The tour company had booked us a flight where we had to change planes in Paris. There was just one and a half hours between "touch down" and "take off". The ticket agent at LAX told us that we would never make it. Our plane was late in arriving and it took forever to get off the plane. Our connecting flight to Istanbul left before we had cleared security (why they have it entering a country, I do not know. Do they think we picked up a bomb on the plane??). The next flight was almost seven hours later.
I asked Air France to call the Istanbul airport when our scheduled flight arrived to tell our guide that we would be on a later flight. They did not. I also called the home office of our tour company in Boston. They were closed, but by pushing every button on the phone I finally got a live person (I think he was in India). I gave him our names, reservations numbers, the flight we missed and the flight we would arrive on and asked him to contact our guide. He did not and we later found out that the guide waited an extra two hours for us in vain. It was after midnight when our plane got to the Istanbul airport. We did manage to get a cab and arrived at our hotel. We had requested twin beds (we are close, but not that close) but they gave us a double. I headed for the bar before it closed. There is no smoking inside the hotel and no drinking outside (it was a muslin area) I gave the bar tender a heavy tip and took my beer out to the marble steps of the hotel.
After maybe 5 hours of sleep after a 30 hour flight, the phone rang. We were due in 20 minutes for our first tour (I was not pleased). I was barely conscious, but I did know it was raining. The brochure said the temperature would be between 61 and 72 degrees. I packed shorts and T shirts and only one long sleeve shirt. It was maybe in the 50's with a wind chill factor that must have brought it down to the 40's. In spite of all this, I was awed by Hagia Sophia. It was built in 537AD and was the largest building in the world for almost 1,000 years. It is beautiful and amazing. While in Istanbul we also visited the Blue Mosque and the famous Turkish Bazaar. Kathie loves to shop: I do not so I had some tea. I learned to love the Turkish black tea that they call Cay (pronounced chai). More on Turkish salesmen later. We also visited the cisterns under the city. They were built a thousand years ago so that the city had water during wars when the city was under siege. It looked just like the set for Phantom of the Opera.
Another day we went to Topkapi Palace (which covers acres and acres) all in a pouring rain storm. I did see the famous Topkapi dagger (famous for a film called Topkapi) and saw the incredible jewelry collection. We then boarded a small boat for our "cruise along the Bosphorus". I am sure it would be wonderful if it had not been raining. We were all huddled inside the cabin freezing to death and the windows were so fogged we could barely see out. Had the weather been nicer and it had not been raining all the time, there were many things I would have explored myself, but alas I did not. Istanbul must be one of the most fascinating city in the world and I feel that I missed it. We next flew to Izmir where he got on a bus to Kudasai and then the famous roman ruins of Ephesus. I was disappointed in Ephesus as it was one of my main reasons for wanted to visit Turkey. The two story facade of the old library is quite impressive, but the rest of it is just a jumble of stones. I was much more impressed with Perge and Aspendos. The hotel was very charming, having been build by one of the daughters of the last Sultan. The view over the small yacht harbor looked very much like the South of France.
Next we boarded our little yacht. It had just enough cabins for the seven couples. At last it was warm weather (not warm like P.V. but warm) We cruised along the beautiful Turkish Coast for 5 days (four nights). I really don't know if we were in the Aegean Sea or the Mediterranean. One day the guide scheduled a smaller boat to take us up some river (for exactly what, I never found out) Not far up the river our boat hit a sand bar. Other boats tried to pull us out, but to no avail. Six or Seven of my tour members jumped into the shallow water in an attempt to rock the boat. I did not volunteer (well, I was older than all but two of them) Finally we all got on some small boats and were taken to a small island with a snack bar. Eventually our tour guide hired another larger boat that managed to avoid the sand bars and took us back to our yacht. All in all, a rather adventuresome day. The food on the ship was quite good and amazingly so when I saw how tiny the kitchen was. The entire staff were all very nice.
We did a lot of hiking and saw Cleopatra's baths (I don't think so) the "rock tombs" dating back to the 5th century BC, as well as Roman/Greek ruins.
