Meredith

Upstate Girl, I'll post more details about the Bosphorus cruise when I get a chance to continue my report. But to quickly answer your questions, we also did the cruise without a guide and went all the way to Anadolu Kavagi, and yes, it was worth it! We had a wonderful lunch there, and we really enjoyed the hike up to the castle ruins and the view of the Black Sea.

Meredith

Meredith

May 9 - Istanbul
After breakfast, we started off the day by hopping on the tram to the Eminonu stop, which is right next to where you catch the public Bosphorus ferry. Aside from the 10:35 a.m. departure that we did, there is also one at 1:35 p.m. This area around the dock was the only place on our entire trip where we felt like we could get pick-pocketed - so when you are in this area, keep a hand on your wallet and an eye on the people around you. We saw a kid about 14 years old who would get right in front of people's faces, put his hand on their arm, and starting talking very closely to them. I have no idea what he was saying, but from the way he got so close, it was clear that he was up to something. I saw him do this to several people, all of whom pushed him out of the way and kept on walking. And then, when we were in line to buy our ferry tickets, the same kid walked right up to the ticket window and stood right next to the people in front of us as they were buying their tickets. When the ticket agent handed them their change, this kid actually stuck his hand right in there towards the money - I don't know if he planned on grabbing some of it or just begging for it. Either way, the woman who was paying actually had to push him away from her money! Luckily, there happened to be a cop nearby who saw this happen. He dragged the kid away and told him to scram. So, be cautious with your money in this area.

I absolutely loved the Bosphorus ferry ride! Today was a beautiful day, with not a cloud in the sky. We chose seats on the middle deck in the open-air area. I do wish I had brought a jacket with me - once the ferry kicked into gear, the wind was pretty chilly. If you get too cold, you can sit inside, but that's not nearly as fun. You can also go to the top deck - there's an area without a roof overhead, so you can get full sunlight. Unfortunately, by the time we discovered this, it was pretty packed.

The ferry ride heads up the Bosphorus and stops a handful of times on both sides. It's funny going from side to side: We're in Europe. Now we're in Asia. Now we're in Europe again. We really enjoyed seeing the suburbs of Istanbul on both sides of the water - you pass by some cool fortresses and lots of big, beautiful homes.

There is a snack bar on board the ferry, and attendants come around quite frequently with Turkish tea, coffee, and a few other drinks and snacks. We had several glasses of tea for 50 cents each. At one point, the attendants came around selling some sort of yogurt. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but there was a feeding frenzy among the Turkish people on board. That yogurt must be good because it is clearly popular!

After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the final stop - Anadolu Kavagi on the Asian side, just before the Bosphorus opens up into the Black Sea. Once the ferry arrives here, it's about three hours before the boat heads back to Istanbul. We had heard you can also take a bus back, and thinking three hours was longer than we wanted to spend in this town, our plan was to catch the bus. As soon as we got off the ferry, we went in search of the bus station to see what time we'd be leaving. We found a square that apparently is the bus stop, and there was one bus there picking up passengers. But this bus was not going to Istanbul, the driver spoke no English, and we couldn't find a bus schedule anywhere. So, we quickly gave up on the bus and just decided to do the ferry ride back after all. In retrospect, I'm glad this worked out the way we did, because three hours turned out to be the perfect amount of time for having some lunch and exploring the town.

So, lunch! There are SO many seafood restaurants surrounding the ferry stop in this tiny town. We looped around the block a few times, trying to decide where to eat. The many restauranteurs here are pretty aggressive - every place has someone outside trying to convince you to come in. They all say, "Yes, please," which we thought was kind of funny. Walking down the street, all you hear is, "Yes, please. Yes, please. Welcome, madam. Yes, please..." and on and on. We couldn't really tell much difference between all the restaurants, so we decided on a place called Sempati Aile Balik Lokantasi - coming off the ferry, it's maybe two blocks down to the left, right next to the military base. Our lunch here was delicious and inexpensive. We ordered the fixed menu for 12YTL each. It included bread, water, a big salad, some sort of fish, 2 pieces of calamari, 3 fried mussels, and a huge pile of sardines. It was all fantastic, including the sardines. Our total, including cover charge, was 26.50YTL.

Leaving the restaurant, we headed up the hill to the ruins of the Genoese castle. At times it's a steep walk, especially with a full stomach - but the views of the Black Sea and the Bosphorus are not to be missed. You know, I was so surprised by how beautiful these waters are - such a deep, beautiful shade of cerulean. With all the ship traffic and the name "Black Sea," I guess I always assumed the water would be dark and murky - but not at all. The ruins of the castle atop the hill are interesting, although the ground is pretty littered. There was a big school group having a picnic lunch on the grass next to the castle. They were all passing around tupperware bowls full of homecooked food and pastries - Ryan and I agreed we both would have loooooved to try some of that yummy-looking food.

By now, it was almost time to get back on the ferry. We headed back down the hill and got some ice cream at a shop along the harbor. Along with all the seafood restaurants, there are also quite a few ice cream stands. Just about every person waiting for the ferry was enjoying ice cream on this warm day.

The ferry ride back was uneventful - it stops at all the same places, and after spending about half the ride in the open-air area, we moved inside to the cushioned benches for a nap. (We were not alone - just about every bench had a napper on it.) Once we were back in Istanbul, we walked to the Galata Tower, which is not too far from the ferry stop. Be sure to go to the top for some great panaramic views of the city. We happened to be at the top of the tower during a call to prayer. Hearing the haunting sounds of the call to prayer and looking out at the entire city spread out before you is quite a combination!

