Turkey

27th and 28th December 2003 - Istanbul

The Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul was uneventful. I did notice that there weren't any exhortations to fasten seatbelts or sit down whenever there was any turbulence. One of the stewardesses even told the passenger in front of me that there was nothing wrong with the food ("everyone had the chicken. theyre fine. what are you complaining about") and that the reason he had a stomach upset was because he had had too much wine with his yoghurt (or something like that). I also saw someone actually shop from the duty free cart they wheel around for the first time. They had a long elaborate discussion about the prices (I think I caught numbers - it was all in Turkish) and a few fellow passengers also joined in.


I met Rahul, my friend from college, at the airport. After a few rough moments with some travel agents at the Airport who insisted we stay at their "very good, very luxury hotel", we finally made it to the city. Driving into Istanbul in a servis (feeder/shuttle sort of thing) bus, this street with political party streamers reminded me of Delhi at election time.


We stayed at the Side Pansiyon in the center of Sultanahmet in Istanbul. The location was terrific -50 m down the road leading off to the left was the Blue Mosque, and a few steps to the right was the Four Seasons hotel, and the Aya Sofya just beyond that. This section of this old Istanbul neighborhood had a very European feel to it with the cobblestoned streets and the grilled and flowerpotted windows. The room was great - spotlessly clean, and with all new fittings.


Rahul, in front of the Aya Sofya that took us by surprise as we rounded the corner from the Four Seasons Hotel. We hadn't realized it was that close to where we were staying.


Aya Sofya/ Hagia Sophia (Church of Divine Wisdom - built in 537 AD by Emperor Justinian).


Celing mosaic inside the Aya Sofya


After the fall (or conquest, depending on whose records you read) of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the church was converted to a mosque with huge calligraphic icons, and the frescoes and mosaics of the life of Christ were plastered over. Recent restorations after Ataturk declared the Aya Sofya a secular museum let you see both side by side.




The Blue Mosque faces the Aya Sofya. Built in 1616 AD by Sinan, the greatest architect of the Ottoman's, the mosque is still in use today.


Inside the Blue Mosque. We went in just after one of the five daily prayers (Namaz) had gotten over.






Possibly the world's first covered shopping mall (thought I'd slip in an americanism here) built in the 15th century AD


Eating Gölzemes (stuffed crepes) at a tea and water pipe room.


Aya Aofya at night


Blue Mosque minarets at night


Blue Mosque after a long walk back from the Grand Bazaar.


Next morning - View of Aya Sofya from the roof of our hotel.


Sea of Marmara from roof of hotel.


The Milliyon - the point from which all distances were measured in the Byzantine empire.


An underground cistern next to the Aya Sofya


View of the blue mosque from inside the Topkapi palace gates. The Topkapi palace was the seat of the Ottoman empire for centuries.


The Palace grounds were beautiful and full of flowers


The ornate calligraphy on this door is basically a public works record ("This door, built 14xx, remodeled 15xx, portion added 16xx").


One of the prince's apartments in the Harem of the Topkapi Palace.


Main reception room of the Harem


Bath fittings in the Harem.


How appropriate


View from back of Topkapi palace of the Bosphorus.


Just outside a fascinating exhibition of paintings at the Topkapi Palace by Van Mour, a dutch artist, and miniatures by Levni, both residents of Istanbul during the latter stages of the Ottoman empire.


During the summer, this pavilion in Topkapi is PACKED with devout muslims, because it houses pieces of the Kaaba rock, its doors and keys. In a special room with tight security and live readings from the Koran, there are displays of one of the Prophet Mohammed's teeth, a hair from his beard, his sandals etc. But the most interesting room was the one where the first display was the Sword of the Prophet, the second was the staff of Moses, and the third... the saucepan of Abrahim!


Out of the Topkapi, walking across town - Sulemaniye mosque (the largest in Istanbul) from the Galata bridge.


Fishing from the Galata bridge. You could tell the professionals from the amateurs because the former had small stoves behind them where they would grill the freshly caught fish and sell them to the passers by.


Pet and plant market behind the Egyptian spice bazaar. The stink was something else.


