Day 9- Safranbolu
We left our host family. Everyone in Turkey has been so wonderful to us. We really grew to feel at home in this house, just like the other houses we were so sad leaving. But i gave our host father some coin pouches made from kangaroo leather (aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi!), the others gave trinkets of huon pine and we set off towards Safranbolu.
Safranbolu is where Safran spice comes from and the whole town (population 50,000) is UNESCO World Heritage. This was also the last stop before Istanbul along the 'Silk Road' from China to Istanbul back in its day.
This place has a cute little vibe going on and although its probably the place we've been so far with the most tourists, the locals are even more friendly. Its not like when you venture into the tourist zones and the locals become more ruthless to get your money. No, one lovely man even showed us the art of making Turkish coffee for 20 mins, let us drink it (so good) and then wouldn't accept money when we offered.
I'm not an expert, but the reason I'm guessing this place is World Heritage listed because of all the heritage houses and buildings around, plus its history of course.
Not to mention this gorgeous ex-governors home on top of the hill and the only way to get up to the hill is walk up the cobble stone streets (or drive but that's boring).
We had lunch at really fancy restaurant (as usual) that was next to a river and had water fountains everywhere complete with their own sets of turtles.
The lovely Rotarian's once again supplied us with endless amounts of food and tried to force feed us to the point of shielding our plates with our arms and sneakily feeding our food to the stay animals around.
We began our journey towards Ereğli (pronounced Air-ray-lee), where we traveled through lush green forests and along beautiful coast line. This was so refreshing after being land locked for so long and seeing as all of us come from an forested island, we were rather fond of blue and green landscapes.
That night, we went to a meeting with the Rotary Club of Karadeniz Ereğli. We gave our presentation and it went really well. They love Tasmania. We also met a man whos father, fought in the Çanakkale war (Gallipoli to Australians) and would be speaking at the official ceremony at Çanakkale Memorial on Anzac Day 25th April. This man was very inspirational and so proud of his father. He reminded me so much of my own grandpa, also in the way he kept calling us beautiful and handsome. Ultra cutie.
We returned to our gorgeous hotel that night at a reasonable hour (for once). Rotary put us up in the nicest hotel right on the waterfront. As per usual.
Day 10- Exploring Eregli
We got to sleep in! Yes!!!Ahhh this trip has actually felt like a Contiki tour. Every day we do so much and every night we eat and drink so much.
We walked along the shore which was so beautiful and relaxing and we got to watch the local people go about their day.
We visited some ancient caves where one of the caves holds a mythical legend of Hercules slaying a three headed dog there and winning the trust of the city.
We also went on a boat tour before having an amazing dinner beside the sea.
The next day we were to go on a river cruise up the Bosphorus. Once again Rotary had outdone themselves and we arrived upon a boat with couches, snacks, alcohol and man to wait on us. and Cheese. Always cheese here. Ive been an extremely happy girl.
After the cruise, we went and wandered around the last built Ottoman Palace before the Ottoman Empire fell- Dolmabahçe Palace. Long gardens, beautiful architecture and situated by the sea, I could have stayed here forever. We parked ourselves on one of the lawns and just relaxed for an hour. Basking in the sun. I swear I was a lizard in a past life.
We walked along the shore which was so beautiful and relaxing and we got to watch the local people go about their day.
We visited some ancient caves where one of the caves holds a mythical legend of Hercules slaying a three headed dog there and winning the trust of the city.
We also went on a boat tour before having an amazing dinner beside the sea.
Day 11 and 12- Istanbul
We took a really early bus in the morning that took 4 hours and we arrived about 9am. We’re kind of getting use to buses now. They almost put me to sleep whenever I sit down on one.
After arriving and working out logistics, we were in the city centre at a cafe meeting up with a tour group ready to be shown around the Grand Bazaar.
This bazaar is crazy. Its gigantic and full of so many different things with over 3,000 shops; the smallest shop being less than half a metre wide. There is definitely an option to wander around here for hours and hours or even days. We will definitely go back and by things later. By presents for people even ;)
We went to a the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. I appreciate getting to look around these amazing pieces of architecture because i’m a woman and normally, women are not permitted in all of the mosque except for odd occasions like being a tourist in Istanbul. So we and all other woman are quite fortunate to be able to see the entire thing. Inside is beautiful. High domed ceilings with an enormous chandelier hung from the very highest dome all the way down to just above head height in the centre. The atmosphere in here feels so majestic. As we were wandering around, there were people praying on their knees to their gods and we even took part in a prayer. They told us that they welcomed all religions within this holy building, including atheists, and we could pray with them. For an atheist like me, I am just thankful for the perfect combination of elements it took to make the universe. I don’t know if what i was doing would necessarily be called a ‘praying’ but its the closest thing I could get.
