This post is about crossıng back to Europe through Turkey, with a stop in Istanbul. I had meant to spend a few days in Turkey -- see Capadoccia, check out Nemrut Dagi, catch some coast -- but I simply ran out of time on this trip. I ended up taking a bus all the way across Turkey and stopped in the capital for a day before heading to Greece. I was solo again for this part of the trip, since Thierry decided to stay in Georgia a little longer and take his time through Turkey. The days of the Dutch-Canadian duo had come to an end!
The bus ride to Istanbul was pretty uneventful but long -- a 28-hour haul from Tbilisi to Georgia. I say 'pretty uneventful' because I did have one near-mishap. The bus didn't have a toilet on board so the driver made stops every two hours or so, for around five minutes at a time. When we stopped at a small town in Adjara (Western Georgia), I asked if I could run and change currency for two minutes. Yes, he replied. Thanks, I said.
Well, you probably know where this is going. I went and changed my money, which took less than a minute. When I came out, the bus was 200 metres down the road and driving away (with all my bags and things in it). I took off sprinting after it, but it was raining and I kept slipping on the streets. I think most people in the town caught on pretty fast: red-headed guy dashing after big tour bus -- can't be good. Some thought it was funny, some yelled at me to get the hell off the road, some cheered me on. Fortunately, the bus hit a red light and I managed to catch up... at which point I gave the driver a pretty good earful. But at least I got my exercise for the day, right?
We made it to Istanbul in the end. I'd come here before and done a lot of the big sites before: the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Cemberlitas, Galata Tower and Topkapi Palace. I decided not to go in them this time, but they are truly spectactular buildings even from the outside.
Here, Hagia Sophia:
Istanbul's giant covered bazaar (5,000 stalls spread out over countless passageways):
I spent my time walking around newer parts of the city. Across the Golden Horn from the old city is Beyoglu, a trendier, hipper part of Istanbul with cool shops, bars and clubs. There were no highlights really, just an afternoon of casual exploring on foot. A view of the Italian-built Galata Tower in Beyoglu:
I had sat down by an ablutions-foundation when an old man came up and asked me what I was doing. "Just resting a bit," I said. "Well you didn't come all the way to Istanbul to rest, did you?" he pointed out, then drew me a little map with places I just *had* to check out in the city. I could tell he wasn't going to leave until I followed his directions, so I headed off towards the nearest palace. Later I came across a little tea-garden (actually just a bunch of plastic chairs sitting in a park facing the Bosphorus) with cheap chai. I hung around for a couple of hours, looking at the Asian side of the city and marveling at the lengthy 2-hour Turkish lunchbreaks that many of the local businesspeople were taking.
At the hostel, I also bumped into a French-Canadian couple from Montreal and we went out to dinner a couple of nights. They were very cool, and it also gave me a great chance to speak French and reminisce about our northern homeland.
Overall, Istanbul seemed a lot like I remembered it, with one big difference: women's dress. Two years ago, I remember thinking (liking?) that women tended to dress in a very modern way -- their clothes were revealing (like in other Mediterranean countries) rather than conservative (like in other Islamic countries). By and large, that's still the case, but there seemed to be a rise in conversative Islamic garb for the women. I estimated that maybe 15-20% of women in the old city were wearing headscarves, and I even saw a lot of women wearing full-length black burqas (totally absent the last time I came). I wonder if the shift in dress is a sort of religious affirmation in light of the Erdogan government, or maybe part of the broader religious surge affecting much of the Islamic world. I'll have to ask about that.
So that was Istanbul. My second evening there, I got on board the overnighter to Greece. Air-conditioned two-bed berths: that's entering Europe in style...
Next up: climbing Mount Olympos in Greece
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