Tonight for dinner, we decided on the Marmara Terrace Restaurant atop the Mavi Ev Hotel. This is a very short walk from our hotel - to get there, we walked through the Arasta Bazaar, a single street of nice-looking shops that were just closing up for the night. We had not known about this bazaar, so we decided we'd have to come back to it tomorrow or the next day.

The view from the rooftop restaurant of the Mavi Ev hotel is AMAZING. You feel like you can reach out to the Blue Mosque and wave away the birds that are constantly swooping around its minarets. While we were in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque had a big string of lights hung up in front of it that spelled out these words: VAKIF INSANA HIZMETTIR. You couldn't tell it was there in the daylight, but at night, the bright words lit up the plaza in front of the mosque. I thought I overheard someone say that the sign said "cooperation for the good of the people" or something to that effect. Is that true? Can any of our Turkish Fodorites translate it? I'm really curious to know what it really says, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the political stuff that has been going on.

Anyway, back to dinner. We had a bottle of house white wine, a mized mezes platter, vegetable-stuffed eggplant for me, lamb shish for Ryan, and an order of rice pudding for dessert, for 83YTL. Ryan was a little disappointed with his lamb shish, but everything else was outstanding, especially the mixed mezes. And the view was just amazing!

Tomorrow: Topkapi Palace!

upstate_girl

Thanks Meredith. The three hour wait is a concern of ours, but it sounds like there will be plenty to do. This is a great trip report.

Meredith

May 10 - Istanbul
Today was our last full day in Istanbul, so priority #1 was to visit Topkapi Palace. We made our way over to the palace and realized we were really low on cash. So, Ryan went in search of an ATM, while I hung out on the steps of the gift shop just outside the palace entrance. I watched happily as many large groups of school children walked by, apparently on field trips to Topkapi. The school kids were so cute - they were waving at every tourist and shouting out a chorus of "hello!!" People were taking their pictures and even taking videos, and all of the kids were having a great time hamming it up for the cameras. So cute!

I was having a great time people-watching and waiting for Ryan, when a man and woman approached me and tried to strike up a conversation with me out of the blue. The guy was Turkish but spoke excellent English. The woman didn't say a word - I think she didn't speak English. The guy said, "Hello! Where are you from?" and I immediately knew he had an agenda, so I practically ignored him and continued to fiddle with my camera and watch the cute school kids. I probably should have just walked away, but I knew Ryan would be back at any moment. I grudgingly told him I'm from Atlanta, and he said he lives in Florida and knows Atlanta well, and then he proceeded to spout out names of areas in Atlanta, major roads, and places he likes to go in Atlanta. He said his wife and kids were back home in Florida, and he was traveling through Turkey with relatives. Apparently, the silent woman with him was a "relative." Then he told me he owns property in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Florida. He even pulled out his driver's license to prove to me that he lived in Florida, not that I questioned him about it. In fact, I was doing my best to show disinterest through body language and by barely acknowledging he was there. It was clear he was trying to establish his credibility with me - I guess I was supposed to be more eager to buy whatever he was selling because he was an American citizen or something. Then he asked where I grew up. I said Maryland, and he again started spouting off the names of places he's been to in Maryland and told me he owned property there as well. Eventually, he stopped talking about all the property he claimed to own and started to get to the point. He said, "So, have you bought anything nice here in Istanbul?" and I thought "here we go..." I said no, I'm not big on souvenirs (which is true). He said, "But what about the beautiful carpets?" I said, "Nope, not interested." And he said, "But why wouldn't you want such a beautiful thing for your home?" I said curtly, "Don't want to pay for it, don't want to deal with getting it home, and they're not my style anyway." Finally, after more than five minutes of trying to butter me up, he realized it was a lost cause and abruptly said, "OK, nice to meet you, have a nice trip" and walked away. I saw him make an immediate beeline for another American couple and say, "Hello! Where are you from?" This whole conversation was really annoying, but it was also amusing. I admit, I took a little bit of cruel pleasure in watching him struggle to impress me. I'm not sure what role the woman served - perhaps if I had showed interest, she would take me back to a shop to do business while the guy continued doing his thing? Not sure. But as I continued to sit there waiting for Ryan, I could see those two approaching just about every American in sight.

Ryan returned shortly after that, and I told him all about my new "friend" as we made our way to the ticket booth. We started off with the harem, and then walked through the rest of the palace. I just loved the intricate tilework in the harem! And a lot of the jewels and artifacts in the Treasury were fascinating as well. We rented one audio guide that covered the harem, the Treasury, and the rest of the palace for 10YTL. Honestly, it wasn't worth paying for the audio guide. With admission, you get a free booklet that has the exact same information as the audio guide, literally word for word. In most instances, the audio had maybe a sentence of information more than the booklet, which in my opinion was not worth the 10YTL. The only advantage is that you can get around some of the crowds in the Treasury with the audio, because the crowds line up to read the plaques posted next to each exhibit. With the audio guide, you don't really need to cram in close to read that stuff, but do keep in mind that audio is available for only a handful of things in the Treasury.

