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Istanbul is a fantastic city but is like a different country to the rest of Turkey we reckon (probably a bit like London is to the UK perhaps?). The prices are higher, the accommodation is of very varying standard and value and it is just downright touristy. Having said that, we got a really good deal on accommodation – a really huge room in a very popular area of town. The downside was that we got very little sleep over the two nights we were there and the security on the room was so dodgy that I wedged a chair behind the door while we were asleep.
The reason for the lack of sleep was that Turkey was playing Croatia in the European Football Championships and the whole street turned into one massive party before the game even started!
Everyone was SO hyped (and painted) up
and regardless of whether you’re into football or not, you couldn’t help but get swept into the massive streetparty that was going on right outside. When Croatia scored a goal making it 1-0, cups were smashed on the ground, people stormed off in fury and disappointment and it all got rather tense. The mood went from one extreme to the other when Turkey scored with 19 seconds to spare and people in the street went absolutely nuts and this continued until about 0400 in the morning.
Flares were let off (tip: don’t look at a flare if someone sets it off right next to you!!), fireworks were being set off very randomly (brought back memories of St Anton at NY where we’ve never seen such dodgy and at times downright dangerous handling of fireworks before).
We headed off (along with hoards of Americans) to the Topkapi Palace which was surprisingly quite interesting and had a great view down the Bosphorus from the hill top.
This is the Palace from the Bosphorus (the Palace Harem was almost as large as the Palace itself)
They had some great jewelled items there – gift boxed, swords, water jugs, thrones etc all encrusted with these incredibly large and bright emeralds, rubies and diamonds. Reminded me of a slightly rougher version (in that the jewels weren’t all polished up) of the jewels in the Tower of London. One of particular note was a diamond (86 carats and now surrounded by 49 other diamonds) that was found uncut in a pile of rubbish and swapped as a worthless piece of crystal in return for three silver spoons. Doh!!!
We got chatting to a couple of the many Americans in the Palace and it turned out that they were on a cruise ship that had docked. This ship had 3,200 passengers on it and the difference this influx of people made to the City and the popular sights was amazing. The ship sailed that evening and the next day the old City seemed half dead.
We jumped on a ferry and headed down the Bosphorus. You can see one of two massive bridges that connect Asia with Europe
and we passed some lovely ornate buildings on the way
We headed into the Grand Bazaar which, again I’m sorry to say, has changed incredibly over the past few years. It is just so touristy and has lost most of its charm. There are coffee shops and cafes everywhere, the stalls are all slick and polished and the prices reflect this. You can, however, still barter up a storm in the traditional fashion which was great to see and the theatrics that accompany the bartering have not been lost,
We visited the Spice Bazaar (which has gone the same way as the Grand Bazaar), we snacked on a popular meal - a Mackerel sandwich. Half a Mackerel is quick-fried on a skillet, then dumped in fresh white loaf with some raw onion, lettuce and tomato. You can debone if you wish (some folk just crunched their way on through) and add lemon juice, salt and pepper. This, for me, beat the kebabs hands down! Oh, the cherries also deserve a mention. They’re almost like plums and if you’re a cherry fan, you’d be in 7th heaven.
This was a very relaxing bar underneath the Galata Bridge. The water was just there so it was like a sea-front view
I think this lady was minding someone elses rod
In Selçuk we passed a butcher where a chap outside had a huge tub of intestines and had arranged it like you might a length of rope or a skein of wool. Once it was hanging to about a metre in length, he started to wind the rest of the intestine around it, tying knots in it at every turn so it held firm. It looked pretty revolting and ended out just like a big sausage of intestine. He didn’t speak English so I was finding it difficult to find out how they cooked/ate it. In Istanbul, I found the answers to my questions. It was being slow cooked, then removed and finely chopped (presumably it was quite chewy). I didn’t buy any and (somewhat surprisingly as he eats/tries almost everything) neither did Euan
On the streets of Istanbul we bumped into some of the chaps who were on the boat with us and spent the evening and next day in their company. We were lucky enough to have a meal at what is said to be the best fish restaurant in Istanbul, thanks to the generousity of one of the chaps who was on the boat with us and who was back in Istanbul on business.
This was out last day in the Middle East and I have to say I was quite sad to leave. We were on a plane to Madrid that afternoon so were getting prepared for a huge culture change. On our way to the airport, we were amazed at the number of boats anchored up, waiting to head up the Bosphorus. It is an incredibly busy stretch of water and very challenging to sail up apparently given the boat traffic and really strong currents. Its not a verye good picture (they never are when taken from a moving van!) but it gives an indication
We were in Selçuk solely to visit Ephesus which is about 3km out from the town. We arrived later in the evening and the next morning met a couple from Australia, Matt and Phoebe, who were great company and spent the day with them seeing the sites and having a bit of fun.
