So, for the 3rd time of trying to get my blog up and running here goes... and I have a couple of days to catch up so it's going to be a bit longer than normal!
28 April 2011Istanbul is really a city of contrasts. East and West, old and new, Muslim and Christian histories. I arrived at the airport on the 27th after 24 hours of flying and waiting and found a man holding a sign with my name on it. He then pointed me to a shuttle bus driver who could speak no English and they gestured for me to get in the front seat. It was a very interesting ride into the city. They keep to the speed limit, but they just drive and people move out of the way. (Although there were a couple of close calls.)
It ended up being a bit of a silent tour of Istanbul. Lots of pointing and me taking a few photos in the passenger seat. There is one road in Istanbul that goes through the old city aqueduct. Each lane of the road splits to an arch in the aqueduct. Really amazing how they have allowed the modern world to mould it's way around the old architecture rather than just destroying it. It's rather refreshing to see.
The hostel I'm staying in is clean although small and my room is on the 4th floor - so lots of exercise. The people at the front desk are very helpful.
The tourist district is definitely full of tourists. In the last three days I have met people from Turkey (obviously), Canada, US (different parts), Australia, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru and South Africa to name a few. And I have already been asked why I am not black if I come from Africa (which I really wanted to see for myself if it would happen. Well it did within 24 hour of travelling!)
The mosques are definitely an experience with the call to worship ringing out a number of times a day. It’s rather loud and staged between the different mosques so it almost sounds like they are echoing each other or answering each other. I’m not too sure if it’s supposed to be an echo? Anyone know?
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| Me in the Emperor's Park |
The park reminded me a lot of the Netherlands because of the number of tulips in flower.  |
| Tulips came from Turkey |
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| View from the Park near the geocache |
The Turkish people are very friendly and many of them will come up to you, ask where you are from, if you are lost and if they can help you. It’s a little overwhelming actually. I duly refused the advances of a number of Turkish men until my camera got a piece of fluff inside the lens which was creating spots on my photos (don’t ask me how) and needed to find a camera repair shop. I was then led around by some Turkish man to the local Kodak shop where the camera went in for repairs. (So here in the story the photo evidence ends). I was lead to a carpet shop to have tea. (It seems to be the way to do business here). After having a 30 min chat with his uncle about South Africa and Turkey I said no to the carpets and left. I was rather surprised to find that I was intact and that my belongings were safe! The Turkish people seem to have a knack of sweet talking you into buying stuff - but the hostel had warned me that this was common.
After that I think I had about 7 men try come help me, offer me tea and lead me to their carpet / jewellery shop. I soon discovered that everyone in Turkey seems to be related to everyone else and that they all have an uncle with a carpet shop, a father that owns a café and a sister that works in a jewellery store. By the end of the day I even had an offer of a romantic dinner with one of my fan club. I decided to retreat to the relative safety of the hostel and went out to dinner with a Canadian couple instead much to my tag on's disappointment.
29 April 2011
Yesterday morning I met another couple who were living in London but Steve was from South Africa and Ely was from Peru. We went touring all over the city together and saw a number of the famous sights.
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| Inside the Blue Mosque |
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| Outside the Blue Mosque |
There are hundreds of stunning blue tiles inside, some dating back to about 17th centuary or more. It was huge with a number of domed ceilings. But there was also a teaming throng of tourists who all had to take off their shoes at the door. The result is that the place smelt rather like feet inside. But it was worth it though!
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| Outside Hagia Sophia with Ely |
Across the square is the Hagia Sophia which was a church, then a mosque and is now a museum. This for me was probably the highlight of the trip so far. I could be a little off is dates so please note that all that follows is approximate. It was originally built in 400AD out of wood. Then burned down. Then rebuilt, then destroyed when the city was taken, then rebuilt for a third time and that is what stands today. When it became a mosque, the Christian images were plastered over, but have been revealed again when it became a museum. They now stand along with the Islamic symbols from the era when it was a mosque. It is a curious mix of Christianity and Islam. It was amazing to see the stone architecture and the mosaics. The figures and gold and symbols that you see in the photos are made out of mosaic squares about 1cm by 1cm each.
The Grand Bazar:
Ok wow - this is shopping and bargaining like you have never seen it before. An under cover market that stretches blocks and blocks. Stunning stuff and if you can bargain well, it can be really cheap. I'm not too sure how good I was at it. Think I didn't do that well, but maybe better than some. I generally managed to get the price down by about a quarter. You can so easily get lost in all these stalls and they look so much alike and are so busy! We eventually found our way out up a narrow staircase, through a back alley, over the dirty water being tossed into a gutter by a shop person, through a dark corridor and then out into open air. It's quite and adventure! It's good to come to the market when you are poor though. Otherwise you will certainly leave poor with lots of parcels under your arms!
The Spice Market:
This was another highlight of the trip and I was so tempted to come back with exotic teas - but how can you when you are backpacking? But they smelt SO good! And the food was amazing. We got some small pastries to share among us. Lovely - very sweet. They had baklava and date balls, turkish delight with pistachio nuts and other food items I could only guess at. We were given tastes of a number of things while in the market and came out on rather a sugar high. It's definitely a place I would like to go back to if I have a chance. 
Istanbul has tons of fishermen on one of its bridges and they seem to supply this small market. The smell - well, you can imagine. We had dinner at a fish restaurant close by that was filled with local people. We came back in the evening. A really lovely day and lots of new sights seen!
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