From my last writing, on day 6 of Istanbul, hungry, heading to "Old Ottoman's" near the Hagia Sophia... I had showered and gotten ready for the evening a bit early, so I hopped in a taxi in an attempt to avoid sweating too much. The driver was clean shaven, drove really well, and seemed generally knowledgable about his job - however - it was one of the worst taxi rides I've had. The fair was by meter which was good (usually a sign that it will be fairly priced) but he went so fast and in the wrong direction that it ended up costing a lot more than it should have. He was driving probably 100-120 KPH around the east side of the Topkaki palace, so fast I could not tell him to turn at the intersection I wanted him to turn at in time. I thought to myself, I don't mind because I wanted to see this side of the bosphorus anyway, but he kept going.. far past the turn I wanted to take - again - and stopped only after I told him we were now going in the wrong direction. Almost offended, he suggested I get out and walk the rest of the way - that's fine - except I was now almost as far away from the destination as when I first got in the cab... Oh well. I tried hopping in another taxi however they told me it would be a very expensive amount due to traffic being bad and they didn't want to use the meter, I responded no thanks and decided to walk. It was a bad day for taxi's.
Finally I made it to Old Ottoman's, a little sweatier than I wanted due to the walk... The same guy was working and asked me if the women had left me, he remembered them from yesterday. I replied no, they were on a tour, and I came back for the delicious dish I had yesterday, which he remembered quickly. I thought it was odd the food was so good, it was the #1 on trip advisor in a big tourism city - but it was always available for walk in seating and he remembered guests so well. I told him about my taxi rides and he admitted the drivers were crooked, I'm sticking to my 50/50 ratio I mentioned earlier.
After dinner I took a nap at the hotel "Erbil" and woke up when my roommate got back from the Bosphorus ferry cruise he did with the group. We talked for a few then went downstairs for dinner and belly dancing.
The dinner was alright at best, barely any meat was served, several plates of food came out but I was only waiting for the main dish - meat and potatoes. The meat and potatoes were quite good, Reannon felt bad and gave me some of hers also, since I didn't eat much of anything else. I refused but after watching it sit for a while, possibly about to be taken away, I gave in and ate hers as well - delicious. The belly dancing was kind of hit and miss, sometimes it was nice, but for the most part it wasn't that interesting. They had a group of Chinese women learning belly dancing and took them on stage one by one - I was very surprised the Chinese women got on stage and danced in front of everyone.
There were some male dancers that danced as a group and even threw knives. I was really confused by their dances, I suppose it has to do with history but I'm not familiar with it and the dancing itself wasn't too attention grabbing. All in all I kept thinking in my head "you win some you lose some" chalking this up to a loss, a mistake I couldn't avoid.
The last belly dancer was really quite bad, I didn't understand why they put her last, I thought it was fairly common to at least save the best for last. After she was finished a guy came on stage and started singing "New York New York" in a Sinatra like voice and outfit. I was impressed, but this was just the beginning, he sang in several languages - engaging the Chinese, the Iranians, the Australians, Canadians, Americans, Argentinians, Mexicans, and other hispanic countries. I thought it was the most impressive when he sang in Chinese because that language is difficult but he did really well, and the Chinese loved it, singing along quite nicely - very cute to listen to the women completing his chorus.
After dinner the tour guide Ahmet said he would drop off a group if they wanted at Taksim square. A few of the women wanted to go out and they wanted a guy to go out with them - I said I could show them around. I was a little apprehensive because I expected them to be fussy and complain a lot but they were quite the opposite. I took them to the club (Ritim Terrace) I had been several times because I trusted them and other than it being overcrowded I had not heard any complaints or problems there from the women. When we got there it was almost empty, I knew Ramadan started but I didn't expect it to be empty. Slightly confused I asked one of the staff if something was going on or if it was empty because of Ramadan, he said there was a private party that just ended so it would start filling up soon. It was a little before midnight at this point, and by 12:30 am it was fairly full. The women danced by themselves and had fun - the atmosphere was really relaxed on the roof (no view other than the sky due to other buildings) and as the club filled they had even more fun. It turned out to be a good night, and I was happy they enjoyed the club / Istanbul. At the end of the evening I walked them down to a cab and sent them on their way - I had just figured out my apartment was only a few steps away.. Previously I had gone back to the hostel which was about a kilometer walk.
