Turkey: Istanbul and Bosphorous Strait

Spring Break Day Seven (continued from part six)

After waking up, I had breakfast at another one of the many restaurants in the district and made my way to the Ottoman palace complex, only a five minute walk from my hotel. Known as Topkapı Sarayı, it served as the seat of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to 19th centuries. It sits at the north of Sultanahmet on a hill above the Bosphorous Strait, on the European side of Istanbul.

The palace itself is completely intact and the landscape on the property is well-groomed. The size of the palace campus is overwhelming. On the site are a number of different buildings, though I don't remember their names. Perhaps the most impressive displays are the Treasury buildings, which house enormous amounts of gold and jewels. The Sultans clearly loved their treasure.

There is a good view of the Bosphorous Strait and the Asian side of Istanbul from the palace.

The gate to the palace campus.



The lawn.



Various points from around the palace.








Overlooking the Bosphorous from the palace.



After visiting the palace, I took a walk out from Sultanahmet down to the docks where the ferry leaves. A man was selling tickets for a cruise along the Bosphorous for only 20 YTL, so I figured I'd see what it was like. It was a two hour trip along both sides of the Bosphorous, where I got to see nearly all of coastal Istanbul, so it was a good choice.

Views from the Bosphorous of Istanbul.





After the boat trip, I walked from the docks to Taxsim, which is considered "downtown" Istanbul. It's a very long walk; Istanbul is a huge city in terms of area. I enjoyed the area around Taxsim much more than Sultanahmet. There aren't any significant landmarks in Taxsim Square, but it is busy - busier than anywhere I've seen in New York City. Everything had a very Western feel to it, and I could hardly tell that I was in an Islamic city. I haven't visited any cities in Europe, but it seems like downtown Istanbul would not be too much different from its European counterparts. Veiled women in this part of the city were the exception rather than the rule, and everyone wore clothing that would look normal in a Western country. Despite this, it was still obvious that I was a foreigner, since no Turk or Kurd has the same skin and hair color as me.

From Taxsim, I walked a bit north to my destination, the National Military Museum. This one was well-labeled and didn't contain the obvious nationalistic bias like the corresponding museum in Egypt. It covered artifacts from the Byzantine Empire to modern day, though mostly from the early Ottoman Empire. I arrived too close to closing time to see the second floor, but I got to see most of it, and it was a worthwhile visit.

Exhibits from the museum.




There is a monument outside the museum to a soldier named Seyid Obasi, who reportedly lifted a projectile weighing 250 kilos by himself at a critical point in battle. It turns out he wasn't able to lift it again when he was asked to do it for a promotional photograph. I think the story is exaggerated, since the world record for lifting an object overhead is right around that weight.

Statue of Seyid Obasi.


I walked back to Taxsim after that and down Istiklal Street, a major road from the main square. The amount of people was incredible, many of them young adults just hanging out with their friends. I went to a restaurant called Haci Baba, which was somewhat fancy, though it was relatively inexpensive. Turkish cuisine has a reputation for being among the best in the world, and all of my dining experiences in Turkey supported this. After spending some time at an Internet cafe, I began the long walk back to Sultanahmet and back to my hotel.

After my first two days in Turkey, I was still unable to communicate anything meaningful in Turkish other than "thank you," but I began to notice some similarities between Arabic and Turkish. None of the basic words for communication bore any resemblance to Arabic, but some nouns were Arabic words that have been pronounced in Turkish. For example, merkezi corresponds to markaz, meaning "center." Camii (pronounced jamee) corresponds to jame'a, meaning "mosque." Askeri corresponds to 'askareya, meaning "military." I had learned the rules of how to pronounce the Turkish letters, so I was able to pick up a few words by reading signs and labels. The good thing about Turkish is that most of the letters are the same as in English, so reading is not a major barrier to communication like in Arabic.