Ephesus has a great history, with the city founded in 900 BC but the city has been razed a few times (the first time was apparently in 650 BC) and most of what is standing at the site has been rebuilt. What has not been rebuilt is almost unrecognisable but despite this, the site draws bus loads of tourists on a daily basis. It was incredibly hot while we were there, somewhere in the 40’s (the heat was clearly getting to a few folk and the ambulances were going to and from the ruins) and it was so hot I caught Phoebe sticking her head in the freezer when we went into a shop to buy a few beers.
We’d been spoilt by our crowd-free travels thus far so the crowds at Ephesus probably seemed worse than they actually were but it did seem like an awful lot of people nonetheless.
Phoebe, Matt and I self-guiding
I have to be honest here as I wasn’t that taken with Ephesus when I visited in 2001 and a second visit hasn’t changed my opinion. Euan hadn’t been before and it was one site that he really wanted to see but even he was under-whelmed. Perhaps we’d been spoilt by other relatively unspoilt sites on our travels I don’t know, but the combination of the size of the site (its relatively small), the fact its been extensively rebuilt and the commercialised nature of the site just made it less appealing. What was amazing was that it used to be the main port town but the sea is now some 6km from the ruins.
The Library (completely rebuilt - obviously)
Amphitheatre (it held 25,000 people!)
This was quite cool – its Nike, the Goddess of Victory, but she was rather unceremoniously propped up among other bits and pieces of stone
A sign on the pavement indicating where the brothel was. Apparently the writing said “Follow me…” and you can just see the heart filled in with dots
Selçuk itself is a nice town with lots of resident storks who had the best accommodation in town.
This is a bit random but it was parked just down the road from our pension and really looked like it was a bonfire waiting to happen as it was completely filled with wood and wasn't going anywhere fast
We were at a bit of a loose end for the afternoon so headed to the beach which was the best way to spent a hot day and even the sea was warm but it set us up nicely for our overnight bus trip to Istanbul that evening.
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Mid-afternoon we headed off the boat and onto a local bus to Pamukkale where we stayed the night. The bus was no where near as cheap as in Syria but we’ve had to get over that one and just fork out a wee bit more. The bus service in Turkey is impressive though and even on the small buses there is an attendant who serves you with water, hot drinks, cake etc. Its weird, it almost makes you excited to be getting on a bus. How sad is that?!!
We visited the travertines at Pamukkale in scorching heat the morning after we arrived. From a distance, the travertines don’t look like much more than a big white blotch in the landscape and its not until you’re nearly walking in them that you appreciate what they actually are.
From a distance, they look a dirty white but up close, they’re brilliant white
and the surface looks a bit like elephants skin
I was here seven years ago and was pleasantly surprised to find that they travertines hadn’t changed much from when I was last here (unlike the other parts of Turkey we’ve visited) and that the water was still running as we’d heard reports that the flow had dried up. Euan had no expectations, was really impressed by the whole experience and thought they were well worth going out of your way to visit.
Surprisingly, you’re still allowed to walk up the hillside (shoes off though) though the travertines although if you stray off the beaten track you get whistles blown like crazy at you by the guards that are dotted around the site. The water in the pools is luke warm and your feet squidge through a layer of what feels like mud but its calcium deposit that eventually hardens and creates the terraces.
There are some man-made pools now on the way up the hillside and these are already becoming calcified and beginning to look like the real thing. People are allowed to swim in these and plenty of people were making the most of the opportunity and also of the nearby waterfalls!
The natural terraces are still stunning and while the water is regulated now, it sounds like its for good reason. Apparently if the water runs constantly, algae forms and ruins the pristine white finish. So, to avoid this, the water flow over the travertines is now regulated and then sections are left to dry out completely before the water flow is started again.
To cap it all off, there are Roman ruins at the top of the travertines. The Hieropolis was an ancient Roman Spa town built to make the most of the healing properties of the water in the area. As are the travertines, the Hieropolis is also spread over a large area and the whole site is pretty impressive.
You can just see the white of the travertines in the top right.
The travertines are spread over a huge area but, as you can see, aren't much to look at unless they're filled with water
If you’re ever visiting, go as early as possible and be sure to take your togs! If ruins are your thing, you could easily spend a couple of days exploring the whole site and soaking in the water there. We had a date with Ephesus the next day so headed off to Selçuk (3.5 hours by bus) that evening.
