Last Day in Turkey

So we are out at a hotel near the airport  about   20 miles from the stop where the boats leave from.   Istanbul has done its public transport brilliantly.

During rush hour the roads are TOTALLY clogged but look at the lane in the center.   The Metrobus runs all the way in in its own path separate from the cars.  Even when we took it around noon we sped past the cars and for less than $2  rode all the way to the riverfront with one change to a tram. 

We passed the ancient walls of the old city

A cat at the ferry dock

We opt for the ferry the locals travel on for which we can use our Metro pass.  This is our boat arriving at the dock.  It looks crowded because the people getting off are gathered at the front.

Actually is it very uncrowded

The contented couple.  Taken by a kind man who didn't speak English but was gracious as has been our experience throughout the trip.

Following are all scenes from our ride up the Golden Horn

The assortment of boats is amazing

We opted not to do this

A submarine open to the public

Transportation Museum

Back at the dock.  This one is for the  real tourists :).

The point of the docks is crowded with people shopping, eating,  people watching ,

The touristy restaurants under the Galata Bridge.  See the people fishing above.  Back at our hotel we found the Internet down and just got back on Tue am  10:15 am.  We leave for the airport at 11.. 

This hotel is like a UN and so breakfast has something for everyone.  The choice of cereals is interesting - cocoa puffs,  those artificial bright colored cheerios.  WE heard conversations about buying planes from the US, Australian women on holiday,   Dutch, Turks,  women and men in jeans.  Women in bright scarves.  Women in Burkas (Trivia - some remove the face piece to eat and some  slip their utensils under it.)   We saw two young women in burkas literally dancing across the street yesterday.   Burka by no means,  means no fun  and if you happen to notice the shoes you will see everything from simple sandels to glittered high heels!

And so we leave the country we love for the second time.  WE are so glad we did not heed all the warnings.  WE never felt unsafe and the people could not have been more gracious.  As I have said before, the biggest danger for me is falling which I did here and in Warsaw.  There are short drops everywhere and where you least expect them. 

So off we go to the airport for our 31 hour day and will be in Boston this evening as they say here, ,inshallah (God willing)!

I hope you have enjoyed traveling with us.   Next trip :   India in January

Bodrum back to Istanbul

We left our hotel for the 45 minute ride to Bodrum Airport early when it was still dark and saw the sun rise over the Aegean Sea as we rode.

We love Pegasus Airlines.  Between our 2 trips to Turkey we have flown it 8 times.  It operates like Megabus in the states.  The first seats sold a VERY inexpensive (Megabus - Boston to New York City  $1  for first seats,  Pegasus $30 for most short flights) and get higher Everything is extra except one checked bag, including snacks, seat selection, etc.  All smooth flights.

Turkey countryside

How is that for a road? Actually up a mountain

You can see the relationship between Istanbul, Konya, and Bodrum.  Also the capitol of Turkey. Ankara.  Also note how close Athens is and many of the Greek islands nearly touch Turkey.

 

So the poshest hotel of our trip is also the least expensive.   I don't know if it was the weekend arrival or low season or just the discount site but here we are with my name on the huge TV. 

Most of the sinks in Europe look like this

 

Close the curtains, turn on TV, dim the lights.  There is also a line with every kind of connector for Tablets, iphones,  laptops,  Ethernet.....  It IS a business hotel

 

 

Light switch

Do not disturb, Please make up room

 

A beautiful copy of the Holy  Quran in each room

 

 

And a sticker in a drawer shows the direction of Mecca (to face for prayer)

The included breakfast - all of these pix plus a station for omelets

 

 

This and the hotel in Bodrum are not our usual style.  I think we would have not liked the one in Bodrum in season when the staff told us it is crowded and noisy.  It was just right for us.

 

This hotel I would classify as "an experience" now off the Bucket List :)

 

Off to a cruise on the Golden Horn

 

Old Istanbul on left, new part of city on top, Asia part peaking in from right.  Main water is Bosphorus which connects the Sea of Marmara (off bottom) to Black Sea off right top.

Golden Horn is arm going off to left between old and new city.

 

OK we are off!

 

 

R and R in Beautiful Bodrum - a bit of pampering is good:)

So here we are in the part of Turkey that looks like Greece and rightly so.  We can see part of Greece form here.  The 2 countries have a long and at times painful intertwined history.  Some years ago in a very difficult and wrenching swap,  Christians from Turkey were sent to Greece and Muslims in Greece were sent to Turkey. 

We had thought we might take the short boat trip to the Greek isle of Kos - about a 30 minute ferry ride but the wind is blowing very hard today and the ferry doesn't run under such conditions.

So we are lazing in this beautiful place.  Yesterday while Norbert worked out in the gym,  I delighted in a good  sauna, "scrub" in the Turkish bath, followed by a delicious oil massage.  Later in the day we took a taxi into Bodrum for dinner.  Because it is the off season many places are closed.  One advantage is that our hotel is quiet and we have no neighbors on either side of our porch/lanai.

Breakfast at our hotel.  The pool is closed for the season and the windows to it closed.

The second outdoor pool also closed

Porch of room next door, just like ours.  No one there on either side .

 

Some of the resident cats.

Bodrum Harbor from our hotel

 

Dinner at an outdoor porch in Bodrum.  Sweater worked fine.

I had this lamb , pepper, tomato, and cheese dish and the usual good bread with various things to dip it in.  I love the yogurt combinations. 

Norbert likes "Turkish pizza"  It is oval shaped.

 

Our lanai at night.  It was so beautiful I actually thought I would sleep out there under the open sky. That lasted about 45 minutes as the wind picked up.

 

 

Tomorrow we fly back to Istanbul where we will be until we fly out Tuesday afternoon.  We hope Monday we may take a boat trip on the "Golden Horn"  which divides old and new Istanbul if the weather is nice as expected.

 

 

 



From Konya to Bodrum

Turkey has such a mix of geographical regions.  Istanbul's climate was very like home.  Fall rainy weather with days the sun broke through like a last taste of summer.  Cappadocia which we didn't visit this time is a land out of science fiction with  dirt covered rocky mountains and caves.   Bodrum is a resort in the summer on the Aegean.

So  while we did few touristy things in Konya, it was wonderful to be back there and the people we met in restaurants, in the plaza, our Sufi friend, and especially the staff of our hotel made it hard to leave.   We received hugs, the Turkish 3 point "kiss" (I don't know if there is a name for it) touching cheeks  side to side 3 times) and the very warmest send off.  I would hate to think we will never return.   It is a very special place for us both from the kindness and goodness of the people we met, and from all there is about Rumi and Sufism, so much of which we hold in common.  

 

We had not seen this statue of the dervishes we came by leaving Konya

                                                                             We had a 3 hour layover at the older Asian side  Istanbul airport before our flight to Bodrum.   We watched  this virtual soccer for a bit and also had some food we both really liked.  I had a goat cheese and spinach Quiche and Norbert had a huge turkey and veggie sandwich  with amazing cappuccino.

 

Fnally our Pegasus Air flight to Bodrum

 

The safety talk was a video by children of the crew

 

 

We flew up the coast of Turkey by the Aegean Sea

Arriving at Bodrum

 

The drive to our hotel along the Aegean was spectacular at dusk

All of the buildings here are white and you will note the palm trees

 

View from the balcony of our hotel.  Off season is a great time to visit.  No crowds.  And really nice places are economical.

Moon rising from our balcony.

 

 

Moon over Bodrum.