Hi all,
When I last wrote we were headed for the Gallipoli battlefields. We got a bus and ferry to Eceabat but didn't get to do the battlefields as Chris' illness was worse. So we spent overnight in the town, had a passable meal of meze and whitebait and headed off in the morning for Istanbul. The Rough Guide to Turkey described Eceabat as " a scruffy little place" , they were being kind!!
The bus to Istanbul was a comfy coach with air conditioning and a little bus boy dishing our drinks and snacks with a 20 minute stop for lunch. We arrived at Essenler bus station in Istanbul which was the size of a small Turkish town. We had been promised a shuttle into the old part of town Sultanahmet and were meant to be dropped off at the nearest tram station. The driver mumbled something at various points and it was only when I realised were were approaching a river crossing that he had forgotten to drop us off.
Tired after a long bus journey the last thing we needed was navigating a city as big as Istanbul. Easy, lets just get a taxi.........hah the taxi drivers have no desire to take us to our hotel First he tried the old chestnut. Oh that one is full-yeh we have a reservation........drive on........he was lost and in the end I just lost my cool and got him to stop paid him the 20lira on the meter and took our bags to have a cold drink. We then wandered around following the wrong directions till a man offered to take us-for money of course. As we were soon to find Istanbul is on a par with Marrakech, Cusco, New Delhi , full of hustlers and con men masquerading as helpful people.
We are on the third floor of the "hotel" with a view of the Bosphorus, across the rooftops. I have put hotel in speech-marks as it clearly doesn't live up to the name. Prices in the city are, of course, higher than anywhere else and this is about double our cheapest place in Turkey. The room is okay but wasn't particularly clean ( attention to detail is not a feature of the Turks) and the bathroom was passably clean.
On the positive side it is about 10 minutes walk to the Blue Mosque one of the landmark features of Istanbul, they sell a cold beer for only 7TL, there is wifi and it works in the room and the bathroom is a decent size and the shower is good. The negative aspects well where do I start?? The family who run this place have little in the way of interaction with the guests, the daughter who does breakfast is so surly, she looks like she is chewing on a wasp -she struggles even to say Good Morning in Turkish. I eventually bought wipes and bleach and cleaned the bathroom and the window ledges have not been dusted in months!! All of this cleaning was necessary as Chris had an infection which has needed antibiotics.
There is a mosque right outside the window and I quite enjoy the different calls to prayer, but it is loud and the first one is about 4.15!! Thank heavens for silicone ear plugs as yet again we had Korean neighbours who think nothing of making loud skype calls at 6am.
After the hassle of the taxi etc we just went down one block and ate in a Lokanta, a traditional Turkish cafe where a number of different dishes are made each day. The food was tasty and cheap I had stuffed aubergines, one of my favourites.
Tuesday we set off in a taxi to the American Hospital and Chris saw a dermatologist for 300TL ( thank heavens for travel insurance) and he was prescribed antibiotics and a bacterial cream. The hospital is private, very efficient, very clean and as we left the consultation we were given his card, in case we needed to ring on his mobile or text him for advice!! Follow up was arranged for Friday 13th.
We had pretty much a lazy day although I did visit the Blue Mosque in the early evening and it is stupendous. Chris needed a rest as he had had a couple of disturbed nights.
Wednesday I left Chris to rest and I went to Hagia Sophia, it is now a museum but has been a mosque and church. I got the audio guide and enjoyed the time exploring at my own pace. However my tolerance for tour groups is wearing thin after four weeks in Turkey, and these reflections may make me sound racist but no offence intended.
If you are from Asia then you belong to a group that want to rush around taking pictures as quickly as possible before you race to the next place on your tour of Europe. If you are from Russia you must be in full make up, designer gear and jewellery and ignore the fact that you may cause offence by your dress (or lack of it) or behaviour. If you are German you are clearly hard of hearing, all of the tour guides feel the need to explain everything at full volume. Generally your job in one of these groups is also to monopolise the space, as if you have paid more for your entry than anyone else!!
Next on my list of hates are the people who endlessly hassle you, eat here, shop here, buy this buy that. I nearly lost it with one guy who was hassling us outside the cistern when he said all English people are rude !!
In the aftrenoon we had a little tootle on a ferry across the Bosphorus and it is very refreshing and good to see the sights from the water. After dinner we walked uphill and wandered around near the Sultanhamet tram station just looking at some of the crazy prices, Gozleme at 19TL is four times what you pay elsewhere and a cup of coffee is UK prices. The Turks drink loads of tea and it is 50 korus 1/2lira-we have seen it for 5!! So we set off back downhill for an early night.