The 400 year old Yeni Cami (New mosque) on the banks of the Bosphorus Straits that divides European and Asian Istanbul neatly into two.



Life in Taksim, the Times Square of Istanbul. The British Council bombings happened nearby.


Mandatory shot of me with Public Transport in background :-)


29th November - Göreme, Kapadokya

After a long night (12 hrs) in a bus, we finally got to Göreme (a small town in the area unofficially known as Kapadokya or Cappadocia). All inter city buses in Turkey are super luxurious Mercedes Benz machines - the attendants serve tea and snacks every few hours, dispense eau-de-cologne after restroom stops (every 4 hours) and the martinet on our bus even forbade everyone from removing their shoes because our feet would stink up the bus (she even walked through spraying deodorant at floor level a few times). Seeing Arnold speak Turkish in Terminator 3 was the only thing that made an incredibly inane en-route movie watchable.

Entrance to the Kelebek Hotel. The caves on the left have hotel rooms cut out of them. Ali, the owner, renovated his family home on top of the hill to make this place, and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He dropped everything and rushed us to the hospital in nearby Nevshehir (10 km away) when Rahul slipped on the ice in front of our room and cut his chin and thought he might have hurt his jaw bone badly (he hadn't). He refused to take any payment even for the petrol.


Cave rooms cut into the rock. I was in a room at the lower level.


Turkish breakfast at the Kelebek Hotel - fresh sourdoughy bread (most shops are stocked up to 4 times a day with fresh bread by the local bakeries), goat cheese, olives pickled in a tomato sauce, a fried egg, tomatoes and cucumbers, and tea, the essential Turkish drink (no, it's not coffee, surprisingly).


The cave room we stayed in. The bathroom was posher than most - fully tiled with marble, a great hot shower, heated towel racks, the works! And all this for 25 euros a night.


Looking out from the room


Early morning view of Göreme village from the hotel reception.


We went on a 4 hr walk of the Rose Valley with Mustafa (Ali, the hotel owner's nephew) of tramping through the snow, climbing into cave houses and churches built around the 6th or 7th century AD, and looking out over the crazy landscape with its incredible rock formations.


A cave church. The conical rock on top looked almost like it had been intended as a dome.


Camel/ Dog/ Man with folded arms?


Along the Rose Valley...


We ended up taking longer than we had planned, because every few steps we would come across yet another breathtaking view.




The Rose valley with its Reddish rock layers and surreal erosion patterns.


The volcano that caused it all.


30th December - Early Morning Balloon Tour

The 6 am chill was driven away by this blast of flame.


It's ALIVE...


Our heads stayed warm even as toes froze. After rattly airplane take-offs and landings, this liftoff was so smooth that one of the people didn't realize we had lifted off until we were 30 m in the air.


The views were breathtaking and the sunrises (we came up behind a cliff edge more than once) exquisite.


The other balloon in the sky at the same time.




This part was known as Penis valley... :-)








Through the foothold hole in the basket.




I suppose the people in the other balloon also thought their pilot was the best in the world, but here's some proof - our pilot came ridiculously close to this rock jutting out of the valley and then circled it (considering a balloon can basically only go up or down, I thought this was pretty incredible). He also skirted tree tops in the valley close enough to touch the branches and provided several long-held breaths as he cleared rock walls etc just in time.




This was a good place to see the different stages of the erosion.


Close up of a pigeon house. The people who lived in these caves (for the warmth and relative ease of building in the soft stone) built pigeon holes for pigeons to nest, and then used the droppings to fertilize the soil of the valley floor.


Rahul and friend on way back to hotel after the balloon ride.


30th December - Day Tour of Kapadokya

First stop at the underground city of Derinkuyu. 36 cities have been excavated so far but Derinkuyu is the deepest - seven levels stretching 45 m below the ground. The levels closest to the surface may have been created by the Hittites as far back as 4000 BC and the lowest levels were inhabited as late as the 17th century AD by some Christian monks and missionaries. The largest sections were created and used by the early Christians to avoid persecution by the Romans. At least a thousand people could hide away in these cities for months at a time, and defend themselves through a combination of narrow paasageways (that could be blocked with rolling stone doors, and defended with strategically poured bowling oil) and escape vents. The levels closest to the surface housed animals (the troughs and tying tethering points are still there) while the other levels had mortuaries, wineries, storage and even a small mission school (complete with rows of rock benches).


