The agenda of the Turkey trip changed several times even before it started!
I wished the trip would be half as exciting as I made it sound to everybody else. Well at least the alone time could be used for thinking and nurturing a broken heart.
The flight, the wait for the hotel transfer seemed like a chore. The beautiful roads of Istanbul, patches of colourful Petunias & Periwinkles, rows of seagulls, the bright blue Marmara Sea with millions of yatchs 7 boats could not soar my spirit.
Have I then become this boring middle aged woman who does not find happiness anywhere because everything inside is so dark & convoluted? Will I get back my penchant for life and laughter & song on my lips and the ability to break into a dance at the drop of a hat? Being a great agony aunt myself, I keep telling people that it is absolutely okay to feel low, depressed & bawl as long as you can pick yourself up from there to put your best foot forward & live life to the fullest.
The question is will I be able to practice what I preach.
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| Blue Mosque from my room |
Day 1 in Istanbul was all about spending time in recuperating from the lack of sleep. So all that I did was walk across to the blue mosuqe & Hagia Sofia, walk the streets, browse through the Arasat Market, sit at a roadside cafe to eat a shawarma wrap & sip on orange tea, reading Amitav Ghosh & staring mindlessly at the zillions of of tourists from all over the world.
Hotel Ararat at Sultanahmet turned out to be just as described by Lonely Planet. Eclectic, clean, quaint and conveniently located. The room opens up to a common eating area and a terrace. From the bed you can see the Blue Mosque in its entirety though I am yet to figure why it is called blue.
Bumped into a friend & his wife on the touristy roads of Istanbul. From being a colleague in Delhi, we had degenrated to being facebook friends. And here we were meeting after a gap of 9 years on the bylanes of a foreign country. Quite wonderful or is this called serendipity (one of my favourite words).
Slept for 12 hours at a stretch. Woke up at 4 am to the sound of Azan from the Blue Mosque & to the sight of people rushing around in the dark to read their prayers. Bloody cold on the terrace, so stepped back into the room for my first experience with writing.
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| Archeological Museum |
Day 2 was all about discovering more on Ottoman architecture & culture & discovering that men speaking to boobs is worldwide phenomena, not characteristic to the country where I hail from . The only difference being the degree of subtlety. In case you have not guessed it, subtlety does not exist in India!
Fruitful day in all. Started with the camera & Blue Mosque at 7:30 am to avoid the busloads of tourists with their annoying guides carrying colourful umbrellas/ flags to keep the pack together. The walk through the Topkapi Palace was astonishingly beautiful. Not many parts are open for the public. Noteworthy looksees are the harem and the circumcision room (OUCH!).
In an endeavour to get a self picture taken, befriended a happy single soul. More on him.....
Edward Lee, Chinese by birth, of Australian nationality passing by Istanbul on his way to Athens to sail. Works at BHP at Perth. Close to 60. Single as in wife has become a Buddhist monk and now lives in Penang. Two children all grown with their own lives. Edward works for 6 months and travels and sails for the other 6.
Well we parted post exchanging notes on our respective holtels & plans to meet for lunch.
Rushed back to the hotel for a delightful breakfast of hard crust bread rolls, olives, sliced tomatoes, feta & melon chunks & a cup of coffee.
Continued my solo walk through the gardens of the palace, archealogical meuseum & the Museum of Muslim Science & Technology with 2 breaks in between – just had to sit on the most perfect looking benches under the perfect looking trees.
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| Lunch at Aloran |
Post lazing around in the hotel a bit, kept my promise to meet Edward for lunch. So after several trial & errors, found his hotel. Lunch was at Aloran Café facing the façade of four seasons and consisted of some exciting local wine accompanied by lavash & olives in sun dried tomato pesto and Turkish salami pizza. Yummy!
Some catch up with Amitav Ghosh connected me back to my roots & then the most sought after trip to Reina Bar by the bosphorus.
It was rocking to say the least.
Regretted the moment I stepped into the bar…..Regretted being alone. But as soon as the warmth of the alcohol spread within, I couldn’t care two hoots about anybody. Made wonderful conversations with this gorgeous couple from Ankara, a gay gentleman in Purple pants and at least twenty bracelets on his right arm from New York, a French advertising Moghul (I wouldn’t know otherwise) who insisted I should move to France as he was sure I could be a commercial model with my lovely complexion!
Life couldn’t be better…till somebody sent me a margarita with his compliments. That was the precise moment when the 21st century woman went outta the window and Bharatiya abla naari took a stronghold. It took a lot of theatrics to leave the bar in the most gracious manner and hail a ‘taksi’ to head towards my temporary home.
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| Maiden Island |
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| Bosphorus shores |
Woke up on Day 3 with an aching back & jelly legs from all the walking around. Age definitely is catching up. This of course would not deter the ubiquitous bong traveller in me to bypass any sights and sounds of a new place. With a bellyful of Turkish breakfast, put my best foot forward to have a looksee on the much talked about Bosphorus cruise. My friend Edward, had done some research on it and I chose the 2.5 hrs cruise as opposed to the full day or half a day cruise. The cruise was not disappointing at all. Past the Golden Horn bridge & Galata Bridge to the quieter shores of the Bhosphorus with elegant waterfront houses and yatchs to die for. The blue of the water and the cool breeze made every minute worth it worthwhile. A peek at the Black Sea before we turned back to make a pit stop at the Maiden Island. A much need bio break and walk upto the top of the lighthouse, a soaking of feet in the Bosphorus and it was time to leave. The coach picked us up from Eminonu to drop us to our destinations. Discovered Sultanahmet a little more. Ate at a roadside café – cous cous with chicken curry & mince beef in veggies and beer to wash it down.
