RCLCOLPB

I am finally getting around to posting my trip report from Spetember 2005. I am trying to follow the suggestion of posting the first part initiall, and then attaching the remaining parts as responses to my message.

$1=1.34 new Turkish Lira (YTL), 1 YTL=$0.75
1 Euro = $1.25-$1.21, $1.00=.80 EUR
All hotel rates include full breakfast and taxes except as noted

Phone from US: Dial 011-90-NUMBER

Recommended books:

John Tumpane, Scotch and Holy Work, anecdotes about his time in Turkey in late 60s

Tom Brosnahan, Bright Sun, Strong Tea, very interesting memoir focusing on early years in Turkey in Peace Corps, and writing early editions of the Lonely Planet guidebook

Alev Croutier, Seven Houses, excellent novel about an extended family and their houses in various parts of Turkey


Thursday 9/8/05, Sirince

Picked up car reserved through Argeus Tourism and Travel in Urgup—good, except make sure they know which terminal you are arriving at. The car was good (upgraded to Toyota Corolla, perhaps because with high gas prices—about $8 per gallon—there was less demand for “larger” cars?) ($462 USD for 7 days plus a few hours). In trying to call travel agent to see where our car was, policeman sitting at tourist office was very helpful, going over with me to place to buy phone card and then to pay phone to show me how to use it. One of many examples of very nice Turks, eager to go out of their way to be helpful.

Drove to Sirince (pronounced Shirinjeh), up a mountain road a few miles east of Selcuk (pronounced Selchuk). Road access was a little challenging, but hotel is beautiful, with a great view over the beautiful hill town. Took a short walk down the hill into town, which is charming though pretty much exclusively devoted to serving tourists who come in on bus tours during the day.

Nisanyan Evleri, honored quoted rate of 150 YTL (plus 18% tax if pay with credit card) even though it turned out there was confusion about the reservation, and we would not have had a place if I hadn’t checked by phone the week before the trip. They seem to not be great at checking their e-mail (perhaps because we found e-mail service at the hotel to be intermittent) even though they have a business of making reservations for great small hotels in Turkey (based on a book that the owners write every year, which seems to be a good source of high-end, high-quality small hotels in various—but not all—locations). We were supposed to have the top room in the main building, but instead we were given the bay window house (http://www.nisanyan.com/houses.htm), which was beautiful with a downstairs kitchen/breakfast table and an upstairs room with two smallish built-in beds, a large master bedroom, and a bathroom. No AC, but with fan temperature was fine. The bathroom was beautiful, with marble on the shower, but hot water (and water more generally) seemed to be somewhat problematic. It was a dark walk to and from the main hotel at night, but we belatedly discovered that good flashlights were in the house.

232-898-32-08, cell (Mujde) 5322415133, [email protected]

We had an excellent dinner at the Nisanyan. In general, hotel and restaurant are expensive by Turkish standards, particularly if we had paid the full current rates (which are higher than when we made the reservation early this year), but delightful if you want to spend the money. We did not have much contact with the owners, who don’t live on the property. On-site staff spoke enough English for what was needed, but not enough to answer more in-depth questions. One oddity, which we ran into in various forms in some other Turkish hotels, is that the beds had only a small, somewhat rough, non-tucked-in sheet/coverlet. When we asked about it, I don’t think we were really understood, but they left us a comforter, which worked much better.

Digital Photos: All 9/8 are of town from hotel; our house; and town from our walk.

Friday, 9/9, (Ephesus) Sirince

Excellent breakfast fix-ins were brought to us the night before, with delicious freshly baked bread hung up outside of our door early in the morning. Two cheeses, eggs that we could cook, yogurt, sausage, tomato, etc.

Drove to Ephesus (Efes in Turkish), a few minutes outside of Selcuk. Parking 3 YTL, admission 15 YTL each—in addition to gas, the one expensive thing in Turkey is museum/ruins admissions if you are not Turkish (no discounts for students, etc.).

Ephesus is a very impressive ruin of a huge Greek city rebuilt by Romans, though flooded with tour groups (although we did not see any US groups) and other tourists. We listened in on a good English tour, but after a while the guide asked us whether we were in the group and we had to stay away from him. Many tourists were in shorts and seemed to be beachgoers from England, etc., on their one cultural outing from a beach or cruise vacation. (We heard from someone later that the audioguide is good, and we would probably do that next time.)