I wanted to do some more laundry but I was exhausted. I half expected to miss my meeting time of 730 in the morning... Accepting the fact that I may need to catch a bus on my own and meet up with the group in the next city. I'm quite used to things not working out perfectly while traveling and while stress is necessary for some time constraints, I enjoy the days I can live stress free. This was one of those days, no stress needed.
Day 7:
I woke up on time without any alarm going off. 0630. It was fate, I packed my bags, grabbed my stuff, and was at the hotel by 7, plenty of time to spare. We were off to Canakkale (pronounced Chan - ahk - ali) and Gallipoli.
We stopped by the ANZAC sign on the beach and paid respects to numerous Australian and New Zealand soldier's graves. It was a day for the Aussies and Kiwis. We grabbed a stone off the beach of Gallipoli and took some pictures at the top of the hill. The view was awesome - though I don't have any way to attach the picture at this time. We learned about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (a Turkish Army officer and the first Turkish president), we saw "Lone Pine", the tomb of the unknown soldier, and a grave of a 16 year old from Perth - the youngest Aussie soldier's grave.
At night we checked into the Tusan hotel in Canakkale around 5pm with a dinner time of 730/8. I immediately went for a run in the clothes I had on, my cotton grey north face shirt and some niki grey shorts. My gps locked on and I took off, hoping for at least 15 minutes and two miles, I felt surprisingly good and decided to go for 30 minutes / four miles. I ran by several houses on the water and even another local guy around my age running. I saw a lot of families doing stuff around the house (as it was the weekend) and a strange old person walking with great difficulty (using the assistance of canes/crutches) all by himself in the middle of the road. He was obviously stubborn, and probably should not have been out there alone.
I made my time and was sufficiently worn out after the run. I took a few minutes to relax, rinsed off in the shower, changed into pool shorts, and went to the pool to meet up with the rest of the group. I jumped in the pool and it was freezing. I got out and was salty all over, slightly regretting jumping in at all... I relaxed on the pool chair, facing the sunset in a nice cozy atmosphere with the beach directly below us. Dinner was delicious as it always is in Turkey, and tonight we were sitting on a patio of the hotel with the sun setting over the sea to our west. There was a parting in the wood line where the sun was setting, it was quite picturesque as we all sat and ate together... This will be a fond memory and I commented that this was what everyone talks about on Contiki tours, these moments that just feel good, are well planned, and appreciated.
After dinner we played a couple games of beer pong downstairs, a pleasant surprise. They had a hookup for Jess to play her music and Lee and I teamed up to take on Jess and her twin Kate. Lee and I won two games and split for the third game, it was Kate and I vs. Jess and Lee. Kate and I lost the last game. I remember really liking the set up they had at the hotel for beer pong, they would wipe down the table for us after each game and reset everything for us, surprisingly good service.
We paid all our bills and most people went to sleep. A few of us (my roommate Luke, Jess, Kate, and Lee + his wife Bella) went to the beach to check out a Turkish evening on the sand. It was nice out, there were no bugs, the waves were crashing slightly like a lake in the U.S.A. and the stars were out. We talked a bit about different things, I talked about some of my experiences as what I've come to know people are commonly interested in (war, army stuff, my current job, psychology etc). It does feel nice to talk about things, and with different perspectives. I think talking is one of traveling's luxuries, especially with all the different perspectives.
After the beach we went to sleep and woke up at 7 for breakfast.
Day 8 (Troy / Ismir):
We were on the bus a lot, we saw Troy. Troy had several numbers attached to it: Troy 2, Troy 6, Troy 8, apparently it's such an old city that over time things got buried. It was quite confusing having a fountain from troy 8 right next to the main ramp of troy 6 but at a much taller height. Supposedly at the time of the troy 8 fountain, the ramp didn't exist, and at the time of the troy 6 ramp, the troy 8 fountain didn't exist... And this repeated several times for different things. I get the concept but it was a little difficult to fully comprehend all the moving pieces in a quick one hour tour. Another concept was the picture they showed of the water right next to the city, if you stand on the city wall now you see the water far in the distance but surely it's a mile or two away. I guess the water recessed. We thought the same thing at the dead sea.