We spent all morning in Topkapi and were primed for lunch by the time we left. We decided to try a place recommended in Frommer's called Eminonu Belediyesi Sosyal Tesisleri, located within a small city-owned park in Sultanahmet, right near the Sea of Marmara. This place was inexpensive and full of locals. Actually, almost of every table had a large group of local women out for a girls-only luncheon. The waiters spoke barely any English, so we felt like we were really off the beaten path (even though this place is in Frommer's). We ordered three mezes (all delicious), lamb chops for me, and fish for Ryan. I forgot to record the price, but I do remember that the mezes were 3YTL each. I believe our total was just a little over 20YTL. Although we didn't love our main courses, I'd recommend this place for the mezes and for the experience of being among the locals.

From here, we started to make our way back to the Grand Bazaar to make up for our bad experience there two days before. On the way, we stopped for some sweets at a cafe right along Divanyolu Caddesi. I grabbed a card with the cafe's name on it, but I can't find it anywhere - I do remember that it's right near the tram stop by some bookstores. I order a Turkish coffee, and Ryan had a tea and some other sticky-sweet dessert. Oh, here's an important tip: when ordering tea, make sure you specify Turkish tea. Otherwise, you'll get a Lipton teabag in a teacup, rather than the good stuff in a traditional curvy little glass.

Next we stopped at the book bazaar, located very near the Grand Bazaar. I was in search of a good book, since the one I brought with me was pretty stupid. Several of the sellers have books in English, but I did not find any that I wanted today. So we headed into the Grand Bazaar and spent a while wandering around, taking in the bright colors, and being amused by the salesmen. One guy said, "Please, come in to my shop and be my victim." That got a laugh, but not a sale. We left empty-handed.

Tonight for dinner, we chose Asitane, a place recommended by Frommer's and by an article about Istanbul from the New York Times that I had printed out. It's nowhere near Sultanahmet, so we took a cab there for 14YTL. Asitane is known for re-creating actual recipes served to sultans in Topkapi Palace. The sultans obviously ate well, as everything on the menu was rich and tempting. We chose cabbage stuffed with mussels and spinach ravioli for appetizers, quince stuffed with lamb and veal for me, duck pot pie for Ryan (this had a fancy name that I can't remember, but it was essentially duck pot pie), and fruit and pudding in rose water for dessert. With a bottle of red, the total was 136YTL.

This was our fanciest and most expensive meal of the whole trip. I have to say, everything we ate here was FABULOUS. We gobbled up every last bite. Unfortunately for me, my taste buds loved it, but my stomach did not. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to run to the bathroom. Luckily, Ryan felt fine. As for me, it took several days before I felt right again.

Tomorrow: Istanbul to Cappadocia!

Weadles

Meredith,

I am enjoying your trip report so much, especially because we'll be in Istanbul and Bodrum next month! Thanks so much for this!

To Danalou: I would suggest visiting the Acropolis on Saturday morning, as early as it opens. It is quite a hike up to the top, and extremely hot in Athens during the summer, so I can't even imagine doing this jet-lagged! Also make sure that you bring a huge water bottle w/you before you set off on the path to the top. Last summer we thought we'd find vendors at the top to buy water from, but no such thing! Just public bathrooms and fountains from which people were refilling their own bottles. And that water was WARM.

Meredith

May 11 - Istanbul to Cappadocia
I woke up in the middle of the night feeling just awful - something I ate the night before really did a number on me. I'll spare you the details, but I was in bad shape. We showered and went up to the rooftop cafe for our last breakfast at Dersaadet, but I could barely stomach one little nibble of bread. So, I spent the rest of the morning laying in bed moaning, instead of going to the Arasta Bazaar like we had planned. I was so bummed - I really wanted to check out that bazaar!

We checked out of the hotel around 11:30 and called a cab to take us to the airport. I was sad to leave Istanbul, especially since we didn't have enough time to visit Dolmabahce Palace and a couple of other places that were high on my list - but Cappadocia awaited us!

Under normal circumstances, we would not have eaten at the airport. But I had yet to digest any food today, so we went to one of the small restaurants in the domestic terminal so that I could have some lentil soup. It was expensive, but it was tasty - and it was about the only thing my stomach could have handled. We were served food on our Turkish Air flight (again impressed, since it was such a short flight) - a bologna sandwich and a packet of cookies. I couldn't even look at the bologna, but I did nibble a tiny bit on the bread.

About our flight: we flew to Kayseri on Turkish Air and managed to get a 69YTL fare going there and 79YTL coming back. Total with taxes for both of us was 376YTL.

Arriving in Kayseri, a representative from EuropCar met us just outside the airport. We had booked the car through AutoEurope for US$160 for three days. We had booked an economy, but Ryan noticed that the tires on the car they had for us were practically bald. The only other car they had available was a mid-size Renault, so that's what we ended up with for no extra charge.

By the time we hit the road for our hotel in Goreme, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. I still felt awful, so I was generally grumpy and not impressed with Kayseri. It was very industrial and gray, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. (My impression of Kayseri on our way back was much more favorable - you'll hear about that later!) The drive to Goreme was easy and took about an hour. Much of the landscape is flat as can be, with nothing in sight except for a few tall mountains far in the distance. But gradually, as you get closer to Cappadocia, you begin to see the land turn into strange rocky shapes. And by the time, you get to Goreme, you have hit the mother lode of fairy chimneys and other strange shapes. This is by far the most unique landscape I have ever laid eyes on!

