Turkey

Centuries and centuries of history.

People who love children.

Baklava to die for.

Chewy ice cream.

Crowds of people and many tourists.

Great food.

Incredible cave dwellings and churches.

Water everywhere.

These are some things that come to mind as we think about our first 2 weeks in Turkey.

Our return to a more “foreign” country after the more familiar surroundings of New Zealand and Australia was a welcome change. Most everyone was ready for something new. Ainsley remarked along the way that we needed to have a few more “challenging” countries before we visit with friends in Rome and Switzerland and then return home.

We landed in Istanbul after a grueling 27 hours of travel from Australia, but the transition thankfully was easier than expected. Our 7 PM arrival was well timed for us to go to bed and wake up the next morning after a full night of sleep. Yes, we were still a bit tired for a few days, but never really experienced any jet lag. What a nice surprise!

Istanbul ended up occupying a full week of our Turkey time, with so many historic and wonderful sites to visit and much history to learn. They say it is the crossroads for Europe and Asia. For me it didn’t have distinct characteristics of either, instead forming a real personality of its own, and what a wonderful one it is. Water, water everywhere. People, people everywhere. History, history everywhere. We found it an easy city to navigate and it supplied seemingly endless magical historical sights to see. An underground cistern built in the 6th century (Basilica Cistern), a church converted to a mosque from 532 AD (Hagia Sophia), and a mosque of stunning architecture and scale (Blue Mosque) all within blocks of our hostel.

We had a really fun day meeting Berrin and her family, the sister of our good friend Murat from Durham . We met them in Ortakoy, up the Bosphorus a bit, and continued on to the park where Murat and Leslie were married years ago. Again, spending time with friends and others from the local area has always proven to be the best for us.

We also found our hostel to be a real surprise. Our dorm room, shared with up to 5 other travelers, was probably the cheapest beds in the area, unremarkable and actually a bit cave like. Or, maybe I’m describing the one shower and toilet in the basement that I think may really have been a cave. However, what was great was the genuine hospitality and sharing of the young owner Mehtin and his staff. We cooked a fish dinner together one evening and during our stay he shared many insights and perspectives into Turkey and what it means to come from a Kurdish background. He really loved the kids too and made them feel truly welcome and wanted. They got a lot of attention!

The star treatment of our children continued well past the hostel into the streets of Istanbul. Eliot was hugged, his head rubbed or given free food and treats at almost every turn. We laughed each time as he was showered with attention and free things. He came to like the attention and did his best to look cute and attention worthy.

The streets were constantly crowded with people, not quite India standards, but busy seemingly all the time. Locals moving around and countless tour buses descending upon sites. And this isn’t even peak tourist season yet?! Men playing Turkish backgammon in side streets or cards in tea houses, thousands shuffling on and off ferries and cars ignoring traffic laws. What did the green cross walk signal mean? Watch out! We found that out day one.

Our only disappointment in Istanbul was the food. We had a really good meal our first day and then struggled to find more throughout our stay, sentenced to tourist restaurants and middling local ones. The baklava however is something that may haunt us for years to come. We went twice to the famous one in all of the guide books and then a few days before we left found Konyali, the one that Leslie recommended. We still joke about how we are going to end up going through Istanbul before we leave Turkey so that we can go there one last time. It probably won’t happen that way and our taste buds are saddened.

We left Istanbul on the night bus and entered the web of a finely tuned Turkish bus system. Bus travel here is a very common way of traversing the country and they seem to do it very well. Ticket prices are reasonable, buses are of a recent vintage and the roads (at least in the Western part of the country) are fairly well maintained. So, a night bus sounded pretty good. That would have held true if the bus were of the South American variety where they have fully reclining seats and if the bus came with a toilet. Funny, but they don’t have toilets on the buses here. Instead they stop every two hours or so for a bathroom and snack break, even in the middle of the night. So for the 12 hour ride from Istanbul to Cappadocia we stopped every two hours and sat in seats that reclined a few inches at best. Jack and Eliot took to the floor and gave Kelli and Ainsley a bit more room. We arrived in varying states of rest, although safely and on time.

Our three days in Cappadocia were filled with walking through magical and mystical valleys carved over time out of volcanic rock of varying density. Ancient civilizations built homes, churches and entire villages by carving out the rocks. They also built underground cities for thousands to hide from would be conquerers. The scenery from afar looked a bit like some of the Western US, but the hundreds of years old frescoes in cut out churches and other features were unique and fascinating.

We also took an opportunity to experience a Turkish Bath at the local Goreme Hamam (bath house). Interesting to experience and then compare to the Japanese hot bath and Thai massage approaches. It was both a fun and funny experience. We did it as a family and in a co-ed Hamam. We asked about the appropriate attire in advance and were informed that we did not need any bathing suits. These days Eliot is quite private and guarded when it comes to being exposed, but he went ahead without much protest. We arrived in the bath area to find that nearly everyone had bathing suits on underneath their turkish towels. Looking around a bit more it became clear that all of the tourists had them on and none of the Turkish did. So, without any on ourselves we felt just a bit more local.

We left Cappadocia on a bus, just as we had arrived. This time we opted for the day bus, departing at 8 AM. Eight or nine hours later we arrived at Egirdir, a small town on a lake of the same name. The lake is the fourth largest in Turkey and besides natural beauty and a Commando School offers very little in the way of standard tourist trappings. We were there well ahead of the tourist season, probably dominated by Turkish tourists, and enjoyed a quiet and sleepy town for two days. This stop broke up our trip towards Kas on the Mediterranean coast where we are at the moment. We rented a small apartment here for a week and are excited that GG is planning to join us when we head to Ephesus next and then on to Greece. That’s all for now.