Obligatory Aya Sofia Pictures

Despite the crowds and total lack of ambience, it still took my breath away after many years of anticipation.

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Life in the Open

The main courtyard of Topkapi Palace

Istanbul has a very different history of open spaces from most western European and North American cities. While the street life is arguably livelier, there are little truly public open spaces in the city. Whether due to a history of religious conflict or simply a cultural way of life, green space is spare and in many areas of the city trees are hard to be found. Many of the green spaces in the city (such as the Topkapi Palace gardens) were long restricted to common people and reserved for the elite.

A pavillion on the Hippodrome

The Hippodrome is one of the earliest public spaces which still remains a strong landmark in use today. Constructed when the city was still named Byzantium, it was the central destination for horse and chariot races through Constantinople's reign and the entire Byzantine period before it was neglected by the Ottomans. Given that these spaces are now used more by tourists than locals, are they still true public space in the sense that public spaces are for the publicus /people?

Moda

On our last day we went to a neighbourhood on the Asian side called Kadikoy (just googled it). We wandered for a while along the beach area called Moda, which I think is a very beautiful name.

The beach is not actually a beach and consists mostly of giant boulders piled by the seaside. The people wandering it were mostly students or young upper-middle class couples but there were still lots of fishermen finishing off their day.

There were lots of couples at Moda and women selling flowers to give to your lover.

We really dreaded leaving the real world and going back across the water to Sultanahmet...

[**LOOK!! You can see all my photos on my flickr account! (like a digital photo album, mom & dad)]

Istanbul

Pictures from Istanbul (finally)!

Overlooking the Bospherous from Sultanahmet.

We stayed in the old town, Sultanahmet, where the Haggia Sophia, Blue Mosque and lots of tourists are. I'm sure most people stay here in Istanbul their first time, as it is probably where 80% of hostels and hotels are located.

Houses in Sultanahmet

While beautiful, not many people actually live in the area, which has mostly been given over to awful restaurants and overpriced shops catering to tourists. Interestingly, the surrounding neighbourhoods are some of the more conservative in Istanbul. There was certainly some contrast... from 4 star hotels of the lavishly (and sometimes scantily) clad middle aged foreign to the mostly headscarfed population and leering men in run down shops. This was all that we saw of the "east meets west" that Istanbul is known for during our first few days.

Some left-over retro

Most of the food in our first few days was pretty awful (think dry and greasy shawarma stuffed with french fries - do NOT eat in Sultanahmet), but it wasn't until we had the advice of a local via friend-of-a-friend that we were steered in the right direction. Still, we were running out of money and mostly enjoyed food from stalls and markets (Turkey has the best tomatoes I have ever tasted).

A success in our string of hit-and-miss street food encounters.

The spice bazaar.

Looking over at Asia

It wasn't until our last day that we finally left the European side. We got to travel on one of the city's ancient municipal sea buses (highly recommended instead of a Bospherous cruise). They were not pretty and certainly not the best place to draw attention to yourself as a tourist, but they kind of reminded me of the ferries at home.

Crossing the Bospherous on one of the city's ancient sea buses

You can be served a drink if you flag down one of the uniformed servers and grab a nice seat outside. The boat has three levels and rocks like one giant floating bathtub - even more violently when you stop. At your stop, there is a gap ranging from 20cm to sometimes a whole meter wide between the boat and land. If you are an old lady you can walk across one of the shifting rickity boards used as bridges, but if you are most people you will jump the gap.

A fish stall on the Asian side.

A seaside neighbourhood we wandered in on the Asian side was filled with young liberal students. Lots of market life and a strong café culture. For once no one paid us any attention - a nice change.

Istanbul in Detail

For Mom.

"No More Byzantine Frescoes, Please."

Maybe my favourite Madonna in 2D ever. Quite glorious.

They were beautiful, but I think my eyes were starting to bleed burnt umber and gold.

You can see the different layers of painting and abuse. Cappadocian frescoes were usually simple geometric silhouettes and patterns in a deep red, until the Byzantines painted over them (such is like the entire history of Turkey, repeat).

More from Cappadoccia

We caved (harhar) and took a tour to some areas outside of Göreme on our last full day in Cappadocia. The above pictures are from around the Selime Monastery, a monastic settlement built into rock. Also where scenes of the sand people dwellings from Star Wars: A New Hope were filmed. (nerdfact YEA!)

In and around Göreme

As you may have noticed, Turkey was full of colour. I had such a great time testing out my new camera and took almost 800 photos. All of the sun, combined with a comfortably dry temperature of 35°C made our stay in Göreme like an early summer vacation.

We were reliably woken by roosters and prayer at the crack of dawn.

This was a really delicious Gösleme that we had. It is kind of like a crêpe/quesadilla, with spicy sausage and turkish cheese. There was a lot of meat and cheese eaten on this trip, and for cheap! So goes my pseudo vegetarianism...

This is Ayran, a salty thinned yoghurt that the Turks drink at practically every informal meal.

The landscape was so pretty!

Cappadoccia

This is the landscape we were surrounded in for three days. The town of Göreme sits on a plateau between two volcanoes.

Most of the rock in the area is sandstone, which has led to some amazing rock formations with the help of erosion over the years. There are some formations that look like soft and rolling sand dunes but are really hard as rock.

To shelter themselves from the drastically changing continental climate, most traditional homes were built into the rock, either against it or into it. This is one of the famous "fairy chimneys" formed by erosion.

The area is also famous for balloon tours, which we presently could not afford. Conclusion: I must return.

