return to istanbul please

Return to Istanbul, please

I returned to Istanbul today for the final leg of my journey.

Unfortunately the meeting I had half planned didnt take place, as I

was unable to make contact with my customer. Never mind, another visit

may be required.

I slept very little last night. I bought a new mobile phone last week,

and it has 6 different alarms on it. I wasn't sure if I'd set it

correctly, so kept waking up to check the time! I went to bed around

1am after chatting to numerous friends and relatives on Skype and MSN

- madness! I had to be up at 5am and reckon I slept an hour or so at

most. So I'm rather tired as I write this.

Tolga who has been my host for the past few days came and picked me up

and took me to Sanliurfa airport at 6am. On arrival at the airport he

presented me with 3 bags of nuts, Turkish coffee and Chilli Salt.

Fantastic. What a lovely man. We said our goodbyes and I checked in.

Sanliurfa airport is tiny. A little building with next to no

facilities. All security you'd expect from an international airport

tho. Had to go through 2 sets of scanners. Amazing.

The plane was more or less full for the 2hr flight to Istanbul. Once

here, I caught a Taxi from the airport. The hotel I'm in is 5Km from

the airport and both times the Taxi drivers have kept on saying in

broken English "Hotel, 5Km. 5km. 5km" and raising their hands. I was

unable to establish if this was good or bad. But got the impression it

was bad for them as they have to wait ages at the airport. So I paid

them handsomely.

I spent the morning working in my room, and discovered that the Hotel

runs a free shuttle into Sultanahmet - the area of Istanbul with the

old Mosques and other interesting things. So I took that this

afternoon and went back to see some things I've not seen for years.

The journey from the Hotel took nearly an hour which I was surprised

by as I didn't realise we were so far out of the city.

My memories of Istanbul from years ago were of run down housing and

dilapidated streets and old cars. None of that did I see this time. It

was a lovely drive along the coastal edge, Istanbul not looking much

different from any other big coastal city.

The shuttle stopped near the Blue Mosque which I remember visiting

17yrs ago on honeymoon with Liz. Here's a picture of it from the

outside and in.

On the other side of the parking area is another fantastic old church

- Aya Sofia.

I walked up the road a little way and found the Yerebatan Saray

Cistern. Beneath Istanbul lie hundreds of gloomy Byzantine cisterns.

They're left from the days when Istanbul was Constantinople.

The biggest of all is Yerebatan Saray Sarni�i, called the Basilica (or

Sunken Palace) Cistern because of its size (70 x 140 meters) its

capacity (80,000 cubic meters, over 21 million gallons). It has 336

marble columns supporting its arched brick roof.

The place featured in the James Bond movie From Russia With Love when

Bond is rowing in a small boat through a forest of marble columns.

After this I went on to see one of my favourite places in the world.

The Grand Bazaar. A network of tiny covered streets with as many as

4000 tiny shops many measuring no more than 10ft by 10ft I guess. Not

just for tourists, many locals shop here too. Every language on the

planet can be heard as you walk around, and the shop keepers

constantly press you to look inside their shops as you pass. Amazing

place dating back at least 600years.

Here's a small view of the inside. It doesnt really quite capture the

instensity of place. I love it.

I spent a good 2 hours wandering around all the little streets,

fighting off the shop keepers and just exploring. I bought a small

coffee making pot for the Turkish coffee Tolga had given me and look

forward to making some when I get home.

By now I was exhausted, so headed back to catch the shuttle back to

the hotel, only to discover the pick up point had been taken over by a

film crew filming an interview with some people about something or

other. All traffic was being redirected...

I sat for a while and watched the crowds of people, and street sellers

eating a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts. A few Turkish people came

up to me and I think wanted to know what was happening, but I couldn't

understand them unfortunately and they didn't speak English.

As the time drew near to get the shuttle and then passed I felt panic,

as I couldn't recall the name of the Hotel I was in and was unable to

find the shuttle bus anywhere. Then at last I saw it!

I got back to the Hotel, absolutely exhausted, had a bath and then

fell onto the bed and slept for 6 hours!

Posted by v8villager at 8:15 PM