Turkey

We boarded the plane in Cairo, Christmas day, for Turkey. We got one of our last tastes of Egypt by having a women greet us at the door and asking if we were taking Egyptair. We said yes, and she proceeded to usher us to the baggage check amongst the crowd. We were hesitant to follow as we had no idea who she was or if she even worked there, but she kept on insisting that we follow her. When we got to the check-in her motives became clear as she asked us for "tip/money". I literally did not have any money on me, so she left disappointed. What a way to make a living!

I also bought an Ice Cream flurry from McDonalds from a girl named Rehab (seriously, it was on her nametag) and we both had a good laugh!! Although we didn't get a Turkey dinner exactly, we did end up getting a tasty meal on our two hour flight to Istanbul. It was sad to be away for the holidays, but since people here don't celebrate it, it was just like any other day. It was lovely to avoid the holidays! The coldness of winter has caught up to us though, as we left the 25 degree weather in Egypt to 8 degrees here. Boooo!

Upon arrival in Istanbul, we followed the instructions of our host that we were going to stay with through the HC club. To our relief, the transit system was quite easy to navigate, and we were not getting nearly as many stares as we were in Egypt. Istanbul and Turkey in general is very divided between the western side (European) and the eastern side (Asian). This explains why Istanbul, which is very far west, is quite modernized. The European part makes up 3% of the Country, but is very influential which causes problems. Istanbul is a huge city, with a population of 15 million people.

We met our host, Murat, later that evening and went to his apartment to unload our bags. We were quite hungry, so he took us to a local Turkish restaurant where Elana dined on lamb (most common meat in Turkey) and I had a special beef dish. Like in Israel and Jordan, there were salads and pitas to share. We shared an interesting conversation with Murat and his roommate about Turkish culture. Their values are still very traditional, arranged marriages are fairly common (in the east), and men are expected to give "gifts" to their soon to be in-laws as a way of getting to marry their daughter. These are practised in the east of Turkey, where the west is becoming increasingly more European and modern. According to the Lonely Planet 37.5% of Turks believe that women who have extramarital affairs should be murdered. For some reason there was no mention of what should happen to the men if they were to cheat. Quel surprise!

Sultanahmet is the main area of the western side. We are staying on the asian side, so we take a short ferry ride over to the mainland. We walked through the grand bizarre which seems to go on forever! The outdoor market is lined with shops selling clothes, jewellery, food and souvenirs. It is packed with locals and tourists. We sort of got lost walking around, but managed to stumble upon the Blue Mosque, and from there Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace, more wonders from our list (hillmanwonders.com). We decided to leave going into them for a few days later as it was getting late. Before going back to the apartment, we booked a two day tour to Cappadocia, a site we were most excited to see in Turkey. Luckily we were able to leave that night by overnight bus, and get the trip started. We arrived in Cappadocia early morning and were greeted by minus 3 degree weather. Although people had pre-warned us, we still weren't prepared for the frosty wakeup! The bus driver took us to meet up with the rest of our tour group, made up of mostly Japanese, Spanish and three Canadians (who are from Ladner where I live)!

We began the day with a trip to the Goreme open-air museum. Here they have many well preserved Byzantine Orthodox churches. You can see all the homes of people who once lived there. A living room, a dinning table, a place to cook. We stopped at many picturesque sites on the way, taking in a quick hike here and there to see some more beautiful rock formations including the Fairy Chimneys. There were many people once living in these caves. They use to put carpet down on the floors and walls for decoration, and for warmth. Up until the 70's, many people were still living in here, when they were told to relocate to safer ground (after a major earthquake).

The second day of the tour started out at one of the 30 underground cities in Cappadocia. This one was the largest and the deepest one, having eight different floors, and could hold up to 4000 people for six months at a time! It was truly amazing how they were able to carve out all the different tunnels and rooms. I found it clever how the floor for pregnant women had easy access to the bathrooms! They also had a nursery school, a room for the deceased, and a little skylight to keep track of the days that passed. Apparently if someone committed a crime, they would be hung by their hands outside the church to humiliate them (not kill them). Everyone would walk by after the service and see who the bad people were. We climbed back to sunlight, and started walking towards the van, but were bombarded by a herd of Turkish women selling handmade dolls.