Arriving in Goreme, we stopped to ask a guy at a mini-mart how to get to our hotel, the Kelebek Boutique Hotel. The guy pointed up a road, and we easily found it. I LOVE this hotel. We had originally thought we'd stay in the pension portion of the hotel, but I'm glad we splurged for a nicer, bigger room. After being squished in our room at the Dersaadet, we were very happy to have space to spread out. We chose Room 103 and paid €85 a night for three nights. I loved the decor of the room - here are some pictures from the hotel website:
http://www.kelebekhotel.com/boutique/ahiroda.php
If I could do it all over, I might consider booking one of the rooms that has a TV. We purposely choose one without TV, but there was one rainy afternoon where it would have been nice to lay in bed and catch up on world news. Regardless, this hotel was really neat, with great views of the town of Goreme and its fairy chimneys.

After checking in, we wandered down to the town, which is small and clearly aimed at the backpacker crowd. We really liked it here - there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, yet it's small enough that we never felt like the town was overcrowded. (Of course, this may be very different in high season!)

We stopped at a cafe/restaurant called Alaturk for some Turkish tea. The cafe area has some big cushy seats and tables perfect for playing backgammon. I used to play backgammon when I was little, but I could not for the life of me remember the rules. Ryan has never played backgammon, so we settled for a game of checkers instead.

After wandering around the town a bit more, we stopped at Klase Terrace for dinner. This restaurant is next to the big fairy chimney right in the middle of town. We got an order of hummus (which was served with a huge, piping hot piece of flatbread), 2 Turkish pizzas, and a large beer for Ryan. I was still feeling a little shaky, so I ate very little - but what I did have of the hummus and pizza was delicious. Our total here was around 20YTL. (My notes concerning food prices for this stretch of the trip are a little sketchy - I did a bad job of taking notes while I was sick, so most of these notes were written from memory a few days later.)

Tomorrow: Hot air balloons, underground cities, and hiking through the valley!

starwhite2

Meredith, your story about the man "from Florida" in Istanbul was hilarious. Love your account of Topkapi. Sorry about your getting sick. Goreme sounds neat. Looking forward to more! Thanks.

I'll be in Turkey on June 22 & 23 (off a cruise ship).

Meredith

May 12 - Cappadocia
Today began with a hot air balloon ride! We decided to go with Goreme Balloons because they came highly recommended on several sites, and because they offered a "budget" option of doing a 45-minute flight for €160. (To me, this is still a very expensive activity - but it was worth it.) Our shuttle bus picked us up at 5:20 a.m. - I thought this was excruciatingly early, but we were actually the last people to be picked up. I can't imagine what time the first people on the bus were picked up!

The driver took us to a field just outside of town, where four huge, colorful balloons (all belonging to Goreme Balloons) were being prepped and fired up for take-off. There was a small selection of breakfast stuff and coffee and tea available for us. All of the people waiting were divided up to 16 people per balloon. We climbed in, and away we went!! The ride was so smooth, you hardly even realize you are moving. I thought I'd feel a lurch in my stomach as we took off, but nothing. Rising up above the earth, we had an amazing view of Goreme and the peaks and valleys surrounding it, as well as all the other balloons taking flight. (I thought I had researched all of the balloon operators, but there were many in the air with us with names I didn't recognize.) Our "driver" was excellent - he did a great job of repeatedly freaking everyone out by getting thiiiiiiis close to some of the taller fairy chimneys. Because we opted for the shorter ride, our balloon did not go too high up. We still had an amazing panoramic view, but there were other balloons that were so high up, they looked like birds way up in the sky.

Our only disappointment with the balloon ride was the overcast sky - we missed out on the sunrise and the amazing spectacle of colors you are supposed to see as the sun's rays hit the undulating land. Oh well, it was still a great experience! Upon landing, there was a bit of bumping along the ground before the basket was firmly settled, but nothing scary. We had a champagne toast, but we weren't into it - it was, after all, barely 7 a.m.!

Back at the hotel, it was still too early for breakfast. Ryan read his book for a few minutes, while I took a little power nap on the couch in our room. We were ready for breakfast right at 8 a.m., when the Kelebek starts service - and here we had the BEST breakfast of our trip! Breakfast includes a buffet table with cereals, dried fruits, juices, an assortment of breads, and coffee and tea. And the staff serves everyone a platter of olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, several kinds of cheese, some of that strange bologna meat (not my thing), and fried eggs. I feel like there is other stuff that I'm forgetting... Regardless, this breakfast was SO good. Definitely the best of our trip.

After filling up on all the good stuff, we got in our rental car and headed to the underground city of Kaymakli, about 20 miles away. Another underground city called Derinkuyu is right near Kaymakli. We chose Kaymakli because the front desk guy at our hotel said it causes less claustrophobia. We had originally planned on walking through the underground city ourselves, since red arrows mark the way to go throughout. After buying our tickets, I was eager to get going and started making my way down into the city. But I looked back and noticed Ryan standing by the entrance with an uncertain look on his face. He'll hate me for writing this, but the poor guy was feeling a little nervous at the prospect of getting lost deep down inside an ancient underground city. So, to make him feel a little bit better, we decided to hire a guide. We asked about a guide at the ticket booth and had to wait about five minutes for someone to become available. Our guide was a little guy called Mustafa Small (to differentiate him from all the other Mustafas) who grew up in Kaymakli and played in these caves before they became a tourist attraction. Mustafa was going to charge us 15YTL each, but then some other people joined us, so he dropped the charge to 10YTL per person. Mustafa knew the caves very well, and watching him scamper through the tunnels like a little mouse was funny. I was glad we hired him, as there is no information inside the cave nor a brochure describing the different areas.