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We left Olympos rather reluctantly but we did need to go as it was the kind of place that you could easily while away the days and before you knew it, it would be 2011! There was one Aussie chap who had been there seven years but he did have it pretty much sorted though from what we could work out. We decided on a three day two night boat trip on a Turkish gullet – there are so many of these boats doing the same trip up and down the coast that you’re spoilt for choice if you don’t get sucked in by the (very onto it) tour operators or tourist agencies. By far the best way is to work out what days the boats leave from which port, rock up, check out the boat, bargain away and get (and pay for) what you want. No surprises.
We had a brilliant group of people – 3 Americans, 4 Canadians and us (to start with) and we had a great time the first night playing cards, having a few beers and spinning the floss.
We’d just all packed off to bed at about midnight and the boat had just settled down for the night when the Captains mobile rang and the next thing we knew, the engines were starting, the boat was shaking and the wood joins groaning and we were motoring off somewhere in the dark. It turned out that we were heading back to port to pick up three others (one very amusing American chap who’d lived in Japan and China most of his life and two Russians who didn’t speak much English). All this was done between 1230-0200 hours and it just reinforced the fact that anything goes and you’ve just got to go with the flow on these boat trips.
The next three days consisted of motoring between bays, swimming, drinking, eating, sunning and generally having a ball.
One of the crew was the absolute epitome of a pirate though. He was even called Gengiz and came complete with long dark hair, a great sense of humour and flashing smile and eyes. Gengiz cooked for us, swam ashore with the ropes, climbed back up the anchor chain and generally kept us quite entertained. A thoroughly great chap to have around.
We anchored next to a family boat with a little boy on it who was setting a fishing line and happily chattering away to himself (an only child we figured – a lonely life for a kid at sea). He was so ensconced in what he was doing that after he’d set the bait on the hook, he very determinedly threw the wrong end over the side of the boat and down down down went the reel.
He just looked in horror then started yelling “Baba, Baba!” (Dad, Dad!) and our resident pirate came to the rescue. He stripped off his shirt and dived in after the reel, retrieved it
then climbed up the anchor with startling speed
and gave the reel back to the wee boy. Brilliant!
We had a fairly chilled three days really. Every time we moored close to a town or village, invariably there was a man in a boat who came round selling ice creams
The sunsets weren’t much but just after the sun went down was the best and we just missed a full moon
We stopped off at some lovely villages – this is Simena, a traditional Turkish fishing village that can only be accessed by boat
and a valley where there is some 130 species of butterfly that hatch there every year. You can camp on the beach, go starkers if you feel like it (we surprised one poor chap) and bake the day away. It was incredibly hot there.
It was OK being back on dry land (I think I lost my sea legs in London somewhere I’m ashamed to say) but we’d highly recommend a few days on a gullet off the Turkish coast. Wooden boats just have so much more character than fibreglass. They almost talk to you (sounds weird I know) and when the going gets rough you certainly hear about it!
Next stop is Pamukkale – home of the famous white travertines.
Before I start on Olympos, I’ve inserted a map of where we are at the bottom of this post and, if this works for you guys, I'll continue to do this. Feel free to comment and let us know (we’re really liking the comments – thanks to those of you who’ve left them and/or emailed me!).
Olympos has been all about chilling out and it has been rather indulgent but fantastic. Olympos is at the foot of a valley and about 90 mins up the coast from Antalya. Where we're staying is about 300m from the ruins of Olympos through which you have to walk to get to the beach. Many of the places to stay in the valley have tree houses as accommodation and all specialise in chilling out and socialising. We chose Saban Pensions as it was smaller than the others, less of a party atmos (we had enough of that in Beirut to last us a while!) and the food was said to be absolutely superb. They weren’t wrong. It is so good, we decided to stay two more days and it is also incredibly good value – about GBP£15 pp for accommodation, breakfast and dinner. Many who are here have returned for the 2nd or even 3rd time. Highly recommended but make sure you avoid the Tukish holidays as this place is popular.
There isn’t that much to do here apart from explore the rambling ruins of Olympos, hike up to the Chimaera, swim, laze round on the beach or in the hammocks back at Saban or play games, read books etc and that’s exactly what we’ve done during our time here. Free wireless internet has been brilliant and I’m sorry to say that I’ve really enjoyed being able to skype family, chat to/email friends. Its also enabled us to make contact with others we’ve met, see where they’re at and whether we can all hook up again somewhere else.