Went to ruins of Basilica of St. John built in the 6th century on the site of St. John’s tomb. (4 YTL each) Fine, but not a must.

Drove to Pamucak Beach (nice beach, pretty views of mountains to north and south and islands out to sea; north of Kusadasi.

Drove through Kusadasi (seems quite touristy) and back to Selcuk via Soke, which we ended up repeating the following day.

Markan Restaurant, Selcuk. 34 YTL. Delicious humus, cold peppers stuffed with rice, Mekan kebap (delicious lamb and veggie stew), pastrami in paper, baklava from adjacent café. Very nice waiter who knows lots of colloquialisms, bemused by my Turkish efforts. Turkish proved to be a difficult language to learn (though pronunciation is delightfully straightforward once you learn the rules) as words are very long and have no connection to Indo-European roots. By the time we were done with the trip, we knew Teshekur Ederim (thank you) and Mehraba (hello), but that was about it.

Went to the Selcuk-Efes Festival in downtown Selcuk, which turned out to be a lot of fun—one of many examples in the trip of dramatic contrasts between modernity and traditions. In many ways this was a traditional fair with mostly locals in attendance, but the biggest event was a televised concert with dances and acrobatics performed to rock music in relatively scant costumes, watched by women in headscarfs.

Saturday 9/10, (Ephesus Museum, South to Didyma) Sirince

Breakfast in our house.

Ephesus Museum in Selcuk, excellent, including reconstruction of some of the houses at Ephesus that are currently closed to visitors. (4 YTL each plus parking)

Drove by way of Kusadasi because of sign to that effect (actually a longer route than taking 550/525 to Soke).

Priene, very nice ruins from Greek period (4th century BC) that Romans did not do much to. Beautiful setting with views of mountains and pretty Menderes Valley. Virtually no one else there or at other ruins visited today—an amazing contrast with Ephesus (2 YTL for each of ruins per person.)

Miletus (Milet), very impressive theater built above ground rather than into a hill like in Priene and other ruins. View of the other ruins from the Byzantine castle behind the theater. Rough Guide described surrounding area as bleak, but at least this time of year it was very attractive.

Drove to beach of Didim and were reminded why beaches frequented by British tourists are not worth our time.

Didyma (Didim), huge Temple of Apollo, home of one of the most important Greek oracles. Two of the full-size columns remain, but even the other stumps are very impressive. Carved relief of Medusa’s head.

(Maps of Turkey seemed to be less than accurate, and ones available for purchase most places in Turkey were awful—definitely bring them with you. Acceptable ones were available for purchase in Istanbul, and the DK Eyewitness Istanbul guide also has excellent maps—but the Eyewitness Turkey guide’s Istanbul maps don’t cover as wide an area or have the excellent detailed map of Sultanahmet, etc.—and bus maps are nonexistent and even ones posted at stops are not accurate—would be a good business for Turkish entrepreneurs; Hammond Turkey West was pretty good, but didn’t have more recently built roads, didn’t show Sirince, etc.).

Drove to Herakleia (Kapikiri) at strong suggestion of Lonely Planet guide. Although it is a very pretty setting on a lake, it was somewhat of a bust—we parked at a restaurant and it seemed like the only way to find our way around was to “retain” a boy as a guide who did not speak English and walked quickly. Didn’t really find much in the way of ruins. Supposedly offers a chance to observe traditional Turkish life in action, but in reality was still tourist-oriented (even an admission charge to the town), just no other tourists evident.

Had aimed to eat at a restaurant in Sirince, but when we got back to hotel we read an e-mail from our son at home indicating that Bank of America had called and indicated that our card would no longer be honored because we had suspicious charges in Turkey (even though I had called them in advance about this). The card had an 800 number supposedly usable from Turkey, but it did not work, and we could not figure out a way to make a collect call. We finally got a non-800 number from the internet and reached a person at Bank of America, but she told me that they had ignored my original call, and could do nothing now, because we had not paid a bill in the past month (we had a credit balance so we did not owe anything). We insisted on speaking to a supervisor, and after a long wait got back on the line to say that they had agreed to honor the card for the remainder of the trip. We vowed never again to travel abroad with only one Visa/MasterCard (Amex is virtually worthless, except for gas and occasional restaurants). This had taken so long, and we were so exhausted, that we made dinner with leftovers from breakfast and a bottle of wine in our house.

