Turkiye

View of Eminonu and the rocking balik ekmek boats

Skipping Russia: Originally, I planned to take a ferry from Sokcho (South Korea) to Vladivostok (Russia) and begin my Eurotrip adventure from there. Obtaining a visa for Russia became far too cumbersome that I decided to skip Russia, Mongolia, and the Transiberian railroad altogether. In Indonesia, they said I had to be a resident of the country for 90 days to obtain a visa in Indonesia as a U.S. citizen. In Korea, they said it could be done, but it would take a week. Because they require a passport when visiting the JSA, the earliest I would have been able to turn in my passport would have been March 26^th. The next ferry after visa processing time wasn’t until April 4^th! Basically, I wasn’t willing to hang out in Korea that long and then have to rush through Russia to be in Venice by May 4^th. (Mom, Stacy, and Kamal are coming to meet me!)

I ended up flying from Seoul to Istanbul because it was the cheapest flight out of South Korea that wasn’t to China (though I did have layovers in Beijing and Urumxi before arriving at midnight in Istanbul). I spent the night at the airport and have since hit the ground running without any foreseeable “break” in the near future. :)

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Istanbul Day 1: I liked the city immediately. It was beautiful, busy, and full of interesting sights even in the ride from the airport to the city. I loved the Blue Mosque, named after the thousands of tiles that decorate the interior walls of the mosque.

Blue Mosque Exterior

Blue Mosque Interior

I also did a compulsory visit to the Hagia Sophia. It has been a Byzantine church, a Roman church, and a mosque in its history and is now currently a museum. I could have given it a miss because I didn’t really get much out of my 20TL admission fee. I find icons boring, who knew, but here's a particularly famous (and old) one of Jesus:

I wandered through the Gulhane Park that borders the famous Topkapi Palace and was unfortunately just a week or two too early for tulip season. It was a lovely day and a great start to Turkey :)

The next day, I visited a hamam, went to Asia for five minutes, ferried to Eminonu, wandered around the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, and then took a 10pm overnight bus to Pamukkale. Such a random day! A hamam is a traditional Turkish bath house. First, you lay on a hot marble slab and sweat (a lot). I had paid extra for the scrub down and massage so after a while, my attendant arrived and gave me a rather abrasive scrub down all over my body. I had so much dead skin on me! It looked like little blackish/gray worms all over my skin. (Gross!) She rinsed me off and then had me lay on the marble slab for the soap massage portion of our session. She had a soapy cloth, lathered me, and then gave me a quick (and again abrasive) massage. It was unique, to say the least. I lay on the marble slab for a bit longer, rinsed a bit more, and after an hour and a half total, I made peace with the hamam. People rave about the experience being really relaxing and feeling cleaner than ever… I can’t say I felt either of those things, but I’m glad I had the experience. :)

Istanbul is the only city to straddle two continents which is why I was able to go to Asia for five minutes. I took a ferry from Besiktas to Uskudar, and then left soon after on a ferry from Uskudar to Eminonu. The Grand Bazaar was fun, but the Spice Bazaar was even better! I had no intention of buying anything yet ended up buying tea for Mom and sampling really good pistachio Turkish delight :)

Pamukkale: 10 hours away from Istanbul is the city of Pamukkale. Pamukkale is famous for its spectacular Travertines.... I loved them!

Calcium and carbonate react to create calcium carbonate and limestone creating the “Cotton Castle” of Pamukkale. The Travertines were absolutely stunning and, in and of itself, worth the trip from Istanbul. Above the Travertines lies the ancient city of Hierapolis:

Since admission to Hierapolis was included in the 20TL admission to the Travertines, I visisted the amphitheater, the Martyrdom of St Phillip, the agora, and the necropolis. The ruins of Hierapolis were cool to see and parts of the walk were really beautiful with red poppies and flowers springing up over the ruins.

I, however, devoted most of my time and attention to the magnificent Travertines. Definitely go visit Pamukkale if you’re ever in Turkey!

I took an overnight bus from Pamukkale back to Istanbul and had one last day to visit Camlica (CHAHM-lee-zha) Hill, buy some souvenirs, and eat all the Turkish foods I hadn’t tried yet.

View from Camlica Hill

Depending on what you’re eating, food is CHEAP in Turkey! For my first meal, I started off with a 3TL chicken doner and ayran (signature sour yogurt drink of Turkey).

~$1.68 for a chicken sandwich and drink?! Awesome! The ayran wasn’t so good, but then again, I don’t really like yogurt. Manti is Turkish ravioli – bite sized ravioli covered in sour cream and butter/oil; it’s not the healthiest dish, but it’s very, very good:

Gozleme is a Turkish pancake – I had one with spinach and cheese that was reminiscent in taste of a Costco spanakopita. Pide is both a type of bread and a Turkish pizza; the one I had with meat, cheese, and egg was delicious:

Lastly, I tried balik ekmek, a fish sandwich consisting of grilled fish, onions, and cilantro. There are floating boats in Eminonu that only sell balik ekmek and on a Saturday afternoon, the area was packed with people enjoying their fish sandwiches. :) There were also (usually) men everywhere selling simit (basically a sesame bagel ring), roasted chestnuts, and roasted corn.

I had four full days in Turkey and they were wonderful! I’ll be back in May when our cruise docks in Izmir :) I left on my third overnight bus in a row bound for Bulgaria and as of this writing, my Eastern European adventure has officially begun!

Next Up: Bulgaria and the Former Republics of Yugoslavia