Next we arrived in Antalya. It was my favorite city (maybe because it was not raining). We stayed in a beautiful hotel made up from old homes along a little alley. It was very charming with a large patio and view. I loved to walk along the winding cobble stoned streets and inspect the shops and visit as many bars as I could. I usually drink beer on trips as it is the cheapest drink, but I happened to discover a cute little sidewalk cafe that had a good "cheap" white wine. I tried to explain to the owner that many Americans drink wine and she should add it to the list of drinks on a chalk board she had. She asked me to write it (to this day, my handwriting may be on that chalk board).
It was during our stay in Antalya that we visited Perge and Aspendos. The most incredible Roman ruins, that I have ever seen. You could walk down the marble streets where you could see the ruts made by chariots thousands of years ago. You can see where the shops were, where the bath was and the agora. The stadium for games was 800 feet long. Parts of the wall date back to the 2nd Century B.C. But the most amazing site was the theater in Aspendos. It was totally complete except that the statuary had been moved to the museum. One woman from another tour group stood up and sang. The acoustics were incredible. It was Roman and dated to the 6th Century A.D. We did visit the museum there were you could see the gorgeous marble statuary that mostly came from the theater.
Unfortunately we had to leave after just two days. I did have time to experience a "real" Turkish bath. It was interesting but I really did not like it. After a hot, hot steam bath, they ask you to lay down on a hot marble table and then lock the door. It really burns the skin, but afterward they exfoliate you, then bath you and then the oil massage.
Then we took a long long bus ride up into the mountains for the dreaded "home stay". Why the tour company thought that visiting a remote village in the middle of no where and staying over night with a Turkish family would be something we wanted to do, I do not know. We had been told that 7 to 10 of us would be sleeping in one room with one bathroom. I live in Mexico, why would I fly half way around the world to visit poor people? I wanted to see how the rich Turks lived. The tiny village had obviously been spruced up from the tourist money coming in and the house we stayed in was quite modern. It was not a typical village, or a typical house, or a typical family, but we did all have our own rooms and there were two baths. I still hated it. I had asked the tour guide to just drop my off at some local brothel, or better yet an opium den. I don't think he understood my sense of humor. Anyway I survived it.
It was another very long bus ride to Cappadocia. It is a very strange looking place with huge spires left by thousands of years of erosion. We visited the rock carved churches all built underground. We also saw a whole city built underground into the rock. The area had been volcanic so the stone was very porous and easy to carve. When warring tribes arrived they left their village and went underground. The guide told us that they could live for months with plenty of food and water. They also had a place to make wine inside the cave. There was an optional balloon ride that people did recommend, but the tour began at 4:30 in the morning and we were told that it would be even colder up in the balloon. I declined but Kathie went and nearly froze to death. I also skipped the whirling dervishes, but we did visit the mosque built for the dervish people, I guess.
Our last night there Kathie and I decided to visit what was called the Rock Castle. It was a huge outcropping of rock that dominated the city. On the way up the narrow winding street, Kathie decided to do more shopping. I proceeded up the hill looking for a bar and found a charming cafe and sat on the square sipping my wine. I am including a photo of it and if you look closely you can see beside my wine glass is a hookah. Kathie had not joined me so I went back down the street where I found her in a rug shop. She whispered "Help, they are going to kidnap me" The man seemed nice enough to me and offer me a tea. I accepted while I watched him get down on his hands and knees in a praying position still trying to get her to buy his rug. Kathie wanted to leave, but I was enjoying it too much so I continued to sip my tea while he begged and pleaded with her. He came down from $275.00 to $150.00 but she just wanted out, so we left.
At four the following morning we boarded a bus for an hour and a half ride to the local airport. We waited there for about 3 hours before boarding a plane for Istanbul. We had another wait there before flying to New York, where we changed planes again. By the time we got back to Kathie's house we had been traveling for 33 hours. I am glad I finally got to Turkey, but I do wish it had been nicer weather. Puerto Vallarta has spoiled me.