After troy we headed to our hotel, Aksan in Ismir, I checked in on Facebook to kind of mark a spot. I think it was my first Facebook activity since the plane to Europe back twenty days ago. I try not to make too much of a Facebook imprint, for several reasons, but I do like checking in to keep track of some places I may forget.
Ismir was the place we were supposed to go out and meet with Ahmet for cheap drinks and then end up at a disco club. The first night out with the group. In not necessarily this order, I got off the bus, went to the grocery store next door, showered, changed, ate, and then some friends came over to Luke and my room to drink together before going out. We even got Ahmet to drink with us.
Ahmet made his phone call for a table reservation and we all went out. Apparently the Turkish basketball team won some championship and there was a large celebration, even a concert. Ahmet said it is bad luck because it was extremely busy, though many of us were glad it was busy. Lots of people were wearing red for socialism... Ahmet explained a lot of things to me and we even talked about local real estate. It was not cheap in Turkey to buy a house, it had very similar prices to most of the USA. Some of the places on the water or in Istanbul were even comparable to California / San Fran / New York prices, reaching in the millions quite quickly. I was really surprised by the prices. I would only be interested if things were significantly cheaper, otherwise I'm very happy with America.
Some of the group stayed at the concert but most of us went to the disco clubs. It's an experience I'll likely never get the chance to do again. The night went smoothly, no problems, all fun. We checked out a couple clubs and ended the night taking taxi's back in small groups. I remember Jess's card got eaten by the ATM and I was kind of worried about that since I just had my credit card left (my debit card was taken/canceled when I left it in the ATM at the Istanbul/SAW airport).
Day 9:
We woke up knowing we wouldn't get a good lunch today. We hopped back on the bus and took off towards a carpet weaving tour and Pamukkale. The carpet place was a government establishment and well trusted by both our touring company and our tour guide Ahmet. Once I heard about this stop I had been interested in learning more about carpets. I know in Iraq they often had carpets for sale, but I never knew the difference between hand made or machine made let alone silks, cottons, and wools or how to price them. We got a class on how silk was made, how carpets were made, why things cost more (basically just because they take more time). Some carpets take years to make by hand. It is understandable why some of them get to be quite pricy. These hand made carpets last forever they said. I see the appeal, plus some of them were really soft and looked great. All together, I can see the appeal.
The presentation was nice. I ended up buying two as gifts and one for myself. I couldn't pass up the opportunity of a hand made carpet from Turkey. I hope they make it to America - I had them shipped, one to my mom and two to Sophie's place (one for each of us).
After the carpet facility we went to Pamukkale, I didn't even know what this was, I don't think I would ever have gone without the tour's help. It was quite nice. I didn't know these things existed, apparently it took a million years to create. It was quite easy to take pictures of this place. I can't upload them since I am writing this blog on the bus but you can google "Pamukkale" images, and they should pop up. There wasn't much water there when we were there, apparently they are running out, so it wasn't as beautiful as it used to be.
After Pamukkale we went down and checked into what was supposed to be our best hotel (5 stars). There was a nice, large, main pool, a hot springs collection of outdoor pools, and an indoor heated pool (luke warm really). Most of us made good use of all the pools. The thermal outdoor pools were hot, and the hottest at the top was almost too hot. I love hot baths, so I enjoyed the temperature, but admit that it was almost too hot. A lot of people thought it was too hot. I would imagine Rachel wouldn't like how hot it was at all.
We ate dinner by the pool and I drank a lot of white wine. The chilled wine in the sun at the pool was perfect. I got wined up and spent most the evening with Lee, his wife, my roommate Luke, and Amanda, someone who I hadn't really met yet from Australia she had been sick for the first few days. As my next trip is to Australia / New Zealand, I've been keeping an ear out for insight to how I should approach the trip. How long should I dedicate to which cities, where I "must go" and where I don't need to go, etc.
