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Other entries in Istanbul

Istanbul

Wow, it was an eventful and yet also very mind-numbing train ride from Sofia to Istanbul.

To start, I got on the train and was blocked at the door by a few animated arguments.  One large turkish man yelling at the dude who manages the car, with that dude yelling back and pointing furiously at some tickets.  Meanwhile a bunch of gypsies were vying for the manager's attention and pleading with him, yelling out the window, causing chaos.  I could understand nothing but it sounded pretty interesting.  After watching this (hallway blocked) for 5 minutes the gypsies went away and I finally made it to my spot on the train (it was a sleeper, a night train).  Anyway, I don't know what the gypsies trouble was all about, but the turkish dude was trying to make a Canadian/American couple share a bed whereas they both had their own birth...and was ultimately denied.

Everything was hunky dory, although slow (lots of stops), until we hit the Bulgaria/Turkish border.  Actually, getting out of Bulgaria was fine, they did take my passport (always scary), but came back with it in about an hour and a half.  The border crossing probably started at about 1am or so, btw. Finally we begin to move and stop after another 5 minutes.  Manager dude yells at everyone in Bulgarian telling us we need to get out and go get our passports stamped, etc.  Wait in a long line, only to find that you need a Visa to enter Turkey.  Whooops.  No problem though, they sell them around the corner.  If you have Turkish money that is.  Of course I don't.  No credit cards accepted, no bank machine.  I figure I may be stuck in this place in the middle of nowhere for the foreseeable future.  I feel a bit better because the Canadian girl, from the couple mentioned above, doesn't have money either, so this two are in on the deal.  But then one of the turkish border dudes turns out to be REALLY nice and offers to call a cab for us.  We get the cab to drive us (somewhat illegaly) through the border and to a bank machine.  THANK GOD the bank machine worked, got some money, got the Visa, got the passport stamped, back on the train and ready to go!  Yeah, we're ready, why isn't the train going?  The train sat there for another 5 hours, until at about 8:30 am there is loud knocking on everyone's doors and these gruff looking Turkish dudes come in demanding to see passports, and knocking on all walls and ceilings of the train.  They search the entire thing thouroughly, and I found out they found a couple wheelbarrows full of liquor.  So a couple hours later, the train starts moving...hallelujah.  Ok, I guess it wasn't THAT bad, except for the fear of not being let in the country, but the moral of the story is - don't take the train to Istanbul!

Anyway, from then on it was smooth sailing to Istanbul, and nice countryside too.  As we got close to the city I could hear the prayers from the speakers of the mosques in the distance and it sounded quite beautiful.  The city appears much more modern and clean and friendly than I was thinking.  So far all I've done is have lunch with another Australian guy, ate some fried bread with cheese and veggies inside.  And baklava...mmmmmm.  Wasn't such a big fan of the Turkish coffee but maybe it will grow on me.  The bottom half of the cup is all grainy.

Last night, simply had a few beers with some people from the hostel and called it a somewhat early night.  There wasn't much sleep though, so today I woke my butt up and set out to see some of the city.  I started by checking out the Spice Bazaar, which is supposed to be the more authentic bazaar here.  It was not bad, there was lots of spices but also lots of tshirts and kitchen gadgets and most things you could imagine that cost less than $20.  Very chaotic and colourful.  Every shop you go buy has someone standing in front at all times, always asking "where are you from", it is a good way to draw you in.  But now I ignore.  Oh, and I forgot to say I was approached by a sketchy young guy who followed me for a bit, trying to ask me questions and I ignored him but then he finally he was like, "I like sex, please mister, won't you fuck me!?".  No thanks!  Maybe next time.

Went over and checked out the archaelogical museums - there are 3 separate ones...one that focused on the orient, one on tiles/ceramics, and the main one that has artifacts of all sorts from Turkey's history.  The latter was the most interesting for sure.  The most impressive things were probably the sarcofighi and tomes.  Some old roman ones that looked kind of egyptian...carved out of HUGE pieces of black stone (obelisk I think), I mean, like more than a metre wide, a metre and a half tall and a couple meters long.  Oh, but the really cool thing was a tomb for one of Alexander the Great's commanders.  It was a large rectangular tomb with really beautiful carvings of battle and hunting scenes on the side...apparently it is one of the most important carvings in the world, and wow, it was really impressive.  Also they had all kinds of statues from BC, which surprised me with how detailed and intricate they were.  The cool thing about the museum too is that you could get really up close to stuff, hardly anything was behind glass.

Also I went to the underground cistern which was built in something like 400BC when the Romans were at there best.  It's a huge underground cavern supported by hundreds of giant pillars, with a big pool of water at the bottom.  Two of the pillars have carved medusa heads at the bottom, facing different directions, the theory is that this is to reflect how the Medusa was turned to stone by her own reflection in the mirror of the sword of...Perseus.

Last night, found a nice restaurant with a rooftop terrace and a good view of the blue mosque at night.  Eggplant kebabs, wheeee.

Wednesday, I headed out with another Aussie guy, Damian, to see some of the main sights, Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque.  Both are HUGE mosques, although Hagia Sofia isn't being used as one at the moment.  It actually used to be a Catholic church but was converted when the Turks took the city back from the Romans.  So there are still beautiful tile mosaics of Christian figures, well, notably Jesus, all over the place.  But they added their spires hooked up with the 5 times daily prayers broadcasting over loudspeakers.  The Blue Mosque is a bit newer and extremely beautiful inside.  You must take your shoes off to go in!  They still have prayers so you can only visit during non prayer times.  I would love to see a session in action actually but it doesn't seem possible.  Anyhow, the tilework and the architecture are amazing.  It is a very symmetrical building as most Islamic buildings are, and very aesthetically pleasing...probably the nicest building I have yet seen on my journeys.

After this, we got a quick bite to eat and headed to the grand bazaar.  It is a pretty cool place but also a bit tiring.  EVERY single merchant tries to talk to you and lure you into their shop.  It is tiring but then you get used to it.  Actually the Turks are all quite friendly and have a good sense of humour so it is not bad.  Tried out a few cheap musical instruments, but most were too cheap and crappy except maybe the tambourine or small drum.  I just went to suss it out today as I will be back in Istanbul after I do a short trip to Goreme in Cappadocia.  So if anyone has any special requests from the Grand Bazaar...let me know!  Lots of scarves, pillow covers, pottery, jewellry and some other cool stuff too.

Spent another day wandering Istanbul, this time I took a ferry across to the Asian side.  Getting away from Sultanhamnet or however you spell it, the city feels a lot more real (i.e. less touristy).  No one asking you if you want to buy something every five seconds.  The Turks are interesting people.  They are very warm and friendly, probably more so than in any other country I've been.  Most people speak English pretty well.  People are well dressed, many men wearing jackets or some form of semi-spiffy dress.  Young guys start to look a lot more western though.  Women are interesting.  A few wear the full burka, many wear at least a headscarf and (although often the rest of their clothes are totally hip), and some look completely western - tshirts, makeup, hair done, etc.  So it is a total mixture of east and west.  In general though, you don't see nearly as many women going about their daily business as you do men.

Got on the night bus to Goreme.  Better than the train for sure though they stop a lot..

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