Sunday, 9/11 (Afrodisias) Pamukkale

Drove to Afrodisias (Aphrodisias), which is set in a very peaceful rural area surrounded by pretty mountains. It turned out to be our favorite archeological site, in part because of the setting, very few tourists, good condition, and excellent signs/maps by the NYU archeologists. (Each ruin had a definite character based upon which country is excavating it—c.f. Italian in Pamukkale with motorbikes and cars going through the town.) Definitely worth the long trip. Was interesting to watch workmen moving pieces of columns into place. Some of ruined stones had Lego-like blocks on them—don’t know what they are for. Stadium is one of the biggest and best preserved from Classical period. Good museum, with excellent collection of sculptures.

Drove to Pamukkale via Denizli. Found our hotel, Hal-Tur Otel, on main road across from the travertine. We had had difficulty figuring out a good place to stay, and this proved to be a good choice, even though we seemed to be the only people staying there. $80 US, supposedly www.hal-tur.net but that doesn’t seem to work, [email protected] or [email protected], 258.272.27 23, Fettah Anli. Nothing fancy or beautiful, but recently built in good condition with good bed, plumbing, satellite TV (including BBC), good traditional Turkish dinner and breakfast, and helpful owner and staff person, as well as view of the travertines from the window and a swimming pool (not hot water). Brochure has one of best efforts to show the integration of Pamukkale and Hierapolis, which for some reason guidebooks don’t seem to do a good job with.

Drove west to north gate of Hierapolis (5 YTL per person)—it turns out you can drive through the necropolis with a long area of sarcopaghi to a parking area at the NW end of the town proper, and we later moved the car to next to the travertine bath. We were somewhat sated with ruins by the time we got to Hierapolis, though they are quite nice and the combination with the Pamukkale travertines is unique. I am glad we came, but my wife could have passed.

Hierapolis: impressive main street with the older arch demonstrating better engineering than the later one. Large theater.

We had seen different reports regarding how much water there still is, now that many hotels have been demolished. There may not be as much water as there used to be, but you can still walk in the flow of water on the travertine (although my wife found it rough on her feet and slippery), and can still see a number of travertine pools with water in them. Good additional views from a site to the west of the museum that was nominally closed off. It is apparently the site of one a number of motels—probably quite tacky—that used to be adjacent to the travertines but were eventually torn down as they were adversely affecting the flow of water.

Drove to Karahayit a few miles to the NW—very touristy, though might have somewhat fancier hotels.

Nice dinner outside at the hotel.

We realized that the converter I had brought to recharge the digital camera battery did not fit into Turkish sockets. The hotel owner and the other staff person looked around at other sockets and found that they all had the same problem. Then the other staff person came up with a 3-way plug that solved the problem.

Monday, 9/12, Konya

Woke up early and decided that it could be fun to swim in the pool up in Pamukkale with marble ruins scattered in it, even though it was very expensive (though the Hierapolis admission from the day before was still accepted). Fortunately, it was not open yet, but the guard let us take a look—it was interesting to see, but we probably wouldn’t have wanted to swim for long, especially for the amount they charge. The pool is surrounded by one of the old motels that have otherwise been torn down.

Breakfast at hotel.

Long but attractive drive to Konya via Dinar, Isparta, Egirdir, and Beysehir.

The roads here and elsewhere were surprisingly good—better than many European countries where we have driven, though autoroutes still quite limited (more under construction and planned). Never figured out what the rule was regarding passing—there were markings on the roads similar to in US, but particularly when there was a middle lane the markings on the roads disagreed with the signs. My hypothesis is that they found that allowing the middle lane to be used for passing when visibility allowed was too dangerous, so they put in signs that reserved the middle lane for one direction or the other at any given place (which would be a good system). However, neither set of rules seemed to be followed by Turkish drivers, so it was critical to watch out for yourself. But even with that, I didn’t find the driving any more difficult than in southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy). Speed limits were 120 km/hr on the few autoroutes, 90 km/hr on other non-city roads, and 50 km/hr in towns (except where otherwise indicated). Very few drivers seemed to abide by these (particularly in towns, but on highways 110-120 was typical). However, they do use radar, as I found out to my chagrin when I was pulled over for speeding. They were nice enough about it, but shrugged when I complained about how much it cost (92 YTL).

