Get up, grab a pastry which turns out to be another olive-stuffed one (not that I'm complaining mind you, but occasionally I like to know what I'm eating before I put it in my mouth) and jump on the bus to İzmir which takes about 7 hours total to get me to the town centre. My Standard Procedure of heading straight for the tourist office for a map fails me as the place is closed. I find the hotel area and start making enquiries.
Some of these hotels are unbelievable cheap - I'm offered a bed for about £3.50 but I opt for a more expensive room in a hotel where 'security' doesn't mean they can padlock you into your room in the middle of the night. Call me picky but there are some things I don't feel like compromising on.
I didn't have high hopes for İzmir and they were fully reasised. Maybe I'm slightly unfair when I say that İzmir is a dump, but İzmir is a dump. Admittedly I arrived too late in the day to check out any museums they have, but the entire town's claim to fame is that they didn't build a motorway here once when they could have done.
Alright, the walk among the seafront was pleasant enough, right up until the bit the sıx-year-old kid started pestering me for 'money money money' with a stupid grin that I didn't punch, but only because there were other people around. And yes, today's kebab was served in a proper sit-down cafe, with a salad and everything, and live music. But the rest of the city is just faceless metropolis. The Bazaar is supposed to be worth a visit, and maybe I got the wrong entrance or maybe I was just not payıng attention, but I'm reasonably sure to get there you need to walk through a Debenhams.
So I thought screw it, if İzmir can't be arsed then I can't be arsed, and went to watch Fast & Furious 4, which is good fun if, like me, you enjoy bad films. Bed early so I can get the hell away from here tomorrow.
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Friday, 3 April 2009
Çanakkale - 3000BC to 1915AD
I'm on a tour of Troy this morning, and get a lift to the ruins where we meet out guide, Mustafa Aksin, who's written a book on the place.
Turns out Troy is actually 9 cities, by which I mean between 3000BC and 500AD there were 9 distinct phases of settlement (further sub-divided into 43 different building phases within them, making the whole place a colossal mess, archiologically speaking). The Troy of Greek legend was either the last end of Troy VI or the beginning of Troy VII, about 1300 BC.
Our guide is excellent and leads us round the ruins. Today I touched the walls of Homeric Troy.
Back at town I have my first kebab for at least a day and go to the military museum, which comemorates the Gallipolli offensives. They have several good exhibitions, though I find it distinctly odd wandering about - the place, reasonably enough, mainly deals wıth the Turkish (and victorious) side of things. Most other museums like that I have been to are told from the British / Allies side of things. It's an interesting flip of perspective.
I go for a wander in the late afternoon North along the coast and manage to wind up nearly walking into a Turkish military compound, then get vaguely lost in the residential area. Should have gone South. Dinner is an İskender kebab (like a döner but with yoghurt). I find a bar where the waitress takes a few minutes out of her busy schedule to play backgammon with me. She has to leave me 'to serve drinks' but it's blatently because I'm kicking her arse, despite being 3-2 down.
The next bar has both a barman who's willing to negotiate the price of beer (thank you shameless haggling) and a live duo. Çanakkale has grown on me, but I'm off tomorrow.
Turns out Troy is actually 9 cities, by which I mean between 3000BC and 500AD there were 9 distinct phases of settlement (further sub-divided into 43 different building phases within them, making the whole place a colossal mess, archiologically speaking). The Troy of Greek legend was either the last end of Troy VI or the beginning of Troy VII, about 1300 BC.
Our guide is excellent and leads us round the ruins. Today I touched the walls of Homeric Troy.
Back at town I have my first kebab for at least a day and go to the military museum, which comemorates the Gallipolli offensives. They have several good exhibitions, though I find it distinctly odd wandering about - the place, reasonably enough, mainly deals wıth the Turkish (and victorious) side of things. Most other museums like that I have been to are told from the British / Allies side of things. It's an interesting flip of perspective.
I go for a wander in the late afternoon North along the coast and manage to wind up nearly walking into a Turkish military compound, then get vaguely lost in the residential area. Should have gone South. Dinner is an İskender kebab (like a döner but with yoghurt). I find a bar where the waitress takes a few minutes out of her busy schedule to play backgammon with me. She has to leave me 'to serve drinks' but it's blatently because I'm kicking her arse, despite being 3-2 down.
