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: On Top of The World

Galata Bridge, Eminonu Pier and Sultanahmet in the backdrop

View from the Galata

Another wonderful view from the Galata Tower

View from the Galata 4

Inside the Basilica Cistern

Another view of Basilica Cistern

Saturday/Cumartesi
 

Traveling to other countries and exploring different cultures is a wonderful experience. Most people that I talk to are afraid to visit another country ‘alone’. I never had any such apprehensions while visiting Turkey. I believe that it is easier and more feasible logistics-wise to travel alone as it gives one absolute freedom to pursue anything that one fancies.
Most (if not all) good pictures of Istanbul include the Galata tower in their backdrop. It is one of the icons of Istanbul’s historic skyline. On my third day in the city, I had wanted to visit the top of Galata tower and had reached it the other evening, but I could not reach its top due to closing hours. My first mission on Saturday was to reach the top of Galata and take a look at the majestic surroundings of Fatih area. After finishing my usual breakfast (yogurt, boiled egg, cucumbers, chocolate-toasted bread and watermelons) I took the tram to Karakoy. Walked up the steep incline to arrive at the basement of Galata Tower. Fortunately, the queue was not very long and I was able to purchase the ticket within minutes of arrival. Once you line up in the queue, you have to wait for your turn to buy the ticket and then wait for the next elevator lift to arrive at the ground floor. The elevator can accommodate around 6-7 people and it takes the visitors to the floor just below the sky deck. The reception at that floor has a gift shop and a photography setup where one can get pictures taken while wearing Ottoman attire.
After two short flights of stairs, the Sky deck awaits eager visitors. At any given time, no more than 20 people can use the Sky deck so one has to move faster or give other people some space to navigate. The Galata tower was built of wood as a lighthouse in 528 by Byzantine empire Anastasius Oilosuz. It was rebuilt of stone masonry and called Christea Turris(Christ Tower) by the Genoese in 1348. The tower is almost 67 Meters high from the ground and 140 Meters high from sea level. 

I have been to some really tall buildings and have seen skylines of New York City, Chicago and St. Louis. I had seen many cities of Pakistan from places up top. Despite all that experience, the view from Galata tower blew my mind away. It was probably the most beautiful view I had ever seen. There's a verse by Pakistan's national poet Iqbal(in Persian Language)which says that “If there is a heaven on earth, it would have to be in Kashmir”. I partly agree with this opinion as I've witnessed the green magic of Kashmir, but this, this was probably better than that. It was an out of the world experience.

I was smitten. I took a lot of pictures from the top but what I felt at the moment cannot be adequately described in words or pictures. It was a feeling, of unadulterated joy. Shakespeare wrote many centuries ago that 'a thing of beauty, is a joy to behold'. I had a similar experience. While doing the photo shoot from the skydeck, I was approached by a young Turkish woman who wanted her pictures taken with the historic skyline as the background. I did my best to do as I was instructed. I just hope that she was pleased to see the results. After spending almost 30 minutes up there, I came downstairs(without getting the Ottoman attire pictures) and went back to Sultanahmet.  

My next stop was Basilica Cistern, a place that I couldn't visit last year due to the reluctance of my friends to visit any place that had tickets for entry. The queue for entry was not that long and a group of ridiculously blonde people was ahead of me in the line. I had wanted to visit the place ever since I read Dan Brown's novel "Inferno". Much of its action and drama had happened in and around the Cistern. It was an interesting place, with ancient pillars supporting so much weight till today and waterways that had fish, visible from the surface. The two heads of Medusa were a sight to behold. 

The Basilica Cistern was constructed in the 6th century, during the reign of Emperor Justinianus. It is 70 meters wide and 140 meters in length. The dome covers an area of 9800 meters square, and has 336 marble columns arranged in 12 rows each. The capitals of these 9 meter high columns are a blend of Corinthian and Ionic styles. The water reserved in the cistern was transported from the Belgrade forest which is 19 kilometers away from the city. 

On my way back to the hotel, I saw Kaan and we got to talking. He invited me for lunch at the volunteer office. We had some time to kill so we roamed around the hippodrome area and still managed to reach the volunteer office ahead of time. I wasn't particularly hungry so I took a pack of Aryan and a piece of watermelon. At lunch, I met Meltem and Mehmet, who were deputed to look after the Gülhane area. I walked with them to Gülhane Park and talked to them for some time. Mehmet is studying forest engineering and his hometown(in the Anatolian heartland) had many forests which is a good thing for him, career-wise. He lamented that popular Turkish dramas are distorting the historical events and that he looks slightly like Behlul. He mentioned his fondness for Erdoğan and the popularity of AK party. Meltem explained to me the social customs in Turkey for young adults. 

