Day 168 - Gule Gule Turkey, Ahoj Prague!

Woke up early in the morning to catch the airport bus from Taksim Square to the Ataturk Airport. There was very little traffic today, probably due to the coming holiday (Feast of the Sacrifice) where most Turkish people went to their hometowns to celebrate.

I booked a flight to Prague with Air France, with a layover in Marseille. I was a little scared about boarding an Air France flight, after that terrible accident where the entire flight was lost at sea coming from Brazil back to France, but we made it to Marseille safely, despite it being very foggy and windy in the area. The layover was about 4 hours...the things I do to save a couple dollars on flights... at least Air France flights have free food and wine, which I happily drank on board on my flight from Marseille to Prague.

It was dark when I arrived in Prague, but the transportation was easy to follow to get to my destination. I booked a sweet deal at a hostel/hotel with luxurious bunk beds in the 14-bed dorm room. There were a bunch of Americans in the hostel. I guess Prague is a very popular destination among people from the states? The hostel offered a beer pub crawl for 400 Czech koruna but I opted out since it was too expensive...Beer would be free for the first hour, but I don't think I could get my money's worth downing beer after beer, especially since beer here is anywhere from 25 to 40 CZK for a half liter! I ended up exploring the city at night on my own, stopping by Frank Gehry's Dancing House and a couple other monuments in the area before calling it a night.

Frank Gehry's Dancing House

Day 167 - The Spice Bazaar and Istanbul Modern (bienniel)

My last full day in Istanbul would be relaxed since I didn't have much else I deemed necessary to see or do. It would be more of an errand day as I prepared to leave to Prague the next morning.

I headed to the Spice Market after breakfast to look for some Salep, which is a type of sweet Turkish drink typically served in the Winter. It is made of ground Orchids, milk, water, and cinnamon. Once prepared, the drink is warm and thick, sort of like a dessert. My sister wanted me to bring some home for her, so I found some authentic Salep to bring home for her. Hopefully it passes through customs without any problems since it could easily resemble drugs to an ordinary officer.

Afterwards, I headed to Modern Istanbul, which is a modern art museum in the city. Kerim recommended I visit since they currently had their biennial exhibition of art. This time around, the exhibits focused on and were inspired by the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and there were major themes including history, identity, gun violence, the AIDS movement, and passports, among other things. The artists who were showcased included both local and international artists. Much of it was a little difficult to understand, and there were tour guides who spoke in Turkish, so I couldn't listen in to get a better understanding.

I spent the rest of the night walking around Taksim Square, before heading back to Kerim's place, where I met some of his friends and we drank wine and gin and tonics until midnight. Turkey has been incredible. Definitely another favorite country. There is so much history here, along with unbelievable natural sites to visit. I recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Modern Istanbul - A Turkish military health report diagnosing a soldier with "homosexuality" and discharging him due to his "disease." It's sad to see the Turkish government's position and beliefs on what homosexuality is.

Modern Istanbul - "Lesbian Beds"

Day 166 - Ayasofya, Bosphorus Tour, and the Grand Bazaar

I arrived in Istanbul around 7am and headed directly to Taksim Square to meet up with my couchsurfing host, Kerim. He had work as an architect around 8, so I had to quickly take my belongings to his place, brush my teeth, and set out to explore the city again for the last 2 days.

I had two things I wanted to do before leaving - check out the Ayasofya, which was one of the contenders for the 7 New Wonders of the World, and take a boat ride along the Bosphorus and up to the Black Sea. The weather was overcast and drizzling intermittently, so I decided that I would probably do the boat tour tomorrow in hopes that it would be clearer. For some reason, every time I arrive in Istanbul, the weather isn't all that suitable for the typical tourist.

The Ayasofya (or Hagia Sophia) was a church built for the third time from the year 532 to 537, after the two previously built churches in the same area were destroyed by public rebellion. It was the biggest Byzantine church in Istanbul, and was later converted to a mosque in 1453, but is now used as a museum.

It is one of the main tourist draws in the city, where long lines formed outside the gates to the museum. The insides were beautiful though, with access for tourists on the first and second floors. You could see both the Islamic and Christian elements of the church/mosque/museum with Christian mosaics on the ceilings, some of which are originals from the 6th century, along with minarets and the mihrab at the front, indicating the direction of Mecca.

Afterwards, I headed to the Eminonu district to catch a boat along the Bosphorus since the sun crept its way past the clouds and cleared the skies more than in the morning. It ended up being a waste of money since I wanted to take a boat all the way north to the Black Sea, but the boat only went about 45 minutes up, and then 45 minutes back. I was dead tired by the afternoon as well, so I ended up falling asleep on the boat, and to top it all off, the tour guide announcements on the intercom that explained what we were seeing was so muffled, I couldn't really understand anything. Oh well, at least I got to take a nap..

The last stop for me was the Grand Bazaar, which was a huge shopping area selling everything from gold and jewelry to designer knockoffs to cashmere scarves to spices and candy. There were so many different entrances and corridors to walk through that I easily got lost in the maze full of merchants and shops. It's interesting to think that this was once the main shopping center in ancient times, and is still used today to sell merchandise, although more aimed to tourists than the locals.