Stopped for roadside lunch in Ergirdir in the lakes area, which is a nice town on an attractive lake (part of the town is on an island attached by a bridge to the mainland). It would make for a relaxing stop if you had lots of time, but doesn’t seem to be worth going far out of the way. But at least not tarnished with tourist attractions like some other areas.

Driving into Konya was a great navigational challenge, particularly as we did not have (and never found) a particularly good map, and there were no street signs. We tried following signs to the Mevlana Museum, but they were not at enough intersections to keep us from getting lost, though eventually we found our way (still have no idea how we got there, and we never drove by the major circle in the center of town that we had assumed we would get to eventually). We had considered staying in the suburbs at a purported Hilton, but that would have been disastrous given how hard it was to find things by car.

Hotel Balikcilar, $85 incl. taxes (after asking for discount), turned out to be a good choice. It has a perfect location with views of the Mevlana Museum and Selimiye mosque and within walking or inexpensive cab distance of other attractions. [email protected], 332-3509470. www.balikcilar.com
The most hotel-like place we stayed in, but rooms were fine, free parking in front (though seem to be only a few spaces), views from room were great but was not much street noise with window closed and AC on, free internet in bar, helpful staff (gave me a free 3-way plug to take with me when I tried to ask where to buy one), breakfast in top-floor restaurant with good view of Mevlana and mosque.

We arrived too late to go to attractions, but we realized that we would have to wake up very early for the balloon ride in Kapadokya and we did not have a workable alarm clock (turned out hotel had a wakeup service on its phone system for this purpose), and my wife needed a scarf to go into mosques and Mevlana Museum. We wandered through the bazaar (bought a scarf which worked well for my wife and my daughter loved when we gave it to her after the trip) and the main streets looking for an alarm clock (turns out clocks and optical are a typical combo). Negotiated at one store, but it seems that price changed from YTL to $ with same number, so we walked away. Found another, where a nice customer who spoke English volunteered to translate so we knew how to use the one we were considering buying (turned out it came with instructions only in English).

Looked at door on Museum of Wooden Artifacts on circle around Alaettin Tepesi circle. Stopped at McDonald’s, which on its wall had the only good map we saw of the entire city (and helped us figure out how to drive out the next morning).

Ate dinner at restaurant recommended by hotel, Mevlevi Sofrasi with view of Mevlana Museum, 20 YTL, good food and nice place, but my wife (though not I) got sick the next day, so might have been responsible for that.

RCLCOLPB

PART 2 (Cappadocia and Istanbul)

Tuesday, 9/13 (Konya) Urgup (Kapadokya)

Breakfast on top floor restaurant

Taxi to Karatay Museum (4 YTL), which has a nice tile collection and impressive dome.

Taxi back to Mevlana Museum (4 YTL). Beautiful tile work including calligraphy. Tombs have turbans on top of them. One room shows mannequins dressed as dervishes. Seem very proud of their religion.

Drove out of Konya without difficulty.

Quite desert-like steppe road, except for more gas stations than there seems to be demand for (entrepreneurial spirit in Turkey seems very strong, but hard to believe most of them are making much money). Stopped for water (large bottles are delicious, cheap—usually about .75 YTL or so, and necessary in this dry climate), and a man approached me who wanted to talk about how awful US government policy in Iraq is. But throughout Turkey seemed to be fine to be an American as long as made clear that do not like Bush and did not vote for him. Israel never came up.

Stopped at Sultanhani caravanserai, no one there but one of apparently many Seljuk inns for travelers on Silk Road.

We had considered stopping in Ihlara Valley on the way to Urgup, which might have made sense geographically (and Suha at Esbelli Evi had thought was doable), but especially with time to see attractions in Konya that would have been too much (particularly driving) in one day I think. Ramazan at Esbelli Evi had e-mailed that he thought we should come directly to Urgup, and I think he was right.

After a stop at an impressive gas station with multiple restaurants (we ate at a cafeteria) and stores at edge of Aksaray, and drive made longer by road construction, arrived at Urgup.

Esbelli Evi, $90 (less 10% discount for cash), www.esbelli.com, [email protected], 384-341-33-95, is a great place, with rooms in rehabbed houses built into caves and a somewhat maze-like plan, a nice living room with excellent library, free internet service on 2 computers, and excellent advice on 3 different touring routes for Kapadokya (Cappadocia in Greek). Suha Ersoz was not there when we arrived (we later learned that he was out of town in Ankara), but Ramazan spoke English and was very helpful. We had our bedroom, a hallway, a bathroom with the best shower of the trip (and one of the best ever), and an extra bedroom with twin beds.

