October 05, 2004

First day in Istanbul

Here is a massive picture update. These photos are from Athens (biking ones), Kos (the beaches!), Bodrum, Selcuk and Istanbul.

We stayed two nights in an amazing pension in Selcuk, right near the ancient ruins of Ephesus (no Ephesus photos sorry! I brought the wrong card to the internet cafe).

JEANINE (in caps): EPHESUS WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE..IT WAS QUITE POWERFUL TO STAND IN A SPOT WHERE PAUL TRIED TO CONVERT SOME OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS..IT IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ROMAN RUINS IN THE WORLD APPARENTLY. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE TO SEE HOW ADVANCED THIS CITY WAS...PLUMBING, HOUSES, TEMPLES, THEATRES ARE ALL STILL PARTIALLY INTACT..THERE IS A LOT OF RESTORATION AS WELL, AND MUCH OF IT WAS DAMAGED IN EARTHQUAKES AT VARIOUS TIMES, BUT IT WAS WELL WORTH THE VISIT...WE STAYED FOR 3 HRS, AND STILL PROBABLY HADN'T SEEN EVERYTHING.

I have a couple of friends who have been through Istanbul and Turkey at some point on their travels during the last few years. Their experiences and stories have prepared me well. I think that they will nod and agree with all our comments.

Selcuk was a pretty cool town. Very small and not too overrun by tourists. It's also full of the great Turkish salesmen. "Hello my friend, where are you from? Canada? I live in California six months of the year. I have many friends in Canada. Come inside and I will show you my guestbook. Have some tea. No obligation!" Every store.

We took a bus last night from Selcuk to Istanbul. Ten hours through the night got us into Istanbul at around 9am this morning. Turkey has a reputation for its drivers and its roads - they are well deserved. I kept my eyes open until around 2am watching the driver regularly played chicken in the suicide lane with oncoming trucks and buses. Nobody wants a head on collision. The highway was basically three lanes the whole way. Each direction had a lane, and the center one was for passing.

ahoy all, Lisa here. Apparently I've been given the task to document my thoughts on istanbul. IT'S FREAKIN' RAD! I really love this city. There is a lot of things going on here, and I could sit in a cafe for ever and drink apple tea and watch the happenings. Today we went to the grand bazaar which has 4500 shops (AHHH) and a whole sneaker district and I learned how to barter and got some really cool cool cool green and orange pumas. Wow oh wow. I am starting to have bartering confidence. Anyhow this market bazaar pace is crazy it just goes on forever and ever and there's a ton of people and it's CRAZY. Tomorrow we are going to check out the cultural scenic side of istanbul (mosques etc) which seems to also be quite amazing. i'm disappointed that we will only be here for 2 more days!

Posted by Alistair Howard at October 5, 2004 09:04 AM

Comments

Posted by: Sue Sewell at October 5, 2004 10:18 AM

Posted by: Anna at October 6, 2004 02:10 AM

Posted by: Sandra at October 6, 2004 08:41 AM