Turkey Part 2

Day 4 Istanbul (25/3)

So here comes our final day in Istanbul. Yet, there was no glimpse or even a mere shadow of the sought-after KFC restaurant. I was imagining myself licking my fingers when I would finally find it (don’t mind this. It was a year since I had my last plate of KFC’s OR fried chickens). But there were plenty of MCDees and Burger Kings. So in the end, my friends and I just came with a rather very conclusive conclusion that Turkish people love healthy food (no dripping oily fried food) but they much prefer roasted, toasted, or char grilled delicacies like kebabs. I won’t blame them if they opt for health instead of worldly satisfaction (fine…=\).

So back to the primary intention for this post, on the fourth day we finally…alhamdulillah we FINALLY made it to Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque. Yay! Okay we’d been taking pictures from far. I’ve been admiring those two structures since I was small and today was the day. We figured that it might be better to go to Ayasofya first since we did not want to end up queuing underneath the bright sunlight (the temperature was almost 25 degrees. Go figure! I am an ice queen, remember?). So the decision was made and we entered the place with easiness.

see that Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus?

Legend has it. In truth, the so-called Ayasofya was a rebuild. The first Ayasofya was rammed and burned down due to a riot during the ancient time and it was later rebuilt during the Byzantine’s time (correct me if I’m wrong. I’m just writing according to the story told by my friend). Ayasofya when it was built was said to be one of the most aesthetically appealing wonder that was ever built and it was said that it even managed to out match the beauty of the Solomon Temple and that people had an effigy of King Solomon erected looking at Ayasofya in awed. But too bad, such effigy no longer existed (maybe it’s looted during the riot? We never know). Ayasofya was in the first place a cathedral. It was then converted into a mosque and later on was restored and turned into a museum during Ataturk’s reign. No praying was allowed in this place be that you’re Muslim, Christian or someone who practices Judaism.

As the legend says, Ayasofya was certainly mind-blowing. All this while, I could only dream of going into it. I remembered when I first saw Ayasofya’s interior in the Malcolm X movie starring Denzel Washington in which he prostrated inside of it as he received his moment of enlightenment. Ayasofya was a unique union of two religions and arts. I could see that there was an attempt for removing those Christian frescoes inside of the building but wondrously, the picture of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus was retained.

i think what this uncle's selling were the handmade caramel candies. he'll roll the sticky sugary stuff and harden it using lemon juice (Chemical reaction)

As promised, we set to Sultan Ahmet Camii or better known as the Blue Mosque. This mosque was built by the order of Sultan Ahmet whose tomb could be seen before you reach the mosque. He was 27 when he passed away. It was said that when the mosque was designed, the Sultan asked it to be in gold (Altin) but what the architect heard was (Alti=six). Hence, this mosque had six minarets instead of the normal 4 (just an assumption). And this mosque was built to contend the beauty of Ayasofya that’s just metres away from it. The mosque's interior was in blue and it’s façade was in ivory.

the Blue Mosque

inside of the Blue Mosque

That was all for that day. We agreed to drop Basilica Cistern from our places to visit list since we’re short of money (save it for shopping). However, a bit of what it was. Basilica Cistern was one of the oldest underground watering systems (a cistern) that laid dormant below the busy streets of Istanbul. It was constructed during the Byzantine’s era. I don’t know how to describe the place but based on my previous experience as a gamer. In Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, you’ll have to pass through a watery place with perpendicular pillars. It’s eerily dark and mad mermans will attack you from every corner. That’s the kind of place what Basilica Cistern was.

Late that evening we go aboard a ferry to Bursa. Tell you what. The ferry looked nothing like the ordinary ferries we have in Malaysia. Aye! Aye! Captain! Ughhh but I was sea-sicked. Seemed that my years of studying in Langkawi were meaningless.

Day 5 Bursa-Ankara-Cappadocia (26/3)

Too bad. We did nothing more than walking out from the bus station of Bursa and Ankara. Due to time constraint, we had to skip Bursa and we just got to Bursa (a Shangrila for shoppaholics) via the luxury ferry and took a bus to Ankara. Bad luck came attacking again and this time in terms of bus tickets. The earliest tickets that we’d take us to the next destination, Cappadocia was scheduled at 10 am and the journey would take us about 4 hours. We had no idea how to spend our 2 hours at the Ankara’s bus station but just to have a short promenade to and fro the departure and the arrival gates of the bus station.