At Ramazan’s suggestion, we stopped at the small Culture Museum (2 YTL) at the back of a restaurant in nearby Ortahisar. It has interesting dioramas of life in Kapadokya—particularly interesting was the coy way that men go about proposing and women go about accepting or not. The guide, who is obviously very proud of the museum, was cute. He took our picture in front of a banner with letters written backwards for some reason, as if we were going to photograph them in a mirror. In downtown Ortahisar is an impressive multistory tower with caves built into it.

Walked around Red Valley/Rose Valley (Kizilcukur), where Ramazan said we would have no difficulty finding the trails, but we were soon lost in terms of where we were supposed to walk. But a good introduction to the amazing shapes of Kapadokya, a few with caves in them, and nice views of Urgup. Not really a place to see the sunset, but light as sunset approaches is nice.

Good dinner at Somine Restaurant in downtown Urgup (26 YTL).


Wednesday, 9/14 (balloon trip, Derinkuyu, Ihlara Valley, Soganli) Urgup

Comments I posted right after the Kapadokya Balloon trip (classic deluxe trip, 1.5 hours, 230 euros each with 20 euros discount for cash or travelers checks, www.kapadokyaballoons.com, [email protected], 384-271-24-42, Lars-Eric More)

“We are cautious fiftysomethingers, so we had not originally intended to take a balloon trip when we were in Cappadocia. However, when I saw repeated comments on bulletin boards and in guidebooks that this was one of the highlights of travel in Turkey, I looked into it more. It was clear from everything I read that Kapadokya Balloons was getting the best reviews for attention to safety, quality of the pilots and the ride, etc.

However, we are also frugal (cheap), so the cost—particularly of the longer, “classic” flights—was daunting and almost kept us from signing up.

The upshot is that we are extremely glad we did. I realize that it is a cliché, but it was definitely the experience of a lifetime. The scenery was incredible, the feeling of flying quietly over this scenery and coming so close to it and towns dramatically but with utmost confidence that we were safe, and all of the warm people at the company made the trip by far the highlight of our great trip so far.

We also learned from talking with others on the flight with ballooning experience that the trip was actually a bargain compared to the cost of balloon trips in other countries, that Cappadocia is probably the best place in the world to take a balloon trip, and that our pilot Lars and others at the company are exceptional. It certainly seemed so to us, but we are novices.

The only downside is that we fell in love with ballooning but will apparently not find experiences to rival this one elsewhere. We will just have to come back to Cappadocia soon—which would be a great idea for many reasons….”

Returned to hotel for breakfast and showers, and then drove to the Derinkuyu underground city following the excellent Xeroxed, hand-drawn Esbelli Evi map. We hired a guide (also a postcard seller) who came after us after the ticket salesman said there were no guides, which proved to be very useful in terms of finding our way as well as information. Unbelievable, particularly considering that it was built in pre-Hittite times and extends 7 stories down and many miles to the north (reportedly connecting with the Kaymakli underground city).

We had not planned to go to Ihlara Valley after skipping it on the way from Konya, but we decided to do it now and are glad we did. We found the instructions confusing in terms of how to visit only part of the Valley. We realized that we could drive across the valley at Ihlara and then north until turning east on the road to Belisirma. We passed a couple of cave churches and pulled into a parking lot shown on the Lonely Planet map as ticket office 12, and bought a ticket for the Valley. We walked back along the road to Bahattin’in Samanligi Church with nice frescoes, and then walked south from parking along valley. Very beautiful, peaceful, wooded setting along the stream, with churches in caves above. I walked up to one church, which was not easy to get up to but we got the idea of how amazing it was to build these in this kind of setting.

Drove across to Soganli Valley at southern end of Esbelli Evi’s orange route. Paid admission to the town, but churches (which probably would have been interesting) were locked.

Drove back to Urgup via the Greek village, Mustafapasa.


Thursday, 9/15 (Central Kapadokya) Urgup

After breakfast, proceeded on Suha’s itinerary, which was pretty easy to follow despite lack of any good road maps beyond his hand-drawn one.

Devrent Valley, so-called Valley of Fairy Chimneys. Lots of tour buses along the road, but impressive.

Zelve Valley Open-Air Museum (if it is called a museum, they charge), with 3 valleys, though part of it closed due to collapse (we did not want to climb through a dark tunnel that apparently connects two of the valleys).