It was not to be because, as we were walking back we were about five minutes away from the hotel when someone came running behind me and grabbed my bag, which is was foolishly carrying over one shoulder!! As we were on a hill I was pulled along and eventually fell and let go of the bag, it was a horrible sensation careering downhill, on cobblestones not able to stop.I was not consciously trying to hold on as I know it is best not to out up a fight. I landed on my right knee and got myself back up and some local hotel staff helped me to a chair. It all happened so quickly and Chris went running after him and I could not see where they had gone. After a few minutes a young English lad from Leeds came and said they had caught him and Chris was "restraining " him till the police arrived. I just went onto autopilot and got someone to get me a cloth and ice and washed my knee, elevated it and applied ice while I waited for the police.
About 15 minutes later this grubby white van arrived and three guys got out and said, we are the police get in the van and come to the police station. I refuse to get in till Chris arrived, and another van had arrived and had taken the thief away and Chris came up the hill and we went off together. Now Chris is an ex copper and we have all seen enough cop shows and films to know how the police behave.
Not in Turkey, it was absolute chaos, most of them were plain clothes, all carrying guns, some just tucked down their trousers,smoking, shouting and if there was someone in charge he was not in control. Thankfully a nice young Turkish hotel worker came with us to translate and even though I don't know his name I will be eternally grateful to him. Eventually it transpired that because I was injured they needed a medical report , which in the UK would be done by the police doctor at the station.
Not in Turkey, back in the white van as we career along the tram way, including overtaking, to the public hospital, we arrive and they just shout our Police and drive almost into what might have been A&E. This was neither ER or Casualty!! There was just a mass of humanity, on chairs on trolleys etc and I was put in a room while a guy -nurse, doctor, porter who knows- looked at my injuries and completed a report. Although I hadn't banged my head he did check to make sure I had no signs of concussion.
Next off to another part downstairs to get my knee sorted( I was quite happy to leave it till I got back to the hotel as I had already cleaned it.) What I really needed was to sit down but we hovered in the corridor while the policemen hassled the staff to treat me!!None of the doors were closed, no privacy at all.
I was ushered into a room as one patient was leaving, he had been repaired but his blood was still on the trolley. I sat on a couch, no cleaning, no bed roll and watched as the healthcare professional put on a clean pair of gloves, got some betadine, wiped my knee , put on a gauze dressing and a huge micropore dressing without saying a word. No business card from him!!
Back in the van, more scary driving, more smoking and time to make a satement. Eventually a statement was typed which I signed, although I really had no idea what it said and I had to insist there was no fabrication. Then into another room to do the crime report and eventually nearly four hours later I got a taxi back to the hotel as Chris finished his witness statement. No statements were taken from the people who stopped the thief!! Anyway he would have appeared in court next morning and I just wanted to get to bed. Looking back it was like something out of a Brain Rix farce but played out in Turkish with lots of smoking and shouting.
Thursday we went to visit the famous cistern that used to supply the water to the city. Built over 1,000 years ago and weren't those Romans clever. Lovely tranquil place to go. Then we got ourselves an Istanbulkart, for travel on ferries, buses and trams etc. We went off to Eyup which was mobbed with local families on a day out, later we read in our guide book that it is a major place of pilgrimage for Islamists. I tried not to walk too far and my knee is okay, stairs are not easy and I have various other aches and pains but they are easing.
Today, Friday, we went back to see the dermatologist , Chris' problem is resolving and he was sorry to hear about my troubles. He wanted to look at my knee as the dressing was yellow but I had to explain it wasn't oozing pus but the Inadine dressing was yellow. It is clean and I have plenty of stuff in my medical kit to dress it myself.
Then we went off to the Grand Bazaar, where you can buy almost anything you want but get hassled to death. Great experience but I didn't buy anything as I'm not quite firing on all cylinders. We had doner kebabs for lunch , lovely and tasty and then back to rest my knee.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Topkapi Palace and it will be a long day and from what I have read it sounds grand and well worth most of the day. It opens at 9 and we are about 15 minutes walk away. Then Sunday we will have our breakfast out and maybe visit the spice market as we have a flight on Monday. A week is only really enough to scratch the surface and we have lost days with our problems. Maybe Istanbul needs another visit.
Monday we head back down south, flying to Dalaman and then by bus to Kas. We just have ten days till we fly home and plan just to chill by the pool, Chris wants to dive and have a bit of a relax.