The city goes down eight stories, but only four stories have been excavated so far. The ancient people who lived here were about to stay under ground for up to six months at a time to avoid enemies - just imagine! This place was fascinating to me - I am very glad we saw it! (By the way, Ryan was totally fine once we got inside the cave and swore he wasn't scared.)

After this, we drove another 50 miles or so to Ihlara Valley, a very cool gorge in what seems like the middle of nowhere. When we got there, there were several tour buses parked in the lot, and many people hiking down down down into the valley. We followed the crowds down and crossed a footbridge to the other side of the river (mostly to avoid the crowds, who seemed to be staying on the left.) Our original plan was to hike the two miles or so to a town called Belisirma for lunch. Frommer's said it was an easy hike that should only take about an hour and a half. Well, the path we were on had us climbing over some big boulders - it was fun, but it wasn't what I'd call an easy hike. Then we realized that the book must have been talking about the path on the left bank, and we were on the right. After about 30 minutes, we realized it would take us a looong time to get to the restaurant we wanted to eat at, and we were getting hungry. So we ditched that plan, headed back to the main entrance, and decided to eat at the restaurant there. Along the way, we stopped in several of the cave churches and were floored by the amazing frescoes! Some of this artwork is from as far back as the 10th century - I can't believe that the colors are still so vivid. And I also can't believe how easy it is to access these caves - you could reach up and touch the frescoes if you wanted to (but you better not!) - if these were here at home, they'd probably be behind bulletproof glass, surrounded by security guards.

We wandered around the caves until hunger officially took over. I don't know the name of the place where we ate, but it's right in the building at the entrance to the valley. We sat on the balcony looking right down into the gorge - what a sight! We had a shepherd's salad (tomato, onion, green pepper, olive oil, herbs), a chicken kebab for me, and a chicken dish for Ryan - I don't know what this dish is called, but it's served on an elevated hot plate with a flame beneath it. I also don't remember the exact price (I told ya my notes are sketchy for this part of the trip), but I think it was less than 20YTL. I didn't care for my kebab, but Ryan's dish was excellent!

Now we started the drive back to Goreme, which took about an hour, and we were hit with the first bit of bad weather we had on the entire trip. We got caught in a rainstorm that at times was very heavy. By the time we got back to Goreme, the major downpours had gone away, but there was still a dismal drizzle all afternoon. The only negative thing I can say about Cappadocia is that there isn't much to do when the weather is bad, since all of the activities are outdoors. We spent a bit of time this afternoon at the hotel bar, where we had some Turkish tea and played checkers.

For dinner, we drove into town - yes, we actually drove a whopping quarter mile. Hey, it was drizzling out! We decided to have dinner at a place called The Local Restaurant, which we really enjoyed. Due to my digestive problems, my appetite was still weak, so I just had lentil soup and a seasonal salad. Ryan had a delicious beef and eggplant stew served in a small crockpot. Ryan was definitely the food winner today, since both his lunch and dinner were outstanding. I have no idea how much our dinner was at The Local Restaurant (sorry), but I would guess it was about 28YTL.

Tomorrow: our last full day in Cappadocia!

starwhite2

Thank you. Love those fairy chimneys in Goreme. More stories, please.

worldinabag

Hi Meredith

Your trip report is amazing. So rich in detail and plenty of excellent tips. We travelled Turkey and Greece (Athens and Paros) last September, the reverse of you itinerary and flying Olympic too. Your report is making me go into "Cold Turkey"

Some comments

"We found this to be true all over Turkey...they'd quote a price in euros but charge in liras." I found the Turks love US and euro money. But trust me they are better than you at converting to local currency! My advice to travellers is to learn to deal with the Turkish lira.

"...when a man and woman approached me and tried to strike up a conversation with me out of the blue." Yes I'm glad you posted this little story. Their approach is very typical. I loved Sultanahmet but I used to call it the "Snake Pit". Although polite the hawkers and touts can be aggressive in their marketing. Best approach is to decline politely and walk purposefully on. And please be careful when buying carpets. Do you know how to grade diamonds? Same thing for carpets. Don't believe a single thing they tell you.

"Oh, before I continue on, let me say something about the Frommer's book. We were extremely disappointed in it and would not recommend it." I gleaned alot of info from the restaurant recommendations on the Frommers website. I concur with Meredith. The info was quite inaccurate alot of the times. In defence of Frommers the circumstances can change often. My advice is to use it as a guide only.

Re the Kelebek Boutique Hotel. Meredith I am in awe! What an unbelievable room. And at €85 what a bargain.

Can't wait for your next instalment. This is better than Mills & Boon

mowmow

The best guidebook to Turkey is Lonely Planet. Tom Brosnahan's turkeytravelplanner.com is a great online place for info about Turkey.

Great trip report. I loved my trip to Turkey, nice to see you had such a wonderful time. I'm looking forward to reading more.

propertravel

Why we quote everything in Euros or Dollars ?
Not becouse we do not like our own money; becouse of the inflation. Especially last 10 years. Buying hard currency was one of the best thing to invest. Nowadays currency issue is more stable but hey, you never know, so its a protection wall for companies.
Also the habbit of quoting prices in hard currency was making things easier rather than saying prices in millions which a lot of foreigners would not understand at first and found prices high. Hotels quoting USD or Euro but you pay as you like. If you pay with credit card the rate converted in current exchange rate. So you hear the price at your currency first so comparing would be easier.......

