feet until Debbie saw the candy store selling Turkish Delight. After another stop and another $1.63 we really made some progress and managed a whole 500 yards. We had reached the Galata Tower.

The Galata Tower served as the watch tower for ancient Constantinople since the early 1400’s. It now served as a viewing platform with great views of the city. It was a little pricey $6 / person so only Debbie and Sierra headed up for the view. Thirty minutes later we were on our way again and were approaching the bridge to cross over the Horn back to the hotel side of the city. The big street in front of us however had to be crossed by way of an underground pass, and not at street level. We found ourselves in a giant underground mall filled with tiny stores where anything electric could be had. Brennan’s eyes lit up.

Ever since Amsterdam we had been unable to charge the kids Gameboys via our converter. Brian suggested if we could find a European power supply for the Gameboys it would probably work just fine. The trick was finding one. We managed to enter an electronic supply / Ammunition store, and there in the case right next to the 7 mm magnum cartridges was a power supply. A quick purchase later we were out the door and searching for the exit to the bridge.

At the bridge we were faced with an option of up or down. We could climb to the top of the bridge and walk along in the sun (very hot) or stay below and walk along the water. Being lazy we opted for the water. Big Mistake # 3. The lower level was populated with fish restaurants and all the owners plying their trade. Very aggressive, they would talk to Sierra first and engage in a protracted discussion following you all the way through the restaurants to the exit on the other side educating you why their establishment was the best and all the other restaurants would make you ghastly ill. This was taking way too long so midway we bailed out and opted for the hot, but less intrusive upper deck route across the water.

Now very tired from a day of unscheduled walking we were thinking it was time to head back to the hotel. We realized though that we were very close to the famous “Spice Market” of Constantinople. It’s been around selling spices for nearly 500 years in the same spot. It was hot and the most crowded piece of real estate yet and we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was the highlight of the day. The colours, and smells were out of this world. You couldn’t move for the people but Debbie was in heaven with her camera clicking away. Managing to work our way out of the market after about 45 minutes we realized our planned 1 hr. walk had turned into a 6 hr unplanned adventure. It was late we were tired so we decided to skip the last couple of kilometers and cab it back to the hotel. Well we made it part way until the constant traffic (it’s truly nuts here in Istanbul) made any forward progress impossible. The cabby pulled onto the sidewalk and after a rather confused exchange we were off on foot again. A quick dinner at a local spot and we got back to the hotel. Tired hot and excited about what tomorrow might bring. (18.5km)( NEXT PAGE )