Travertines, Meat, and Mary

We had no idea what to expect from Turkey. Hell, we didn’t even know what continent we thought Turkey was a part of. Whenever we described our trip we always said we were going to Europe and Turkey, but, technically, Turkey is Europe. But, quite presciently, our decision to sever Turkey from the rest of Europe was a wise one.

For Sue, Turkey seemed a lot more like Korea than like Europe when we first arrived. The outskirts of Istanbul can do that to you. The neon, abundance of shopping, street food, and developed (but not quite completely) mood gave us both this feeling Go to Taksim square for a perfect example. Having had dreams about returning to Korea for the past two years, this made me decidedly more excited than Sue about Istanbul.

Tolga, our host (through couchsurfing) in Istanbul, was a great guy. Stuffing us like we were in Sao Paolo, he fed us copious amounts of Turkish food (some of it made by his own Mom, Mmm) and gave us suggestions for what to see and do. Our waste lines are a bit wider, but it’s all worth it to have made a great new friend (who better keep his promise to visit us in Seoul).

Because the food played such a major role in our time in Turkey (are you sensing a pattern developing?), we’ll start with that.

Meat, meat, meat. Our first meal was a assorted kebabs, complete with lots of lamb and beef, all spiced to perfection. The best way I can describe it was kind of like Gyro, but not quite. For our first meal it was great, but we came to desire a bit more variety later in our trip as we found lots of the food to have the same spice to it. We also couldn’t handle eating meat like that for days and days.

Stuffed Potatoes- A truly revolutionary idea. Take a big baked potato and fill it with whatever you want. Sounds familiar, but not like this. Vegetables, meat, cheese. . . imagine the variety of pizza toppings that are generally available, but inside a potato. The best part is that the restaurant seemed concerned that I only wanted 5 toppings in mine and reduced the price. Most people get like 10 or 15!

Raki-An 80 proof licorice flavored clear alcohol generally accompanied by seafood or other side dishes. For those of you who have been to Korea, it’s kind of like soju and drunk the same way, with food. I drank a small bottle by myself. This will not be repeated.
Meyhane-A Turkish “tavern,” these are establishments where raki is the drink of choice and dozens of side dishes can be bought. A great deal and always fresh. If I go back to Turkey, I’ll be heading to more of these.

We spent a lot of our time on the coast and got to enjoy some amazing seafood. It’s simply, with the quality of the fish in mind. This made Sue extremely happy after all the continental cuisine of the past month, although she was hoping for a little more spice. Definitely try the seafood if you make it here.

We did other things besides eat food, but none were quite as interesting.

Just kidding.

I was extremely taken by Istanbul. There’s no other city like it and seeing the east and west meet in it’s people. Architecture, cuisine, and overall mood is something special. It’s a huge city that we barely made a dent in, but one that I feel confident in saying cannot be shrugged off by anyone, regardless of their travel experience. The highlights included:

The Blue Mosque-I couldn’t recall ever seeing a mosque (or at least one worth remembering), but that will no longer be the case. Grandiose in the best way, impressive in it’s angles and design like no other religious structure, it should absolutely be visited. I must give warning that I might have been so impressed because this was my introduction to the Muslim world.

Soptaki Palace-A really big, really expensive, really unnecessary construction. Diamond and ruby encrusted weapons, rare and precious stones galore. Still, pretty damn impressive if you don’t think too much about how the sultans could have spent the money on instead, namely their subjects.

We took a ferry to the Asian side of the Bosphorus one night and explored some of the quieter areas. The walk along the water was never-ending and speaks for the vastness of the city (and why they eat so much seafood). The ferry ride itself was also a lot of fun. It was like the whole city took the Staten Island Ferry.

The world famous bazaar-I must hate capitalism, because every time we enter a market I am overwhelmed by the desperation of everyone selling a product. I have to leave after a few minutes because I feel bad for all the people. I see them as lonely and desperate, when they very well might love it in reality. I’m glad I’m not in sales.

Four Seasons Bosphorous-Luxury travel has never appealed to me. Sue has a theory that once you stay in a nice hotel that it’s hard to stay in budget accommodation later on, but sitting in the outdoor café watching the sun set over the Euro side of Istanbul and watching the container vessels, cruise ships, ferries, and various other boats cruise by on the Bosphorous under the bridge linking Asia and Asia Minor (Europe) bathed in the sunset’s light was worth the 22 Turkish Lira for our coffees ($15 US). Staying there, that’s another matter. I’d like to think that there will be a day where I don’t sweat dropping $1500 on a weekend in a hotel with meals and drinks included, but I don’t think that day is coming anytime soon

The best thing about Istanbul was how it made me feel like things are exotic again for the first time since South America. It’s similar to the feeling of foreignness we had in Mexico City where everything felt new. It’s nice after the comfort and familiarity of continental Europe.


