We had a 6:15 AM flight back to Istanbul which meant waking up at 3:45 AM. Fortunately our series of early morning wake-up calls is over! Once we arrived in Istanbul and checked in to our hotel we headed out to the Sultanhamet area of town. Our plan was to visit the Topkapi Palace first but we accidentally went to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum instead. After we spent an hour or so admiring sculptures from all over Turkey we started getting suspicious. Finally we took a look at the Lonely Planet and discovered we were in the wrong place. But since we were already there, we decided to read up on the Archaeological Museum and discovered that we couldn't leave until we saw all of the sarcophagi (sarcophaguses?) so we went back in. It was definitely worth it. 17 of these sarcophagi were found buried all at the same site and were discovered in 1887 when a local was trying to build a new barn.
After the museum we tried again to go to the Topkapi Palace and after walking all the way up the hill we were informed that the palace is closed to the public on Tuesdays. After failing for the second time in one day we decided to go to Haghia Sofia (aka Aya Sofya, Sancta Sophia, and the Church of the Divine Wisdom). Whatever the name, Haghia Sofia lives up to its distinction. While the church is undergoing restoration, we were still able to enjoy the mosaics (although it took a couple of tries to find them) that make it so famous.
After Haghia Sofia, it was time to hit the Grand Bazaar, not to buy, just to get a sense of prices. The bazaar itself can be a bit overwhelming. Every time you stop to admire one shop’s wares, the neighboring shops call out that it is their turn. It doesn't matter that you were looking at ceramics and they sell t-shirts. Sometimes while walking through the corridor shop owners will get right in front of you, attempting to maneuver you into looking at their carpets, bowls, hats, belly dancing costumes… all while asking where you are from and what you name is and where you are staying. It is really quite amazing how much they are able to say in the moments it takes to pass their shop.
After the Grand Bazaar, we did a quick walk through the Spice Bazaar. Not only can you buy spices and tea there but you can also purchase leeches. We didn’t ask why we just kept on walking. On the way to the bazaar we decided that we would try out a Hamam (Turkish Bath) after shopping but we didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to get there. We seemed to find out way into the garment district of Istanbul as we walked for what seemed like hours. I think we passed two entire blocks that just sold underwear and another two blocks of fabric stores and suit makers. By the time we found our way to the hamam we really needed a bath.
I was a little nervous about my first (and last) hamam experience. Fortunately, we picked one that catered primarily to tourists so most people spoke English and realized that we had no idea what to do. First we are shown to the locker room and given a peştimal to wrap in. Next, you enter the haranet (steam room) where you lie down on a heated marble slab and sweat for 15 minutes or so. Then with little warning warm water is dumped over your back and a you are given a “massage”. In other words, a woman with a loofah-esque cloth rubs (scrubs) you from head to toe, pausing occasionally to dump more water or to ask you to turn over. After the initial scrub down, the woman covers you with bubbles and starts over, two more times. Next you are brought into an adjacent room where you sit on the floor next to a sink and get your hair washed (at this point I highly recommend keeping your eyes closed). After the final rinse down, you are shown to a room with a luke warm pool where you can soak as long as you like. You are also free to return to the steam room for some additional sweat time. After the pool you take a traditional shower and then you’re done. All in all, I would recommend you give it a try if you’re in Turkey.
After dropping our bags off at the hotel and changing we decided to check out the Taksim Square area for dinner. Armed with the hotel map and Lonely Planet we were off. It looked to be about a 2 km away so we figured we be there in 30 minutes or so. This did not work out at planned. Most of the streets don’t have signs and most of the streets on the map are not labeled. Also, the park we planned to cut across was not so easy. We had to walk parallel to it for a while before we found an entrance. About 1 ½ hours after we started, we finally made it, starving and sweating, to the square. Taksim Square apparently has 4 million people pass through it every day and it felt like about a quarter were still there when we arrived. I insisted that we actually step foot into the square and take a photo as proof that we actually made it. Also, we needed to spend at least as much time in the area as it took us to get there so we had a leisurely dinner with a couple glasses of wine before taking a taxi back to the hotel.
After 3 days in a row of sub- 5 AM wake ups, we decided to start off our last full day in Turkey by sleeping in. After a leisurely morning we finally went to Topkapi Palace. When we arrived we quickly realized that every tourist in Turkey and its 7 bordering countries were all at the Palace too. Nearly every place we went we had to stand in line jut to enter. But not everyone stood in line… many people just pushed ahead or rushed the door and the security just stood by and shrugged. We did a quick tour of the highlights (according to Lonely Planet) and then got out. Even the quick tour took about 2 hours.
After the palace we returned to the Grand Bazaar, this time intent on shopping. Some shops were more willing to negotiate than others so we happily left one after another until we found one that would give us a good deal. We each bought a lamp from the gentleman that helped us the day before (this will not be fun getting home as the box is a bit heavy and cumbersome). Hopefully I will find a place to hang it one of these days…
No visit to Turkey is complete without seeing the dervishes whirl (we couldn't take pictures so this is from the website). We had purchased tickets to a whirling dervish performance the previous day and now, lamps in hand, it was time to attend. The show took place in a converted hamam on what used to be the round marble slab in the steam room. Now the slab is a stage and the chairs circle around it. I have to say, that after a day in the heat and the crowds it was sometimes difficult to enjoy the show with its melodic music and spinning dervishes trying to lull me to sleep. I managed to keep my eyes open but I saw a lot of nodding heads around the room. It is hard to describe the performance. There were 5 dervishes and one was clearly the captain. Before the whirling began the spent a lot of time kneeling and then slowly walking is a circle bowing to each other (at least 20 minutes of this). Finally, just as I was losing my patience one of the dervishes began to whirl. Seconds later another one started and before long all 5 were whirling with one hand raised to heaven and another faced down to earth. They whirled and whirled for a long time but then the song ended and they all came to a stop. After a short pause, they repeated the process, a total of 4 times and then the all walked away. If any of you plan to attend a whirling dervish performance I suggest having some coffee beforehand and reading up on it because there are no explanations during the show.
This concludes my trip to Turkey. We leave in the early afternoon to head back home.
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