During my time overseas I have found there are some consistant factors that determine whether or not I like a city or town... The food, the people, culture - development balance and the availability of free wifi internet access(but not neccasarily in that order). With tasty cheap food, incredibly friendly people, a great mozaic of modern development, trendy cafes and jaw dropping mosques as well as wifi in almost every cafe both Istanbul and Turkey in general rate highly in all four criterion.
Tonight I went for a jog with the intent of picking up some dinner afterwards. I brought with me 10 Turkish Lira which is roughly 7 Aussie dollars and challenged myself to find a protein rich meal and an ayran (turkish strangely a bit salty yoghurt drink) inside that budget. I found a place where I could get a chicken shish plate with salad and an ayran for 9 lira leaving me an extra lira for a baklava type treat on the way home. This is just one of many examples of the delicious and cheap food options available in Turkey and its safe to say I have been eating very well!
The people have been great aswell. Despite the constant....Gday mate.... which has gone close to driving me over the edge at times they are incredibly friendly and always helpful when looking for directions or advice. I was able to gain a non tourist insight on the Turkish people when I was asked by the boys at the hotel I stayed at in Cappadocia to help them move house. Now.. this was at about 10:30am and I was happy to help them out for what I thought would be a few hours of work as I had nothing else planned and they had promised to look after my meals for the day. We started work at approximately 11:30am... broke twice before lunch for a drink... broke for an hour at lunch(at which stage I was under the impression we were finish)... broke numerous other times throughout the afternoon for tea(at all these breaks I as under the impression we were done)... It then came to about 7:00pm and we stopped for yet another break.. this time at a pide shop for food and I was absolutely certain we were finished at this stage so I relaxed my mind and let it look forward to having a beer with the people in my dorm after dinner... So Max... we are going to eat pide... go back to the hotel..rest for one house.... and then do one more trip from the storage place to my house.... No worries Ramazan I said through gritted teeth as my hopes of getting that beer sunk into the lap of the stray dog that was sitting at our feet scouting for fallen food... So back on the tractor... (yes we rolled in a tractor between storage space and target house).... to the hotel where we did indeed rest for one hour before travellng back to the storage space loaded the tractor for the 7th or 8th time of the day and headed for our final trip to Ramazan's new abode. Now let me tell you.... Efes (the local turkish beer) is not the best beer in the world, but after near 10 hours of fantasizing and craving it was the goddamn best beer I ever did taste! Even if it was consumed in a smokey basement bar filled amongst 20 to 30 Turkish men. To the hard earned thirst went the big cold beer!
Istanbul itself has two main sections to visit... well two main sections that I have seen anyway. Sultanahmet in the old town where all the mosques and sightseeing is and Beyoglu in the New Town where Taksim Square and Istaklil street are which is the modern cosmopolitan hub of the city.
The first night I had booked an airport pickup from Ataturk airport and when I arrived and saw it was pouring with rain I thought the 25 euros it was going to cost a steal! Thankfully however I had not yet paid the said euros...... I exited the arrivals gate and saw my man with a sign the read Max Roberson... close enough I thought and sure enough it was me he was waiting for... Now I am not sure if the following events took place because he had been waiting for my delayed flight but after quite a bit of thought Im not sure that was the reason.. Anyway, the man is not the friendliest in the world but not rude and when I asked to use an ATM he was happy to point me in the direction of one and waited for me to get cash out. We then walked to the carpark I hopped in the van and we started our journey to the hostel... now, upon reflection I think that if he was upset about having to wait for a delayed flight he would have shown more than just being slightly unfriendly.. as we continued down the freeway away from the airport he took a phone call and as we drove through the bucketing rain the phone call almost in unison with the weather became increasingly agro... we then pulled over and with his shouting reaching a maximum level I began to plan my escape plan for the event in which his anger was redirected towards my position! He then hung up the phone and we proceeded along the highway but only seconds later he started to mumble under his breath.. the mumbling turned into a grumble and suddenly we had pulled over again with him now yelling... Taxi Taxi Taxi pointing at the road. With me still in the van he proceeded to take my bags from the back of the van (at this point I was out with him trying to ask what had happened to which he replied Taxi Taxi) and shortly after I found myself on the side of a highway in the pouring rain having only arrived in the city moments earlier. I taxi soon arrived and delivered me to my destination at which point I was redirected to a different hostel where I was to stay for the following two nights. Welcome to Istanbul.
