Antakya (modern day Antioch where Paul and Peter got into quite a bit of trouble sharing the Good News ... they're my heroes now that I can better appreciate what they must have had to put up with ... the cynicism, the hatred, the apathy... )
... Ankara ... Istanbul ... 3 major cities in Turkey all in one day! No wonder I am pooped! Our day began at 4am yesterday. We flew out of Antakya at 7am, arrived in the capital Ankara at 8am and spent the day exploring the impressive Ataturk mausoleum and then caught the 1:30pm bus to Istanbul. It was surprisingly the best mausoleum I have ever been to complete with grand garden surrounds, history write-ups accompanying photos, actual cars and boats Ataturk owned, good documentary, life size mannequin and painting enactments of battles fought with realistic sound effects and amazing artifacts including Ataturk's bejeweled swords and grooming kit! To top it all off, entry was completely free (unlike the Central Asian rip-off mausoleums which were plain graves). For the history buffs, Ataturk was an Ottoman and is the founder of Turkish independence. In fighting for independence, he also killed many Aussies (hence, we commemorate ANZAC day) but let's leave this a rosy post and just say that I now better appreciate that modern day Turkey would not exist today had the ANZACS won. In fairnessm I'd never heard their side of the story being told back home. We plan to head out to Gallipoli from Istanbul where the Turks have now respectfully allowed an Australian memorial to be erected.
From Ankara, we arrived at Istanbul at 8pm, found ourselves a fantastic double room deal at the ironically named SYDNEY Hotel on the European side (as opposed to the Asian side) of Istanbul's Bhosphorus. Istanbul is fortunate to lie spread out and sandwiched between four bodies of water - namely the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea, the Bhosphorus and the Goldenn Horn endowing the city with picturesque waterfront views from every hilltop.
The jovial Turkish youngsters that run this place seem to get a big kick out of greeting me 'G'day sheila!' each time we run into each other through the corridors and el fresco rooftop. It took me a good few seconds to work out what exactly was being said in their tilting Turkish accented English and I had to laugh bemusedly at something I don't think I have ever heard in real life back home! We have our own balcony upon which we can look upon the colourful and pumping nightlife beneath us by night whilst we indulge in our takeaway
baclavas flavoured with pistachio, hazelnut or chocolate with apple tea. By day, the balcony allows us to gaze out onto the Bhosphorus dotted with the silhouettes of cruise liners, sail boats, ferries and cargo ships. This more hedonistic European side of Istanbul is reknown for its nightclubs, Turkish jazz scene, fine dining haunts, cheap doner kebab joints, very good (and free!) art galleries and boutique coutures.
There are so many sides and facets to Istanbul that you'd really need to see a map of to work it all out! I am already tired just reading the whole chapter Lonely Planet has dedicated to Istanbul and I have already decided I will have to be very selective with what I do in in this city as there is no way we will cover everything there is to do, see and sample here. Istanbul is a holiday destination in itself especially if you love the commercial buzz and the east meets west flavour infused with old and new.
Istanbul lies in stark contrast to our experiences of the eastern cities and towns of Turkey and Central Asia. It a tourist mecca and UNESCO listed for the number of heritage buildings (including churches from the Byzantine era, mosques from the Ottoman empire, palaces and harems) it boasts. There are also museums, art galleries, bars, restaurants and bazaars all within walking distance from the old town hub of Sultanahmet where we have positioned ourselves to stay for the next 2-3 nights. It's arguable that there are more tourists in Sultanahmet at any one time compared to locals! We now find ourselves in the heart of brazen commercialism which on the one hand feels sadly and oddly otherworldly because Istanbul feels robbed of the cultural purity which Central Asia, the Caucasus and even eastern regions of Turkey richly and innocently bestowed upon us. Yet on the other hand, it is a convenient marketplace to purchase any item imaginable under the sun from Turkish jewellery to Central Asian carpets and kilims. It seems that all goods traded from the days of the ancient Silk Road have all conglomerated under the roofs of Istanbul's chaotic and labyrinthine bazaars. I am relieved to know I made the right choice in not buying earlier on in my journey, avoiding the need to lug everything in (and on?!) my backpack. Feeling ancient-ruined-out and also museumed-out, I can't wait to dive into the Grand Bazaar though I have been warned to venture into this den only when in a good mood and ready for at least 3 hours of bargaining over small chatter and cay (tea) sessions with the merchants.
No story on Turkey would be complete without literal mention of that sinfully sweet delight that caused Edward his downfall under the White Witches' evil prowess. For those of you who share my love for turkish delight, here is an excerpt from Lonely Planet to keep you occupied while I continue my soujourn through Istanbul and if I am fortunate, I will find a good Turkish recipe book (in between all the jewelery, ceramics, rugs, belly dancing costumes, silk scarves, ornate knives, Aladdin shoes, olive oil beauty products and the prettiest glass mosaic lamps) to try my hand at making some of these delights myself:
Ali Muhuddin Haci Bekir was the most famous of all Ottoman confectioners. He came to Istanbul from the mountain town of Kastamono and opened a shop in the old city where he concocted delicious boiled sweets and the translucent jellied jewels known to turks as lokum and to the rest of the world as Turkish Delight. His products became so famous throughout the city that his sweetshop empire grew, and his name became inextricably linked in the mind of Instanbullus with authentic and delicious lokum. Today, locals still buy their lokum from barnches of the business he began over 2 centuries ago... As well as enjoying sade (plain) lokum, you can buy it with civizli (walnut) or sam fistikli (pistacchio) or flavoured with portakkalli (orange), bademli (almond) or roze (rose water). Ask for a cesitli (assortment) to sample the various types.Turkey is truly a sweet tooth haven. Besides
lokum, we have also succumbed to the varieties of
baclava and also
dondurma which is their very own rich, non-melting ice-cream! My guess is that it has a higher cream to ice component compared with regular ice-cream and buying one from a traditional ice-creamery complete with an ice-cream man dressed in traditional fun-fair garb playing 'ice-cream tricks' with you before actually serving you your cone makes it a worthwhile and unique giggle experience.
The first picture below is one of me dolled up by a friendly ice-cream man in Erzurum (who generously insisted in gifting me an ice-cream for being his good assistant!) after spending some time in his shop chatting in Mandarin to Ibrahim (the guy in the middle) who is home on summer holidays but studies at a university in Wuhan, China.
The second picture is one of my ice-cream man in action.
The third picture is of a tray of pictacchio
baclava and the fourth picture is of a type of
tatli (dessert) with a lighter than doughnut texture, doused in a honeyed sauce - just a teeny-weeny sample of voluminous Turkish confectionery sold at almost every street corner shop!
