Turkey part 5 — Last Days in Istanbul

On Thursday I had planned to take the 9:30 AM ferry from Bursa to Istanbul but it was cancelled. The 6:00 PM one ran and I was able to get a ticket. Ayse dropped me off at the terminal and would be joining me in Istanbul on Friday evening.  So often here I have found myself completely disoriented because signs are only in Turkish and it can be hard to find English speakers. That was the case on the ferry ride as well, where I found myself following the crowd and hoping for the best. It took me a while to realize that there were assigned seats like on a plane and unfortunately I didn’t have a window seat. The ferry is very large and modern, transporting cars as well as people. It was a beautiful ride with stunning sunset views. I was able to find someone who spoke English to confirm that I was getting off at the right stop. At the ferry terminal I was able to find a taxi and again despite the language barrier, I understood that there was a lot of traffic and he would charge me a flat rate of 25 Turkish Lira (about $14) instead of using the meter. When we arrived after close to an hour in quite possibly the worst traffic I had ever experienced and I paid him, I realized from looking at the change that I received, that the fare suddenly went up to 35 Lira. I couldn’t even think of how to tell the driver that he overcharged me and demand my mone. Or maybe the traffic was even worse than he had expected and he now felt that this was a fair price? I will never know and was just so happy to be back that I decided not to stress about it.

We hadbeen using a wifi signal in Ilay’s apartment from a local café but when I got back on Thursday I was unable to connect. I took my laptop to a nearby café and had a sahlep, my new favorite hot drink that I had discovered in Bursa. My first night back in Istanbul was going to be a mellow evening.

Friday I had breakfast near the apartment and then decided on a visit to Dolmabahce Palace, a beautiful 19^th century palace that was constructed for the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. I chose this because it was one of the major tourist sites that I don’t remember visiting during my trip here in 1994 and also because it was within walking distance of the apartment (although a very long walk). I was thrilled to have a beautiful sunny day after quite a lot of rain and I enjoyed the walk and even didn’t even mind the hour-long wait in the palace garden to buy my entry ticket. There are 2 main buildings to visit on the grounds, the Selamlik, or ceremonial rooms, and the Harem, or residential quarters. It is required to go through both parts with a guide and I enjoyed both tours. Following that part of the visit I took my time strolling through the grounds of the palace and enjoyed the feeling of not needing to rush off somewhere. I took my time coming back to the apartment, stopping to do some shopping along the way, before heading out to a different café for another sahlep while I waited for Ayse to arrive from Bursa.

Ayse and another friend of her and Ilay’s, who’s name I never quite got, but sounds  something like Shabo,  arrived around 9 PM on Friday. I had no idea what the plans were for the evening, until they arrived with bags of food. So we had dinner at the apartment and made it an early evening, since they were both tired from their busy weeks at work and the fairly long trip from Bursa. I also was starting to feel like I was running out of steam by that point so a quiet evening at home was fine with me.

Saturday morning we had breakfast in the apartment, but first Ayse and I went to a local supermarket. I was very happy to find sahlep…so I bought 12 single serving packets. I think you just need to add hot milk and cinnamon to the powder, although the instructions are only in Turkish so we will see how it turns out. After breakfast we just strolled around Ortakoy, where there are many venders selling jewelry, crafts, used books, etc. and then went on a one hour boat tour on the Bosphorus. It was a bit chilly and windy on the boat but the views were beautiful and it is pretty amazing to think that you look in one direction and you are looking at Europe and then when you turn your head, the other side is Asia.

Later in the afternoon, the 3 of us set out to meet Ilay, who had just come back from a business trip, and her daughter, Zeren for dinner. We had a great meal at a fun and lively restaurant in a very upscale neighborhood of Istanbul called Nisantasi. By being with Turkish people I have been able to experience so much of the country outside of the typical tourist areas and I feel like I have seen quite a bit of the real Turkey. Ilay and Shabo had tickets to a concert that evening and Ayse, Zeren and I  went back to the apartment. Ayse and I  had made tenative plans to go out again that night, to a Cuban bar with Aydin, Ezge and Meir, who we had met the weekend before, but then they weren’t sure if they were going, and we decided that we didn’t have the energy for a late night either. I had to get up early on Sunday for my flight home to New York, so we decided to have another early evening at home instead. Ayse and I went out for another stroll in the neighborhood, bought the most delicious baklava and came back to the apartment to eat it and play some backgammon. Aside from her beating me 3 games in a row, it was a perfect way to end my Turkish adventure.