Gallipoli was the first stop on my circuit of Turkey organised by a travel agent at a sister hostel to the one I ended up in on that faithful first night and the tour of the peninsula was something that exceeded my expectations. The stories of Australians fighting for an independant Australian identity and turkish soldiers leaving the safety of their trenches to carry ANZAC wounded across open ground back to the ANZAC trenches were moving and inspirational. I didnt know the details on the history of the WW1 battle and found myself not wanting the tour to end. One of my favourite stories was that of Percy Black, an Australian machine gunner who positioned himself in the thick of the action at the top of what was called shrapnel valley. From this position he was successful in defending the ANZAC lines from many Turkish attacks. At one point he was hit on the left hand which he was using to feed the bullets into his gun... but he pressed on, using his teeth to feed the bullets and his right hand to aim and fire his weapon. Then his weapon was hit and damaged beyond proper function so he trekked kilometers back to the beach with a gunshot wound to his left hand carrying the damaged machine gun in his right. When he reached the beach he asked for another gun so he could continue fighting. Unable to carry the gun back to his position he recruited a group of young soldiers who had been overcome by the task of fighting and had stayed on the beach to help carry his gun back to the top of shrapnel valley and got back in the fight. He survived Gallipoli but was later killed in action in France where despite his peers telling him to stay behind as he was too valuable to the army and with the last words... we started this together, so we will end this together... he made a charge into direct fire and certain death. This was one of many examples of honour, bravery and perserverance that came out of Gallipoli and as I said earlier was absolutely inspirational.
I then went to Pammukale where calcium has been leaking out of the mountain for thousands of years forming what appears to be snow but is in reality a hard substance covering the cliff face. This initially had a wow factor about it but half a day in this tourist hub was enough for me!
I then went on to Fethiye where I was able to relax. Have a few good workouts, a scooter ride through the picturesque mountains and a day at the Oludeniz beach where the water is blue and crystal clear. There wasnt much else to do in Fethiye as the season had ended for the famous full day boat trips but it was a good place for relaxation and reflection as well as catching up on some much needed physical exercise.
From Fethiye it was onto Goreme a little town in the area of Cappadocia which is famous for its fairy chimneys which are tall rock formations caused by volcanic eruptions together with erosion results in what literally looks like a fairy chimney! I had a free day which consisted of the above mentioned removalist training and two days of tours which shed light on a little bit of the history of Cappadocia as well as the geography of the place.
From Cappadocia it was an overnight bus to Beyoglu Istanbul where I had a night in the park hyatt istanbul, a great end to what turned out to be a pretty exhausting week shooting around Turkey.. my day in Beyoglu consisted of a walk to Taksim square and down Istaklil St, numerous coffees and some good food in what is a fantastic part of town Istanbul with its trendy laneway cafes, designer and boutque fashion stores, many kebap and kofte stalls, pubs, patisseries and various parks.
I now have a day of sightseeing in which I will see the amazing Blue Mosque and Topkali palace and then its off to Bangalore the next day for the next chapter of this epic journey!
Tonight I went for a jog with the intent of picking up some dinner afterwards. I brought with me 10 Turkish Lira which is roughly 7 Aussie dollars and challenged myself to find a protein rich meal and an ayran (turkish strangely a bit salty yoghurt drink) inside that budget. I found a place where I could get a chicken shish plate with salad and an ayran for 9 lira leaving me an extra lira for a baklava type treat on the way home. This is just one of many examples of the delicious and cheap food options available in Turkey and its safe to say I have been eating very well!
The people have been great aswell. Despite the constant....Gday mate.... which has gone close to driving me over the edge at times they are incredibly friendly and always helpful when looking for directions or advice. I was able to gain a non tourist insight on the Turkish people when I was asked by the boys at the hotel I stayed at in Cappadocia to help them move house. Now.. this was at about 10:30am and I was happy to help them out for what I thought would be a few hours of work as I had nothing else planned and they had promised to look after my meals for the day. We started work at approximately 11:30am... broke twice before lunch for a drink... broke for an hour at lunch(at which stage I was under the impression we were finish)... broke numerous other times throughout the afternoon for tea(at all these breaks I as under the impression we were done)... It then came to about 7:00pm and we stopped for yet another break.. this time at a pide shop for food and I was absolutely certain we were finished at this stage so I relaxed my mind and let it look forward to having a beer with the people in my dorm after dinner... So Max... we are going to eat pide... go back to the hotel..rest for one house.... and then do one more trip from the storage place to my house.... No worries Ramazan I said through gritted teeth as my hopes of getting that beer sunk into the lap of the stray dog that was sitting at our feet scouting for fallen food... So back on the tractor... (yes we rolled in a tractor between storage space and target house).... to the hotel where we did indeed rest for one hour before travellng back to the storage space loaded the tractor for the 7th or 8th time of the day and headed for our final trip to Ramazan's new abode. Now let me tell you.... Efes (the local turkish beer) is not the best beer in the world, but after near 10 hours of fantasizing and craving it was the goddamn best beer I ever did taste! Even if it was consumed in a smokey basement bar filled amongst 20 to 30 Turkish men. To the hard earned thirst went the big cold beer!