Cats of Selçuk

One of the things I enjoyed most about Turkey was the amount of "wild"life in the cities and on the streets. Pigeons, seagulls, dogs, the occasional goat... and of course, the hundreds of cats. We had cats begging for food practically everywhere we went and although I found them initially pesky, I came to enjoy their company.

Selçuk

Selçuk is where we...

saw the Library of Celsus,

at the ruins of Ephesus among hundreds of English tourists,

admired the hundreds of poppies,

ate sun-filled and delicious food,

walked around the town at night,

looked at tractors,

and felt alive.

Rest

I am back! We returned yesterday with tans, laughs and exhaustion. The above photo is from an overnight bus ride leaving Istanbul, where we found ourselves on a ferry crossing the Bospherous in the middle of the night.

Expect lots of pictures in the next few days!

Kapadokya

Exhausted as we arrive at the hostel in Goreme, Kate is in dire need of a quick nap but I decide to bask in the warmth of a continental sun. The hostel manager is a friendly plump woman who tries too hard to know everyone's business and repeatedly tries to sell us tours we cannot afford. I still like her, though. One of her recommendations is a restaurant specializing in traditional Turkish pancakes, which happens to be run by her husband, "Topdeck". Kate and I get the spicy sausage Gozleme (more like a crepe than a pancake) and it is really quite good. Our server and co-owner of the restaurant is Rafik, who happened to live in a little town in southwestern Denmark for 15 years. He starts speaking rapidly in Danish to me upon seeing my fjallraven backpack. Denmark is like his second country. Unfortunately I have to let him down but he is still very friendly and recommends some beaches I must go to.

Still sore and pretty dehydrated, Kate and I decide to take a hike upon Rafik's suggestion. Now midday, and we are sweating into the desert under a full sun. We decide to skip the open air museum and climb on our hands and knees up sandstone slopes to explore some of the lesser known caves.. In conical mounds like elongated beehives, we discover separate rooms, corridors and the barrel vault of a pre-Byzantine Church. We move on and an a little later realize that we have forgotten our map. Assured by the fact that the town remains in our sight, we ascend and descend among the rolling and peculiarly pointing landscape along lightly treaded trails. We disturb a few tiny lizards while walking through the rough grass of the valleys and try not to think about any possible poisonous creatures unknown to us. We see a jackrabbit but otherwise we seem to be alone.

Upon reaching a high and grassy plateau we are in awe again of the landscape and its hazy blending with the sky. Turning away from the town we are stunned by a grand geologic formation I can only refer to as postcard-perfect. In all seriousness, the mountain we are facing looks like a great, pink layer cake. We later find out this is Mount Aktepe, one of the most sought-after sights of Cappadocia, but something about our own ignorant discovery makes it all the more special.

Descending once again, the land around us becomes fluid, but what look like sand dunes are certainly not as forgiving. On occasion our silent hike is accosted by the sound of ATVs and the young Turkish men (always in pairs) riding them. So far our experiences with young men on the streets has not been favourable and so we do our best to look cold and ignore them. For their benefit, the hike seems to have passed surprisingly hassle-free. This is good, because we are kind of lost and are vaguely hoping that that town which has come into view is Goreme. We are taking orthagonally routed roads through farmer's fields and realize that we are probably not on a trail anymore. But then we come upon rows of white marble stones and recognize it as the cemetary Rafik had mentioned. There are bundles of blue irises among the headstones and all anxiety evaporates with the sweat that doesn't have a chance to stick to our skin. We are covered with a thin layer of dust and smiling, and we walk into town.

West to Central Turkey Overnight

Overnight bus from Selcuk to Goreme, Cappadocia. This time the surreality of floating around a foreign language is a bit broken by some fellow tourists. A movie is playing in the bus and I can't understand the words but I don't need to - slapstick is pretty universal. This is our second overnight journey and we've become accustomed to the plane like service of Turkish bus rides which are a fifth of the price they are in Canada.

This ride is a bit rockier than the last and we are travelling down rural roads with no lights. As per usual, I fall asleep within the first hour and Kate remains awake. After a number of light wakeups and various albums to put me back to sleep, I notice that we have stopped not at a rest station but on a very tiny offroad. People are standing up in the bus craning their necks to see what is the matter. I'm pretty sure I dozed off again but awoke a few minutes later to hear two older women debating loudly in Turkish. I look outside and there is a nondescript white van with a few people hovering around it. The bus finally starts up again down the tiny road, makes a series of difficult three point turns and we are back on the highway.

Later we find out that an elderly man in the front row had a heart attack. The little white van was an ambulance and he died shortly after it came.

We are two hours delayed but our pattern moves on. I struggle with the idea of sleep but my body seems to push me into it anyway. Later, around 4am, we stop at a rest station. I hate the idea of paying to pee and would normally prefer to find a spot outside but it's Turkey and we seem to have men staring at us everywhere we go. The bathroom smells wretched but the toilets are floor style and fine. I drop my wallet on the wet floor and try not to think about it...

Back on the bus I catch glimpses between heavy eyelids of the hazy and beautiful sunrise over the sandy mountains of central Turkey. A few hours and a cramped van ride later we are in the hot daylight of Goreme. Driving between the bizarre rock faces of fairy chimneys we are greeted by a hot air balloon. With a local population of only 2500, the town still easily has 50 hostels. Back in an ultra touristic locale, we are too tired and used to vendors' pushy offers and local boys' catcalls to give them a second glance. Still, I'm excited.