If you seemed slightly interested (or not even) they would wave the dolls right in front of your face. We found one senior women so adorable (she was maybe 5 feet tall, and had a face full of wrinkles) that we bought a doll for 2 Turkish Liras. They took us next to the Ihlara Valley, a half hour away from the main tourist areas, in the mountains. We dined here on fresh trout from the river and had the most delicious bread we've ever eaten! After lunch we hiked for an hour to see one of the churches built into the mountain. It was nice to get moving, as we were still freezing from the cold weather. It was interesting how the Canadians (us and the three others) were leading the pack. People don`t seem to have much sympathy for us when we tell them we live in Canada, but when you've been getting use to 20+ degrees in Israel/Jordan/Egypt, it's still a big adjustment to come back to the cold! We keep trying to tell them we're from Vancouver, not Toronto (“but my friend went to Ottawa in the winter.....”)

We returned to Istanbul via the nightbus, which was completely full, and we were stuck at the back with three noisy Turks. Thank goodness they settled down after a while and we were able to get some sleep! We picked up our bags from Murat's place, and switched HC homes to his friend Selo's place. We sat and had some turkish tea (something the locals seem to do several times a day) next to the sea. It is funny to see men walking around with trays of steaming tea to deliver to all of the local shops. We were also amazed at the gigantic stacks of pretzels atop their heads on their way to somebody important. Later we reunited with our friend Ahmet, who we had met back in Dahab a few weeks back. He lives a few hours from Istanbul, and decided to meet us for a few days while we were in Turkey. We checked out the nightclub, hospitality club party, one of the reasons we came to Istanbul for New Years time. It was fun to see people from all over the world partying and enjoying themselves.

We got up bright and early to take a tour around Topkapi Palace, the official residence of the Ottoman Sultans, built in 1459. There were many jewels and treasures to look at. Jade and rubies given as gifts from China and India, and the most impressive piece, the spoonmaker's 86 carat diamond (the 7th biggest in the world!). We REALLY enjoyed that! Then we headed over to Hagia Sophia for a tour. It was better than the Palace, just huge inside and very interestingly constructed. Well maintained with lots of paintings done inside. It was once a patrocarchal basilical, then later a mosque and now a museum. It was constructed between 532-537 A.D. Truly magnificent inside.

There was a specific area that said “do not enter” and as I pointed out to the guard I didn't think it was fair that the orange cat was allowed to be sleeping next to one of the illuminating lights getting warm. He was surprised, but assured me that this cat was related to Garfield and so it was ok! The cats are everywhere here and so cute. I think they prey on tourists because many are quite fat!!

We moved to a hostel to be more central to the sights. An interesting story that we heard from a local hosteler was how he and his girlfriend couldn't find a hotel room to give them a double bed because they weren't married. We all had a good laugh about this! Imagine, morals, or something. Actually Ahmet told us that there are many Russian prostitutes who try to rent rooms and so hotel managers are weary! We enjoyed dinner at a Turkish restaurant that had puffed up bread bigger than your head. We just love the bread here!

We spent New Years Eve at the Hospitality Club party in Taksim square having sneaked out of all but one other event. They had a live band and were playing greek folk music and we didn't stay too long. They didn't even have a count down and this was very disappointing. Happy New Year!!

Our last day was spent shopping (of course) through the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar and negotiated some pretty packages of Turkish saffron. Can't wait to come home and cook for Joe! It also helped to have a local with us speaking Turkish when necessary. Although people are more than happy to hear all about our travel adventures (and of course, where we're from).
It is so bright and colorful here. Everyone is super friendly and their English is quite good. Anytime you have questions or need directions, they really try to welcome you into their country. Such a difference from some Slavic countries we know! The only meanie was the guy who sold us our tickets to Greece and we were happy to be on that train! We really enjoyed the beauty of Cappadocia and the largeness of Istanbul. A very distinct culture with many interesting stories to tell, if you only have time to listen. Definitely a country not to be missed.