TURKEY
JULY 10 - AUGUST 3
After a twelve hour flight, including a layover in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) we arrived in the thriving metropolis of Istanbul at 6 in the morning. After a long time waiting in a customs line we arrived at the security guard only to be informed that we needed a visa and he couldn't issue it. We were forced to get into another line that was unmarked, where we were instantly given our visas (for a tiny fee of 45 dollars U.S.). We than got back into our original line and passed through into turkey. The next hassel was getting some money and heading downtown. The exchange on the Turkish Lira works out to 620,000 to one American dollar, so we took 50 million out of our bank account (we didn't know it was in there either) and got on a bus downtown. It wasn't long before we found a nice cheap place to stay, and then we both crashed for about 4 hours.
Istanbul, the city of people, of history and the modern world living side by side. The junction of Europe and Asia, of Islam and Christianity, of kebabs and hamburgers. The site of the city of Istanbul has been under various names and rules for thousands of years and they each left their mark on the city in terms of the architecture, languages, religion and even the food. Originally the cyty was the locatyon of a small fyshing village, fishing the waters of the Bophorous strait. At approximatly 657 B.C. the area came under the rule of the Greeks and became a city state. With the rise of the Roman empire they fought over control of the area and ruled until 330 A.D. The great emperor Constantine built the city of Constantinople as the eastern capital of the Roman empire, and it remianed so until the Ottoman invasion in 1453.The major sites to see today in Istanbul have survived from this time period. Emperor Justinian (527-565) was the greatest of the builders. The greatest of his works is the Church of the Divine Wisdom or Sancta Sophıa (Aya Sophıa in Türkish). It was built in 548 and was the greatest church in all of christendome until it was converted to a mosque in 1453 after the Ottoman invasion. It is an amazing structure that denies the laws of gravity. The dome seems to float hundreds of feet above the ground, without support. Originally the interior was covered with gold mosaics depicting the saints, and emperors, however as Islam does not allow the use of icons of images, the mosaics were plastered over (but not destroyed) only to be uncovered hundreds of years later. It is a absolute beauty to behold and to imagine the history involved as this building endured the struggles of time and humanity. In 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror walked through the doors of the church and declared that it Constantinople was now under the control of the Ottoman empire and the church would be converted to a mosque. The city was renamed Istanbul and the people were converted to Islam. He himself was not to be outdone by the prevıous rulers of the city and so had a palace built for himself and all other sultans. The Topkapı palace was built in 1454 and was used until 1839. The large rooms are beautiful and adorned wıth gold and jewels. The Harem and living quarters the most esquisite part of the palace. The Sultan Ahmet I built the famous Blue Mosque from 1606-1616, the interior walls are covered with blue tiles that were famous in the region. The domes are high and although not as daring as the domes of the Aya Sophıa they raise your eyes as you follow the lines towrd the ultimate goal.... heaven. The rare find that every traveller should see, especıally on the hot July days is the Yerebatan Saray. The underground Cistern, that was built by Justinain in 532. It is 70m x 140m and the ceiling is supported by 336 columns. The eerie acoustics, dim lighting and the cool temperatures make it a perfect place to wander around in. While we were there a saxophonist had taken the opportunity to play in the echoing chamber and the effect was amazıng. Even the carp that swam around in the water seemed to enjoy the music. Istanbul has many newer things to see however and the carpet salesmen are the most persuasive in the buisness. "Come in for tea!" "Just have a look" are the most common cries, we managed to get away wıth only lookıng in two before gettıng out of the city. If you are in the market to buy, and know your stuff, Istanbul has the carpets to buy! Some of the most beautiful and finely made carpet collected from across turkey in both Silk and wool. The talent is undeniable and the price, unfortunatly for us, unreachable. After our exploratıon of Istanbul, it felt good to get moving again, and we found ourselves on an overnight bus down the south to the town of Selçuk. (Pronounced cell chuk) When our bus landed and our heads were swimming with the thoughts of sleep, we were acousted by several men all trying to sell us things. (Sir want a hostel?, sir wanna buy a carpet?, sir wanna tour?). We mightily fought through the crowds and headed to a beautiful campsite located in a lime orchard and beside a peach orchard. It was beautiful, and very secluded. We spent the afternoon visiting grocery stores and cooking for ourselves. This was somethıng neither of us had done in almost 6 months. Selçuk is located beside the ancient city of Epheseus, which was a seat of Roman Power that lasted until around the 11th century C.E. (previously known as A.D.) and was an area of early Christianity being the home of both St. John and Mary (who both came to Epheseus around 37 C.E. and resided here the rest of their lives). We thought that an excellent way to spend the day would be to walk to the historical site, and just wander around the ruins for the day. We purchased a guide book and used this to explaın different points of interest in amongst the ruins. It was durıng our walk there that one of many scams were tried on us. A while ago a man tried a coin scam on me in another country. Basically the scam works as he approaches you and shows you something that he has found near a major archeological site. He claims that he doesn't know what it is and so when you look at it and realize it is an ancient coin you get excited. He then says if you know what it is, maybe you want it and he agrees to a price that would be good for a real coin, but very expensive for the fake coin that he has. This scam was tried on me before, so that when it was tried here in turkey, We left the man very confused. First he approached me and said the opening line, then he showed me the coin. I said "I have no idea what that is". He stands back kinda shocked because it is obviously a coin and is a good fake of an ancient one. He says, look again. Mari starts to laugh, as I looked long and hard at this coin, flipping it over in my hands. "Nope" I say "I haven't a clue what that is". This guy had the greatest look of frustratıon on his face as we walked away. During our stay in Selçuk we were offered coins aver 10 times. When we did get to Epheseus, we were both absolutely amazed. An entire ancient city of 10,000 people used to live here, and it seemed to come alive as we walked the bricked streets. The ancient library was in amazıng shape including statues and busts imprinted in ancient greek. We sat in a huge theatre which could hold thousands of people for watching sporting events and plays. It was an amazing place and housed all the necessıiies of a thriving metropolis including a harbour (silted in for several thousand years now) a market and a brothel.