While we were sitting near the entrance of Gülhane park, Some American tourists came over and asked for directions. We offered to accompany them to their destination, and one of them asked "how many?". We told him that we were volunteers providing free information. He said that he got it, he was jokingly asking 'how many of you would accompany me?"(there were 4 of us :P). That incident justified my liking for American people and how fun-loving they are. 

After a wonderful discussion with Meltem,I walked from Gülhane towards the German fountain and struck up conversation with Ahmet Kaya, Aysenur and Mustafa. It was there that I met Hatice, and discussed my favorite American dramas with her for many hours. Hatice(Hatijay) is the Turkish equivalent of the Arabic name “Khadija”. There was a brief interlude as I had to take a quick detour of my Otel to call my mother, but we resumed our conversation after that. She loves Sheldon(like myself) and had watched different TV series. She was shocked to hear my indifference towards Game of Thrones and gave out a spoiler regarding the next 'Hunger Games' movie. Ahmet taunted her as a "nerd" while I kept telling him that he was too young to be a volunteer and that he should stay and home and enjoy life for a while. 

Throughout my interactions with the volunteers, American pop culture references were a common factor between me and them. It truly is a globalized(Americanized?) world.

Hatice was one of the very few girls I met who did NOT want to become a doctor or a psychologist. Some unruly Turkish men approached us and asked the girls about the German fountain in broken English. They were obviously trying to harass the poor souls and If it were in my power, I'd have gotten them arrested. The most memorable part was the arrival of baby Majed. Her mother brought his walker near us and we were stunned to see a cherubic baby with golden hair and blue eyes. Her mother asked us something in English(to our mighty relief) and we talked to her for a while. 

She let us play with Majed who enjoyed playing with water. Hatice fell in love with him and asked him to remember her when he grew up. Afterwards, we were sitting at the steps of German fountain when we got invaded by pigeon-poop. Ahmet got a stain on his trousers while I got my shoes dirty. Hatice was kind enough to lend a few wet wipes from a Turkish family so that I could clean up my footwear. We witnessed a very ‘modern’ problem while sitting near an ancient monument. There were three Turkish girls at the fountain who were trying to get a picture taken with the monument. First they tried themselves, then they asked Ahmet, then someone else, but were still not satisfied by the end result and were arguing about it for almost an hour. 

As soon as the clock struck 5.45 pm, volunteers from nearby thronged to the fountain and waited for the supervisor to come, to mark their attendance. She arrived a few minutes late, and in a few minutes everyone was on their way home. 

I was supposed to accompany my Mexican friend to a concert in Beşiktaş but I was stoop up, so I walked over to sea-side and sat there for a while.
Later in the evening, I visited Burger King outlet in Sultanahmet area where a teenager bumped into me, got confused and said "Thank you"!! I replied with “Bişey değil” which means “not a problem”(Its Spanish equivalent is de nada). He was with some of his friends and they all laughed. He said ‘Sorry’ correctly after that.

Turkish Delight: Love At Second Sight

Istanbul: First Look

The Flight Route

My First Meal in Istanbul, with the Volunteers

The Milion Stone

Distances of different world capitals from Milion Stone

Me, Hamid Jalilee, Fatma, Dougkan, Ahmet, Beyzanur

Sea of Marmara

Shake Shack!

'Hala' in Isteklal

(I traveled to Turkey for vacation during first half of July,2014. Following is an account of my experiences en route to Istanbul and onwards. This is the second installment of the series, focusing on the departure from Lahore Airport and First day in Istanbul. I hope you enjoy it.)

Wednesday, July 2^nd, 2014

I reached Lahore Airport well in time before the flight. I had never been too late to catch a flight or a bus because of my fathers’ insistence to be extra-careful in these matters. My flight was supposed to fly at 5.30 am and I had arrived at the airport at 2:00 am, with a couple hours of sleep. I am not a nigh-person by any stretch of imagination and do not like anything more than a good nights’ sleep, so this was one of those nights when I sacrificed my sleep for “a greater cause” (:P). I took a seat at the waiting area, alongside two Turkish men. One of my high-school friends was studying in Ankara on a scholarship and he had sent me a small guide-book outlining basic phrases in Türkçe. Based on my previous experience in Turkey, I had decided to learn the basics of language. I had tried to memorize some of the important phrases given in that book, and had relied on Google Translate for pronunciation.

