Spring Blossoms by the Bosphorus

Turkey, Spring 2008

Turkey, admittedly, wasn’t our first choice when Jay and I decided to go for an escape-the-Delhi-summer, travel-before-the-baby-comes trip. We were initially thinking about Nepal (as it turns out, high altitudes aren’t good for expectant moms), then seeing the bargain deals to Europe on the Indian dailies, we then mulled either Italy or Switzerland. Turkey was mentioned now and then, but it always stayed at the sidelines, so to speak. Then, when we’d just about decided on Italy, the travel agent sprung the catch on us: the package would actually cost 50 percent more than the advertised rate due to some flight scheduling problems. Of course we said “No, thank you!” in a huff. And it turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise because it nudged us towards the dark horse, Turkey, and one of the most wonderful trips we’ve ever taken. I’m sure Italy would have been spectacular too, but firm believer in Providence that I am, I know that is another journey we’ll make later, as we’re meant to.

Aya Sofya / Hagia Sophia: Church of the Holy Wisdom

Clockwise from top: Night view of Aya Sofya; Mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary carrying Baby Jesus, together with Emperor John Comnenus II and Empress Eirene; The Deesis Mosaic (The Last Judgment), which shows Jesus flanked by Mother Mary and John the Baptist.

The Blue Mosque / Sultan Ahmet Camii

Clockwise from top left: A shrouded figure is illuminated by light streaming in from the Blue Mosque's stained glass windows, of which there are supposedly 260; A view of the Blue Mosque from the rooftop cafe cum bar of Sultan's Inn Hotel, where we stayed for two nights; A shot of me taken by Jay near the Sultanahmet tram stop, with the Blue Mosque in the background.

Clockwise from top: A fellow visitor taking a picture of the Blue Mosque from the Hippodrome-side entrance; Interior of the dome over the main door, which only worshippers are supposedly permitted to use but through which we unwittingly entered on two of our three visits to the mosque; The Blue Mosque’s interior takes on a golden cast at night due to tungsten lighting, as opposed to the natural illumination of daytime that offers a glimpse of it bathed in the hues that gave the mosque its nickname.

There is a magical quality to the mosque's courtyard at night.

Sultanahmet / Cankurtaran: The Traveler's Hub in Istanbul

The part of Old Istanbul where travelers, particularly the backpacker sort, like to congregate is often referred to as Sultanahmet, after the name of the Blue Mosque, which is the area's most famous landmark. However, most of the inns, cafes and souvenir shops actually occupy the area adjoining Sultanahmet, called Cankurtaran.

It only struck me while perusing our photos of the trip how fond of the color yellow the folks at Cankurtaran are. A good number of the inns in the area sport the color in various shades, something that no doubt adds to the bright and vibrant aura of the place.

Terraces with Bosphorus views are de rigeur for inns and restaurants in the area. They are delightful spots to have a leisurely breakfast or to watch the setting sun with drink in hand.

The night life in the area is pretty mild and mellow. You can take your pick from the many little cafes and cay bahcesi (teahouses), like Cafe Mesale in Arasta Bazaar, shown here, where you can smoke a nargileh (hookah or waterpipe) and catch a whirling dervish performance (don't expect real dervishes though -- this is purely geared for tourists).

Bosphorus Cruise

Clockwise from top left: One of the many beautiful yalis, or traditional Ottoman mansions built along the shore, that one glimpses during the cruise; This man in a suit repairing nets on the dock of Anadolu Kavagi seemed more aptly dressed to go to the office; Play of light on water reflected on the hull of a boat docked in Anadolu Kavagi; Ortakoy Camii, a pretty little mosque on the waterside that looks even more diminutive because of the Bosphorus Bridge that looms nearby.

While Jay and I were whiling the time away at Eminonu before the cruise, we bumped into Nick, a Los Angeles-based Filipino who was on his last day in Turkey. We ended up enjoying each other's company throughout the entire cruise and having a lazy lunch together at Yosun restaurant in Anadolu Kavagi (the calamari, fried mussels and grilled blue fish were all mouthwatering). That we could take pictures for each other was certainly a bonus!

