Turkish Delight: Grand Bazaar

(I traveled to Turkey for vacation during first half of July,2014. Following is an account of my experiences in Istanbul. This is the Eleventh installment of the series, focusing on a missed opportunity to visit Topkapi Museum and things I learnt about Turkey. I hope you enjoy it.)

Cumartesi, On Ikinci Temmuz

(Saturday, 12^th July)

I had planned to visit Topkapi palace but as soon as I exited my hotel after breakfast, I felt intense pain in my upper back, just below the shoulder blade.I ignored it initially and took a morning stroll around the half-empty Isteklal Street. During the walk, I bought one of the only English-language newspapers published in Turkey (Today's Zaman) from a small store. During the walk, I noticed the inability to move my neck sideways. It was probably a strained neck muscle, so I visited the nearest Eczane (Turkey's answer to Walgreens) and got some painkillers. Thankfully, I was able to find the right tablets despite the language-barrier.  

I decided to continue with my plan and boarded the Taksim Tünel followed by a tram to Gülhane. I found Meltem and her fellow volunteers Gülhane station. They were guiding tourists about the Istanbulkart Refill machines. I spent almost 30 minutes assisting the volunteers. I wasn’t able to walk comfortable so I decided to postpone the Topkapi visit and walked towards Blue Mosque. My interest was piqued by a sign pointing to a place that used to be Hurrem Sultan's hamam. Initially I ventured towards the ladies' side of the establishment but I was then guided by a lady towards the entrance for gentlemen. At the entrance, I received a brochure for a ‘Royal Message Service’. It felt like a godsend but a) It was expensive and b) I wasn’t looking forward to jumping in the sauna with a loincloth.  

I continued my journey to to Blue Mosque’s gate A and caught up with Hatice and Bayzanur along with their fellow volunteers. Went inside the mosque and sat with Doğukan and Ahmet in the

Shady courtyard of the mosque. It was there that I learnt about traditional Turkish dishes from Sinem, and took some absurd photographs of different varieties of hair. Discovered that Today's Zaman is published by Gülen party sympathizers and they had started criticizing the Erdoğan government since the 17th December crackdown on Gülen sympathizers (Hizmet Movement) in judiciary and police.

I confessed to my volunteer friends that I had already tried etliekmek, kurimpi, simit, börek, patso, doner, Turkish delights, Turkish coffee and baklava among traditioal Turkish cuisine. They asked me to try Iskander, Mantı and Dolma apart from Turkish Pizza. Sinem and I talked about medical education in Turkey and she mentioned that Istanbul University was probably the best medical university in Turkey We also touched upon the cost of braces for teeth. As a former "sufferer" of braces, I empathized with her and reminisced about the difficulties faced by people in braces after eating any regular meal. She explained the education system of Turkey (8 years primary school, 4 years high school, entry exams and then University). I discovered that possessing a Turkish passport was only slightly better than having a Pakistani passport, as people with Turkish passports could only visit a handful of countries without visa.(Being a third world citizen really sucks!) We scattered on sight of Miss Cansu, the supervisor and landed near German fountain.

It was there that I had a good chat with Ertugrul (his name reminded of Chilean midfield player Arturo Vidal) about religion and politics (I learnt that ISIS was called "Ishit" in Turkey). He confessed about his "virtual relationship" with someone in Torino, Italy. Kaan joined us after a while.

We talked to a Ukranian family that wanted guidance regarding a place that was quite far from Fatih and the patriarch of that family was really funny. They were visiting from Kiev and supported the Euromaidan protests. They were amused by my reference to "the Chocolate King"(nickname of Ukraine's current President, as he owns chocolate factories). Kaan made a cheeky comment about him supporting Yanukovich (the deposed Ukrainian president who fled to Russia) which didn’t amuse them and they branded him a “risky boy”.

I was supposed to get a shoulder bag for my younger sister, so I sought help of Sinem in this venture.We walked to Grand Bazaar (called Kapali çarşı in Turkçe) with Kaan and Ertugral in tow. En Route, We encountered a very animated Turkish girl who knew three languages (Turkçe, Italian and Spanish with some knowledge of English). She was interested in our “group” due to the “Ask Me” shirts worn by volunteers. We did a grand tour of the Bazaar focusing on shop that sold bags but the prices were quite high, due to what Ertugrul called the "Grand Bazaar effect". Sinem informed that she could get bags of similar quality from market near her home.