The next bar has both a barman who's willing to negotiate the price of beer (thank you shameless haggling) and a live duo. Çanakkale has grown on me, but I'm off tomorrow.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Çanakkale - Bus, Boat, Foot
Up early, and because I bought my ticket from the hostel I get a free lift to the bus station, which is very nice of them. The bus takes hours and I start out feeling a little queasy (yesterday's lamb was nice, but stightly too chewy for comfort) but I'm soon feeling better. On the way I get chatting to some Australians, then meet some Americans on the ferry over to Çanakkale.
I am now, I believe, (technically, at any rate) in Asia for the first time in my life.
The hostel is no distance from the ferry, so I dump my stuff and go for a walk. I find the military museum, which is closed, and get a bread pasty on the way back. After one bite I find it is stuffed with something which I am, at first, unable to identify, but at second turns out to be olives. Warm, fresh, olive-stuffed bread for 50p! This is the best surprise I have had for ages.
Dinner in a tiny diner where I get more than I can eat for a few quid. I can hear what sounds like a band warming up, and when I wander into the bar next door I find that's exactly what it is. I hang out in the student bar listening to a Turkish cover band, and head back before it gets too late.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Istanbul - Palaces, Harems and Baths - Aprıl 1st
Up and meet Brendon, Maura and Candice for breakfast. We head out to the Topkapi Palace which is huge. We walk round the courtyards and see some of the exhibitions, like the Treasury which has some absolutely ridiculous artifacts. I'm talking about a suit of chain mail covered in gold, or a diamond as big as a really really big diamond. There are dozens of small jugs, plates, writing boxes and the like, which doesn't sound like much except they are all covered in gold, jade, emeralds, rubies and anything else the Sultans had lying about the place.
Seeing all this was, of course, just a precursor to hitting the Harem. This had hundreds of ornate tiles all over the place, and it looked as if living there would be quite a good deal. That's apart from the bit where you have to sleep with the Sultan at the drop of a hat, but still.
After lunch (kebab) we head to a Turkish bath. This is incredible. The baths are separated by gender, so I get changed into a towel and wander into the men's room. There are stone basins everywhere which catch hot and cold water from taps just above them, and a dish you use to scoop the water out and all over yourself. At some point a huge Turkish guy tells me to lie on a stone table, and it seems easiest not to resist, which turns out to be a good idea as the massage he gives me is fantastic.
After chilling in the baths for a bit, trying some apple tea and grabbing a quick snack (kebab) the girls head back to the Bazaar and I hit happy hour again. After killing time with Backgammon they join us with trinkets, and we Shisha until dinner time, with a couple of Canadian girls also staying in the hostel. For excitement we head out to Taksim which is a fair way away, but worth it for the food - surprisingly, not a kebab this time, but still excellent. One mildly scary taxi ride later and it's bed time - I need to be up at a sensible time for the bus tomorrow.
Seeing all this was, of course, just a precursor to hitting the Harem. This had hundreds of ornate tiles all over the place, and it looked as if living there would be quite a good deal. That's apart from the bit where you have to sleep with the Sultan at the drop of a hat, but still.
After lunch (kebab) we head to a Turkish bath. This is incredible. The baths are separated by gender, so I get changed into a towel and wander into the men's room. There are stone basins everywhere which catch hot and cold water from taps just above them, and a dish you use to scoop the water out and all over yourself. At some point a huge Turkish guy tells me to lie on a stone table, and it seems easiest not to resist, which turns out to be a good idea as the massage he gives me is fantastic.
After chilling in the baths for a bit, trying some apple tea and grabbing a quick snack (kebab) the girls head back to the Bazaar and I hit happy hour again. After killing time with Backgammon they join us with trinkets, and we Shisha until dinner time, with a couple of Canadian girls also staying in the hostel. For excitement we head out to Taksim which is a fair way away, but worth it for the food - surprisingly, not a kebab this time, but still excellent. One mildly scary taxi ride later and it's bed time - I need to be up at a sensible time for the bus tomorrow.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Istanbul - Everything you need to see in a day
Not everything obviously, because then I 'd have nothing to do tomorrow. But after breakfast at the hostel Brendon, hıs cousın Mauna who arrıved very early this morning, my roommate Candice and I head out to the biggest sights.