Istiklal Avenue (the Grand Rue de Pera of old)

The roughly three-kilometer stretch of Istiklal Caddesi (or Independence Avenue, earlier known as the Grand Rue de Pera) and the smaller roads radiating from it, are one of, if not Istanbul's most fashionable and cosmopolitan districts.

It used to be the haunt of expatriates, especially Europeans, and a handful of countries still retain consulates there cheek-by-jowl with cafes, bookstores, boutiques and cinemas housed in old, atmospheric buildings. Amid these shrines to capitalism are places of worship of a truly ecumenical range, including the Catholic Church of San Antonio di Padova (pictured above), as well as a Greek Orthodox church, an Armenian church, synagogues and mosques.

Felines' Paradise

Turkey is clearly a cat's world...

... which must be why this pooch is sulking.

Amasya Panoramas

Amasya is an enchanting little town tucked amid hills on either side of a river. In the serene north bank, old Ottoman houses crowd together in the shadow of Pontic tombs and an ancient citadel built on the cliff. It strikes you as a place frozen in time. But all one needs to get to the present is to cross one of the many bridges that straddle the river to the more bustling south bank. Still, Amasya remains, on the whole, quiet and laidback -- no doubt, in large part, because it has yet to be "discovered" by the tour groups that overrun other places.

(Click on each image to fully appreciate the vista.)

Ilk Pansiyon

Ilk Pansiyon was our home for two nights in Amasya -- a charming restored Ottoman mansion befitting a charming town. We had a spacious room (it could sleep a family of six) with kilims all over the floor, low beds, and large windows commanding a view of the Citadel on top of the hill across the river. The firewood-burning furnaces in the rooms (we mustered the courage to use ours after shivering through our first night) and the traditional horse saddle in a niche in the courtyard are among the quaint touches that greet guests at every turn.

Peace Amid the Tombs

It was very tranquil up in the cliffs overlooking Yesilmark River in Amasya, amid the ancient tombs. Apart from a few trysting couples, there are only the flowers, lizards and bats to keep you company.

Two Lives

As we came down the steps leading from the Pontic Tombs to the village, Jay captured this little boy's antics while he fed and played with a sparrow.

Later, we spent a good part of an hour sitting in Amasya's plaza just watching people go about their lives. We were particularly entertained by two shoeshiners (note their elaborate kits), and between them, a grandpa who seemed to be, ever so slowly, setting up some wares to sell.

That afternoon, we again chanced on the old man, probably on his way home with his little (and, we hoped, lighter) bag of trinkets.

Amasya Vignettes

Two young ladies take a dondurma break by the river.

What seemed to be a Muslim wake at the courtyard of the town mosque.

Head(scarf) Hunting

Obelisk of Theodosius at the Hippodrome

Istanbul's oldest monument, this obelisk was originally carved in Egypt before Emperor Theodosius ordered it brought to and erected in Constantinople in AD 390.

Sarcophagi from the Royal Necropolis of Sidon

We hadn't really planned on visiting the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (we were thinking relics behind glass cases), but after Nick told us that Suleymaniye Camii was closed off for renovation except for one wing and that the museum had been one of the highlights of his tour of Istanbul, we decided to give it a go. The gamble paid off. Our hands-down favorite among the exhibits were the sarcophagi, especially those from the Royal Necropolis of Sidon, which were simply stunning. Oh, to be buried in such magnificent resting places -- though you probably wouldn't care much by then! One thing Jay and I really loved about the museum is that a large part of their collection is displayed out in the open where you can really get a close look at them without the intervening wall of glass.

Beyond Kebab and Baklava

Left column, from top: Firin sutlac (rice pudding), less famous than baklava but arguably as, if not more delicious; Turkish style fastfood at Afacan Restaurant along Istiklal Caddesi; Yaprak dolmates (grape leaves stuffed with rice); A dondurma store in Amasya.

Central column, from top: Mackerel sandwich makes a perfect snack while strolling down Galata Bridge; Meringue at a sweets store in Anadolu Kavagi; Lokum (Turkish delights) galore!; Tokali kebab (mutton and aubergines) -- this one's a bit overdone; The fried fish that almost made me miss the Bosphorus sunset.

