Turkey

Yes, yes, I am a terrible blogger. This is why I never kept a diary, the novelty runs out quick-smart, I look back at what I wrote and think 'Oh my god what a psycho', and then have to burn it/flush it down the toilet...

Ok, so I just spent two weeks in Turkey, with Aidan and Shauna. On a tour for the first ten days, and on our own for the last four - earlier assertions regarding tours hold, although this one had much lovelier accommodation, like in proper hotels. Bizarrely, this boy from my uni was on our tour. Paul Bailey was in a few of my chem classes at uni and lived with Tom on campus. I ran into him earlier this year on Australia day, and then he was on my tour for ten days through Turkey! what a small, small world.

Hmmm, now, how best to put down succinctly all my experiences...

well...
First we arrived in Istanbul. For those that don't know, Istanbul spans two continents, and so has an Asian side and a European side, which makes it quite unique. It is a super old city, which has been ruled by changing empires and so has heaps of interesting places to explore.

The most famous thing in the city I think is the Blue Mosque, which, when lit up at night, looks amazing, like something from Disney's Aladdin - unfortunately, due to my lame arse photography skills, I was not able to capture this image to post on my blog. My favourite part of Istanbul was the Basilica Cistern, which was basically where the water was kept under the city. It was built in the 6th century AD, and just the fact that they could make something so huge, practical, and beautiful, underneath the city, so long ago, just boggles my mind. It isn't as well known as some of the other sites, so, just in case any of you go there, I highly recommend you remember to visit it.

We went on a dusk cruise down the Bosphorus river, visited the Topkapi palace (which has bits of John the Baptist covered in gold), and the Aya Sofya (a christian church turned mosque with a picture of Jesus looking like Nicholas Cage). We also went to the Grand Bazaar which is this huge market place in the old part of the city, but I was too cynical and annoyed by the irritating stall keepers to buy anything there...even though I think I could pass as Turkish, I know they were trying to rip me off!!!! We had already been gypped (if that is how it is spelt) too many times by the restaurants in Istanbul!!! I ended up getting double che's quite a lot, at least McDonalds has constant, advertised prices! no separate prices for tourists!!! (Just as an aside, has anyone read that book 'Fast Food Nation'? It is supposed to turn you against fast food chains, and thus off their food, but EVERY single time I open it I feel like a cheeseburger and so have to put the book down and go out and find one. Has this happened to anyone else?)

I drank a lot of fresh OJ while in Turkey. They sell it everywhere, squeeze it in front of you and it is really cheap and SO sweet. The other drink I loved, was the apple tea. They also serve this everywhere, in tiny little glasses. Finally I like tea! Although, just quietly, it isn't really tea, I think it is just hot apple juice. Nevertheless, I bought a huge box, brought it back to London, and now can pretend I am English.

After Istanbul we headed to Gallipoli and spent the day before Anzac day eve looking at the museum there and walking around Anzac Cove (where Simpson of Simpson and the donkey is buried and where the Anzacs landed). Did you know Simpson was like 22 when he was killed in battle? I always assumed Simpson was old...something about the donkey maybe...

We got there nice and early on Anzac day eve which meant we got a totally good spot right down the front of the grassed area. Although I was worried that it would be a big boozy party atmosphere, it wasn't at all. It was all kiwi's and aussies, but no alcohol was allowed on the peninsula, and everyone was being really respectful and mature I thought...AND I actually got to lie down in a super comfortable sleeping bag and got a lot of sleep.

Andrew Denton was there and did a lot of presenting-type stuff throughout the night, and it was all quite moving. I didn't put too much thought into what it would be like before I went, but it was fantastic. The Government obviously put a hell of a lot of work (and money) into it - Some of the dollars Arun let slip through before he left, no doubt. The stories were awe-inspiring, and it is a patriotic experience which I imagine I will remember forever. I think everyone shed tears during the last post or the laying of the wreaths.

After the ceremonies, Anzac Day began to go downhill. and although it might be disrespectful to complain about the bad day I had at Gallipoli...I just can't help it! I am a big fat whinger!!!
So anyway, after the ceremonies, we had to sit on the side of the road for hours on end, waiting for our bus to come back and pick us up. There were 600 buses that day. Also, we had to wait for all dignitaries to leave before any buses were allowed up. There were too many dignitaries and they were all slow. I got very sunburned on my face and we didn't get to our hotel until 1am that night (/morning).

Since we got to bed after 1, they let us have a sleep in and not leave until 8am - add to reasons to hate group tours. That day we set off to Ephesus which is one of the ancient cities in Turkey. Unlike Troy (which is basically a collection of old rocks), it has been well preserved and you can imagine what it must have looked like as a fully functioning city. I can’t remember when the city was established other than in Roman times and it had around 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants at the height of its existence. That day I also saw one of the ancient wonders of the world - Ephesus houses the remains of the temple of Artemis (otherwise known as Diana) which is historically significant for a reason I cannot recall. The remains consist of one column, so it was kind of lame.

That day we also headed to Pamukkale which is home to these amazing calcified cliffs- my favourite place in Turkey. The water running out of this mountain has calcified the mountain face and has turned it white. In my photo's it looks like ice and snow. There are all these little pools with the most amazingly warm and clear water that you can have a paddle in and the bottom of it is all soft smooth clay.

The next day we went to a hammam. A hammam is a traditional Turkish bath house. You get into your togs, and then are ushered into the first steam room, which was way hotter than a normal sauna. You also can’t see because of the steam, so you freak out and think you are never going to get out and that you only have 15 seconds to live, and you stumble around blindly bumping into sweaty ferals in their togs. After ten minutes in there they make you go and jump in a cold pool after which you go back into the steam room for another 5 minutes or so. Similar to high school P.E., I refused to get in the pool - who cares if it jeopardised my hammam experience. It was freezing. Anyway, after the second steam you go into a bigger room where you lie on a hot slab of marble while you wait for your turn to be scrubbed down by this dude with a hard core exfoliating scrubber thing. You then have a shower and wash off all the dead skin and then you go for the massage. You lie face down on a rectangular slab of marble and they rub what looks like a pillow case full of bubbles all over you . You then get a massage from head to foot, which I just could not relax during...can't get into being naked and being rubbed. ANYWAY then you go and have another shower to get the suds off and you then sit in the bucket room. The bucket room is a little room where you sit on a little stool and fill bowls with warm water and throw them all over yourself. This then of course graduates to you throwing them all over everyone else which is good fun as well. Especially if you turn the hot water off and just fill your buckets with icy cold water.

The last bit of the trip was Cappadocia. This is an area where the people literally carved entire communities and houses into the mountains and other wierd rock formations. Although I wasn't listening at the time, this was apparently mainly for protection as everyone was trying to invade Turkey and convert the people to various religions for a long period of time. People lived in the mountains until the late 50s when the government moved them out as they were concerned about safety and stability.

Also in Cappadocia, as well as the carved in rock cities, they had this massive underground city. A city built under the ground that goes down 9 levels. We got down to level 6 and then got lost so our guide thought it best that we went back up…she was actually freaking out a bit as she was claustrophobic. I didn't mind getting out, it all looked the same to me. And I worry that these things are going to collapse...tasmania miner style.

Anyway, there you go Nicholas, monster post...now wait 437 days until my next one...