I closed down the thermal pools and went to sleep. The shower head was broken, the toilet didn't flush, the back door wouldn't fully shut and there was music coming from somewhere, maybe a club or something at the hotel. The sheets weren't really great, I couldn't believe the place was 5 star. Oh well, the pools made up for it. We woke up at 6 (our early wake up for the trip) and got back on the bus where I currently sit writing this using a hotspot off Reannon's phone and my macbook. Contiki has been great so far, giving me more time to write while someone else is driving us, and the guide takes care of the research of each site - even taking us to places where he recommends we take photos. A good guide saves a lot of time.
Finally I made it to Old Ottoman's, a little sweatier than I wanted due to the walk... The same guy was working and asked me if the women had left me, he remembered them from yesterday. I replied no, they were on a tour, and I came back for the delicious dish I had yesterday, which he remembered quickly. I thought it was odd the food was so good, it was the #1 on trip advisor in a big tourism city - but it was always available for walk in seating and he remembered guests so well. I told him about my taxi rides and he admitted the drivers were crooked, I'm sticking to my 50/50 ratio I mentioned earlier.
After dinner I took a nap at the hotel "Erbil" and woke up when my roommate got back from the Bosphorus ferry cruise he did with the group. We talked for a few then went downstairs for dinner and belly dancing.
The dinner was alright at best, barely any meat was served, several plates of food came out but I was only waiting for the main dish - meat and potatoes. The meat and potatoes were quite good, Reannon felt bad and gave me some of hers also, since I didn't eat much of anything else. I refused but after watching it sit for a while, possibly about to be taken away, I gave in and ate hers as well - delicious. The belly dancing was kind of hit and miss, sometimes it was nice, but for the most part it wasn't that interesting. They had a group of Chinese women learning belly dancing and took them on stage one by one - I was very surprised the Chinese women got on stage and danced in front of everyone.
There were some male dancers that danced as a group and even threw knives. I was really confused by their dances, I suppose it has to do with history but I'm not familiar with it and the dancing itself wasn't too attention grabbing. All in all I kept thinking in my head "you win some you lose some" chalking this up to a loss, a mistake I couldn't avoid.
The last belly dancer was really quite bad, I didn't understand why they put her last, I thought it was fairly common to at least save the best for last. After she was finished a guy came on stage and started singing "New York New York" in a Sinatra like voice and outfit. I was impressed, but this was just the beginning, he sang in several languages - engaging the Chinese, the Iranians, the Australians, Canadians, Americans, Argentinians, Mexicans, and other hispanic countries. I thought it was the most impressive when he sang in Chinese because that language is difficult but he did really well, and the Chinese loved it, singing along quite nicely - very cute to listen to the women completing his chorus.
After dinner the tour guide Ahmet said he would drop off a group if they wanted at Taksim square. A few of the women wanted to go out and they wanted a guy to go out with them - I said I could show them around. I was a little apprehensive because I expected them to be fussy and complain a lot but they were quite the opposite. I took them to the club (Ritim Terrace) I had been several times because I trusted them and other than it being overcrowded I had not heard any complaints or problems there from the women. When we got there it was almost empty, I knew Ramadan started but I didn't expect it to be empty. Slightly confused I asked one of the staff if something was going on or if it was empty because of Ramadan, he said there was a private party that just ended so it would start filling up soon. It was a little before midnight at this point, and by 12:30 am it was fairly full. The women danced by themselves and had fun - the atmosphere was really relaxed on the roof (no view other than the sky due to other buildings) and as the club filled they had even more fun. It turned out to be a good night, and I was happy they enjoyed the club / Istanbul. At the end of the evening I walked them down to a cab and sent them on their way - I had just figured out my apartment was only a few steps away.. Previously I had gone back to the hostel which was about a kilometer walk.
I wanted to do some more laundry but I was exhausted. I half expected to miss my meeting time of 730 in the morning... Accepting the fact that I may need to catch a bus on my own and meet up with the group in the next city. I'm quite used to things not working out perfectly while traveling and while stress is necessary for some time constraints, I enjoy the days I can live stress free. This was one of those days, no stress needed.