Right column, from top: You'll encounter ekmek (bread) at every meal; A mouthwatering meze platter at Karadeniz Pide ve Kebap Salonu; Karakoy Gulluoglu reputedly makes the best baklava in town; A traditional Turkish breakfast (sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, cheese, butter, honey, jam and plenty of ekmek).

Shopping

Traditional Turkish souvenirs, from left: lamps and rugs for sale in Avcilar Valley, Cappadocia; Soglani dolls, a popular souvenir from Cappadocia; Shopping for a headscarf in Amasya -- I preferred the simple cotton one with embroidered edges to the fancier silk (sometimes satin or polyster) kind that more women seem to wear these days.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, dating back to 1461, is probably one of the world's most atmospheric places to shop. We were glad to find that the vendors weren't that pushy, which was a good thing because we didn't really go there to shop but just to look. The prospect of haggling and comparing prices among all those competing shops was simply too daunting.

Jay was shocked to find a number of shops selling guns in an underpass in Tunel. The locals we asked assured us that these weren't real.

Sunset View from the Galata Bridge

I almost missed the sunset for which Jay and I had returned to Galata Bridge on our last day in Istanbul because I couldn't tear myself away from the plate of fried fish we had ordered in one of the stalls at the fish market on the northern end of the bridge. We resolved the dilemma by improvising a sandwich with the fish and some bread, for me to carry back to the bridge and munch on while I took sunset pictures. Of course I had wolfed it all down by the time I reached the bridge!

Austere Beauty

Words feel inadequate to capture the austere beauty of the Cappadocian landscape...

Alien Landscape

Cappadocia's surreal rock formations and edifices, from fairy chimneys to ancient rock-cut chapels and pigeonholed cliffs, are fodder for those who think that such structures could only have been fashioned by our cousins from outer space. I guess that explains the International UFO Museum in Goreme (shown in middle photo)!

...And Upon This Rock I'll Build My Church

You'll find countless chapels built in the hollows of caves and carved into cliffs in the Goreme Open Air Museum. My favorite were Sandals Church (leftmost image, supposedly so-named since Christ is depicted wearing sandals in one of the frescoes) and--fine, so I'm biased--the Chapel of St. Catherine, shown in the image above-right.

A glimspe of Jay through an aperture on the wall of one of the chapels.

Sema

On our first night in Cappadocia, we witnessed the Sema, or whirling dervish ceremony, which was held at the antique Sarihan Caravanserai. It was truly otherworldly, four men whirling for about half an hour to the backdrop of drum, reed-flute and string (was it an oud?) music. Taking photos of the ceremony was prohibited and I was glad to comply in order to help preserve the solemnity of the atmosphere.

Having discovered at an early age how dizzy whirling, even for only a few seconds, could make you, I watched, bewildered, as the dervishes revolved calmly, eyes closed serenely, arms extended slightly, their skirts billowing gracefully about them. It was simply transporting.

The funny thing was, they actually resembled those kitschy souvenir dervish dolls sold in the tourist shops, at least in terms of the almost mechanical regularity of their whirling!

Cool to Be a Cave Dweller

In Cappadocia, we stayed in a sweet and lovely little place called Kismet Cave Hotel. This proved to be our favorite of the four hotels we stayed in during our eight nights in Turkey. Faruk and Sirin, the couple who own and run the hotel, had clearly gone for the best in furnishing the place, from the cozy bed and pillows to the wonderfully relaxing jacuzzi. The traditional wall hanging, carpets and chest, not to mention a fireplace, add a rustic touch to the room. Oh, and did I mention the heavy iron bar used to lock the door at night? It was just the perfect place to crash after an exhausting day spent exploring Cappadocia's awesome landscape.

Lovely Little One

I fell in love with this baby whom we saw while trekking through Ilhara Valley. Snug in the arms of her obviously proud father, she gurgled in delight as total strangers cooed over her.

Up, Up and Away

On our final day in Cappadocia (as well as in Turkey), while waiting for the shuttle that would take us to the airport, we were treated to the breath-taking sight of colorful hot-air balloons hovering above the town. They went up and up, as we went away, grateful to be blessed with such a lovely parting shot.