The Blaus - South America and Europe

15th of September - Istanbul, Turkey

From Belgrade we took an overnight train to the capital of Bulgaria (Sofia, which means wisdom in Greek), where we hoped to catch another train or a bus to complete the journey to Istanbul. In Belgrade we inquired about overland travel to Istanbul and we received 3 conflicting responses from different travel agents and the ticket office at the train station. We weren't sure whether to believe that the train to Istanbul was broken or that we'd be able to catch a connecting train from Sofia or that the tracks were flooded from the recent rains in this part of Europe. So, when we set off for Sofia we weren't even sure if we'd make it to Istanbul, but we figured it would be an adventure regardless of our destination. We had a sleeping cabin all to ourselves for this overnight train ride, so we were happy to be traveling comfortably for the first time since we arrived in Europe.

We arrived in Sofia in the early morning and found ourselves being rushed to the bus that was soon to depart for Istanbul. We followed two Bulgarian guys running at full speed from the train station to the bus station and we boarded the bus leaving for Istanbul just as it was pulling out of the parking lot. We spent all of 10 minutes in Bulgaria, so we know little more than what we read in our guidebook about the country. Bulgaria's claim to fame is that the first computer was invented by a Bulgarian-American in the 1930s. They fought on both sides of WWII (first for the Germans with Austria and later for the Russians). According to our guide book Bulgarians shake their head yes and nod their head to say no, which could prove to be very confusing body language, but unfortunately we didn't have time to test this out ourselves.

Crossing the border into Turkey was interesting. The woman sitting in front of us on the bus asked if we would hide some of her dozens of bottles of duty free gin in our bags until we were safely on the other side. We agreed to assist in the smuggling of bottles and we were the only people on the bus whose bags didn't get searched. We did have to pay for visas upon entry, but we successfully sneaked the alcohol across the border and then wondered why we didn't demand a bottle or two in payment. Alcohol is expensive in Turkey and it is not served in many establishments, probably because it's a Muslim country and not many people seem to drink here anyway...aside from the lady sitting in front of us on the bus.

Upon arrival in Istanbul the first thing we noticed was the sheer size of the city. We sat in traffic for two hours inching towards the city center. Once we got off of the bus we found ourselves lost in the maze of the overwhelming bus station and we immediately discovered what Turkish hospitality is all about. It was a warm welcome. With traffic whizzing by and horns honking a few hawkers crowded around us and vied for our attention with catchy phrases like, Hey Aussie! or Which one is the boss? or The biggest puma is you! This last one was a comment on Billy's puma t-shirt, but we are still not sure what it means. Once they had our attention they joked about taking our money, which led to a sort of bargaining game in which no one budged and everyone laughed. Next thing we knew we were ushered into the back of a cab and off to Sultanhamet, the center of all tourism in Istanbul. When it came time to pay for the cab we haggled over the price, then they shook our hands, kissed us, grabbed our faces, took our money and sped away. Welcome to Istanbul.

Istanbul is a stunning city with a strange mix of modern and ancient buildings and a striking Muslim culture. Our first day in Istanbul was spent walking around marveling at the Ottoman style construction and huge mosques with towering minarets. We visited Topkapi Palace, which was once home to Sultans and their harems, and today is a museum complete with a collection of the prophet Muhammad's swords and other personal affects like pieces of his hair and some of his teeth. The most interesting part of the palace for us was the architecture, as some of the buildings dated back to 500AD and all were built with opulent materials and tiles. That night we feasted on a staple here called doner kebabs (of the Iskender type with yogurt and tomato sauce on top of slices of lamb and cubes of bread). These ubiquitous kebabs would be called a wrap at home, and they generally consist of meat cut from a rotating spit, tomatoes and greens rolled up in flatbread. Billy could live on a diet of nothing more than these kebabs for an eternity. We went to an outdoor cafe to drink Turkish tea and watch a whirling dervish perform while savouring the scent of apple flavored tobacco that our neighbors were smoking from a water pipe. The whirling dervish performance was much less a show than a practice. Without any pomp and circumstance the dervish stepped onto the small platform in the center of the cafe and started spinning around in circles. His face had a very somber expression as if he was in a trance while his arms were held above his head in a very purposeful manner and his full robe made the shape of an upside down flower as he spun around and around. He wore a tall cylindrical hat and a black cloak that he put on and took off each time with a ritual kiss to the collar. We're not sure how he did this without becoming dizzy and falling over or stumbling. We tried it ourselves and determined that it would require much more practice.

We went to the Grand Bazaar and felt like we had arrived in the shopping mecca of the world. It was easy to get lost in the maze of shops inside the bazaar and browse the rows of goods ranging from gold and jewels to hookah pipes and Turkish carpets. The Egyptian bazaar was smaller, but we had more fun shopping there for candies and spices. We visited the Blue Mosque one day, which invoked in us a feeling of awe that can only be matched by visits to other grand and sacred places of worship. Another memorable night in Istanbul was spent having dinner at a rooftop terrace of one of the hotels in Sultanhamet. At around 8pm the sound of the call to prayer echoed all around us from the 5 nearby mosques. We sat there admiring the view of the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia Mosque, whose minarets were lit up dramatically like taper candles, while listening intently to the sound of the muezzins passionately intoning voices. No matter how many times we hear the call to prayer (we heard it first in Bosnia and also in Serbia) it remains a very foreign and exotic sound that reminds us that we are far from home.

posted by The Blaus @ 10:10 AM