Pasabag with fairy chimneys with multiple tops.

Cavusin, we hired a guide who also sold postcards, and he gave us a good tour up to the church of St. John the Baptist. He explained that the caves in the steep rock face had all been occupied until not many years ago when they were declared too dangerous and everyone was moved to a new town nearby. But this cave life was not easy, with no electricity or plumbing.

Goreme Open Air Museum--we hired a guide who was helpful in explaining things and showing us the most interesting churches to go up to (and gave us a more convenient parking space). Amazing frescoes in many churches, including columns carved in the rock to look like more urban churches even though the columns are unnecessary structurally.

Uchisar Castle, amazing high-rise that we had flown near in the balloon.

Drove by and stopped at Pigeon Valley.

Went into Goreme, where a store next to bus station transferred our pictures through that time onto a disk. Yet another contrast—modern kids dressed in jeans in front (no headscarf on girl, but not sure what age that is expected), father in back praying on his prayer rug who came out to take care of the computer project.

Walked around Goreme town, which is amazing because caves in fairy castles and regular buildings are no intermixed and combined. Lots of cave pensions, even a cave bar called Flintstones.

Car rental company came to pick up the car at the hotel.

Relaxed at hotel and then got picked up by Old Greek House restaurant in Mustafapasa—excellent multicourse meal—one of the best meals on the trip.


Friday, 9/16, Istanbul

Took shuttle to Kayseri airport. Turkish airports have multiple security checks—seems to be better security than US has.

Greeted by a driver from Empress Zoe at the airport (26 Euros, less 10% for cash, vs. about 22 YTL for cab). A cab would probably have been fine, and can now take tram from the airport to the end of the line and walk a few blocks to another tram to Sultanahmet (but given how crowded it can be, and subsequent pickpocket, would probably be concerned about taking it with luggage), so a nice but probably unnecessary luxury relative to cab.

Empress Zoe is in a great location a block from Four Seasons and a couple of blocks from Aya Sofya church and many other Sultanahmet tourist attractions and Topkapi Palace. 85 Euros for standard double less 10% discount for cash/TC, www.emzoe.com, [email protected], 212.518.2504 or 212.518.4360, Ann Nevans is owner. A rehabbed Ottoman mansion with below grade lobby, pretty breakfast garden with fountain, good breakfast buffet, rooftop deck with great views of Bosphorus and back views of Aya Sofya and Blue Mosque, nicely decorated but smallish room with a bathroom and shower that make ours look large. Lots of stairs, including spiral staircase from lobby to second floor. Room 24. Good AC. No internet service, but many cafes nearby.

Went up to look at rooftop deck.

Aya Sofya (Haghia Sophia), 15 YTL, we decided to accept the offer of a guide, which was probably worthwhile even though she did try to connect us with her family carpet store and the Bosphorus trip that she was organizing. Amazing engineering feat for a church built in the 6th century. Great mosaics. Special exhibit upstairs with closeup photos of mosaics, etc., that could be seen from the same spot.

Basilica Cistern, very interesting, definitely worth visiting, vast, beautiful with mysterious lighting and accompanying music. Two columns resting on old Medusa head bases upside down/sideways. Huge panoramic photo of Istanbul from the air presumably.

Mosaics Museum, beautiful mosaics from the floors of the old Great Palace (Byzantine). Many of them in remarkably good shape.

Blue Mosque, named for blue Iznik tiles that predominate inside. Massive and beautiful.

Took bus T4 to Taksim. T4 provides an excellent connection between Sultanahmet across from tourist office near Aya Sofya a few blocks from our hotel to Taksim Sq. via Sirkeci Station and the Tunel station at Karakoy just over the Galata Bridge. But it does not seem to be on bus maps or mentioned in some guidebooks, but Lonely Planet mentions it and has good info re buses in general, though not always the best or only routes (e.g., to Church at Chora). The tourist office did not have accurate info re bus routes or ferry times, or museum opening times (which guidebooks disagree about and none seem to match actual times, though closing days are accurate). Mosques seem to be open from about 9 to 8, except for 45 minutes or so after call to prayer ends.

Walked down the pedestrian Istiklal Caddesi, which was mobbed with people enjoying a night out on the town in what could have passed for any modern city with great night life.