Bye
Norma xx
When I last wrote we were headed for the Gallipoli battlefields. We got a bus and ferry to Eceabat but didn't get to do the battlefields as Chris' illness was worse. So we spent overnight in the town, had a passable meal of meze and whitebait and headed off in the morning for Istanbul. The Rough Guide to Turkey described Eceabat as " a scruffy little place" , they were being kind!!
The bus to Istanbul was a comfy coach with air conditioning and a little bus boy dishing our drinks and snacks with a 20 minute stop for lunch. We arrived at Essenler bus station in Istanbul which was the size of a small Turkish town. We had been promised a shuttle into the old part of town Sultanahmet and were meant to be dropped off at the nearest tram station. The driver mumbled something at various points and it was only when I realised were were approaching a river crossing that he had forgotten to drop us off.
Tired after a long bus journey the last thing we needed was navigating a city as big as Istanbul. Easy, lets just get a taxi.........hah the taxi drivers have no desire to take us to our hotel First he tried the old chestnut. Oh that one is full-yeh we have a reservation........drive on........he was lost and in the end I just lost my cool and got him to stop paid him the 20lira on the meter and took our bags to have a cold drink. We then wandered around following the wrong directions till a man offered to take us-for money of course. As we were soon to find Istanbul is on a par with Marrakech, Cusco, New Delhi , full of hustlers and con men masquerading as helpful people.
 |
| A film being shot just down from our hotel |
We are on the third floor of the "hotel" with a view of the Bosphorus, across the rooftops. I have put hotel in speech-marks as it clearly doesn't live up to the name. Prices in the city are, of course, higher than anywhere else and this is about double our cheapest place in Turkey. The room is okay but wasn't particularly clean ( attention to detail is not a feature of the Turks) and the bathroom was passably clean.
On the positive side it is about 10 minutes walk to the Blue Mosque one of the landmark features of Istanbul, they sell a cold beer for only 7TL, there is wifi and it works in the room and the bathroom is a decent size and the shower is good. The negative aspects well where do I start?? The family who run this place have little in the way of interaction with the guests, the daughter who does breakfast is so surly, she looks like she is chewing on a wasp -she struggles even to say Good Morning in Turkish. I eventually bought wipes and bleach and cleaned the bathroom and the window ledges have not been dusted in months!! All of this cleaning was necessary as Chris had an infection which has needed antibiotics.
There is a mosque right outside the window and I quite enjoy the different calls to prayer, but it is loud and the first one is about 4.15!! Thank heavens for silicone ear plugs as yet again we had Korean neighbours who think nothing of making loud skype calls at 6am.
After the hassle of the taxi etc we just went down one block and ate in a Lokanta, a traditional Turkish cafe where a number of different dishes are made each day. The food was tasty and cheap I had stuffed aubergines, one of my favourites.
Tuesday we set off in a taxi to the American Hospital and Chris saw a dermatologist for 300TL ( thank heavens for travel insurance) and he was prescribed antibiotics and a bacterial cream. The hospital is private, very efficient, very clean and as we left the consultation we were given his card, in case we needed to ring on his mobile or text him for advice!! Follow up was arranged for Friday 13th.
We had pretty much a lazy day although I did visit the Blue Mosque in the early evening and it is stupendous. Chris needed a rest as he had had a couple of disturbed nights.
 |
| The famous Blue Mosque |
Wednesday I left Chris to rest and I went to Hagia Sophia, it is now a museum but has been a mosque and church. I got the audio guide and enjoyed the time exploring at my own pace. However my tolerance for tour groups is wearing thin after four weeks in Turkey, and these reflections may make me sound racist but no offence intended.
If you are from Asia then you belong to a group that want to rush around taking pictures as quickly as possible before you race to the next place on your tour of Europe. If you are from Russia you must be in full make up, designer gear and jewellery and ignore the fact that you may cause offence by your dress (or lack of it) or behaviour. If you are German you are clearly hard of hearing, all of the tour guides feel the need to explain everything at full volume. Generally your job in one of these groups is also to monopolise the space, as if you have paid more for your entry than anyone else!!
Next on my list of hates are the people who endlessly hassle you, eat here, shop here, buy this buy that. I nearly lost it with one guy who was hassling us outside the cistern when he said all English people are rude !!
 |
| Ferry on the Bosphorus |
In the aftrenoon we had a little tootle on a ferry across the Bosphorus and it is very refreshing and good to see the sights from the water. After dinner we walked uphill and wandered around near the Sultanhamet tram station just looking at some of the crazy prices, Gozleme at 19TL is four times what you pay elsewhere and a cup of coffee is UK prices. The Turks drink loads of tea and it is 50 korus 1/2lira-we have seen it for 5!! So we set off back downhill for an early night.