After my final goodbye to Edward and a promise to be in touch, walked back to the hotel & plonked myself on the bed for an afternoon siesta.
With plenty of time for an aperitif, decided to think about my life. Not an easy task I must add. The combination of convenience, hardship, ego, self respect, love, trust, responsibilities, putting others before oneself is just too much to handle. For once I am unsure of all things and insecure as hell.
Bar hopping in the evening turned out to be very interesting, but this time around I kept a cabbie waiting and as promised he took me to a small nondescript place to eat. Ate along with locals who were breaking their fast after a late shift at work. Skewered lamb, grilled tomatoes & green peppers & cous cous. Sweetened apple tea followed with music on the local radio.
What an excellent way to end the day.
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| Arabian Nights |
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| My Ceramic Collection |
By Day 4 I had become accustomed to this new life of mine. Walking to the terrace to stare at the Blue Mosque first thing in the morning was becoming a habit. Will miss it. Have always loved the Muslim architecture with its symmetry and geometry in place. There was a chill in the air but I decided to stay on in the open and do some reading. The city does wake up late.
A visit to the Galata bridge for the famous fish sandwich was done as suggested by several friends and also the Lonely Planet. Walked through the Grand Bazaar for hours. Shopped for jewellery, bags, and ceramics.
Chanced upon a book reading of noble prize winner Orman Pahmuk. Had to buy books. Packed my bags so as not to feel rushed in the morning. One addition to the luggage….a big bag full of beautiful bowls and coasters!
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| My Cave Room |
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View from my room
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It was Day 5 already and time to move. A short flight of 1.5 hours took me to Cappadocia. Kayseri airport is one from the villages. A picturesque drive past snow clad mountains in the distance and desert like plains, which suddenly broke into a fairytale topography of rock structures and caves took me to Cappadocia Cave Suites. Excellent hotel with each room built within caves. The absence of air conditioning or fan is not felt at all as the temperature within is so ideallic.
Jarring phone call from office brought me back to reality. Piece of bad news – downsizing at workplace! Many of my colleagues now do not have a job in the blink of an eye. It feels guilty to feel relieved to have mine, but then God knows I have never needed a job ever in life like now.
Search for an ATM took me to the village square. Camera in hand, explored the entire place which consisted of hotels & more hotels tucked away on rock tops and in caves. Roads lined with Mulberry, apricots & apple trees. Dinner was on the hotel terrace, overlooking the entire village.
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| Green Apples by the road |
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| Apricots galore |
Woke up a little later than usual on Day 6 and opened my eyes to the most spectacular view of hot air balloons in the sky. Ran outside in my PJs to capture them in my camera. Walked the entire town of Goreme. Ate mulberries & apples off the trees. Plucked olives for a lark. Booked myself on a balloon ridefor the next morning. Chatted with locals over tea on real estate and Bollywood. Came back to the hotel for breakfast and a round of the facebook.
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| The enchanting Belly Dancer |
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| Whirling Dervish |
Found a friend & guide in Ali, who volunteered to take me around. Did the open air museum on my own during the day. Evening was dedicated to the underground Yemeni Restaurant. Ali made sure I had the best table to get a touch and feel of whirling dervishes and belly dancers. The thought of becoming a belly dancer did cross my mind. The evening was a Turkish night all right with lots of Raki & most interesting mezze & sauted beef chilli. All of us were taught to dance and the evening culminated in dancing around a bonfire!
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| Urgup Balloon Company |
Day 7’s highlight was of course the balloon ride. It was quite a novelty in its own way. It is an amazing sight to see 40-50 balloons up in the sky. The sight from the balloon is not as exhilarating, probably flights and highrises has done this to us. Nevertheless, the soft movement and the unpredictability of your destination is quite nice.
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| Fairy Chimneys |
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| Windows at Mustafapasa |
The rest of the day was all about being driven around to see the fairy chimneys, the underground cities, cave homes and wine tasting. My favourite was Mustafapasa, the Greek settlement village. It was the most laidback and picturesque village if ever. Every house was out of a picture post card with beautiful doors with grape vines growing all around. The windows were framed with window gardens with bursts of flora. The old Greek House was the most exquisite restaurant I have been too with the most gorgeous food in town.
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| Mistress of Spice |
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| Pit stop for Nigella Lawson |
A pit stop at a store in Urchesir took half a day. It definitely reminded me of ‘Mistress of Spice’. The spices, sun dried tomatoes, apples, olives, sunflower seeds and ingredients which I had never seen or tasted before, were too good for all the senses. The Nigella Lawson in me took over. After tasting a million things, came out victorious with 2 bags in my hand.
My last dinner in Cappadocia was at the hotel where I was staying. Mezze, Clay pot kebabs with buttered rice with other guests made special by local musicians and dancers.
7 days well spent in Turkey all by myself. Had my highs and lows emotionally but have come back with new friends, a great experience of another culture, memories of monuments and architecture that I adore and great shots which I can look through even when I am old and doddering.