As a last resort, we visited the nearby flea market and finally found a decent bag. On our way back, a restaurant worker recognized me as a Pakistani and tried to tempt me by offering Biryani with kebabs (I would’ve accepted his offer but I was not hungry and am a vegetarian anyway). On our way back, we had to make two stops as Sinem wanted to get bracelets for herself. During the return journey, we talked to a German couple from Dusseldorf who wanted to know directions to the Galata Bridge.

I wanted to get some balance charged in my account and wanted the volunteers to help me interpret it to the sales person. They took me to the nearest “Avea” franchise. To my surprise, one of the sales people was a former musician and knew Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (one of Pakistan's finest Qawals/sufi musicians).I had to sing a stanza from NFAK’s "Dam Mast Qalandar" to convince him that I knew and revered Nusrat. I later roughly translated "Dam Dam Ali Ali" to the guy, who was pleased to entertain us.

Upon reaching the hippodrome, the group split up and I talked about Ataturk, his dictatorial tendencies and effects of "forced secularization" with Kaan and Ertugrul. We were approached by two boys doing a metropolitan survey regarding political choices in the upcoming Presidential elections. I encountered an ex-volunteer (she volunteered last year) named Rabia. She was studying English Literature at the university, favored socialism over the existing political system and had't read any socialist literature (which did surprise me). It was another day well-spent in Istanbul.

Turkish Delight: The Wandering Prince

One of the Princes' Islands

Horse-cart station at Buyukada

Fatih's Tourist Police

Sunday/Pazar


I had reserved a whole day during the trip for visiting Prince's island. In all the Top-10 lists of places that must be visited in Istanbul, Princes’ Islands are placed near the top end. Many people that I met in Turkiye were of the opinion that the islands are a world in themselves, distinct from Istanbul and probably the best thing about it. A Pakistani friend who lives in Ankara these days told me that he felt the most peaceful in Istanbul while visiting those islands.

Walking through hippodrome, I saw some tourists taking pictures with the ‘tourist police’. I was amazed at the efficiency levels of Turkish municipalities especially when it came to cleaning up. Thousands of people descended upon hippodrome during Ramadan daily but there was no sign of trash come next morning. The tram from Sultanahmet took me to Kabataş from where I hopped on a ship towards Prince's island. It took us almost an hour to reach the place, as we traveled through the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara. I didn't find many English-speakers on the ship but I had gotten used to this situation by then. The most memorable moments during the journey were the showmanship and performance of the Captain of ship. He demonstrated little tricks using citrus fruits and urged the passengers to applaud him. Most people on the ship were families out for a day-trip and picnic.

The Prince Islands are an archipelago off the coast of Istanbul, in the Sea of Marmara. They consist of four large islands, Büyükada(Big İsland), Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kınalıada and many smaller islands. I disembarked the ship at Büyükada. 

The first thing that got my attention at the island itself, was a huge flag of Fenerbahçe football club(current champions of the Turkish league). I had no idea what to do after reaching the place so I roamed around to assess the situation. I found a horse-cart station where one can hire a horse-cart with a driver who takes one across the island. The short-tour was supposed to cost 70 (yetmish) Liras, which I thought was a bit expensive. I found a cheaper and healthier alternative nearby. There were multiple shops that let one borrow a bike at the rate of 5 Lira per hour. I have loved riding a bicycle ever since I was a child. I used to roam around my city on a bicycle and have a few scars to show for my efforts. 

I got a bicycle on rent and start pedaling on a random road. It was easy at the start but I was faced with a dilemma within a few minutes. The road was not horizontal in character, in fact, it had an ascent.It was not like the plain streets and alleys of my city. While biking upstream, my bicycle almost gave in. I have never used the gears on a bike and have no idea how they function. As a result, i was exhausted within 10 minutes of starting my Island adventure. 