Our guide Asım, explaining how the food was stored in holes in the ground. He was a great resource for the history of the area and Turkish life in general and always warned us before he told us anything that was speculative (such as how old the caves were etc) - something tour guides tend to not do in general in my experience.


I bought a traditional handmade doll from this lady just outside the Derinkuyu underground city.


At the start of a hike through the Ilhara Valley - a deep cut canyon / gorge with tens of 1st millenium churches and monasteries cut into the rock face.


Frescoes in one of the small (not more than 50 sq m) churches at the head of the Ilhara Valley.


View of Belisrma village from the restaurant where we had lunch after the hike through the Ilhara valley.


A scene in the first Star Wars movie (episode 4) was apparently shot here, and the actors were later superimposed on it.


31st December - Ankara

I'm posing in front of the Kelebek restaurant and reception with Mahmut, the night porter who woke me up at 530 am for my bus to Ankara and made me breakfast while the rest of the place slept.


Rahul left Göreme 30th night as his flight was early morning on the 1st and he wanted to be back in by the night before. I took the 31st morning bus to Ankara and spent the day with Aysel (a fellow student in the College of Education at UIUC) and New Year's Eve with her family. It was one of the best parties I've ever had. They were wonderfully warm and welcoming and the food was terrific.

Aysel (standing) with her sister and mother at a table that was laden with a 7 course meal!


Close up of a Chicken dish that Aysel's brother insisted I take a pic of. Even my unattuned (for meat) taste buds thought it tasted great.


Aysel and a glass of Rakı (yes, the dot is meant to be missing on the i - pronounced like a schwa I think)


Aysel's brother SMSing his friends a Happy New Year.


Aysel's niece finally decided I wansn't a monster to run from (as she had done earlier in the evening). So it was a happy new year after all...


23rd January - Istanbul

I'd planned to spend two more days in Istanbul on the way back from Delhi to Chicago, but a huge snowstorm shut down the airport. I'm not complaining, though, because Turkish Airlines put us up for half a day in a posh Marriott hotel in South Delhi (where the breakfast and lunch buffets were excellent), and because Istanbul looked incredible under a blanket of snow:




I stayed at a tiny pansiyon around the corner from where Rahul and I had stayed on the first leg of the trip. The family that owned it would lean out of a neighboring window when someone rang the bell and let you in. There were only about 5 other guests there and everyone would get together around the main stove downstairs and chat and have tea. This is a view of the street where it was located:


Took several long walks and ferry rides the next day. Taksim Square (the "happening" european part of Istanbul) is named after this Taksim (water distribution point). The bird houses on its octagonal walls seem too ornate for their residents.


A fish market in a side street off Istiklal Caddesi (the road that leads away from Taksim).


Istanbul was a lot hillier than I had imagined.


The historic Ali Pasha madrassa (left) and Hamam (right) - where I had a Turkish bath. After much pantomiming (this was a neighborhood Hamam, not a major touristy one, so no one spoke English) I was asked to take off my shoes and change into rubber slippers. I undressed in a small, neat cubicle with a bed, that also doubles as the locker. The attendant then led me into the sauna area - a huge domed octagonal room with a large marble platform in the middle that radiated heat (I found out later that the water under it is always kept boiling). I was the only one in there (a few more people tricked in eventually) and the sound of condensed water dripping from the dome on to the marble lulled me into a short nap. Woke up to find a short grinning man with enormous forearms asking me 'massage?'. It was quite an experience - he scrubbed me raw with an abrasive pad and lathered and pummelled me for the next 20 minutes and by the time he was through, I was hyperclean and every muscle in my body felt like it had shut down for the day. That's when the bed in the cubicle made sense - I felt so relaxed that I took another short nap there after drying off. Getting back out into the snow and the walk back to Sultanahmet nullified some of the effect of the Hamam, but it was worth every lira.