Istanbul wasn’t all we saw, in fact it was only about 3 days of our 10 days in total in turkey. The first place we headed was to Cappadocia. We traveled via another night bus (this one a bit comfier) to the land of fairy chimneys and underground cities. We stayed in the city of Goreme, the rumored location for the opening scenes in Star Wars. Nobody seems to be here as its out of season, but that makes it more enjoyable to walk around. Unfortunately, after exploring a cave settlement/church area carved into the rock formations at the open air museum, we found ourselves wrapped in a web of bureaucracy from LAN, Lehman College, and the Korean Consulate. The second two are understandable, but LAN is ridiculous. I advise all of you to never have to deal with LAN customer service, as it took us 5 months to have our ticket PROCESSED to be refunded (it was a refundable ticket) and will be another month before we receive the money.

We spent 2 more days exploring Cappadocia on some package tours (we definitely got ripped off by booking these through a travel agency, though I guess that’s to be expected) and the terrain here is like nothing else I’ve seen before. The closest I have come to it was around the Grand Canyon, but this Is different. The rock formations here look as if they are made by man, but they are in fact, completely natural. The wonders of water, wind, ice and time make it just as impressive as the Grand Canyon in its own way.

Another natural wonder was next on the list as we traveled to Pamukkaleto climb the calcium travertines up to the Hieropolis. This place doesn’t look like it belongs on planet earth and climbing it early one morning after another sleepless night bus ride made it that much more surreal. On top of it was the an ancient Roman settlement that, while not well-reconstructed, was still impressive. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

After one day there, we were off to Epehesus, one of the wonders of the ancient world. While nice, it would have been a lot more wonderful if we weren’t squeezed into a package tour and surrounded by other package tourists once we arrived at the site.

Near Ephesus, we visited Mary’s (capitalized because she’s the mother of Jesus) final residence. Nestled in the mountains, humble, yet well-maintained, this felt like a genuinely religious place to me, moreso than the phallic power structures of cathedrals and churches built by the church and/or governments for political purposes we’ve seen throughout most of our trip, although it’s ridiculous that they serve beer in the café outside. The home itself is a modest stone cottage that supposedly dates back to the 1st century AD from Carbon remains in the fireplace and can be traced to Mary because her protector John (as entrusted by Jesus) died in Epephesus nearby. I don’t know that I’d call it a religious experience, but it’s the first place to make Mary (and therefore Jesus) feel real to me. Whenever I’m asked about my religion, I say “raised Catholic” and that I believe in God. That God has always been a very ephemeral idea and, while I used to pray fairly regularly, I’ve since lost touch with whatever God is. A few years ago, I came to the conclusion that I do believe in God, even outside of my Catholic conditioning. Sue, on the other hand, claimed she didn’t believe in God, but still prays. I asked to what she was praying if she didn’t believe in God, and she said “you have to pray to something.” Upon being pressed she admits she believes in something, just not the Christian idea of a God, very similar to my feeling recently. Being here has made me reconsider a bit. As I said, it feels genuinely religious here, and if I were a die-hard Catholic, it would be important for me to travel here, more special than anywhere else, more special than seeing the Pope. I don’t know where this is going, but I wanted to get it down on paper. If I still wrote stories, I would like to set one here, something Carver-esque.

Turkey is by far the most geographically interesting and diverse place we have visited. I don’t know that we’d want to live here, but for a visit, its tough to beat Turkey. I’d like to come back again.

Despite getting ripped off by a travel agency, I’m enjoying meeting the “real”people of Turkey who work in basic pensions and guesthouses who just hang out and have been doing what they do their whole lives because their families own the places and scrape by on the tourist season business. We’re lucky because we’re coming outside of the tourist season. We get the real deal.

Which would be worse-working in a giant market and heckling people to buy or working in a resort town and heckling people in the off-season by trying to trick them to stay in your hotel, buy bus tix from you, eat in your restaurant, etc.? I would vote for the resort town. I can’t even be angry at them when they try to do it. They also don’t seem as pressured as people in markets because they know the bucks are coming in the summer. Any business in the off season is just the icing on the cake.

Turkish hospitality is real. We’re experiencing it from people every day. Tea, chats, openness. It’s great.

PS- By this point in time, traveling has become completely normal. I’m used to sleeping in a strange bed, showering occasionally, washing my underwear by hand in the sink, and wearing it wet the next day. I don’t know if this is a good thing.

PPS-We went to the old prison where they filmed Midnight Express. It is now a luxury hotel. No idea what this means, but it seems notable, if only to show how far Turkey has come since the 70s. It is trying to get into the EU, and I, for one, certainly hope that it makes it.