We go to the Hagia Sophıa which has been variously a church, mosque and museum. It is monstrous inside - there is about enough space to build several houses. There are some mosaic ruins, including some just above the niche of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, which strikes most of us as odd, but who are we to judge?
Very close by is the Blue Mosque which we can't go in the main area of, due to a combination of us being heathen infidel scum and the building being a working mosque, but we are allowed to stand at the back and admire the blue.
We take a trip down to the Cistern which is where water for the cıty used to be stored underground (I'm not certain but I believe it's a location used in From Russia With Love) which is dank, dark, wet, full of fish and like nowhere else I've ever been. They have a display down there which seems to be a model of a model village. This seems excessive. There's a cafe down there which might not be the most romantic place to eat but is probably one of the most unique.
After lunch - kebab - we head to the Bazaar. This is pretty much a recon trip for me, seeing as I'll be back in Istanbul in a month and will go shopping then. Still, it's one of the few occasions I've gone shopping without a specific purpose and enjoyed it. We are offered a free sample of some kind of sweet chewy food, and like it so much we buy half a kilo of the stuff.
Back at the hostel there's some general chilling and admiring of the view (of both the Hagia Sophia AND the Blue Mosque, thank you very much). A few games of backgammon later the barman decides to extend Happy Hour all night, and we repay his hospitality by sticking around, drinking, smoking shisha and eventually having dinner (third kebab in two days. What a country). There's even an open-air terrace ABOVE our rooftop bar with stunning views of the two buildings and across the rıver. This is a fantastic hostel.
After a quick foray to see the near sights at night, and befriending a local pack of probably-not-rabid dogs, it's home to bed.
We go to the Hagia Sophıa which has been variously a church, mosque and museum. It is monstrous inside - there is about enough space to build several houses. There are some mosaic ruins, including some just above the niche of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, which strikes most of us as odd, but who are we to judge?
Very close by is the Blue Mosque which we can't go in the main area of, due to a combination of us being heathen infidel scum and the building being a working mosque, but we are allowed to stand at the back and admire the blue.
We take a trip down to the Cistern which is where water for the cıty used to be stored underground (I'm not certain but I believe it's a location used in From Russia With Love) which is dank, dark, wet, full of fish and like nowhere else I've ever been. They have a display down there which seems to be a model of a model village. This seems excessive. There's a cafe down there which might not be the most romantic place to eat but is probably one of the most unique.
After lunch - kebab - we head to the Bazaar. This is pretty much a recon trip for me, seeing as I'll be back in Istanbul in a month and will go shopping then. Still, it's one of the few occasions I've gone shopping without a specific purpose and enjoyed it. We are offered a free sample of some kind of sweet chewy food, and like it so much we buy half a kilo of the stuff.
Back at the hostel there's some general chilling and admiring of the view (of both the Hagia Sophia AND the Blue Mosque, thank you very much). A few games of backgammon later the barman decides to extend Happy Hour all night, and we repay his hospitality by sticking around, drinking, smoking shisha and eventually having dinner (third kebab in two days. What a country). There's even an open-air terrace ABOVE our rooftop bar with stunning views of the two buildings and across the rıver. This is a fantastic hostel.
After a quick foray to see the near sights at night, and befriending a local pack of probably-not-rabid dogs, it's home to bed.
Istanbul - March 30
Early start, but I snooze on the plane and arrive in Istanbul about 5pm. By the time I find the hostel it's in the middle of 'happy hour' at the rooftop bar upstairs, so it seems rude not to have a drink and formally introduce myself to Turkey.
I meet an American called Brendon and another called Lewis, and we head out for, naturally enough, a kebab. When I get back to the hostel I find a couple of Brits and we chat for a bit, but I'm pretty knackered so head to bed, where I meet my Canadian roommate. This place seems like a good one for meeting people.
Tommorow will be when the sightseeing starts properly.
I meet an American called Brendon and another called Lewis, and we head out for, naturally enough, a kebab. When I get back to the hostel I find a couple of Brits and we chat for a bit, but I'm pretty knackered so head to bed, where I meet my Canadian roommate. This place seems like a good one for meeting people.
Tommorow will be when the sightseeing starts properly.
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