We waited till 3:00 am for the check-in counter to start functioning. There were two flights (one of Emirates, the other of Etihad) ready to leave before us and their passengers had spent hours while checking-in. As soon as one of the flashboards showed the number of our flight, the two Turkish men leapt towards the counter and positioned themselves at the front of the line. I walked behind them and found a place in the same line. There was an additional queue for business class passengers. The clock kept ticking while we stood there. 15 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes. The line stood still; there was no one at the check-in counter to help us! A tall Turkish guy in the business class queue got impatient. Initially, he asked politely for the “manager” of the area. There was no reply. We were informed that it was time for ‘Suhoor’ and thus the staff were busy in that. Later, we got news that staff was busy in Fajr Prayers. This was too much to take for the tall Turkish guy, who started shouting at the manager and anyone who cared to listen. He pointed to the Turkish guys standing in my line that no Pakistani was protesting, and everyone was just standing there, in no hurry.   

After 45 minutes of standing in the queue, the staff miraculously appeared. Another issue surfaced this time. Apparently, a tax had been imposed in the latest budget and everyone who got their tickets after 30^th June, 2014 had to pay an extra Rs.1200 ($12) at the counter! This was unprecedented and most passengers balked at this idiotic gesture. Some people did not have enough cash on them, some were only carrying US Dollars and the check-in counter staff did not have any currency other than Pakistani Rupees. Even Credit/Debit Card facility was not available and they only accepted cash. It caused a minor kerfuffle but eventually, the line started moving. On my turn, I asked the check-in guy to assign me a window-seat, which he did.  After almost 70 minutes standing in that line, I was able to get past the Check-in and in the Departure Lounge. It was there that I first used my newly-acquired Türkçe skills and asked one of the two Turkish men that I had seen, if he knew English (İngilizce biliyor musun). To which he replied, “Yes”. I told him about the gate number where we were supposed to gather, as he was sitting at the wrong gate previously.


The Flight left Lahore at 5:35 am and I sat comfortably in my window seat, gazing at the beautiful sunrise over Lahore. I slept for sometime and woke up when our plane had crossed Afghanistan. We crossed Baku and entered Turkey soon afterwards. We could not land at Istanbul airport at once and had to wait for a few minutes due to some technical issues. Meanwhile, the pilot gave us an excellent overview of Istanbul, the vastness of which amazed me(I later discovered that Istanbul’s total surface area is FOUR times as big as that of New York City!). The last time I had landed at Ataturk Havalimani(Airport), there were long lines at the Passport control points, but this time was different. There were hardly any people and it took me less than five minutes to get my passport stamped till the baggage collection section.


More than half of the passengers on our plane were in Istanbul for Transit and were moving on to further destinations, because of which the rest of us had to wait for another 30 minutes till our luggage arrived. During that period, I got to talking with a fellow Pakistani who was going to Italy after spending 3 days in Istanbul. It was his first time in Turkey so I gave him some pointers about the situation. As soon as my bag arrived, I took it and ran towards the exit doors. My first task was to get some Turkish Liras and then to get an Avea SIM card. I got the US Dollars changed and got a new SIM. I discovered at the kiosk that a mobile phone in which a Turkish SIM has been previously used, can’t be used again in Turkey. It was weird to know, but fortunately I had a spare phone so I got the SIM card for that. I asked the salesperson internet package, which he informed me about. He also instructed me to turn the phone to “Airplane Mode” and only use the phone after two hours.

I moved out of the airport and took a Taksi to Sultanahmet. Using Tripadvisor.com, I had booked myself in for five nights at Saba Hotel near Sultanahmet/Blue Mosque. I had spent two days in that area last year so I knew the place a bit. The weather was nicer than in Lahore and I kept the window open throughout the ride. I told the driver in Türkçe about the hotel and showed him the email from the hotel that I had printed out. He called someone and asked them about exact location of the place. As we got near Sultanahmet, he informed me that due to traffic issues, he won’t be able to drop me in front on the Otel but near it. I was okay with it as I don’t mind walking. As it turned out, he had dropped me off on the backside of Sultanahmet and I had to drag my bag through the cobblestoned streets till I reached the mosque. I was relieved to see it because I knew my hotel would be somewhere nearby. I walked slowly in the hippodrome area and tried to see any hotels around the area. I reached Gate C of the mosque and was standing aimlessly when three teenagers wearing blue shirts approached me. They asked if I needed any help, in English. I was relieved to hear someone speaking English and told them that I definitively required help and that I was Lost! I showed them the email from the Hotel, which had mentioned their address and a small-ish Google map was also given.  