Having completed my to-do list for Istanbul, I headed to Taksim Square for dinner and grabbed a beer at a local bar, where there was a live musician playing traditional Turkish music. Afterwards, I met with Kerim and we had some pizza, before heading back and playing an intense game of backgammon. I learned a little more about the strategies since I downloaded the game on my iPod, but I ended up losing in the worst way possible! I lost 4-5, after winning the first 4 points and losing 5 points straight... Still, I think I'm getting better at this traditional Turkish game!

Ayasofya

Grand Bazaar

Yeni Cami (New Mosque)

Day 165 - Last Day in Kapadokya

Today would be my last day in Cappadocia before heading back to Istanbul and flying out of Turkey. It was a lazy day, as I stayed inside my cave house for the very last time before leaving at night. It's too easy to relax inside when it's freezing outside, and I took every opportunity to enjoy living a somewhat archaic life inside a cave, of course with internet, and a heater though.

I had dinner with Zack at a Turkish restaurant owned by Iranians before heading back to Istanbul around 8:30 by bus. The bus was much more crowded than the ride from Antalya to Goreme, probably since most people wanted to get back to Istanbul.

Day 151 - Istanbul to Canakkale

I took an enjoyable bus ride from Istanbul to Canakkale, which is in the North Western region of Turkey, close to Gallipoli and the city of Troy. Entering Europe, I knew the transportation would be top notch. The bus was spacious, had internet connection, and served drinks and snacks just like on an airplane! The entire bus ride took about 6 hours, and at the end of the ride, the bus boarded a ferry across the Dardanelles to get from Eceabat to Canakkale. It was unfortunate that it took much of the day to get there, so I wasn't able to see much of the seaside city today, but I did meet up with my CouchSurfing host, Aydin, who took me around the city center for some tea. I met his girlfriend as well. The whole center was pretty lively at night, possibly due to the warm weather and also because there was a university near the center, so it had a very "college town" feel, like Westwood in Los Angeles!

Canakkale Clock Tower

Kamilkoc Buses

Sunset on the Dardanelles

Day 150 - Last Day in Istanbul

Like every other "last" day in a city or country, I took the time to plan the rest of my trip. It's been tough trying to figure out how much of Turkey I want to see since I didn't realize how big the country was. I was going to possibly sneak in a small trip to Zagreb or Berlin before meeting my cousin in Prague, but I might just take the entire time to see as much of Turkey as possible. There are so many recommendations on cities to visit that I've been forced to pick and choose, and probably stay only one or two days in each city, before hopping onto the next by bus.

I sent a gazillion couch surfing requests, hoping to meet some cool people along the way, and it'll probably help me plan my route based on who I can meet and stay with.

Anto was leaving for Kas tonight, and another CSer arrived from France. I think I've met the most CSers in the past 5 days in Istanbul than in the past 5 months in total. Ahmet, my CS host, has opened his house so eagerly to anyone and everyone and I think we all appreciate the patience and trust he holds in his surfers. We all went out for a last dinner together before Anto left. Tomorrow I head to Canakkale by bus...

Turkish Meatballs (Kofte)

Day 149 - Basilica Cistern and Whirling Dervishes

Anto and I decided to do some sightseeing in Old Istanbul since we felt like we were bumming around too much at home. We got advice from locals to go see the Basilica Cistern, which was a vast underground water storage system that stored up to 80,000 cubic meters of water for use by the Grand Palace. It was creepy to walk through the cistern, where everything was dark, murky, and filled with artificial lighting. They had strange music to accompany the visit too, where half the time it sounded like some foreign animal squeaking in the night. The entire cistern was beautiful to walk through though, knowing that such a structure was designed to withstand time and keep the Grand Palace flowing with waters in the summers.

The highlight of the tour was a spot where two heads of Medusa were placed on the bottom of the columns used to support the system. One of the heads was upside-down while the other was placed on its side. There are various hypothesises about why these two heads were placed the way they were. In mythology, Medusa turned anyone who looked her in the eye into stone. Some people believe they were placed there to protect the cisterns. Others believe that they were placed upside-down and to the side to prevent Medusa from turning them into stone. No one really knows...

Afterwards, we headed to a part of the city where we could see twirling dervishes. It was funny because yesterday, I assumed that it was some sort of dancing performance, and I asked Stefan if there would be dinner served, or we could get drinks while watching the “performance.” Little did I know that this “dance” was a sort of meditation and religious ceremony and that it would be disrespectful to be eating or drinking while watching these Muslims while they are chanting and dancing. From what I know, only a minority of Muslims practice this, and the ones that do, end up spinning around in circles for lengthy amounts of time, without getting dizzy, connecting with their spirtual side and entering a different reality from ours, which enables them to do this without getting nauseous.

We took a train to the area and walked around, asking numerous people where we could see this act. So many people gave us different directions about where to go, and it seemed like a cat and mouse game, until we came across an older Muslim man who invited us for some Turkish Tea, and he helped us out by calling the company to get more information about it. He curiously asked us what our religions were. We told him, and I honest expected him to talk to us about converting to being Muslim, but that was all he asked, and we were on our way. He was such a nice man to help us out and treat us to some tea!