Met writing the blog with all the essentials to hand – beer, water and sun
This is where everyone eats, laxes out during the day or natters over beers in the evening. Its empty as its mid-afternoon and the heat has died a bit so everyone else is at the beach.
These are dotted around the perimeter of the site and you can easily laze away hours on the cushions. Very decadent and lazy.
The Chimaera are eternal flames fuelled by natural gas (largely methane) leaking up from the depths of the earth. They’re about an hour and a half walk from Olympos but worth the trek. There are fires all over the hillside and other vents where the fire had been blown out by the wind. It was quite fun setting fire to a stick then going round trying to relight the vents that had gone out. Some of them had a small build up of gas and went “phut” as the gas lit then went out again. I only tried one but it turned out to a biggie and gave me a hell of a fright as it went whooshka and blew flames at me, before all the other vents around it went phut, phut, phut and lit too so there was a whole heap of fire stretching along part of the bank. I got such a fright and leapt backwards in a hurry!! Nothing much phases Euan but I did see him get a fright last night eating dinner when an apple fell out of a tree and landed on the table next to him with a big bang.
Euan setting a stick on fire to relight some of the other vents
Vents like these are all over the hillside
You have to walk through the ruins to get to the beach so they become part of the scenery after a while but we looked through them shortly after we arrived so made sure we got whatever wow factor there was before we got too used to them
The ruins date back from 2nd century BC are mostly hidden by the trees but some are in quite good nick presumably partly due to their unexposed location. It is difficult to take pictures though as the trees throw dappled sunlight on the ruins.
The ruins run along either side of the stream
View up the valley from the acropolis (most of the ruins are hidden in the trees)
These were the only remaining mosaics and were pretty ruined. All the colour had gone and they were in pieces. An example what would have happened to the other mosaics we’d seen had they not been preserved in museums.
This is all that remains of the amphitheatre
We climbed up to the acropolis and got a great view down the beach.
The other end of Olympos beach! There are some ruins actually on the beach
Scary stuff!
One the way back down we came across a tortoise going down a very rocky path. We watched him for a bit and he kept getting stuck on these stones and had to reverse and try another way. Then he’d chose a bit that was too steep and he’d start slipping on his breast plate. He hung onto whatever he could with his hind claws, then had his wee front legs stretched way out in front of him trying to get to something solid. It didn’t look like he could look downwards so couldn’t see where he was going. He had us in stitches but we left him to it after a close inspection.
What was great about just chilling here was meeting and talking to different people. One person of note was Louis from France who was hitch hiking his way around Turkey and had a good story of how he managed to lose his Lonely Planet guide. He had hitched a ride on a big truck that had come from Turkmenistan and things were going OK until smoke started billowing into the cab. The driver didn’t speak English but motioned to Louis (who I don’t think needed much persuasion) to run. He grabbed his bag, forgetting his Lonely Planet and just ran. The truck exploded a few seconds later. Once he was far enough away, he got out his phone and took some footage of the burning wreck – with his Lonely Planet inside. The crazy thing is that this turned out to be the third day in a row that he’d had a near miss. He had been hitching on the roadside when a truck lost a load of wood and he had to scarper to avoid being squashed by something falling (I wasn’t sure if it was the logs or a power line) and then the car he was passenger in lost its steering down a mountain road. He said that after these three things he stayed in his room and didn’t go out for a day.
We also got chatting to some American girls who had recently graduated. It turned out that they were Jewish and talked to us about their “birthright passage” to Israel. Everything fell into place, all the young Americans we’d seen walking the streets in Jerusalem, in En Gedi etc. All Jewish folk from the US between the ages of 18-26 are eligible for an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. They travel in a group and are taken on a 10 day tour of the country and at some stage during the tour, all those on their birthright trip meet up at a big event. The one this girl was at had 7,000 people attending, all on their birthright trip. We were trying to calculate the cost.
We’re off on a boat up the coast next for a few days (so more relaxing!) after this before seriously starting to make our way on up to Istanbul and then on to Madrid where Euans Mum and Sister are meeting us for a few days. You know, having these onward flights are quite useful for keeping us motivated to move onwards, otherwise I think we could easily spend an entire year in the Middle East. Not a bad thing perhaps but when there is a whole world out there to see, we need a bit of discipline and some framework to encourage us to move onwards. It is all too easy to get stuck on a beach, with cheap accommodation, food, beer and good company but I bet that there are different schools of thought on this one!
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