However, in order not to disappoint any of you. I’ll tell you about some of the facts that you should know when you’re in Ankara. Alright so Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and it was pretty cold when we were there. The capital city of Turkey was shifted from Istanbul to Ankara as requested by Ataturk.  A brief history on the life of Ataturk: He’s a brilliant student but when he was small though forced by his parents, he’s pretty reluctant to attend his religious school. He then had his education at a military school whereby he secretly joined an underground movement to bring down the caliph who during that time known for being an unscrupulous leader. It was told later he gained support from the people of Turkey when he had managed to rescue Turkey from being invaded by an enemy. As a result, the last caliph was overthrown and Turkey was turned into a republic and up until today practices secularism. Okay that’s that. Thus, by 10 am we got on the bus to Cappadocia without realizing we just had made a terrible mistake! (the advanced tickets we bought to Konya were on the wrong date).

Unlike Malaysia and even the UK, the buses in Turkey have stewards and they will serve you drinks. Name it. Hot drinks, juice, or even plain water – just request for any of it and you will have it served on your small foldable table. And what’s more, you’ll have a teevee with local channels fixed in front of your seat. Awesomest moment was really awesome.

they have teevees and a cute kid too XD

Even so, one bad thing that has been viable in Turkey and even in my own country is the inability for people to get in line. This habit is unreasonably set as secondary and not inculcated perhaps even from the very beginning of one’s birth. People choose not to queue and put on poker face almost most of the time. This scenario started to stir my blood since I’m so used to stand in a row and wait patiently for my turn (like a sir) or else I’ll receive acidic additional commentaries following my back.

Cappadocia was situated at the most hilliest part of Turkey where you can see hollow hills with indentions and small gaps like windows and doors peeking at you abashedly. The place was cool and kind of gloomy as we reached there almost at 4 pm. The first thing we did when we arrived at the Goreme bus station was to ask ourselves: How on earth can we ever find our hotel amidst these identical hills and barren (a ghost town since it’s evening) place. Luckily there’s a good Samaritan and he had helpfully provided us with a very accurate direction to the hotel. Amazingly, his English was good. I concur it must be because Goreme is a famous tourist spot (it’s one of the world's heritages). And we had a great time escorted by the brave knight of the pets – a stray dog. =( We were freaked out but tried to look calm. The dog didn’t attack us but we’re just panic. What a shame!

 the good old dog

We check-in to our hotel and the view was scenic!!!!!

just the view from the top of our hotel

Day 6 Goreme, Cappadocia (27/3)

Ahahaha what a day. You see almost half of us woke up late in spite of the athan for morning prayer from the nearest mosque (okay, this is one of the things that I like in Turkey! Athan. How I miss athan =) ahhhh how I miss Malaysia). We had our breakfast which was done in buffet! Wohooo!!! So six slices of salami for me. Yummy. Okay one thing for sure, most of the food in Turkey is insya-Allah halal. I think I’d offended someone when I asked whether all the food served halal. Sorry!!! I was trying to clear my doubt =\.

Turkish breakfast served with apple tea

At 9 a.m. Mr. Fatih, who’s going to be our tour guide of the day came to pick us up with his driver Mr. Ismail in a white Mercedes Mini Bus. Just for the record, I’d never been into an expensive vehicle like this one. Not even the nearest – Toyota Estima. I was super excited when the door opened on its own! I know. Facepalm. The price offered for this one day tour was really reasonable. I mean for this kind of transportation and Mr. Fatih who’s really friendly (now, we’re just bunch of youngsters who embodied adults) and he was really patient when we kept on bugging him with ridiculous questions.