Found with some difficulty Nevizade Sokak, which has a bunch of Meyhane restaurants—meze and fish restaurants with tables out on the street and occasional performers who come around and perform for tips. You choose your own fish, but it’s important to check the price before ordering—quite reasonable if you order right, but some fish can be very expensive. We ate at the Boncuk Restaurant, Nevizade Sokak 19, with fish about 16 YTL and meze about 3-4 YTL each. Very good and lots of fun.

Walked back to Taksin and took bus back (last bus is about 1130 or so, so if you are a late nighter plan to take a cab—though our first effort to take a cab they tried to take us without using a meter, and we ended up walking).

Saturday, 9/17 Istanbul

I went up to view sunrise over Bosphorus.

Good buffet breakfast near fountain in garden. The typical breakfast throughout Turkish hotels included breads, great jams and butter, delicious yogurt, olives, cheeses, fruit/cucumbers/tomatoes (which we did not eat, though might well have been fine), and sometimes a cheese borek (pastry).

Walked to Topkapi Palace and waited for it to open at beautiful Fountain of Ahmet III.

It turns out the gate around the palace opens at 9 or a few minutes before that, and there is no real line, so there is no need to get there before that or even that early. Apparently the most critical time issue is to get time-assigned tickets to the Harem; you need to get Topkapi Palace tickets first and then wait in the Harem line after entering the palace. The Harem ticket office opens about 940 for a first tour at 10, and it is probably worth lining up at 920 or so (we lined up just after 900). But given how long you would want to stay in the palace, it would not be bad to be on a somewhat later tour. Topkapi Palace incl. Treasury 22 YTL, plus 10 YTL for harem.

We got the audioguide and strongly recommend it. It was cheaper than the group tours (9 YTL vs. 10 Euro per person), and seemed to have much more complete info (plus no risk of being sold a carpet). You must have some kind of ID card to leave as deposit, such as a driver’s license.

Topkapi Palace is amazing, and particularly with audioguide you get a good feel for the amazing life of Ottoman sultans. Beautiful garden type feel to the courtyard, amazing tile, calligraphy, views of city.

Ate lunch at cafeteria at Palace.

Archeological Museum, beautiful tile in the China Pavilion, sarcophagus showing Alexander beating the Persians. (5 YTL) Relaxed at café at the museum.

Took tram to Grand Bazaar. Was very crowded and we had to cross to the other side of the car to get off. Realized when we got off that my wallet had been pickpocketed (first time in all my travels). Fortunately had left all of my cards and most of my money in my money belt or the safe at the hotel.

Bazaar is huge and the ceilings are quite pretty. Was not as mobbed as I expected, even on Saturday—reportedly the busiest day. Having a good map (Lonely Planet, which Tom Brosnahan says in his book that he is the original creator of) was the best we saw—having the street names is very useful, as they are clearly shown on signs in the market (the one place in Turkey you can count on street signs).

Walked back to the hotel, not wanting to risk the tram again.

The hotel had made a reservation at Hamdi et Lokantasi, which was particularly noted for a beautiful view of the city, but our table didn’t have a view and they didn’t seem very nice about it, so we looked at the view and left.

We ended up eating at a mehane on the Galata Bridge (we were looking for the New Galata recommended in Lonely Planet, but are not sure we found it). It was good, and the view of the Golden Horn and Topkapi is great. Checking on the price of the fish was critical, though—we almost spent 80 YTL for 2 rather than 24 for 2.

Ended up walking back to hotel because cab at train station wanted to charge us an exorbitant flat rate rather than using the meter.

Sunday, 9/18 Istanbul (boat trip up Bosphorus)

The tourist office had had the incorrect ferry times, but we had stopped by to get a schedule the day before. Winter schedule this year starts 9/12 and summer schedule will start 6/12/06. But the person we talked with told us the wrong terminal at Eminonu (correct is 2). Current departures are 1035 and 1335, with returns from A. Kavagi at 1500 and 1700. I assume it would have been less busy on a weekday, but it was very crowded, and very difficult to get a seat with an outside/water view, as people rushed ahead and saved the limited seats for other family members. But you can walk around and stand up, or sit at an opening, so it’s not so bad. Probably worth getting there 45 minutes early, but the line is not that organized so may not matter that much.

Despite some of these hassles, this made for a relaxing day, particularly as we decided to take the boat round trip instead of returning by cab or bus as suggested by Tom Brosnahan on his great website http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/ or in Lonely Planet guide. On the way back, I sat in the opening in the boat on the lower level, which was very refreshing and not in as much demand, though you can only see out one side of the boat.

