We caught an overnight bus from Thessaloniki and arrived in Istanbul at 5am the next morning. We were second guessing our decision to travel to Turkey after realising there was only one other person on the bus.... We had been hearing about all the recent troubles in this country with the airport bombing and the military coup but it wasn't until this bus ride with a severe lack of passengers that we started to think we had made the wrong decision. It was too late to back out now.
The bus was originally due to arrive in Istanbul at 7am which was already an annoying time to try to check into our guest house, so when we arrived two hours early this threw a bit of a spanner in the works. Getting from the Otogar (coach stain) to the Sultanahmet district was surprisingly easy between the helpful people and free metro (a perk of the celebration period after the government defeated the military in the coup). We were delighted at how friendly everyone was, especially after coming from Eastern Europe where as a general rule everybody hates you. On the way to our guest house we walked through the Sultan Ahmet park with Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It was pretty special to see these in the dawn light with no one else around.
Since our 24/7 guest house was not yet open, we found another place that was open for breakfast and bag storage before doing a more thorough exploration of the area. We used an outline for a walking tour that we found online since we had read that it is best to avoid crowds with the threat of further terrorist attacks.
We started at the old Roman Hippodrome where we checked out the 3 obelisks and the German fountain before entering the Blue Mosque, where I got scarfed up and we both de-shoed for a visit between prayer times. The sheer space inside, the domes covered in blue tiles and the stained glass windows made for very impressive viewing. Next came the Bascilica Cistern. We weren't sure if it was worth the money to go in or not but were really glad we decided to. What looked like just a small house on the surface was a massive underground cavern filled with water and with hundreds of Roman pillars supporting the roof. Naturally after an overnight bus ride we were starting to feel the lack of sleep and made our way back to the guest house hoping to check in. Unfortunately our room was still not ready so we made use of the comfortable couches in the rooftop bar and had an afternoon nap.
Later we invested in a museum pass (not cheap at 85 TL but it allowed us to visit most of the sights in the old town). Using that, our first stop (after my roasted sweet corn lunch from a street vendor) was Hagia Sophia, one of the most famous places of worship in the world. It was built as a church about 1500 years ago and later converted to a mosque before becoming the museum that it is today. It is eye catching from the outside with its pale pink facade, huge domes and tall minarets, but unfortunately the inside was under renovation. However we could still appreciate the vastness of the gold and black interior as well as the mixture of Islamic and Christian elements, like the Arabic medellians and the mosaics of Christ.
To make the most of the museum pass, we also visited the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, with its beautiful old Korans and the Mosaic Museum, which was strangely located in a bazaar because that's where the mosaics were discovered. It had well preserved tiled mosaics from Constantine's palace in the 5th century. The pictures were an interesting mixture of religious art, mythical beings and daily life.
Worn out, we stopped for kebabs at a small local restaurant accompanied by a yogurt drink and a dessert of hot fried cheese which was oddly sweet. Strange but delicious! The food was good and cheap and the staff were really friendly. The restaurant was basically empty due to a lack of tourism so our waiter came over and had a long chat with us which we really enjoyed. On the way home, we got talked into visiting a guy's carpet shop where we were roped into a 20 minute talk on the symbols used in the rugs. You'd think we'd be better at avoiding tourist traps like this by now! He said he didn't care if we didn't buy anything, he was just really bored and wanted someone to talk to.
Tokapi Palace took up half the next day, with its huge grounds, 4 courtyards surrounded by buildings filled with treasures like the sword of David, Moses' staff and Mohammed's tooth. The harem where the sultan lived had lots of elaborately tiled rooms and a concubine's corridor for all of his "aquaintences". They sure don't build them like they used to.
The views over the Marmara Sea from the final courtyard were beautiful and inspired us to take a Bosphorus cruise through there that afternoon. We stopped by the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar on the way, but neither liking masses of annoying tourists or looking for souvenirs we quickly found the exits and made our way to the water front for our cruise.
Our day concluded with a walk through the Beyoglu suburb to see the modern part of town, with the Istiklal mall street, Taksim Square and Galata Tower. After arriving home exhausted, we checked the fitbit to see why and discovered we had walked 25 km today.
Our final morning in Istanbul we checked out the archeological museum, which was actually four buildings packed with over 1 million artifacts, everything from Babylonian art from the time of King Nebekednezzar to Roman statues, to pottery from Troy to Egyptian sacophaguses (sarcophagi?) to Islamic tiles and vases. We were a bit museumed out by this point, so probably didn't do it justice, spending less than 2 hours there.
We could easily have spent more than 2 and a half days in Istanbul and actually found it to be a really welcoming place, but due to the risk factor we kept moving on to Cannakale, a base from which to explore Troy and Gallipoli.
We were lucky enough to find a kind couch surfing host, Emrullah, who put us up in his apartment for three nights. We had been warned not to get our hopes up about Troy and that advice was sound. While it had such a fascinating history and we enjoyed the movie and the story of the Trojan war, there wasn't too much left of the ruins. There were over 9 layers excavated to see and a wooden horse you could climb inside. Not really enough to fill the 3 hours between busses though. Back at the waterfront in Cannakale you could see the horse from the 2004 Brad Pitt movie which was given as a gift to the city once filming concluded.