This night, we went for dinner at a beautiful restaurant over looking the Galata bridge and Bosphorus.
Zynep, a young Rotarian that we were with, told us that this is where she would come every so often with her friends as a treat during her university years. She thought it was the best place in Istanbul and it really seemed like it. I was on the sixth floor, amazing views, amazing food- seafood and normal, amazing wine and just went we were more than content with life starring at the city and watching the locals get on and off the ferries, out came a Turkish band and belly dancer. Perfect timing because the red wine was just beginning to take stronger hold on us.
Zynep, a young Rotarian that we were with, told us that this is where she would come every so often with her friends as a treat during her university years. She thought it was the best place in Istanbul and it really seemed like it. I was on the sixth floor, amazing views, amazing food- seafood and normal, amazing wine and just went we were more than content with life starring at the city and watching the locals get on and off the ferries, out came a Turkish band and belly dancer. Perfect timing because the red wine was just beginning to take stronger hold on us.
The next day we were to go on a river cruise up the Bosphorus. Once again Rotary had outdone themselves and we arrived upon a boat with couches, snacks, alcohol and man to wait on us. and Cheese. Always cheese here. Ive been an extremely happy girl.
The cruise was amazingly relaxing that we were struggling to stay awake. It was just so nice lying on these couches in the sun, napping, waking up to drink and eat, noticing surrounding palaces or ottoman building then going back into a dazey half-awake/half-asleep state and repeat this procedure several times.
After the cruise, we went and wandered around the last built Ottoman Palace before the Ottoman Empire fell- Dolmabahçe Palace. Long gardens, beautiful architecture and situated by the sea, I could have stayed here forever. We parked ourselves on one of the lawns and just relaxed for an hour. Basking in the sun. I swear I was a lizard in a past life.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat and jumped onto our bus towards Eskisehir.
Day 13- Eskisehir
Eskisehir is big, 700,000 people live there (more than all of Tasmania) but it didn’t really feel like that. We went for breakfast at a restaurant in a park with a fake castle similar to Disneyland and a beautiful big lake with swans, fish and turtles. We hung out with Rotarians, their wives and kids and it was just a bit of fun really.
We went into the old town and walked around. Even this had a cute little vibe going on too. Touristic but cute.
We had a BBQ lunch with a lot more Rotarians, their wives and children out by a river in the countryside. This unique operation was a ‘restaurant’ that supplied salad, utensils and a BBQ, then the patrons brought their own choice of BBQ food. They cleaned up after us as well. Perfect for these families with little kids that want to run around an open field.
We went in and saw the new town as well. The new town is all based around a canal/river. All pedestrian only, the city is mostly made up of students so this area is very ‘happening’.
We sat and had a pint or 2 at a little pub called Drunken Duck with acoustic music and Irish vibes.
Day 14
Still in Eskisehir. We went meant to be on a bus headed back to Ankara but we had decided to go on our own little tour to Cappadocia. All people ever talk about in Australia when referring to Turkey is Istanbul and Cappadocia. Our co-ordinator couldn’t fit into our schedule so we decided to make it happen ourselves. So we had to wait for an over night bus that night at 9pm to take us there.
We hung around the new town of Eskisehir and the canal and basically cafe hopped. It was lovely.
Day 15
We were suddenly woken by a man on our bus at 4am telling us we were in Cappadocia and to get off. I thought this was strange because no one else was getting off, but was half asleep and followed the group. This man was way to obliging and for Turkey that is actually pretty normal but something was up. Then came the sale. He wanted us to go with Hot Air Ballooning company, which we told him we’d already booked. Then he wanted to take us on a tour which we looked up in the Lonely Planet book (life saver btw, really recommend getting one for wherever you travel) and it said he was offering a decent price so we booked. We were now in the wrong town of Cappadocia but he had told us that he could get us a free shuttle to our hotel which was basically the only reason we were sticking around. We found out later that we should have stayed on our bus because it was going to the right destination eventually, he just tricked into getting off. Rude really. We never really liked him after that.
So we got to our hostel at 7am and slept for an hour. We went on this tour (that i was now disliking because of the guy that sold it to us) at 9am, exhausted. We slept and trudged through most of it but we did see some beautiful things. The landscape in Cappadocia is unlike any other and you truly feel like you’re on another planet, just like George Lucas would felt when scouting locations for Star Wars.
That night, we went the Topdeck Cave Restaurant for dinner. We were taken down into a human carved cave and sat at a small table next a fire. This place was bustling and obviously very popular. We were served delicious dishes of Turkish food by a girl who was half Turkish half South African, who us the local intel on Goreme. Of course, this was all accompanied by local red wine.
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