The Bosphorus is pretty, including various palaces and Ottoman homes (yalis) that have some similarity to New England wood frame architecture. At Anodulu Kavagi, a cute little town with multiple restaurants, we and most people on the boat walked up to the ruined 14th century castle. Beautiful views down to Bosphorus (we ate at a café with great views on the way down) and of the Black Sea from the top.

Walked near Spice Bazaar (closed on Sunday, but very active around) through neighborhoods with mostly closed stores to Suleymaniye Mosque.

Saw a billboard with a fashionable woman in full length (but partly open) coat, high heels and headscarf.

Walked back by way of Cagaloglu Baths, which we had just planned to check out, but we ended up doing the bath then. I just had the cleaning, not the massage, and enjoyed it very much. My wife had the massage with oil and also liked it very much.

Walked back to hotel. Ate at the nearby Rami Restaurant, on the roof. It was supposed to have a view of the Blue Mosque sound and light show, but it turns out the show was not on that night because of a special holiday. But the view was nice, and the Ottoman food was excellent—one of the best on the trip.

I went back to the café at the Arasta market just SE of Blue Mosque where I finally saw a whirling dervish dancer.


Monday, 9/19, Istanbul

I went up to roof and walked around poor neighborhood just below the hotel toward the Cankurtaran train station—amazing contrasts to the affluent tourist area just up the hill.

After breakfast, took T4 bus to Taksim and walked down and over to Pera Palas Hotel, built as destination of Orient Express.

Took fun one-stop Tunel French subway down to Karakoy and walked across Galata Bridge to the huge Eminonu bus terminal at SW end of Galata Bridge. We were looking for a bus to Kariye Camii (Church of St. Saviour in Chora) near Edirnekapi, but none of the numbers we had from guidebooks or tourist office or map at bus stops seemed to exist. After asking a number of people, we ended up taking a chance on a bus that supposedly went there. After a wait for it to depart, it turned out that this was the correct bus. No idea how to figure this out any other way.

Kariye has amazing mosaics of life of Jesus, Mary, Jesus’s ancestors, etc. from 1300s.

Went next door for a fabulous lunch at Asitane in the Kariye Hotel. Perhaps the best meal on the trip, delicious Ottoman recipes that they had discovered through historic research. Delightful patio.

Walked (somewhat of a navigational challenge) to Ahrida Synagogue, which turned out to be hidden behind a wall with graffiti being cleaned off of it. The Balat neighborhood was totally untouristy and much less modern feeling than areas we were in earlier today.

We had seen an article about an exhibit of modern British lighting in the Turkish English newspaper at the Old Balat Bridge, which we finally were able to find. It turned out to be just one part of a very large exhibit, using an old partial bridge that had been moved here, that constituted the Istanbul Design Week ’05. Extremely modern displays and attendees—amazing contrast to the nearby Balat neighborhood.

Took cab to Pierre Loti Café, where we had tea. Beautiful views of Istanbul and the Golden Horn. (They are apparently building a cable car up to here.) Walked down past a huge hilltop cemetery and managed to get to ferry terminal just in time for the hourly departure for Eminonu. Ferry service not all that frequent, but very inexpensive and makes for a relaxing break from the intense city, but critical to get a schedule and decent map of the city that shows the ferry stops (tourist office map is okay for this, though not great in general).

Walked through Egyptian spice market, and back to hotel.

Took cab to Develi, huge multistory restaurant. Good.

Tuesday, 9/20, Istanbul and fly back to US

Went to see the 3 columns at the Hippodrome, which is now a park, but shows how huge the Byzantine Hippodrome was.

Went to Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, which has some very beautiful items.

Cab to airport

worldinabag

Hi

Thanks for the report. Will be in Turkey in September 2006 and this has really whetted my appetite!

Femi

I would love to see your pictures. Am I missing the link to them? You mention referral dates for pictures.

xyz99

Great trip report, thanks for posting it. Turkey is on our list, and we’ll hopefully visit it in a few years. After a report like this, we can’t miss it
And I second Femi, please post the pictures link.

BeniciaChris

Thank you so much for your wonderful report. My husband & I will also be in Turkey Sept. 06. I took lots of notes .Also a question on the new Turkish Lira-I thought the exchange rate was better for us?? They arn't in the UE yet-are they getting ready???