The following day we did a tour of the Gallipoli peninsula with Crowded House tours.They took us across the ferry to Ecebat for a provided lunch of skewered meat before they took us to visit Brighton Beach (the intended landing site), Beach Cemetery, ANZAC cove (the actual landing site), Ariburnu Cemetery, the ANZAC Commemorative Site (where the dawn services are held), Mehmetcik Statue, Lone Pine Australian Memorial, Johnson's Jolly (trenches and tunnels), a Turkish cemetery, the Nek (where four waves of light horse regiments were wiped out) and Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial (the high ground which the Anzacs spent nine months trying to capture). Our tour group was small, only eight Aussies, and most of the sites we had to ourselves, which was lucky because the day before, August 10, was a big day for locals to celebrate the victory of the Turkish. I found the peninsula to be a strangely peaceful place, with its quiet, respectful atmosphere and pine forests. At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a deep sadness for the pointless waste of life and at all the ways that the battle could have gone differently for our men if better decisions had been made. The touching words of Mustafa Kehmal, first president of Turkey, are a fitting send off or all the brave soldiers who lost their lives here:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
Our next stop was Ayvalik, a pretty little harbor town surrounded by hills and islands where lots of ferries and cruises leave from. Being a popular weekend getaway spot, accommodation was a bit pricey but the long sandy beach at Sarimsakli and nearby picturesque Cunda island made it a place worth visiting. On Cunda island we had heard that we had to try the seafood so we sat down at a restaurant and asked to see a menu. There was no menu so we picked something at random off the board at the front (papalina) that the waiter said was fish and salad. It turned out to be a plate of lots of whole little fish, deep fried! The tails were a bit hard to get used to but it actually wasn't bad. The tradition of friendly Turks continued, with a uni student stopping to introduce herself on the beach and practice her English with us and two little old ladies at a bus stop trying to talk to me in Turkish, then switching to German when that failed. My high school German was a bit rusty but I did my best. It's lovely to feel so welcome here.
Another bus brought us to Selcuk, famous for being home to Ephesus. We were excited to check into our $30 a night accommodation and see that our room was big and came with its own bathroom that actually had a real shower, not just a shower head over the toilet. It even had a jacuzzi and a balcony. A nice place to stay for our 11 year anniversary (thanks Facebook for reminding us). If our marriage can survive 24 hours a day together through sometimes stressful situations like being stuck in the middle of no where with no transport or nights on busses with no sleep, sometimes combined with heat and gastro, hopefully it can survive anything. And we even still like each other's company most of the time!
Anyway, for its size, Selcuk packs a punch. We visited the ruins of St John's Bascilica, where the apostle John wrote his gospel and was buried. We also visited Isa Bey Mosque, Roman aquaducts, the meager remains of the Temple of Artemis, the Efes Museum and of course, Ephesus, which had seen many groups of inhabitants since thousands of years BC but which is most famous for the remains of the library building. Ephesus was surprisingly large so we spent hours wandering around the Roman streets, through the amphitheater, past fountains, city gates and the terrace houses. It was nice to be there at the end of the day when the crowds had thinned out and tourist free photos were possible. On the way home we walked past the apostle Luke's fake grave and a statue of The Virgin Mary because she is thought to have lived her last few years of life in a house up the hill. We also stopped by the grotto of the seven sleepers, where some early Christians supposedly hid from persecution, feel asleep and woke up hundreds of years later in safer times.
The next day we explored Selcuk's surrounds by catching a dolmus (mini bus) to Sirince, a tiny mountain town famous for its Greek heritage, fruit wines and local produce including olive oil hand creams. It was touristy but quaint and we spent a couple hours shopping in the local markets, strolling the cobble stoned streets, sampling produce and lunching. In the evening we caught another dolmus to Pamucak beach. We weren't expecting a lot, so the big uncrowded, sandy, clean beach away from all towns was a welcome surprise and a good chance to relax in a place that wasn't swarming with tourists.
Next up was Pammukale, a place I had been looking forward to after seeing so many beautiful photos of the white calcium terraces. It didn't disappoint, although many of the pools are currently empty. While we had two days here relaxing around the hotel pool, it only took an afternoon/evening to paddle up through the travertines filled with water and to explore the ancient Greek Hierapolis at the top. We stayed to watch the sun set over this interesting landscape, alongside seven happy couples getting their wedding photos taken in front of the sunset!
It was then time to begin our two week stretch volunteering on a couple's farm in the mountains outside Gocek. This was to be our first workaway experience. Quite a good setup where people offer work to travellers, in exchange providing food and accommodation. Even though you work for 4 - 5 hours a day it still feels like a break and is nice to stop in one place for an extended period.
The property is in a tiny village 20 minutes drive from the nearest town. No wifi, traffic or neighbours made for a very peaceful stay. Our days were spent watering fig trees, feeding animals, clearing paths, cooking and helping on a building project. Our host, Tayip, was a real character and great fun.
While we did originally have some concerns about persevering with our travel to Turkey, it ended up being one of our favourite countries with its welcoming people, fascinating history and stunning natural environments.