I opted to walk along the bike until i had little energy or motivation left for it. I was panting for air, sweaty and very thirsty. The return journey went very smoothly because I didn't have to pedal and used only the breaks to control my ride. I went back to the bicycle store and a guy there urged me to try again. I took a different route during my second attempt and spent almost an hour cycling around the place.During this ride,a guy asked me for directions in Türkçe to whom I replied that I don't understand Türkçe, in Türkçe (Türkçe Bilmiyorum)  :P 

Büyükada is a primarily residential area visited by people who want to enjoy picnic. There's a small beach-like place as well where I found people swimming and sun-bathing. The horse-carts run wildly on the road and bikers are at a risk of getting trampled by the horse-carts. 

I had to wait for almost half an hour to board the ship back to Kabatas. At the station, I saw an Arab guy wearing a stupid T-shirt which said, "No means Yes"(I found it stupid because it was a polar opposite of feminist slogan "No means No"). The ship that brought us back, stopped at all the small islands en route. It reminded of the old, rotting public buses in Pakistan that stop after every five minutes, irrespective of space for passengers. Some passengers tempted the seagulls during our voyage and the birds kept flying close to the ship, looking for bread crumbs. I talked to an Englishman on the ship who was a frequent visitor to Istanbul. He recommended that I should read "Forty rules of love" by Elif Shafak as I was going to visit Konya. I found two senior citizens sitting side by

Later on, I spent some fun time with Meltem, Furkan and Özge. I confided in them that I had not had a proper Turkish meal since I landed because of what happened last year(I coughed for almost a month and a friend of mine got terribly sick). They encouraged me to try the dishes so I asked them about Iskander, Piyaz and Simit. Özge told me about her fondness of waffles(from Mado), irrespective of flavors and that she liked watching different people(and that,according to her,was the reason why she chose to do volunteer work). Furkan revealed his love for history, and how he was learning Italian to be able to understand historical documents. We also discussed political prospects of Fatih's mayor, Mustafa Demir(whose whole family is into the profession of dentistry). Furkan and Özge were of the view that Fatihullah Gülen(Pennsylvania-based Turkish preacher who has established schools all over the world and was a former ally of the AK party) was a "traitor". Meltem confessed her fondness for dystopian novels including "1984" by George Orwell and "A brave new world" by Aldous Huxley. 

We encountered a guy from Konya who was studying Sharia'h at the university and knew about Pakistan. He could understand English but had trouble in talking the language(a common problem for many Turkish students that I met during my stay). He told me that he was more interested in Arabic than in English. Afterwards, we had an unpleasant experience with a middle aged man who tried to shame me for not fasting, and pooh-poohed the volunteers when they told him to keep his opinions to himself.  

I was supposed to travel to Ankara the next day and I wanted to get the ticket beforehand. I decided to use the tramvay to go to Otogar. Boarded the tram from Sultanahmet and got off at Aksaray, walked a bit till the İstasyanu and got on the tram for Airport. It dropped me off en route at the Otogar. During the ride, I saw a girl checking Facebook, zooming in on the picture of a guy and looking at the girls in the background. It was so "girlish" that I almost broke into a chuckle, but restrained myself somehow. Got off at the Otogar, got the ticket and took the return tram to Aksaray. Walked from the station to YousufPaşa and went to Karakoy and from there to Taksim. 

I had seen books by Elik Shafak at a chic bookstore in Isteklal Street and I got a copy of it. I felt very hungry after my exertions during the day and had initially planned to find some Piyaz as appetizer and then to have a meal from Fat-burger. I chanced upon a shop in Isteklal that had an open salad bar, so i decided to skip Peyaz and to enjoy some salad(Salata) of my own liking. After enjoying salad i was moving towards Fatburger when I saw a shop titled "Patato"( In Türkçe  the word for 'potato' is ‘Patates’). I ventured in and found a dish called Patso, which was basically french fries in a panini bun with ketchup and mayonnaise as topping. I decided to give it a try. It was not a princely meal but it was enough to satiate my hunger. 

On my way back, i encountered a few people selling Che-guevara merchandise and some Turkish magazines. I also saw an office-building owned by the Turkish Communist party,located right next to a mosque :P .