Turkey: Istanbul

Spring Break Day Six (continued from part five)

My flight to Istanbul was from Queen Alia Airport (just south of Amman) at 3:30 AM via Turkish Airlines. The flight went smoothly enough, though it did not compare to the almost luxurious feeling of the Royal Jordanian flight the previous week. I did not sleep because I needed to read up a bit on Turkey. I was slightly nervous flying into Turkey, only because I had not bothered to learn any Turkish and my Arabic wouldn't be much help there.

After arriving in the airport, I purchased a visa for $10 USD and then waited in the immigration line. Unlike Queen Alia Airport, this one was slow and inefficient, though the large number of flights arriving at the same time accounted for much of this. I waited in line for around two hours while lots of people held up the line with their passport issues. As I looked around me in line, I was amazed at how many different types of people I saw. I had never seen so many different ethnicities in large numbers in one place before. When it was my turn to be checked, it took less than thirty seconds for me to get my stamp.

The advantage of having to wait in line for so long was that by the time I was ready to leave the airport, it was past 7AM and the metro was running. I could have taken a taxi or shuttle, but I wanted to do things the long but cheap way. I bought two metro Jetons, though it took me more than a second to realize which was a Jeton and which was my change. The metro has its final stop at Ataturk airport, which is very convenient. I hopped on the metro and took it to the Zeytinburnu stop, where the metro transfers into a tram. The tram is basically like a metro, but it runs above ground, and very slowly. Conveniently enough, the tram makes a stop in Sultanahmet, which is where I wanted to stay.

I got off in Sultanahmet and walked around for awhile, trying to find the hostel I had been looking for. I was almost there when a man offered me a room in a place called the Ocean's 7 Hotel. It was impeccably clean and was even comfortable, and it would cost 10 euros ($13 USD) per night. I had no reason to refuse. The arrival stage in Turkey was over, and I did it without getting ripped off, lost, confused, or frustrated. In fact, it was easier than I thought it would be.

I walked around a bit and then got breakfast at a restaurant called the Pudding Shop. It was pretty easy to find a place to eat in this part of the city, as there were restaurants everywhere.

The skyline of Sultanahmet is dominated by the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, both of which were only a few blocks away from my hotel. I first made a visit to the Hagia Sofia. The tickets were an expensive 21 YTL (around $13 USD). It's one of the most famous ancient buildings in existence, so I can't really add anything insightful on the Hagia Sofia that can't be found elsewhere, other than to say it is as impressive in person as it looks in pictures.

Interior of Hagia Sofia, ground level.



Interior of Hagia Sofia, balcony level.



Next I walked over to the Blue Mosque, which is only a five minute walk from the Hagia Sofia. It doesn't get nearly the fanfare as the latter, but it's almost as big and its architecture is just as impressive, at least in my opinion. Since it's still in daily use as a mosque, there was no charge to visit.

Exterior of the Blue Mosque.



Inside the Blue Mosque.




The Egyptian obelisk at the site of the former Hippodrome.


A few minutes walk from the Blue Mosque is the entrance to the Ottoman palace complex. I saved the visit to the palace for the next day, but located on the grounds of the palace are several museums, including the Istanbul Archeology Museum. The museum was well-labeled and there was an overwhelming collection of artifacts from the Stone Age to the Islamic Age.

Near the palace in Sultanahmet.


Shots from the archeological museum.





I returned to my hotel for a nap, as I hadn't slept since the previous night. When I awoke I made a quick trip to the Covered Bazaar, which is the largest non-open market in the world. It was neat to see all the things for sale, but nothing really caught my interest. After that I had a meal at one of the nice outdoor restaurants in Sultanahmet. The food was excellent Ottoman-style cuisine, though it seemed like all the restaurants served small portions at relatively expensive prices. I spent the rest of the night walking around the district and going to a few cafes.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed with the part of the city that I'd seen. The monuments I visited were great, but the Sultanahmet district was really just a haven for tourists. I was expecting to experience a sort of "culture shock" being in a country with its own language and culture, though it never really came like it did in Egypt.