Istanbul itself has two main sections to visit... well two main sections that I have seen anyway. Sultanahmet in the old town where all the mosques and sightseeing is and Beyoglu in the New Town where Taksim Square and Istaklil street are which is the modern cosmopolitan hub of the city.
The first night I had booked an airport pickup from Ataturk airport and when I arrived and saw it was pouring with rain I thought the 25 euros it was going to cost a steal! Thankfully however I had not yet paid the said euros...... I exited the arrivals gate and saw my man with a sign the read Max Roberson... close enough I thought and sure enough it was me he was waiting for... Now I am not sure if the following events took place because he had been waiting for my delayed flight but after quite a bit of thought Im not sure that was the reason.. Anyway, the man is not the friendliest in the world but not rude and when I asked to use an ATM he was happy to point me in the direction of one and waited for me to get cash out. We then walked to the carpark I hopped in the van and we started our journey to the hostel... now, upon reflection I think that if he was upset about having to wait for a delayed flight he would have shown more than just being slightly unfriendly.. as we continued down the freeway away from the airport he took a phone call and as we drove through the bucketing rain the phone call almost in unison with the weather became increasingly agro... we then pulled over and with his shouting reaching a maximum level I began to plan my escape plan for the event in which his anger was redirected towards my position! He then hung up the phone and we proceeded along the highway but only seconds later he started to mumble under his breath.. the mumbling turned into a grumble and suddenly we had pulled over again with him now yelling... Taxi Taxi Taxi pointing at the road. With me still in the van he proceeded to take my bags from the back of the van (at this point I was out with him trying to ask what had happened to which he replied Taxi Taxi) and shortly after I found myself on the side of a highway in the pouring rain having only arrived in the city moments earlier. I taxi soon arrived and delivered me to my destination at which point I was redirected to a different hostel where I was to stay for the following two nights. Welcome to Istanbul.
Gallipoli was the first stop on my circuit of Turkey organised by a travel agent at a sister hostel to the one I ended up in on that faithful first night and the tour of the peninsula was something that exceeded my expectations. The stories of Australians fighting for an independant Australian identity and turkish soldiers leaving the safety of their trenches to carry ANZAC wounded across open ground back to the ANZAC trenches were moving and inspirational. I didnt know the details on the history of the WW1 battle and found myself not wanting the tour to end. One of my favourite stories was that of Percy Black, an Australian machine gunner who positioned himself in the thick of the action at the top of what was called shrapnel valley. From this position he was successful in defending the ANZAC lines from many Turkish attacks. At one point he was hit on the left hand which he was using to feed the bullets into his gun... but he pressed on, using his teeth to feed the bullets and his right hand to aim and fire his weapon. Then his weapon was hit and damaged beyond proper function so he trekked kilometers back to the beach with a gunshot wound to his left hand carrying the damaged machine gun in his right. When he reached the beach he asked for another gun so he could continue fighting. Unable to carry the gun back to his position he recruited a group of young soldiers who had been overcome by the task of fighting and had stayed on the beach to help carry his gun back to the top of shrapnel valley and got back in the fight. He survived Gallipoli but was later killed in action in France where despite his peers telling him to stay behind as he was too valuable to the army and with the last words... we started this together, so we will end this together... he made a charge into direct fire and certain death. This was one of many examples of honour, bravery and perserverance that came out of Gallipoli and as I said earlier was absolutely inspirational.
I then went to Pammukale where calcium has been leaking out of the mountain for thousands of years forming what appears to be snow but is in reality a hard substance covering the cliff face. This initially had a wow factor about it but half a day in this tourist hub was enough for me!
I then went on to Fethiye where I was able to relax. Have a few good workouts, a scooter ride through the picturesque mountains and a day at the Oludeniz beach where the water is blue and crystal clear. There wasnt much else to do in Fethiye as the season had ended for the famous full day boat trips but it was a good place for relaxation and reflection as well as catching up on some much needed physical exercise.
From Fethiye it was onto Goreme a little town in the area of Cappadocia which is famous for its fairy chimneys which are tall rock formations caused by volcanic eruptions together with erosion results in what literally looks like a fairy chimney! I had a free day which consisted of the above mentioned removalist training and two days of tours which shed light on a little bit of the history of Cappadocia as well as the geography of the place.
From Cappadocia it was an overnight bus to Beyoglu Istanbul where I had a night in the park hyatt istanbul, a great end to what turned out to be a pretty exhausting week shooting around Turkey.. my day in Beyoglu consisted of a walk to Taksim square and down Istaklil St, numerous coffees and some good food in what is a fantastic part of town Istanbul with its trendy laneway cafes, designer and boutque fashion stores, many kebap and kofte stalls, pubs, patisseries and various parks.
I now have a day of sightseeing in which I will see the amazing Blue Mosque and Topkali palace and then its off to Bangalore the next day for the next chapter of this epic journey!
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