Merhaba Turkiye

Sitting in an airport once again - this time it's Attaturk in Istanbul and I've just spent the past two weeks touring Turkey with Intrepid. The time seems to have flown, but by the same token it's been a packed 2 weeks and I think it'll take a while for all that I've done to really sink in.

It started and ended in Istanbul, where there was just too much to see and do for the 2 or 3 days that were spent there. The Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace and the Roman Cistern were all magnificent, and the Grand Bazaar and the spice market were everything you'd imagine them to be - crammed with people, colours, sounds and smells - a real assault on the senses. If I had to pick a single highlight from the city it would probably have to be watching the sun set over the city skyline as we caught a ferry from Europe to Asia for dinner...

I clearly didn't do enough reading before I came to Turkey because I had no idea there were so many things to see or do. The ancient city at Ephesus, and particularly the reconstructed library facade there, just blew me away - as did the description of how large the Temple of Artemis once was (one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world and about four times the size of the Parthenon). If only I hadn't managed to lose my camera that morning (only to find it again that afternoon!). I hadn't even heard of the calcium travertines at Pammukale until a couple of days before we got there and certainly hadn't expected that we'd be able to walk through parts of them. It was a little surreal the way they were just clustered in one small section of the surrounding countryside.

Surreal is also the word I'd use to describe the landscape around Cappodocia... saying that I realised that there were probably more appropriate words available when I had it pointed out to me that "Love Valley" did NOT get its name from the fact that most of the rock formations were in pairs, but rather from the fact that nearly all the rock formations resembled giant phallics! Another fascinating stop on the trail was at Derinyoku, where you could walk through parts of a huge underground city, complete with stables, air shafts and rolling doors to confuse and evade attacking forces.

In terms of activities, while I avoided hot air ballooning over Goreme (and so evaded two 4.30 wake up calls), there was plenty of quad biking in Cappadocia, snorkelling over a sunken city on the southern Mediterranean coast and hiking through the Saklikent Gorge - where although I emerged drenched from head to toe, at least it was mostly the result of waterfights rather than having to be pulled on my belly up and over rocks and mini rapids. Saying that, I do owe an apology to the poor bloke who tried to help me slide down some of the rocks, only to have me gracefully take him out at the knees - whoops!

Another experience and a half came at the Hamam, or Turkish bath, in Selcuk. Believe them when they say it's a must do experience... however, don't necessarily believe them when they say there are separate areas for men and women! Bonnie and I reverted to the days of the old school yard and were in fits of nervous giggles as we watched and waited for our turn to be scrubbed and massaged by very large, very hairy and very nearly naked Turkish men!

Notwithstanding the somewhat scary men in the hamam, the people I've met on this trip have just been phenomenal. Osan, our guide, with his patience and sharing of knowledge; Harry, our very own David Attenborough of Ephesus; Ali, the bus driver from Kekova to Goreme (who let me sleep on the bed in the back of the bus) and his gorgeous family; the various hosts along the way who let me practice my Turkish, like Seylami in Pammukale and Murat in Kayakoy; and of course the rest of the Intrepid travellers - the peace corps girls Brianne and Valerie, the Sydney-siders Brook, Sandy, Kaye and Marion, the teachers and VPs James and Lorraine from Singapore and Amy from DC, and of course Bonnie (my partner in crime at the food table) and her dad Jon who was scammed out of a bottle of Raki in exchange for a water filled vodka bottle - a story which probably provided more entertainment on the overnight train from Ankara to Istanbul at the end of our trip than the vodka itself could have done!

No account of mine would be complete without a run down on the Turkish food situation. During the two weeks I discovered an unknown appreciation for Turkish delight (only the good stuff for me according to the salesman handing out the freebies in the spice market) - although I'm still unsure about the idea of washing it down with an emerald green glass of 'kiwi tea'. Apple tea however tended to hit the spot everytime... as did a cold glass of Efes beside the pool, on the boat, at the rooftop/terrace bars - you get the idea. It's fair to say that I consistently over-ordered (and over-ate if we're being truly honest) - but for the record, it wasn't always my fault. One night at a fish market (where you bought your fish from the fish stalls and then carried it to the restaurant to have them cook it for you), I thought I'd asked for 1 small plate of 4 kinds of mezze and a main - in fact I got 4 large plates of mezze plus the main - that was admittedly a bit excessive even for me!

While the food was fantastic on the whole, there were definitely some exceptions that helped prove the rule. Notably, the truly dire corn on the cob that I bought from one of the many street stalls in Istanbul - I simply can't work out how they can possibly be so popular as to warrant a stall on nearly every corner! Other things that I won't miss about Turkey are smelly buses with smoking engines and such a ridiculously insufficient amount of leg room that you virtually had to sit with your feet on the chair itself just to fit... being swarmed by bees on the boat at dawn and dusk... oh, and gammy eyes that won't clear up despite being prescribed with 4 different Blogger: Neena rambles on... - Edit Post "Merhaba Turkiye"kinds of eye drops.

Eye problems and crammed buses aside, Turkey's been brilliant. Let's hope Greece can match the benchmark that's been set.