The first place that he took us was the underground village. If you can imagine the size of a hobbit, then you have successfully imagined how the place looks like. It is like the place where the elves (LADY ERWIN!!! WOOT!!) live in Lord of The Rings but it was designed in such a way only to fit people of the size of a hobbit. Luckily I’m just 159 cm tall and I could easily creep into the tunnel. The place was a little bit like the tunnels in the Vietnam War but it was well ventilated. You have the loos, chapels, storage and even wineries. I think these ancient people were the cavemen but from the size of them maybe it sounded rather unreasonable but who knows? Or maybe due to malnutrition (calcium deficiency) that caused their bodies to shrink. These ‘hobbits’ lived in this place temporarily, only when they tried to run away from enemies. They won’t stay in this limbo for the rest of their lives of course!

it's kind of dark. see that doughnut like stone? it's a door. one that always appears on movies like the Indiana Jones

Next, we passed a place called the Pigeon Valley, passed the great white mountains and drove on steep slopes until we reached a place called the Arts Centre (not that Warwick Arts Centre). Here, Mr Fatih provided us with two options or three? We could either continue with a Carpet Making Factory or Gem Stones small exhibition. Girls will always be girls and we unanimously voted for the gem stones. Here, a lady explained to us how to tell between a paste turquoise and the real turquoise. So you might be wondering why she kept on talking about turquoise. Another fact: Turquoise is the official gem stone for Turkey. If you have diamonds from Africa, so turquoise is from Turkey and the name itself kind of rhyme with Turkey. And owh don’t be shocked if you find too many ‘evil eye’ kind of talismans in Turkey. It’s just a superstition where they believe that like the Irish shamrock, these talismans will bring good luck and avert evil from their wearers ¬¬.

'evil eye' talismans, Turkish lamp and panoramic view of Goreme 

Opppsss slow down, actually before we went to the Arts Centre, we had a wonderful time at a place with many hills that resemble poles that wear mushroom hats called ‘Fairy Chimney’ (at first I heard Ferry Chimney. Pronunciation…Arghhhhhh). Up to this date, this place always gets me to thinking how amazing the creation of Allah is. I mean just look at Turkey. There’s one part is so urbanized but at the same time, there’s this sort of place,  sanctuary-liked and calming. All in the same country. You have hot Istanbul but you can also have cold crisp Ankara or a mixture of both in Goreme. Masya-Allah!

is it a stone or is it a rabbit?

Turkish ice-cream. You really should try this. 

Next, we’re taken to a restaurant for our lunch. In Cappadocia, one of the most famous food that you must try is the ‘claypot’ kebab (but I had croquette instead. Hahahaha). The food was costly but there’s no harm in satisfying your gastronomic craving. And with a satisfying lunch, we headed to a family run pottery shop where we’re being shown how a plate was made from scratch. All the potteries are filthy expensive but there’re some which are sold at reasonable price but I chose not to buy any (stingy Lala is always stingy) =P.

the man's in the process of making a plate. it would take weeks before the plate could be used (drying and painting)

these things are used to store and serve wine during the ancient time

some dangling decorations

owls, ducks and kittehsss!!!

Okay buckle up to the final place. It’s called the Open Air Museum. Actually, this place used to be a pilgrimage spot for the Christians (sort of things). There’re few chapels inside of the caves built thousands of years ago and still exist till today. There’re many chapels in here since the caves aren’t strong enough to be carved into churches or they might collapse. You could see some evident of cracks. Mr. Fatih told us some stories behind those drawings or frescos (from Islam’s POV =)). So he said that many years ago. The Christians weren't allowed to draw living things just like in Islam but then they only started drawing living things recently maybe after years of the death of Jesus. This explained why some of the old chapels only have drawings of crosses and flowers instead of the usual drawings of Jesus being crucified as such. 

the Open Air Museum

There’s a chapel named after a lady. She was the first martyr in Christendom. A wicked king fell in love with her but she didn’t want to marry him (I think this fact is arguable) so she asked for help from God and God turned her into an old man. That’s why in one of the paintings in the chapel had the appearance of a ‘bishonen’ old man. Okay if we have Sumayyah in Islam, then the Christians have this lady. I really revere their piety and how strong their wills to fight in the name of God. Sigh…why can't I be the littlest like them?

Finally a day ended without any incessant question: 'Are we Malaysians?' XD

Oh yeah, here's the link to the awesome tour company. I really recommend it to you.

>>>To be continued.