Day 7:
I woke up on time without any alarm going off. 0630. It was fate, I packed my bags, grabbed my stuff, and was at the hotel by 7, plenty of time to spare. We were off to Canakkale (pronounced Chan - ahk - ali) and Gallipoli.
We stopped by the ANZAC sign on the beach and paid respects to numerous Australian and New Zealand soldier's graves. It was a day for the Aussies and Kiwis. We grabbed a stone off the beach of Gallipoli and took some pictures at the top of the hill. The view was awesome - though I don't have any way to attach the picture at this time. We learned about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (a Turkish Army officer and the first Turkish president), we saw "Lone Pine", the tomb of the unknown soldier, and a grave of a 16 year old from Perth - the youngest Aussie soldier's grave.
At night we checked into the Tusan hotel in Canakkale around 5pm with a dinner time of 730/8. I immediately went for a run in the clothes I had on, my cotton grey north face shirt and some niki grey shorts. My gps locked on and I took off, hoping for at least 15 minutes and two miles, I felt surprisingly good and decided to go for 30 minutes / four miles. I ran by several houses on the water and even another local guy around my age running. I saw a lot of families doing stuff around the house (as it was the weekend) and a strange old person walking with great difficulty (using the assistance of canes/crutches) all by himself in the middle of the road. He was obviously stubborn, and probably should not have been out there alone.
I made my time and was sufficiently worn out after the run. I took a few minutes to relax, rinsed off in the shower, changed into pool shorts, and went to the pool to meet up with the rest of the group. I jumped in the pool and it was freezing. I got out and was salty all over, slightly regretting jumping in at all... I relaxed on the pool chair, facing the sunset in a nice cozy atmosphere with the beach directly below us. Dinner was delicious as it always is in Turkey, and tonight we were sitting on a patio of the hotel with the sun setting over the sea to our west. There was a parting in the wood line where the sun was setting, it was quite picturesque as we all sat and ate together... This will be a fond memory and I commented that this was what everyone talks about on Contiki tours, these moments that just feel good, are well planned, and appreciated.
After dinner we played a couple games of beer pong downstairs, a pleasant surprise. They had a hookup for Jess to play her music and Lee and I teamed up to take on Jess and her twin Kate. Lee and I won two games and split for the third game, it was Kate and I vs. Jess and Lee. Kate and I lost the last game. I remember really liking the set up they had at the hotel for beer pong, they would wipe down the table for us after each game and reset everything for us, surprisingly good service.
We paid all our bills and most people went to sleep. A few of us (my roommate Luke, Jess, Kate, and Lee + his wife Bella) went to the beach to check out a Turkish evening on the sand. It was nice out, there were no bugs, the waves were crashing slightly like a lake in the U.S.A. and the stars were out. We talked a bit about different things, I talked about some of my experiences as what I've come to know people are commonly interested in (war, army stuff, my current job, psychology etc). It does feel nice to talk about things, and with different perspectives. I think talking is one of traveling's luxuries, especially with all the different perspectives.
After the beach we went to sleep and woke up at 7 for breakfast.
Day 8 (Troy / Ismir):
We were on the bus a lot, we saw Troy. Troy had several numbers attached to it: Troy 2, Troy 6, Troy 8, apparently it's such an old city that over time things got buried. It was quite confusing having a fountain from troy 8 right next to the main ramp of troy 6 but at a much taller height. Supposedly at the time of the troy 8 fountain, the ramp didn't exist, and at the time of the troy 6 ramp, the troy 8 fountain didn't exist... And this repeated several times for different things. I get the concept but it was a little difficult to fully comprehend all the moving pieces in a quick one hour tour. Another concept was the picture they showed of the water right next to the city, if you stand on the city wall now you see the water far in the distance but surely it's a mile or two away. I guess the water recessed. We thought the same thing at the dead sea.
After troy we headed to our hotel, Aksan in Ismir, I checked in on Facebook to kind of mark a spot. I think it was my first Facebook activity since the plane to Europe back twenty days ago. I try not to make too much of a Facebook imprint, for several reasons, but I do like checking in to keep track of some places I may forget.