This was such a wonderful vacation for so many reasons and I was  sad to see it come to an end. I only hope that I see Ayse again soon, either in New York, in Turkey or maybe in some other part of the world. I also feel so fortunate to have met so many wonderful people during these two weeks and I hope to stay in touch with and see some of them again as well.

Turkey part 4 — Pampered in Bursa

On Monday morning, Ayse, Ilay and I left Ilay’s apartment at 6:30 AM to take a 7 AM ferry from Istanbul Bursa, where they both live and work. While in the taxi to the ferry, Ilay received a text message stating that the ferry was cancelled due to high winds. She had tried to get to Bursa on Sunday evening as well and that ferry had been cancelled as well. Apparently this was an unusual situation but the high winds and rain caused unsafe conditions for the ferry boats. I really have had the worst luck with weather and transportation on this trip. Since they both needed to be at work, we had no choice but to take a bus instead. The ferry that crosses the sea of Marmara is the most direct route, and rather than a 1 ½ hour boat ride, we spent over 4 hours traveling by bus. A friend of Ilay’s picked us up at the bus station and then Ayse and I took a taxi the rest of the way to her home. While Ayse got ready for work, I had lunch with her mother, who is one of the warmest and most sweetest people I have ever met. She just kept giving me more and more food and we somehow communicated with gestures and a lot of smiling as well as me repeating one of my few Turkish expressions, tesekur ederim (thank you).

Following the delicious lunch, I went with Ayse to her office for a while so she could take care of some things, then she drove me to a very nice hotel to have a spa day. This was something that her brother had very generously set up for us, but unfortunately she had to go back to work while I was getting pampered at this beautiful spa. It was quite a different experience than the hamam in Goreme. Although there was a spa and sauna, this was more of a western style setting, with the highlight being a full body massage. It felt so wonderful after the long journey from Istanbul and I only wish that Ayse could have joined me there. When I was finished there, Ayse picked me up and dropped me off at a shopping mall near her home where I spent some time while she finished up at work. After about an hour at the mall, she came to pick me up and we did some shopping together and returned to have dinner at home with her mother. I loved her mother’s cooking and enjoyed a quiet evening at home with them. Ayse had called a friend of her mother’s and asked her to come over after dinner to tell our fortunes. This is done by reading the coffee grounds after drinking very think and strong Turkish coffee. Probably not the smartest idea to have so much caffeine so late at night but it was worth it for the experience. This woman was so animated when she was reading the coffee cup and sure of the news that she was telling me. I wish that I had recorded her. She told me that my wish would come true and also told me things that were eerily on target. So wild!

Tuesday morning Ayse’s mother served us a delicious breakfast and then she went to work and I went to do some sightseeing. I remembered from my last trip to Turkey being blown away by the beauty of the Green Mosque and the Green Tomb. The mosque was built for Mehmet I, the 5^th Ottoman Sultan between 1419 and 1924. The tomb is the mausoleum for him and his children, with exquisite tile work. I started my visit in the tomb, and met an English speaking Kurdish-Turkish man, Yunus, who asked me if I wanted him to give me some information. Of course I said yes and he explained the history to me. It turned out that the mosque was closed for renovation and Yunus was overseeing the project. I guess I looked so sad when he told me that, because he ended up taking me inside the mosque and I was able to see the renovation in process. Yunus also sells carpets, tiles, and scarves in nearby shop and following my visit to the tomb and mosque invited me have tea with him in his shop so we talked some more. Finally it was time to say goodbye and I continued on with my sightseeing. I spent a few minutes in the very small Turkish an Islamic Arts Museum and a slightly longer time in the slightly larger Bursa City Museum before my next scheduled activity, lunch with Ilay.