Happy travelling,
Murat

Meredith

I am so glad you all are enjoying my trip report - thank you!! And my apologies for taking so long to finish it. I am determined to wrap this report up in the next few days! So where were we?...

May 13 - Cappadocia
We started off the day with another fantastic Kelebek breakfast! In case anyone is interested in staying in the pension portion of the hotel, I'm pretty sure the breakfast is the same there as it is in the boutique portion. The only difference I could tell is that the pension breakfast is all buffet, whereas most of it is served in the boutique hotel.

Today's first activity was the Goreme Open Air Museum, which is complex of fairy chimney caves, most of which used to be churches and still have some of the original frescoes and artwork. We spent about an hour here, and although it was very cool, we were a little caved out after walking through a few of them. After all, we had seen plenty of awesome caves with better preserved artwork in the Ihlara Valley the day before. In the Goreme Open Air Museum, you can pay a few dollars extra to go into the Dark Church - this cave apparently has the best preserved art of all the caves in the museum. We had seen enough caves, so we did not pay the extra fee. (All of the other caves are included in the museum entrance fee.)

Leaving the open air museum, we drove over to the town of Uchisar just a couple miles away from Goreme. I had read that this town is popular with French tourists, but I'm not sure I understand why. Uchisar was very small, and it looks like a lot of it is under construction right now. We parked the car and hiked up to the top of the Uchisar fortress perched atop the biggest rock formation in the area. The views from the top are amazing!

Standing up on the highest peak in the area, we could see that rain clouds were headed our way. So we only spent a few minutes up there before heading back o the car and starting our search for lunch. We flipped through our Frommer's book and decided to go to Urgup to have lunch at Somine. We made it into the restaurant just in time - the skies opened up and dumped out boatloads of rain just as we were running through the door.

Our lunch at Somine was FABULOUS. We started off with manti, little meat dumplings served in a garlicy yogurt sauce. SO good. I believe manti are a specialty of the area (more specifically, I think they are a specialty of Kayseri), so do give them a try! As we were eating, we had prime people-watching outside the window. Right across from the restaurant was some sort of banquet hall or something, and people of all ages were arriving for some family event. We thought it was a family birthday party, but eventually a bride and groom showed up. Ah, a wedding reception! The bride was dressed in a dark blue gown - very interesting!

Back to the food. Ryan had some sort of lamb roll-up - I don't remember the name of the dish, but it was like a tortilla or very thin flatbread rolled up with chunks of lamb and some vegetables inside. It was very good - but it didn't compare to my fabulous dish! I ordered the testi kebab, a lamb stew cooked slowly in a clay pot with tomatoes, green peppers, and onions. The pot is sealed up, so part of the fun is that you get to crack open the pot yourself with the back of a heavy knife. This dish was so fabulous - I think it may have been the single best dish we had in all of Turkey. Oh man, it was so good. I highly recommend it! We finished up our meal with a couple of Turkish teas. Total was about 35YTL.

The rain was thankfully gone by the time we finished lunch, so we spent a bit of time wandering around Urgup. It was cool to see many tiny little cafes filled with older local men playing backgammon and other games. Otherwise, we weren't that impressed with Urgup. It is certainly bigger and busier than Goreme. There are bigger stores (I think I even saw a Benetton), but we didn't find anything about Urgup to be especially appealing. We were very pleased that we chose to stay in Goreme, where the town is built into and among the fairy chimney. Frommer's disses Goreme and recommends Urgup - we disagree.

After Urgup, we decided to drive through Mustafapasa, just a few miles away from Urgup. I was curious to see this little town, and I also wanted to scope out a restaurant in the town recommended by Frommer's. This was a very charming little town. We didn't get out of the car (because I'm not sure there is anything for tourists to actually do there), but I was glad we saw it. Very cute place with no tourists in sight.

Heading back towards Goreme, we stopped briefly to sample some wine at Turasan winery in Urgup. We tried a couple varieties of red and didn't really care for it that much. We only ordered Turkish wines at restaurants the whole time we were in Turkey - I'd say they were all decent, but not so good that I wanted to buy bottles and carry them all the way back to the states with me.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just driving around, turning onto streets we hadn't been on yet, and generally just exploring. There is a little bazaar set up along the road next to Uchisar. We did not shop here, but we did park the car across the street and go on a little impromptu hike by some curvy rocks that look like rippling ocean waves. We wandered down into a small valley and saw some more fascinating rock formations.

Back at the hotel, we ordered some Turkish teas from the hotel bar and lounged on the outdoor couch on the hotel veranda, which looks out onto the fairy chimneys and the town of Goreme. We also took a few minutes to check our e-mail and catch up with the real world on the hotel's free computer. We wanted to call the Renaissance Polat Hotel in Istanbul that we would be staying at the next night. The hotel website said that they offer free pick-up from the airport but that you had to make a reservation for it. We tried to call the 800 number listed on the website, but it rang and rang, and no one ever answered. Then we tried to call the other number listed, but it was a wrong number. We were perplexed and annoyed by this. The guy at the front desk of the Kelebek got on his computer and helped us search for any other numbers, but we never did find any! (On a side note, we tried the 800 number again the next morning. Someone finally answered, and it turns out that you do not need a reservation for airport pick-up after all. So, if you plan on staying here, be aware that their website can not be trusted for accurate information!)