We finally reached the mosque - the Nurettin Tekke and watched in silence as the members of the Mosque performed their prayers around 8pm. The tourists who managed to arrive in time were led into the back of the room where we sat and watched an ongoing chant by most of the members of the group. It was almost like an hour-long song that everyone participated in, with chanting in between. About halfway through the song, 4 men in black robes entered the room. Three of them took off their robes and had on white religious outfits and began spinning in the room while the others continued chanting in a slow beat, rocking back and forth in unison. The group continued to spin for maybe 10 minutes before stopping, and the others in the room started chanting louder and faster, swaying back and forth in a semi-circle motion. The three dervishes started spinning again for about 10 minutes. This happened again one last time for another 10 minutes, and I felt sort of anxious and worried that one of the them might faint or get nauseous, but they all seemed peaceful and calm, even though such a feat required a lot of physical exertion. The entire process took over 1 hour, but was definitely worth seeing in such an environment. I felt lucky to be included in such a ritual.

Sea of Marmara

Haydarpasa Railway Station

Basilica Cistern

Sultan Ahmad (Blue Mosque)

Day 148 - Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya

I met with another CSer, Stefan, to tour the city. Throughout the day, he would continue to tell me more and more about Turkish history and I realized that I really don't know a damn thing about this country... I didn't even read the introduction in my Lonely Planet (typical American huh?). There was so much history that I wasn't even able to follow, terms he used, and historical figures he mentioned. History wasn't really a strong subject for me, and I don't think I retained much of what I learned in school about Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, the Byzantine Empire, etc... but after coming to this country, I know that if I were to relearn about it, it would stick in my head more easily.

Basically, from our conversations, at the basic surface level, Turkish history involves numerous switches in power between the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Mongols, and also changes in religion in the regions. There was a man named Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was considered the father of Turkey when he ruled and changed everything about Turkey to modernize it, creating a secular democracy, strengthening Women's rights, and changing the language to Latin script among other things. Stefan said the country could easily resemble Syria, or Iraq or some other Middle East countries had Ataturk not made such sweeping changes, and the Turkish people look to him as a hero for the modernization he brought to the country.

I know so little about the Middle East and Western Asia, that I was surprised even to see some Turkish people with more "Asian" eyes, but then again, I don't know what someone from Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and all the other -stan countries look like, but I would assume it is an interesting mix of Asian and European. More countries to add to my list of places I want to explore! The world is too big...

We visited a couple of the popular sights in Old Istanbul including the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque, and the Aya Sofya, which was a candidate for one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.

Afterwards, we headed back to Taksin Square to grab some beers and eat at some of the popular restaurants for university students before heading back to his home where his mom made some delicious Russian meatballs! Turkish people are so hospitable!

Aya Sofya

Fresh Fish Sandwich near the Ferries

Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque

Taksin Square

Russian Meatballs

Day 146 - Beyoglu and a CS Party

Benny, Anton, and I headed to the European side of Istanbul to check out Beyoglu, or what is called "modern Istanbul." We took the train and a ferry early in the day to get from Asia to Europe. The ferry took about 20 minutes to get from Haydarpasa Train Station to Karakoy. The weather was overcast and misty so the views weren't as nice as they could have been.

When we arrived, we headed to a restaurant to have our first "doner kebap" meal. Most people didn't speak English very well, so we just pointed at the lamb and were served the meat on sub sandwich buns. Delicious!

Afterwards, we decided to walk uphill  and on the Istiklal Cadessi to reach our destination - Taksin Square, where most of the popular and modern restaurants and bars were located. It was about 2km uphill, and we just soaked in the daily Turkish (and tourist) life as we slowly made our way to the top. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the cobbled streets, European architecture, and people dressed in scarves and longcoats, keeping warm against the coming winter months. It reminded me of being in NYC!

We stopped outside the Galata Tower, which provided panoramic views of the entire city, but decided against going up since it was so expensive. Instead, we stopped by a number of Turkish candy shops, where they made baklava and turkish delight among other sweets. I had three...which was way too much sugar for one person...

It took us about 2-3 hours to reach Taksin Square, only because we kept stopping to take photographs in typical tourist fashion and also to grab lunch and check out a free museum showcasing the work of a South Korean artist working on "Juche" theory films in North Korea. Confusing to say the least...

After reaching Taksin Square, we took a funicular to get to the bottom of the city, before heading to Old Istanbul to catch some quick visits to the Spice Bazaar and Yeni Cami (New Mosque). With those two visits off our checklist, we searched for a good nargile (hookah/shisha) cafe before heading back to Asia.

Later on at night, we all went to a Couch Surfing House Party in Uskudar, where I met some other surfers and hosts from Turkey and other parts of Europe. Apparently, there is a HUGE Instanbul CS community and most of them are so eager to open up their homes, and even cook for you! I only wish I was good enough of a cook to make some good dishes in return...

Doner Kebap Sanwic

Galata Tower

Taksin Square

Yeni Cami (New Mosque)

Spice Bazaar

CS Party