Unfortunately Ayse was too busy to join us for lunch but Ilay had wanted to take me out for the famous Iskender (or Bursa) kebab. We met near Ayse’s job and before eating, she wanted to check out a photography exhibition, Bursa FotoFest, which was taking place in locations throughout the city. She didn’t have a lot of time but she is like the Energizer Bunny, and we ran around like crazy and were able to see some beautiful photographs in equally beautiful settings before going back to her office where she ordered the kebabs to be delivered. This is one of my favorite dishes whenever I go to a Turkish restaurant but the meal that day was so delicious it is hard to believe that it is the same dish I had eaten before. It is lamb cooked on a spit, with tomato, yogurt and bread. Apparently these lamb are raised on a mountain and fed special oregano which is why the meat tastes so good. This was truly a memorable meal.

Following lunch, I went to Bursa’s covered bazaar. This is very different from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It is not at all touristy and was fun to absorb the atmosphere and take some pictures. Then I returned to Ayse’s office to meet another friend of hers, Asli, who agreed to spend some time with me. Asli was very sweet and speaks English well, so we spent an enjoyable afternoon together, visiting another tomb and going to a very pretty café, where I discovered a new drink called sahlep, It is a hot drink with cinnamon and was perfect for this cold afternoon. She then dropped me off at Ayse’s apartment where we got ready for our next destination, a blues festival. Probably the last thing I expected to do in Turkey was listen to blues, but it was fun to see so many young Turkish people enjoying this very American style of music. Some other friends of Ayse’s joined us so I got to meet some more people as well.

On Wednesday morning, I was pretty sure that Ayse needed to go to work and I would be on my own for the day. Instead she surprised me by taking me to a very old traditional Ottoman village called Cumalikizik for breakfast. At first it looked like a ghost town with nothing open but then we found a restaurant and had a very traditional meal of spinach and cheese cooked with a type of flat bread. Kind of like an omelet without the eggs. It felt like we went back in time, walking on ancient cobblestone streets and seeing traditional old houses. Ayse did have to work, so we returned to 21^st century Bursa. On the way back I decided to call Yunus, who I had met the day before. He had told me that he would like to see me again but I didn’t want to promise anything until I knew what Ayse’s schedule was. We agreed to meet at 3 PM in front of the Silk Bazaar. I hung out at Ayse’s office for a while so she could get some work done and the she took me there a little early so I could do a little shopping…so many beautiful silk scarves! She joined Yunus and me for a tea, deemed him trustworthy and returned to work. He and I strolled around a bit, had a lunch of Iskender kebab again (yum!) and I went back to hang out at his shop. Ayse called me in the evening to say that her planned tango lesson was cancelled so I took a taxi back to her office and we returned to her apartment for another delicious home cooked meal. I really have eaten so well on this trip, especially in Bursa! I also got to meet her brother and sister-in-law and adorable 6 year old nephew who were visiting for the evening.

Yunus had told us about a place where we could see traditional whirling dervishes (Mevlevi). These are mystics who whirl themselves into what seems to be a trancelike state. There are touristy demonstrations or performances of this all over Turkey but this one was the real deal. Ayse and I met Yunus at this mosque-like building where we took our shoes off before entering, men and women sat separately, and we were practically the only women there not wearing headscarves. It was clear that we were watching a religious ceremony and not a show organized for tourists. Some of the dervishes appeared to be as young as 7 or 8 years old and it was fascinating and beautiful to watch them whirl continuously for about 45 minutes. This was an unforgettable experience. Afterwards Ayse, Yunus and I had a drink at a lovely boutique hotel in town and talked about our lives.

Thursday morning I had a ticket for a 9:30 ferry back to Istanbul. We woke up to another fantastic breakfast spread courtesy of her mother, and we left to go to the ferry terminal. She dropped me off there, and as I was about to enter the terminal, learned that the ferry was cancelled due to high winds. The ticket agent refunded my money and suggested that I take a bus to Istanbul instead. Before deciding anything, I called Ayse (she had given me her cell phone for my time in Turkey and is using her work cell) who promptly came back to get me. She has been under enormous stress and work and I felt bad that she had to take more time out of her busy day for me. We drove back to Bursa and I called Yunus who was happy that the ferry was cancelled and entertained me for the day while Ayse went to work so it all worked out in the end. Yunus and I had a very nice day together and I was able to take a ferry later that day, at 6 PM, to spend  the last few days of my vacation in Istanbul.

Ayse has taken such good care of me this entire vacation but especially so in Bursa, her hometown. The warmth, hospitality and generosity that she and her entire family have shown me is indescribable. Ilay has been amazing to me as well and I also feel so fortunate to have met Yunus. I feel like this from trip has taught me so much about the meaning and importance of friendship and is what I will take away the entire experience, even more than the incredible historic sites of Turkey.

Turkey part 3 — Crazy Istanbul Weekend

On Friday morning I flew from Kayseri in Cappadocia back to Istanbul. It was a smooth and easy one hour flight and I no trouble finding the shuttle bus that would then take me back to Taksim Square in Istanbul. After that, my adventures began. I decided I would see if I could take a bus back to Ilay’s apartment rather than a taxi. I asked someone who worked for the shuttle service to help me. Without speaking any English, he helped me buy a bus ticket from a kiosk, wrote down the number of the bus I needed to take and showed me where to wait. From the little I knew of Istanbul geography, it appeared that the bus would be going in the opposite direction of the apartment, but I have the worst sense of direction and figured that someone working for a transportation company would know better than me. Once I got on the bus, I decided to see if I could find someone to further direct me. I approached a blond woman who looked like she might speak English, and sure enough, she was from Finland and living in Istanbul. The first thing that she asked me was if I was a missionary, which I found unusual until she told me that she came to Turkey to teach bible study. She explained that the bus had just come from Ortakoy, and I could stay on until it got back there, but it would be quite a long ride. Instead, she suggested that I get off at the next stop with her, cross the street and take a bus going in the other direction. At this point, I was ready to give up and just take a taxi, but the nice Finnish missionary crossed the street with me, ran after an approaching bus, got on and tried to explain to the driver what had happened. He either didn’t understand her or wasn’t sympathetic enough to let me on the bus with my already-used ticket. Before I knew what was happening, the lady swiped her own bus card for me and gone before I could dig into my wallet for the fare. Once on the bus another woman who not only didn’t speak English but was wearing a hearing aid but she was able to tell me where I should get off, and after walking about a block, knew exactly where I was and easily found my way back to the apartment.

Ayse was coming back to Istanbul from Bursa later that evening and she told me that I should meet her in Taksim Square at 8:30 PM. I decided to set out early and explore that area, especially Istiklal Caddesi, a well known pedestrian street. I knew I could take the bus back there, although I wasn’t sure about where to buy the ticket. My other option was to take a taxi. I decided to start walking in the general direction and take a taxi when I had walked enough or if I got hopelessly lost. I ended up walking the entire way, which I think helped me feel more oriented in this complicated city. I enjoyed strolling Istiklal, which was a crowded, lively street  filled with shops, restaurants and a very upscale mall. It was a rainy evening and eventually I got tired of walking so I planted myself in a McDonald’s for a little while to wait for Ayse to arrive.  She picked me up in a taxi and we continued on to our destination, a restaurant in the Beyoglu area. First we met a childhood friend of Ayse’s, Unal and the three of us enjoyed a delicious meal of appetizers (meze) and wine. I think the plan was to have a main course afterwards but we were so full from the appetizers that we never got around to it. Unal was very sweet and funny and I really enjoyed his company. Then another friend of Ayse’s and his American wife arrived. They are living in New York and are in Turkey on vacation, so this was kind of a reunion for him and more and more of their friends kept arriving. Eventually we said goodbye to the group and Ayse and I went to have a quiet dessert together before returning to the apartment.

On Saturday Ayse and I had planned to spend the day together in Istanbul but she had a last minute all-day work meeting. On her way to the meeting, she dropped me off at a spot where I was able to catch a tram to the historic center of Istanbul. Since I have been here before, I wasn’t feeling pressured to see the countless historic sites, but instead chose those I wanted to return to. The first was the Grand Bazaar. I love traditional markets, and while this one is extremely touristy, it is not to be missed. I didn’t even have much interest in shopping there, preferring to stroll among the 2000 shops, take pictures and allow myself to get lost. While I have encountered many people in Turkey who don’t speak any English, those working in tourism all do, and it is impossible to walk more than a few steps without a shopkeeper asking where you are from, inviting you into their store, and offering tea. I ended up chatting and having tea with a carpet vendor even though I had absolutely no intention of buying a carpet. Of course, he told me that 99% of everybody who buys a carpet says the same thing, so I am sure that he was hoping I would change my mind, but I didn’t. I just enjoyed my apple tea and continued on with my day. From the Grand Bazaar, I headed to the Spice Bazaar, which is the same idea but with food. To get from one to the other, I passed a more authentic market area, where instead of souvenirs and handcrafts, you could buy things for the home, shoes, clothes, etc. On my way, I stumbled on a small mosque which I had planned to visit, the beautiful Rustem Pasa mosque, which was built by the important architect Sinan in 1560.Next I found the Spice Bazaar, which was fun too, with samples of all kinds of goodies and many more fabulous photo opportunities. I discovered a delicious snack of dried chick peas coated with honey and sesame seeds. Unfortunately I didn’t learn the name of this treat nor have I seen it since. My last stop of the afternoon was the Suleymaniye Mosque, which was also designed by Sinan. It was commissioned for the Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16^th century and is truly magnificent. After 2 markets and 2 bazaars, I was ready to call it a day and headed back to the apartment to meet Ayse, who had told me that she had a surprise planned for us that evening.

Saturday night Ayse took me to a restaurant/nightclub right in the Ortakoy area called Nomads. I felt like I was in a Turkish episode of “Sex and the City” with all of Istanbul’s most glamorous and beautiful people. The décor was stunning and the food out of this world. First, we had about 12 different cold appetizers with  a few different kinds of bread. Following that came hot appetizers and then the main course of different meats, chicken, eggplant, salad and vegetables. Next was a dessert assortment. If that was not enough, after dessert we were served pistachios and macadamia nuts. All the while, wine was free-flowing. A DJ played Turkish, American and Arabic pop music and eventually people got up to dance, the staff handed out tambourines and it became one big party. There were belly dance performances throughout the evening and also a fabulous drummer. Truly a special and unforgettable evening.

Sunday we woke up to a cold and rainy day. It was also the Istanbul marathon, which was going to make the already crazy traffic even worse. Ayse thought I should do some sightseeing but I was feeling extremely lazy. Instead we started to walk to a nearby park and were trying to find a café located inside the park. We stopped an approaching car with 2 guys in it, and ended up going for a drink with them. One spoke just a bit of English and the other one didn’t speak at all. They were smoking nonstop and drinking even while driving so I was a bit uncomfortable with the entire situation. The highlight of the afternoon was that I beat one of them at backgammon, which I thought was a pretty impressive accomplishment. Eventually we said good bye and returned to the apartment.

Sunday evening we had plans to meet a friend of my friend of mine, Aydin, who lives in Istanbul. He joined Ayse and me at a nearby café with his girlfriend Ezgi and his brother Meir and we had a great time getting to know them. They are such warm, friendly and interesting people and quite different from the characters we had met earlier that day. While out with them, Ayse got a call from Ilay(whose apartment we were staying in), letting us know that she was unexpectedly on her way to the aparment due to transportation problems getting to her main home in Bursa. We said a quick goodbye to our new friends and went back to the apartment. Ayse, Ilay and I spent the rest of Sunday at the apartment and planned to leave together early Monday morning for Bursa.

My weekend in Istanbul was a whirlwind, and quite different from my time in Cappadocia. It was nice not to feel that had to see all of the typical tourist attractions and could just take my time absorbing the atmosphere of some different parts of the city and meeting so many wonderful people.

Turkey part 2 — Fabulous Cappadocia

Monday I was on my own in Istanbul until my 6:45 PM flight to Kayseri airport in Cappadocia. It was raining on and off all day, which combined with feelings of jetlag, discouraged me from doing much of anything. I stayed close to the apartment in Ortakoy, until it was time to take a taxi to the Taksim Square area, where I would catch a shuttle bus to the airport. I got to Taksim early with the idea that I would walk around there a bit. However, by the time I arrived, the rain had picked up so I just planted myself in a Turkish fast food joint, where I had a quite good meal of something called peymacun, which was a cheese pizza type thing. Finally it was time to catch the shuttle to Sahiba Gokcen airport for the 1 hour flight to Kayseri. I flew Pegasus Air, which I suppose could be described as the Spirit Air or Ryanair of Turkey. Super cheap flights from not terribly convenient airports, and extra charges from everything from choosing your seat to a bottle of water. It was one of the more turbulent and uncomfortable flights I have ever been on, probably due to poor weather conditions. But we landed on time, and the shuttle that I had organized through my hotel was waiting for me at the airport.

Around 10:00 PM I arrived at my hotel, Nature Park Cave Hotel (http://www.natureparkhotel.com/en/index.asp) in the town of Goreme. Luckily, it was a clear and beautiful night and my first glimpse of this stunning landscape was a dramatic one of the caves and rock formations illuminated by moonlight. I was very excited to be in this historic and fascinating region that I had wanted to visit since I learned about it several years ago. The history dates back over 4000 years when it was settled by the Hittites. During the Roman and Byzantine periods, the region was a refuge for Christians and Christianity flourished here from the 4^th to 11^th centuries. The area is known for it’s “fairy chimneys” which are surreal looking rock formations created from lava flows from the surrounding volcanoes. Today many hotels are carved into the ancient rocks, allowing tourists to sleep in ancient “caves.”

Tuesday morning I was ready to start my sightseeing. I had reserved a full day tour through my hotel, which was going to take me to some of the historic sites as well as a short hike in one of the valleys in the area. While not a huge fan of guided group tours, I recognize that there are certain times they make sense. Since Cappadocia doesn’t have the best public transportation and there are so many things to see, I decided to take tours for at least 2 of my 3 days here. Also, when traveling alone, tours are a nice way to meet other travelers. I really enjoyed the “Green Tour” on Tuesday, despite being somewhat disappointed in the guide, who seemed fairly disinterested and provided minimal information. But it was an interesting group compristed of people from all over the world, and the places that we visited were all fascinating. The highlight for me was undoubtedly the Derinkuyu underground city, Our guide told us that this city dates back 4500 years, but my Lonely Planet guide book states that it was used in the 6^th and 7^th centuries to hide Christians from Persian and Arabic armies, and about 10,000 people lived there for months at a time. There are 11 levels reaching down 80 meters. We descended 40 meters, to I believe the 8^thlevel, which was sufficient to get the idea. It is amazing how well constructed the city was to survive for so long. This was only one of 37 underground cities that have been opened, and is believed that there are over 100 more. I also really enjoyed the hike in the Ihlara Valley, which was advertised as being 3.5 kilometers but felt longer. It was a beautiful walk along a stream, ending at a lovely waterfall. We also had a nice lunch included in the tour and a few other stops, including an ancient monastery built into the side of a mountain, and some where we  just took pictures of the landscape.

One of the most difficult things for me when traveling alone is going out to dinner by myself and I usually tend to not do much in the evenings. It has been easy to meet people here and on Tuesday I arranged to meet William from Brazil, who I had met at the airport. He also invited an Australian girl to join us, and we ended up at a bar/restaurant owned by an Australian woman married to a Turkish man. The food and company were good and it was an enjoyable evening. I didn’t stay out late, though, because I was supposed to be picked up the next morning at 5:50 AM for a hot air balloon flight.

Hot air balloon rides are probably the most popular activity in Cappadocia, and it is not hard to imagine why. Seeing the stunning landscape from above must be a thrilling experience. However, the rides are dependent on the weather, and if it too windy, it is not safe for the balloons to fly. Unfortunately, that was the situation on Wednesday, when my tour was reserved. This was the third day in a row flights were cancelled due to high winds. Needless to say I was disappointed but at least I had a chance to try again on Thursday.

I immediately went back to sleep for about 2 hours then woke up to go on a second guided group tour, the “Red Tour.” I liked the guide this day better and we had a small but fun group. There was Yuki from Japan who was very sweet and spoke a little English, a honeymooning Turkish couple who didn‘t speak English, 4 Spaniards who also didn’t speak English, and 2 Dominican-American cousins who were lively and fun, and ended up being the de facto interpreters for the Spaniards. Somehow, despite the various language barriers, we all had a great time.

The first stop on this tour was Cavusin, an old Greek village that dates back to the 10^thcentury. The next stop, and the focal point of the tour was the Goreme Open Air Museum. In retrospect, I probably would have been better off visiting this on my own rather than in a tour. It is a collection of churches and monasteries carved into rocks from the Byzantine period. The museum was extremely crowded, and we had to wait to enter each of the churches and then were only allowed to spend 3 minutes inside. I think we only saw a fraction of the museum. We had a good lunch included on this tour and it was an fun meal with multilingual communication. After lunch, we had a stop in Pasabagi to see some other fairy chimneys, which are mushroom (or phallic) shaped. Then we went to a pottery factory in the village of Avanos which is famous for ceramic works. The guide from the factory very impressively provided the information in Spanish and Japanese, since that made the most sense for our group and we got to see a demonstration of pottery being made and also watched workers painting the finished pieces. Next was a stop in Dervent Valley, also known as Imagination Valley where the rock formations look like various animals and familiar objects. The last stop on the tour was a winery, where we were able to taste locally produced wines.

Wednesday evening I had dinner with a Turkish guy I had met the day before, Mustafa, who has a souvenir shop in Goreme. It was nice to talk to a local and get away from the tourist route.

Thursday morning I tried again to go up in a hot air balloon. The fights normally are at sunrise, around 6:30 AM and if there is enough demand there are second flights around an hour later. Due to the cancellations from the past 3 days, all of the sunrise flights were booked and I was scheduled for the second flight. However, once again it was not meant to be. The first flights took off but then the wind picked up, creating unsafe flying conditions  resulting in further cancellations. I was actually kind of glad that the flight was cancelled, because it was a very cloudy and gray day. The flights are very expensive and if I was going to spend that much money, I wanted perfect conditions. I guess that this just means I need to return to Cappadocia one day.

I didn’t really have anything planned for Thursday. There were some other tours I could have taken but I felt like I needed a break from the guided tour group experience. I was hoping to find a local guide to do some hiking, and the owner of my hotel tried to help me set that up but was unsuccessful. Instead, I ended up having a lazy day. After breakfast, I went back to sleep for a little while, then did a short walk on my own to see another ancient church, walked around Goreme, did some shopping, had lunch, and went back to the hotel to take a nap. Around 4:00 I decided to visit the Haman, or traditional Turkish bath in Goreme. What an experience! First, I was led to a locker room/changing area and given a small piece of cloth to wrap around myself. Some women had bathing suits, but I had left mine in Istanbul, and was assured it would not be a problem. Once wrapped in the robe, a young woman smeared some mud on my face and told me to go into the sauna for 15 minutes. I sat with two French girls who seemed as bewildered as I was. Once we decided that we had enough time in the sauna, we took showers to wash the mud off our faces and then went into a large room where there were women spread out on a large marble slab. This was for the scrub and massage. That was the best part of the experience. The only weird part was seeing everyone in the buff–this was definitely not the time or place for modesty. Following the scrub, I was directed to take a shower again and then go to the swimming pool. The pool was freezing and I didn’t really see the point so I didn’t stay there too long. I know that the whole thing was a bit touristy but it was still a fun cultural experience that left me feeling very relaxed.

For my last evening in Goreme, I just strolled around the town, had dinner in a traditional restaurant where you take your shoes off before entering and eat sitting on cushions. There was an old man playing traditional music, and I chatted a bit with 2 Australian women sitting near me and had a very pleasant meal. Then I stopped in to say good bye to Mustafa in his shop and hung out with him there for a while listening to CD’s of Turkish pop music before heading back to my hotel.

Friday morning I had a shuttle bus coming at 8:00 AM to take me to the airport. Although breakfast at the hotel was normally served starting at 8:30,the very accommodating owner had food ready for me at 7:30  and even joined me as I ate. Despite my disappointment in not being able to ride in a hot air balloon, my time in the very special region of Cappadocia was an unforgettable and incredible part of thisTurkish adventure.

Turkey part 1 — Great Start!

Well, the flight from New York to Istanbul was as uneventful as a 9 hour plus flight can be. It was full so I didn’t get lucky enough to have a whole row to myself. Instead, I was seated next to a Turkish woman wearing a head scarf who didn’t speak a word of English, didn’t read or watch a movie, barely ate anything and not once on the entire flight got up to use the bathroom. I, on the other hand, was restless and miserable. One nice feature on the otherwise unremarkable experience of flying coach on Delta was the individual monitor on the seat with a fairly large assortment of movies. First I watched “Water for Elephants,” which was OK but not as good as the book. Following the movie, I decided to take ½ of an Ambien and try to take a nap. In retrospect, that was probably not the best strategic move. For starters, it was only around 8 PM New York time so I really wasn’t ready to go to sleep. Apparently, neither was anybody else, because every time I found myself drifting off, I was waken up by other people’s too loud conversations. I think I did doze off here and there because the time seemed to pass rather quickly. Eventually, I gave up trying to sleep and decided to watch another movie, “Bridesmaids” (Very silly and not as funny as certain friends led me to believe).

Eventually we landed in Istanbul, about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The first thing that I needed to do was buy a visa, which is basically a tourist tax. While waiting to buy the visa, which costs $20 for Americans and is good for 3 months,I had to listen to some tourists argue with the agent about the cost and try to buy a cheaper visa since they were only going to be in Turkey for 4 days. And people wonder why Americans have such a bad reputation as travelers! That done, I waited on line to go through immigration (where there was no form to fill out, no questions about what I was going to be doing in Turkey, where I was staying, etc.), got my suitcase and went through customs, where there didn’t even appear to be anyone working.

My friend Ayse had said that she would meet me at the airport that but if I didn’t see her, to wait at “the coffee place” that I would pass after exiting customs. I sat down at the first coffee shop that I encountered, and sure enough, about 15 minutes later, there she was. I had originally thought that she was coming by car, but it turned out that she came from her home town of Bursa by public transportation, which involved leaving her house around 6 AM. Since I hate inconveniencing anyone, I had offered to take a taxi from the airport to her friend’s house in Istanbul, where we would be staying, but the truth is that it was really nice to have a familiar face greet me at the airport. And as I am quickly learning, this is not the easiest country to navigate solo. Ayse and I took a shuttle bus to Taksim Square, which is where I will have to go later today to catch a shuttle to a different airport for my flight to Cappadocia. So it was great to have some idea of where I need to go. From Taksim, we took a taxi to Ortakoy, the area of Istanbul where Ayse’s friend Ilay has an apartment that she is letting us use. I met Ilay last year when she was in New York and she actually stayed in my apartment for 2 weeks taking care of my cat when I was in Spain.  It is fabulous to have a place to stay in a non-touristy area and really creates a very different expereince for a traveler.

The apartment is beautiful and is in a wonderful area right near the Bosphorus, with great shopping and cute cafes just steps away. But  luxury apartments in old buildings in historic areas don’t always have elevators, and I almost tumbled town the curving staircase trying to carry my suitcase up 4 flights in my exhausted, jet lagged state. Somehow Ayse, who is maybe 5 feet tall, was able to do it, and I will be forever grateful to her for that. When we arrived at the apartment around noon, I met Ilay’s mother, who had been staying there and I was still  tried so hard to be social but I was so completely exhausted I could barely function. I took a nap for about an hour, but was abruptly awoken by the call to prayer from the nearby Ortakoy Mosque. It didn’t matter though–it just felt so good to lay down and rest in a comfortable bed and after a shower I felt a 100% better.

Ayse had thought we could take a boat cruise on the Bosphorus but it was raining on and off so that didn’t seem like the best plan. Instead we just walked around the area, had a late lunch of kebabs, came back to the apartment and relaxed, went out again for coffee, came back and played backgammon and chatted, then went out for another walk to see Ortakoy at night, then finally called it a night. She left early this morning to go back to Bursa and I am leaving this afternoon for my next destination, Cappadocia. I will meet Ayse back here on Friday. So far, this vacation is off to a great start!