For dinner tonight, we chose The Orient in Goreme. We loved this restaurant and felt like we got so much for our money. The portions were huge, and every table gets complimentary marinated tomatoes and olives, garlic bread, regular bread, and fruit plate after dessert. They also gave us a stack of Goreme postcards after we paid our bill. We were very impressed with all these freebies! As for the stuff that we ordered, we got a bottle of local wine, and we both ordered off of the 35-lira fixed price menu, which included an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I had assorted mezes for my app (pretty large portions of I think six different mezes), filet mignon, and chocolate cake. The filet is served with a creamy sauce, which was slightly too rich for my taste. Oh, the entrees also came with a big scoop of mashed potatoes and several steamed veggies. Really, the portions were huge - I know this isn't necessarily a good thing, but we were impressed by how much we got for our money. Ryan had pastry with tomato and cheese, marble steak flambe (a really wonderful steak!), and creme caramel. Funny story about his appetizer: the list of choices on our fixed price menu included baked cheese and pastry with tomato and cheese. Ryan ordered the baked cheese, but the waiter brought out the pastry with tomato and cheese.
Ryan said: "Oh, I ordered the baked cheese."
Waiter: "Yes, that is the baked cheese." Ryan (pointing to his dish): "But look - this is a pastry, and inside it is a tomato and some cheese."
Waiter: "Yes, that's the baked cheese." Ryan: "Are you sure this is not the pastry with tomato and cheese?"
Waiter: "No, this is the baked cheese."
Ryan: "Um, OK..."

At this point, he gave up and just ate the pastry with tomato and cheese, which was just fine. It was just a strange conversation. Th waiter spoke English very well, so I'm not sure how he could have misunderstood us.

Our total at The Orient was 100YTL. Great food and great value!

Tomorrow: Cappadocia and back to Istanbul

jacky2007

I just read your review of Greece and Turkey. Going to Athens, Santorini, Mykinos and Andros in July and August. I too am an overpacker of clothing. How did you manage a carry on bag for a holiday. I can't even manage that for an overnight trip out of town.
My biggest indulgence will be shoes (all flat shoes) but shoes nontheless.I enjoyed your review.

Jacky2007

kitamaria

Wow! what a great post --We are heading to Athens and Santorini in August and cannot wait!

NWWanderer

I'm enjoying reading your report, as I just returned from 3 weeks in Turkey so it's bringing back great memories! We stayed at the Dersaadet at the beginning of our trip (which we loved--we wanted twin beds, though, LOL!), then went on a 2 week archeological cruise on the Lycian coast, then to Sirince (to visit Ephesus) and to Cappadocia.

Interestingly, I really liked staying in Urgup (we were at Esbelli Evi) and was glad we'd chosen to stay there because it seemed more "real" to me than Goreme (not totally about tourism). But Goreme is very cute.

Wasn't the balloon ride a blast? We went on the longer ride with Kappadokya Balloons and thought it was well worth it--but we were picked up at 4:25 AM, argh!

We had that same dish in the pot at Sorime--excellent! And I'd had manti earlier in our trip (in Kalkan I think)--that's some yummy stuff.

And I thought all Turkish yogurt was fantastic (I think that's what I'm missing most of all) but the Kanlica stuff they serve on the Bosphorus ferry is the best of the best ;-).

HappyCheesehead

Meredith - I am completely enthralled by the Turkey portion of your trip! I just got my FF tix for a Turkey trip next May (and standard award to boot - man, I love that!) and even though it is so far out I am already starting my restaurant list. The biggest trouble I have with travel is eating out, so you have been a huge help!

Hope your "tomorrow night" stay at the Renaissance is not going to turn out horrible. I am considering it as DH is a Marriott Plat and we have tons of points. It is not the type of place we would normally stay on this kind of vacation but free is free. They are opening a new Marriott somewhere in or near Istanbul 9/2007 but for the life of me I cannot figure out where it is.

Meredith

No worries, Happycheesehead - the Renaissance Polat is a very nice hotel. It's very large, with five restaurants on site, as well as shopping and a nice gym/spa. And the executive lounge (which I'm assuming you'd have access to) is also very nice with lots of good snacks. I would certainly recommend the hotel itself, but be aware that it is close to the airport (which is why we chose it) and several miles outside of the core city.

If you have a ton of Marriott points, have you considered staying at the Ritz Carlton in town? As for the new Marriott, I'm not sure where it is either, but I'm assuming it's on the Asia side of Istanbul. Not sure how easy it would be to get from the Asian side over to the European side, where all the big sites are.

No matter what you choose, I am sure you will love Istanbul!

Meredith

NWWanderer, was the yogurt on the Bosphorus cruise that good? It must have been, since people were swarming the guy who was selling it. Dang, now I wish we had tried some!

Meredith

May 14 - Cappadocia and Istanbul
I woke up this morning with another upset stomach. But thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was a few days prior, and I felt just fine after breakfast.

We had a wonderful Kelebek breakfast for the last time (sadly!) and then packed up our luggage and put everything in the rental car. After settling our bill with Kelebek, we headed out to explore a bit more before heading back to Kayseri to catch our flight.

We had not yet driven down the road to Zelve Valley, so we headed that way and found ourselves at Pasabag, also known as the Valley of the Monks. There were several tour buses parked there, so we thought it must be worth a look. And of course, it was! This valley has more crazy fairy chimneys and caves. We weren't able to spend too much time here because we also wanted to see some animal shapes before heading back to Kayseri. I wish we had gone to Pasabag earlier - we would have enjoyed exploring it a bit more.