Ismir was the place we were supposed to go out and meet with Ahmet for cheap drinks and then end up at a disco club. The first night out with the group. In not necessarily this order, I got off the bus, went to the grocery store next door, showered, changed, ate, and then some friends came over to Luke and my room to drink together before going out. We even got Ahmet to drink with us.
Ahmet made his phone call for a table reservation and we all went out. Apparently the Turkish basketball team won some championship and there was a large celebration, even a concert. Ahmet said it is bad luck because it was extremely busy, though many of us were glad it was busy. Lots of people were wearing red for socialism... Ahmet explained a lot of things to me and we even talked about local real estate. It was not cheap in Turkey to buy a house, it had very similar prices to most of the USA. Some of the places on the water or in Istanbul were even comparable to California / San Fran / New York prices, reaching in the millions quite quickly. I was really surprised by the prices. I would only be interested if things were significantly cheaper, otherwise I'm very happy with America.
Some of the group stayed at the concert but most of us went to the disco clubs. It's an experience I'll likely never get the chance to do again. The night went smoothly, no problems, all fun. We checked out a couple clubs and ended the night taking taxi's back in small groups. I remember Jess's card got eaten by the ATM and I was kind of worried about that since I just had my credit card left (my debit card was taken/canceled when I left it in the ATM at the Istanbul/SAW airport).
Day 9:
We woke up knowing we wouldn't get a good lunch today. We hopped back on the bus and took off towards a carpet weaving tour and Pamukkale. The carpet place was a government establishment and well trusted by both our touring company and our tour guide Ahmet. Once I heard about this stop I had been interested in learning more about carpets. I know in Iraq they often had carpets for sale, but I never knew the difference between hand made or machine made let alone silks, cottons, and wools or how to price them. We got a class on how silk was made, how carpets were made, why things cost more (basically just because they take more time). Some carpets take years to make by hand. It is understandable why some of them get to be quite pricy. These hand made carpets last forever they said. I see the appeal, plus some of them were really soft and looked great. All together, I can see the appeal.
The presentation was nice. I ended up buying two as gifts and one for myself. I couldn't pass up the opportunity of a hand made carpet from Turkey. I hope they make it to America - I had them shipped, one to my mom and two to Sophie's place (one for each of us).
After the carpet facility we went to Pamukkale, I didn't even know what this was, I don't think I would ever have gone without the tour's help. It was quite nice. I didn't know these things existed, apparently it took a million years to create. It was quite easy to take pictures of this place. I can't upload them since I am writing this blog on the bus but you can google "Pamukkale" images, and they should pop up. There wasn't much water there when we were there, apparently they are running out, so it wasn't as beautiful as it used to be.
After Pamukkale we went down and checked into what was supposed to be our best hotel (5 stars). There was a nice, large, main pool, a hot springs collection of outdoor pools, and an indoor heated pool (luke warm really). Most of us made good use of all the pools. The thermal outdoor pools were hot, and the hottest at the top was almost too hot. I love hot baths, so I enjoyed the temperature, but admit that it was almost too hot. A lot of people thought it was too hot. I would imagine Rachel wouldn't like how hot it was at all.
We ate dinner by the pool and I drank a lot of white wine. The chilled wine in the sun at the pool was perfect. I got wined up and spent most the evening with Lee, his wife, my roommate Luke, and Amanda, someone who I hadn't really met yet from Australia she had been sick for the first few days. As my next trip is to Australia / New Zealand, I've been keeping an ear out for insight to how I should approach the trip. How long should I dedicate to which cities, where I "must go" and where I don't need to go, etc.
I closed down the thermal pools and went to sleep. The shower head was broken, the toilet didn't flush, the back door wouldn't fully shut and there was music coming from somewhere, maybe a club or something at the hotel. The sheets weren't really great, I couldn't believe the place was 5 star. Oh well, the pools made up for it. We woke up at 6 (our early wake up for the trip) and got back on the bus where I currently sit writing this using a hotspot off Reannon's phone and my macbook. Contiki has been great so far, giving me more time to write while someone else is driving us, and the guide takes care of the research of each site - even taking us to places where he recommends we take photos. A good guide saves a lot of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment