I flew into Istanbul from Zagreb with Turkish Airlines to join a 15 day GAP Adventures tour around the country. My first time with this airline and surprised the service was good and the average age of their fleet young. They have a wide coverage of destinations with lots going to various cities in Russia. The Mediterranean coast is a popular destination for Russians who do, at times, shock the locals with penchant for skimpy attire.
Even though Istanbul is huge with over 12 million, getting around and to and from the international airport are very easy and cheap. The airport trip takes about an hour to the old town and you change from Metro and Tram about halfway, the total fare is Euro1.50. And conveniently, trams move around most of the main tourist sites and over the Gallata bridge to the main shopping area ( the northern side of the Golden Horn ). And should you get lost, you will eventually come to a tram line and hence your ticket to get back on track.
Diana, Jarrod, Lee-Ann, Korhan, Laureen, Laura, Gregg, Ray
My group, besides the Turkish tour leader, Korhan ( 25 ) was Ray & Laureen ( mid 70's ) from Alberta, Canada; Gregg ( about my age ) and his daughter ( 14 ) from Atlanta, USA; Lee-Ann ( 35 ) from Toronto; Diana ( 44 ) also from Toronto and Jarrod ( 30 ) from Australia and my room-mate. Ray was surprising fit for his age and both he and Laureen regularly go on cycling and hiking trips though Laureen has macular degeneration in one eye so now has some difficulties walking downhill ( can't see depth ). Lee-Ann originally obtained a degree in Chemistry but switched to Law a few years ago. Diana is a human resources manager for a software company and Gregg, a professor at a college that teaches graduate and undergraduate students in public policy and public accounting, mainly public servants and staff from the not-for-profit sector. Jarrod was on 6 months OE.
Turkish Airlines managed to mislay the luggage of both Toronto girls but luckily they turned up before we departed our Istanbul hotel.
To prove the point of we all have 6 degrees of separation, I discovered Lee-Ann and I had a friend in common. On my first trip to Japan in 2008 on a GAP Adventures tour, Josh was my room-mate. He was doing back-to-back tours in Japan and Lee-Ann happened to be on that next trip.
I was last in Istanbul in 2007 so had previously visited most of the tourist spots but went again to the Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar and around the streets of the old town.
Then late in the day, it was a minibus trip across the Bosphorus to Asia and Istanbul's' eastern railway station for a night train to Ankara. A comfortable journey with not many other passengers in our carriage though I didn't sleep well. Don't know why?
Ankara is a bit like Canberra and Brasilia, a town almost solely developed as a capital city and the main tourist attraction, mainly for locals ( especially school groups ), is the mausoleum and museum for the man they still revere as close to a god and as the man who created modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk or the father of Turkey. He 1st rose to fame by disobeying a high command order to move his troops prior to the ANZAC invasion and then being fortuitously in the right place when the British cannon fodder from downunder made an error and landed at an unplanned destination at what is now called ANZAC cove. His battalion, though almost decimated, managed to hold the line and save Turkey. I'm not sure if the current Turks see the dichotomy of worshipping a man whose life was so un-islamic. He had a short and troubled marriage and was an alcoholic. He smoked 4 packets of cigarettes per day and succumbed to lung cancel at 57. He did though fit the mould of a benevolent dictator by making a number of changes ( for the better ) of Turkish society including dumping Arabic script and separating religion from politics. He introduced democracy but not enough to threaten his rule but without offspring, didn't perpetrate his rule through family
His images are everywhere from statues in every town, portraits in every office and home and on coinage and bank notes.
A new Turkish written language was created though I don't know why they created so many bits and pieces to add to the letters we know. "C"'s and "S"'s with squiggles below the letter are common and are pronounced like "Ch" and "Sh" and as well vowels sometimes have the ".." On top to differentiate different sounds.
From Ankara, we traveled by 13 seater minibus to Goreme in Cappadocia. There are all sorts of weird rock formations as a result of uneven erosion of volcanic soils. As well, being in the path of marauding invaders over millennia, the local communities used the relatively soft volcanic rock to build extensive towns underground, going down 60 or so metres over 6 - 8 levels. These they would use during emergencies, successfully from the invaders. They were also used by very early christians during various purges during the early stages of this religion. Several churches are carved into the rock and you can still see the interior decorations. However, the whole area is a very popular tourist destination with all the negatives that go with this. Souvenir shops galore.
As well as visiting these under ground towns and cave homes and churches, we managed to get away from the crowds and did some treks through the moonscape landscape. Then there were the obligatory visits to ceramic and carpet factories and a display of traditional dancing including whirling dervishes and a belly dancer.
We spent a short time at an ancient caravanserei, a protected fort for passing travelers and traders. One night, we visited a local family for our evening meal and this was interesting not so much from the meal but the reaction of my group. Most thought that we had been "invited", something special, by the family and a discussion ensued of what we should take with us as a thank you. In reality, the family did this as a business proposition about 4 - 5 times a month for visiting groups and as such was not really as authentic as many believed. Turkey is now a major tourist destination and meeting locals and getting to see how they live in a real sense is almost impossible from within a group position. I was reminded of my very first visit to Turkey in the 70's when I able to experience real Turkish hospitality without any strings attached.
We stayed 3 nights in Goreme and from then on, it was 1 night in each city, progressing down to the southern Mediterranean coast and up the Aegean to Gallipoli and back to Istanbul. The itinerary has been posted earlier. Visits included the eternal flames at Chimaera, several ancient Roman ruins including some large theatres and the museum devoted to Mevlana Rumi, the poet and mystic who started the Whirling Dervishes.
Greek or Roman God ??
One night was spent on a small boat just off the coast on which most slept on deck. Disappointingly we didn't travel far from town and most of the stopover points to view ruins on small islands and submerged towns ( as a result of earthquake activity ) or to swim and snorkel just happened to be stopover points for several other boats as well.
Major destinations on the northern leg were stopovers at important archaeological sites. At Pamukkale, there is double site with the ancient city of Hierapolis adjacent to white cliffs, an area of hot springs. Bright white calcium carbonate has precipitated out of the hot water over the ages, resulting in layers and pools cascading down the slopes below the town. Next was Ephesus and here mass tourism hits you head on. Several cruise boats stop over nearby as well as all the other package tours. The ancient city does have many well preserved building including floor mosaics from the houses of the more wealthy inhabitants. All a bit spoilt by the current invasion of the hordes from the west!! One cruise line put on a show for their clients...trashy but cute.
Troy was next though there is little to see. We did have a good local guide who took us around the site but he did point out that no one really knows if the legend of the horse is true or if so, what it looked like though there are replicas here and in Canakkale ( the last one made of fibreglass for a recent movie ). Troy is located in a strategic location overlooking the Dardanelles and in ancient times, the sea was much closer to the city than today.
Then onto Canakkale to cross back to Europe and to the Gallipoli battlefields which are now mainly cemeteries. ANZAC cove, Lone Pine and Cunuck Bair from where Ataturk directed the fighting and the site of the New Zealand memorial. I did manage to eavesdrop on a another group's local guide who supplied a very good description of the battle and battle lines.
Then back to Istanbul and the final supper. I did stay an extra 2 days, as I needed to purchase something from the Grand Bazaar for Robert & Blanka in Zagreb ( shopping is not a favourite hobby of mine ) and to have time on my own. Unfortunately, rain for the whole time did put a damper an activities.
Overall the trip was very good in content with visits to most of Turkey's important sites though a bit too packaged. Korhan did a good job as tour leader and our driver, Selo, very cautious in what is a pack of incautious drivers. However, our mob was a weird one and my roommate the worst so far. We had 2 terrorists who attempted to hijack every available conversation with "it's all about me " moments. "In Canada..." ; "In Australia..."; " I..."; "When I was in Vietnam..." became annoyingly common. Our Canadian busybody somehow kept forgetting that there were 3 other Canadians present who could refute some of her outlandish claims and these became louder as she consumed alcohol, and funnily, our Australian terrorist had to repeat every utterance because few could understand his strong Australian accent. I wonder if many Australians realise that some of their compatriots are changing the name of their country to Strailya. And it wasn't if the 2 offenders had anything useful to contribute!!
Strangely my other encounter with a busybody on tour was a girl also from Toronto in China and 2 Australian "it's all about me" brothers in Indonesia. Could these become attributes to replace the ugly American tourist. Group tours are ideal situations..a captive audience! So far, the best groups are those with a large batch in their 20's. On this trip there were none.
The local people were pleasant and friendly, especially if you attempted a word or 2 in Turkish. Most appear active economically though the country is still relatively poor by European standards.
Hotels were comfortable and reasonable for what we paid..about 1 - 2 star. Breakfast is included in all. Public toilets were common and surprising clean and often palatial with a small fee expected for the cleaner. Food did become a bit boring with "kebab" on most menus but I did suspect that we frequented places that had special tourist menus, designed for what they thought tourists would want! Turkey is not especially beautiful and tends to have a harsh landscape though the conifer covered mountain range a few kilometers in from the Mediterranean coast is an exception and Cappadocia is a a bit strange and special. Fruit, vegetables and grain are the main crops, much still cultivate on small land holdings by hand.
Tea is the main beverage, served in small glasses with sugar cubes, rarely with milk. Men, mainly, congregrate in small cafes in the afternoons to drink tea and play card and board games or just gossip. Alcohol is freely available with Raki the spirit of choice. It's the same as ouzo.
I did learn how connected the world is becoming with all hotels and many restaurants offering free wireless internet for their clients.
Lots more photos here :
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171793&id=656590962&l=30c84fa8be
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171807&id=656590962&l=100dd05fe8