Next we drove over to the Devrent Valley (I think that's what it's called) where the animal-shaped formations are. We quickly spotted one that looked like a camel, but didn't see any others on our quick drive through. At this point, we didn't have time to turn around and look for more, so we headed onwards to Kayseri.

On the road back to Kayseri, we noticed a huge snow-capped mountain in the distance. We oohed and aahed and took many pictures from the car - much to our surprise, we kept getting closer and closer to this peak jutting out of the otherwise flat landscape. It turns out this mountain is literally right next to Kayseri. I have no idea how we did not see this mountain on our way out of Kayseri a few days earlier. It was overcast that day, and I guess the peak was completely hidden from view. So we were very surprised to see this mountain that seemed to us like it just popped out of the ground! (By the way, can someone tell me the name of this peak? And is it an extinct volcano?)

We were a little early for our flight, so we decided to drive through the center of Kayseri and see what it was all about. On the day we arrived, we didn't have a great impression of the city. It seemed very industrial and dismal, and we couldn't understand why the region's airport was located here. Well, clearly we saw only a tiny part on the outskirts of town that day, because on this day, we were very surprised at how big, busy, and crowded Kayseri actually is. We drove on the main street through town, and it was pure chaos. The traffic was crazy, and there were people everywhere! My husband deserves a medal of bravery for navigating those streets effortlessly, even when a detour threw us off course. (Well, he did get a bit frustrated - the vein in his forehead was throbbing, and he snapped at me when I asked if we were lost. When will I learn to never ask a man that question? Don't worry, he did apologize for being nasty.) If you plan on driving through Kayseri, consider yourselves warned. The traffic and aggressive drivers here were far more nerve-wracking than in any European city we've been to.

After a few tense minutes, we found our way back to the road to the airport. Returning the car was a cinch - rather than going back to the EuropCar office, the guy met us at the airport. We simply parked the car in the airport lot, and he found us there. We got a copy of the bill and headed into the airport. On this day, the tiny airport was a zoo! A very large group of older local people were gathered for a tour, and I think at least four generations of each person's family came to the airport to wish them bon voyage.

Here's a huge Kayseri airport tip: There are no bathrooms on the other side of security, so take care of your business before going to the gate. (It's a very small airport - there is only one gate.)

Boarding the plane was pretty funny. Most of the people in the tour group seemed like they had never been on a plane before. Many of them were confused about seat assignments and started sitting down wherever. The flight attendant had to explain to many of them exactly where they should sit. It was funny and kinda cute. I was dying to know where their tour was going. Once in Istanbul, I saw the group heading toward the international terminal, but that's all I could see.

Arriving in Istanbul, we easily found the pick-up spot for the shuttle to the Renaissance Polat Hotel. We chose this hotel because we could use Marriott points and because it's very close to the airport (we had an early flight the next morning). The shuttle comes every hour on the half hour, just outside the arrival gate. The Renaissance is a very nice business hotel - it has five restaurants on site, an outdoor pool, an indoor pool, several shops, and a nice spa. Also, the executive lounge was really good, with lots of tasty snacks, including Doritos! (I rarely eat them here in the states, but today they felt like a little slice of home.)

Originally, we had thought we would take a taxi into town and enjoy the last night of our vacation in Istanbul. But, by the time we checked in, we were tired and had no desire to do anything but relax. And so, we splurged. We did two things we NEVER do at hotels: we booked massages and ordered room service!!

First, the massages. We headed down to the spa/gym on the bottom floor of the hotel - it was very crowded with local people exercising after work. (The hotel is in a residential area along the Sea of Marmara.) We both decided to do a Turkish bath. At 100YTL each, it was pretty expensive. I'm sure you can do this for far less money at a Turkish bath in town, but we liked the comfort and reassurance of doing this at our hotel.

We were given towels and flip-flops, and we each changed in the locker rooms and were led off to separate baths for our rub-downs. I wasn't sure exactly how this worked, so I wore a bikini into the bath. I swear I'm not a total prude, but I just thought I'd be more comfy in my bathing suit. So the lady led me into a small bath and pointed at a hook where I could hang up my robe. I gestured to my bikini and said, "OK?" She nodded and then turned away from me to run the water. When she turned back, she saw me still in my suit and said, rather forcefully, "Off!" Oh, OK then. I did as she said and stripped down.

The bath was soooo nice. It started with me laying (nekkid) on a hot slab for a few minutes while the lady went and changed into a nude-colored bikini. First, she doused me with hot water and then with bubbles. Then she rubbed me down with the bubbles and massaged me all over. Next, she scrubbed my skin with an exfoliating cloth, and then we finished up with a shampoo. The whole thing lasted only a little over 30 minutes, but it was totally worth it!!

I left the bath and waited just outside the door for Ryan. I was concerned that he would be uncomfortable with the whole thing, but he loved it as well. He was in a bigger bath room with several other guys in it. I think they alternate prime hours for men and women - in the morning, the bigger room is for women and the smaller for men, and vice versa in the afternoon. Following our bath, we took a dip in the spa's hot tub and then cooled off in the pool. It was so nice and relaxing. I'm glad we splurged!

By now, it was about 9 p.m., and we were way too relaxed to get dressed and go anywhere. So we hung out in our rooms wearing robes and ordered room service. We didn't get much - we just split a lentil soup, a big salad, and an order of fries. This food was actually very good, but of course it was ridiculously expensive. After eating, I practically passed out in bed, while Ryan went and got some dessert from the executive lounge.

Tomorrow: Time to go home