It was not to be because, as we were walking back we were about five minutes away from the hotel when someone came running behind me and grabbed my bag, which is was foolishly carrying over one shoulder!! As we were on a hill I was pulled along and eventually fell and let go of the bag, it was a horrible sensation careering downhill, on cobblestones not able to stop.I was not consciously trying to hold on as I know it is best not to out up a fight. I landed on my right knee and got myself back up and some local hotel staff helped me to a chair. It all happened so quickly and Chris went running after him and I could not see where they had gone. After a few minutes a young English lad from Leeds came and said they had caught him and Chris was "restraining " him till the police arrived. I just went onto autopilot and got someone to get me a cloth and ice and washed my knee, elevated it and applied ice while I waited for the police.
About 15 minutes later this grubby white van arrived and three guys got out and said, we are the police get in the van and come to the police station. I refuse to get in till Chris arrived, and another van had arrived and had taken the thief away and Chris came up the hill and we went off together. Now Chris is an ex copper and we have all seen enough cop shows and films to know how the police behave.
Not in Turkey, it was absolute chaos, most of them were plain clothes, all carrying guns, some just tucked down their trousers,smoking, shouting and if there was someone in charge he was not in control. Thankfully a nice young Turkish hotel worker came with us to translate and even though I don't know his name I will be eternally grateful to him. Eventually it transpired that because I was injured they needed a medical report , which in the UK would be done by the police doctor at the station.
Not in Turkey, back in the white van as we career along the tram way, including overtaking, to the public hospital, we arrive and they just shout our Police and drive almost into what might have been A&E. This was neither ER or Casualty!! There was just a mass of humanity, on chairs on trolleys etc and I was put in a room while a guy -nurse, doctor, porter who knows- looked at my injuries and completed a report. Although I hadn't banged my head he did check to make sure I had no signs of concussion.
Next off to another part downstairs to get my knee sorted( I was quite happy to leave it till I got back to the hotel as I had already cleaned it.) What I really needed was to sit down but we hovered in the corridor while the policemen hassled the staff to treat me!!None of the doors were closed, no privacy at all.
I was ushered into a room as one patient was leaving, he had been repaired but his blood was still on the trolley. I sat on a couch, no cleaning, no bed roll and watched as the healthcare professional put on a clean pair of gloves, got some betadine, wiped my knee , put on a gauze dressing and a huge micropore dressing without saying a word. No business card from him!!
Back in the van, more scary driving, more smoking and time to make a satement. Eventually a statement was typed which I signed, although I really had no idea what it said and I had to insist there was no fabrication. Then into another room to do the crime report and eventually nearly four hours later I got a taxi back to the hotel as Chris finished his witness statement. No statements were taken from the people who stopped the thief!! Anyway he would have appeared in court next morning and I just wanted to get to bed. Looking back it was like something out of a Brain Rix farce but played out in Turkish with lots of smoking and shouting.
Thursday we went to visit the famous cistern that used to supply the water to the city. Built over 1,000 years ago and weren't those Romans clever. Lovely tranquil place to go. Then we got ourselves an Istanbulkart, for travel on ferries, buses and trams etc. We went off to Eyup which was mobbed with local families on a day out, later we read in our guide book that it is a major place of pilgrimage for Islamists. I tried not to walk too far and my knee is okay, stairs are not easy and I have various other aches and pains but they are easing.
Today, Friday, we went back to see the dermatologist , Chris' problem is resolving and he was sorry to hear about my troubles. He wanted to look at my knee as the dressing was yellow but I had to explain it wasn't oozing pus but the Inadine dressing was yellow. It is clean and I have plenty of stuff in my medical kit to dress it myself.
Then we went off to the Grand Bazaar, where you can buy almost anything you want but get hassled to death. Great experience but I didn't buy anything as I'm not quite firing on all cylinders. We had doner kebabs for lunch , lovely and tasty and then back to rest my knee.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Topkapi Palace and it will be a long day and from what I have read it sounds grand and well worth most of the day. It opens at 9 and we are about 15 minutes walk away. Then Sunday we will have our breakfast out and maybe visit the spice market as we have a flight on Monday. A week is only really enough to scratch the surface and we have lost days with our problems. Maybe Istanbul needs another visit.
Monday we head back down south, flying to Dalaman and then by bus to Kas. We just have ten days till we fly home and plan just to chill by the pool, Chris wants to dive and have a bit of a relax.
Bye
Norma xx
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| Hair removal Turkish style!! |
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