Despite the instructions given in the email and Google search by those teenagers, we were not able to figure out my destination. A slightly older girl in a red shirt came over and asked us about the issue. She saw the email and after some discussion with the teenagers, was unable to locate the place either. She said that she will help me find it and starting walking towards Hagia Sophia. One of the volunteers asked if I would like to have lunch with them. I accepted their offer delightedly, and walked with them to their office on the other side of the Mosque. I discovered that the teenagers were volunteers, working for Fatih Municipality(which contained numerous tourist attractions), guiding tourists in English, without charging anything. They were aged 15-25 and most of them were either in high schools or in initial years of university. During my last visit, I had not seen the volunteers as their tenure ended in September and I had visited in the second week of September. I enjoyed lunch at the office, while talking to many volunteers. Most of them had never met a Pakistani before, so it was my duty to leave a good impression upon them. After we finished the meal, one of the volunteers(Doğukan) escorted me to the area behind the mosque. He explained the history of the Hippodrome and the cages where Lions were kept. During our walk, we asked someone for directions to Saba Hotel and were finally guided in the right direction.  

We crossed the Marmara University Presidency and I found the sign of my hotel in the adjoining street. I stopped Doğukan in his tracks, asked him to get back to where he was deputed and promised to come back and hang out with him as soon as I checked in to the hotel. The lady at the hotel reception was very nice and friendly and she guided me to my room. When I paid the bill using a Credit card, it dawned upon me that I had accidentally booked a really expensive hotel. The friendly lady informed me that Wi-Fi service was only available in the Lobby, which was a big let-down.



After Checking into my room, placing my luggage and changing my shirt, I headed to the Hippodrome where I joined Doğukan and Fatma Betül. They took me on a little tour of the Hippodrome, starting from German Fountain to the Egyptian Obelisk and Roman Obelisk and then to the Milion Stone. We later sat down on one of the many benches placed in the Hippodrome and talked about history and each other. During that time, I restarted my mobile and it started working. It was a relief to finally have 3G service. After almost an hour of this chit-chat, we were joined by a guy sitting on a bench nearby. He was Mr. Hamid Jalilee from Iran, a businessman learning Türkçe in Istabul. We talked about common words in Persian, Türkçe and Urdu(Pakistan’s national language, which is a mix of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit). We also taunted the Turkish teenagers about the poorly cooked rice, found in Turkey. During our chat, we were joined by Ahmet Kaya and Beyzanur. We talked and talked and talked for almost three hours, and I left the area around 6 p.m., having sat there since 1 p.m. I learnt plenty of words and names that day, which helped me during the rest of my stay.

It was tiring(as I hadn't had much sleep in the preceding 24-30 hours) but it was sooper fun. I left for my hotel, which was hardly five minutes away from the Hippodrome and took some rest. One of my Pakistani friends is studying in Australia. One of her classmates was doing an internship in Istanbul and was staying in Sultanahmet. I caught up with her after some rest at the Hotel. We walked towards the Marine Drive, and sat alongside the Sea of Marmara. She had graduated with a degree in Psychology and was pursuing a Masters Degree in “Role of Gender in Development”, a subject close to my heart. We talked and walked alongside Keneddy Cadessi(Road) towards Galata Bridge and took the Tunel to Isteklal Cadessi. I was terribly hungry so I got some fries and a shake from Shake Shack which lies right next to the Tunel station. Last time, I had walked across Isteklal twice without visiting Shake Shack even once, and upon my return had heard rave reviews about its burgers and fries. My new friend gave me an Istanbulkart which was a blessing. We walked across Isteklal, enjoying the live music and at one place, a group dance(I was later told that it was called ‘Hala’, a traditional Anatolian Dance). We took the Funicular from Taksim to Kabatas and from there we took the tram to Sultanahmet. I reached my Hotel around 11.30 pm and was really exhausted so slept immediately. It was a wonderful first day in Istanbul.


(To be continued)