I'll Have The Turkey

Boy what an exciting 4 days I had in Turkey. I hope I can remember all that happened. I left Basel on Sunday. My flight left at 10:25 PM and was due to arrive in Istanbul at 2:15 AM. While I was waiting for the plane the terminal was evactuated because someone left a bag. Thankfully it did not delay my flight. I rolled into the hostel at around 4. I was up and ready to go for a walking tour sponsored by my hostel by 11:30. Walking tours are great because you get to meet your fellow travelers plus if the guide is good enough at it you will come away with so much information that not many people get. I got both those parts on this one. After walking around for a bit we decided to eat some lunch. She knew of a great fish place. Now I am not that big of a fish fan. But I was in Turkey and you eat as the locals do. Plus I couldn't say I didn't like it if I didn't try it. We got these sardine like fish. They were really tiny. They were whole so you had to pull the head off and then eat up to the tail. I enjoyed the grilled ones better than the fried ones. The first time I walked into a mosque my breath was taken away. They are so simple yet so majestic. We must have went into at least 8 or 9 on Monday. Everyone was more beautiful than any church I have ever been into. You have to take your shoes off when you get in. In the Muslim faith before you can pray you have to wash your feet and hands. This is to cleanse you. Woman always pray in the back of the men. Sometimes women are required to wear scarves to cover their heads. They pray five times a day I think. A couple of times a day they chant over loud speakers. One musque will sing and then another will sing back. The first time I heard it it was like the sounds just took over my body. I was frozen. I had never heard anything like that in my life. I don't recall all the names but here are some pictures I took of some of the mosques we entered. My camera is not good in dark lights so I was unable to get any good ones inside. But the first two give you an idea of what the domes look like on the inside.











Here is a video from inside of one of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTjNY0Wm8d8

On Tuesday a few guys that I met had planned to go on a ferry trip to a near by island in the Maramar Sea called Princess Island. But we got out too late so we decided to just take a cruise on a ferry up the Busphorus Straight. That is the narrow channel of water connecting the Maramar Sea to the Black Sea. Here are a few pics from that.











When we got back we walked to the Taksim area of Istanbul. This is more modern area of Istanbul. Most of the history is in the Sultanemaht area which is more run down. We walked by some restaurants where everyone wants you to eat in theirs. Theirs is always the best. We decided on this one which had good results. Afterwards we went across to a bar for some beers. Here are some lovely pics of that time.



Yesterday the same guys and I tried to go to a Turkish bath. These are ancient. There are different packages but they usually all have the same things. But when we got there it was full. We didnt know you had to make reservations. So we just decided to walk to the Grand Bazaar. WOW!! This is the largest indoor market in the world. I believe it covers at least a football field if not more. I think there are over 600 shops. Most of them are the same. You can get clothes, shoes, carpets, jewelry, and different odds and ends relating to Arabic history. It is pretty hectic. Every shop you walk by the owners try to get you into their store. You always here "Hey buddy, buddy or my friend, my friend". It is pretty much required that you try to lower the price they want. If you dont you are a fool. Some guys will not lower the price though no matter how hard you try. Last night we went to a tradiontal Turkish restaurant. It was complete with music and belly dancers. It was a goodtime. Afterwards everyone went back to the hostel with the exception of a few of us. I was in Istanbul and I wanted to party. Well the first club we walked into turned out to be a gay bar. Now that was weird. We did find some other clubs before the night ended. Actually the night ended this morning at 5. One of the guys had to catch a bus to the airport at 7 so we tried to stay up until then. We almost made it. Here is how we spent our time.







This morning when I got up I had to get a bus ticket because Canakkale is 6 hours away. The travel agency talked me into a package for the time I will be here. It worked out to be about $50 a day, everything included. The one thing I am looking forward to is a sailboat trip for 4 days. I will be taking the boat from one city to another. Two of the days I won't be getting off. It will be sweet. I just hope the weather cooperates. So that is about it. I don't think I missed anything. Istanbul was absolutely amazing. Everyday was fun filled and full of adventure. That is the way everyday should be. Until next time. Cheers.