7/1/2000
BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) Flight 676
Departs: HEATHROW-LONDON, UNI (LHR) 8:55 am,
Arrives: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (IST) 2:50 pm
Hotel Sarikonak. Dinner near the Hippodrome. Spotted first old lady who watched the world from behind a barred window. Went to some backpacker bar near the hotel, then went for a walk and ended up at Sultan bar on Divan Yolu, where Fraser flirted with some guy sitting at the next table. Wandering back, we came across the Aya Sofia.
7/2/2000
Hotel Sarikonak, Sultanahmet. Aya Sofia, Gulhane Park, promenades and
zoo. Meant to see the Whirling Dervishes. Med Cezir for a drink, World
Cup soccer on the tv. Had ace 'asian-style' fish in a place off Divan Yolu.
7/3/2000
Hotel Sarikonak, Sultanahmet. Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace - harem, and a
great collection of art and illuminated manuscripts. Drinks at Med
Cezir again, wrote postcards.
Istanbul, 10:15pm.
Fraser is a nuff.
7/4/2000
Hotel Sarikonak, Sultanahmet.
Ortokoy, 8:55pm.
Fraser is still a nuff.
‚inbar. 8:56pm
Fraser is still a nuff!
We're in Istanbul's St Kilda.
Dickhead tourists No. 5 (American at the next table in Cafe First Class): "Do they have dancing in Scotland? Oh, no, I guess it's too cold there."
Grilled sea bass, yum. Lots of meze. Lots of cats trying to jump on the table and eat our food.
Trendy Bar. 10:16pm.
Ha!
Gulet, Ortakoy, 11:28pm
A night of bars in Ortakoy. Didn't do too much today, up late, breakfast and half bottle of wine up the road, net cafe, Fraser crapped on about xmas in ca.
12:00pm.
Fraser speaks perfect tourist.
7/5/2000
check out Hotel Sarikonak, Sultanahmet.
Stamboul Otogar. 12:44pm.
About to leave for Canakkale.
Au/NZ tourists complaining about the toilets, so I guess they were squats.
Feels like we're finally getting out of the really modern touristy bits. The bus station was huge and Turkish, not Turkish/English.
12:52pm.
On the road!
[Long rambly bit of journal]
Asia. 8:16pm
Restaurant First Class.
Long bus ride. Met a guy who seems genuinely nice and not just nice to sell us something.
We were just in another cafe but our attempts at ordering food, which at first seemed so triumphant, turned to tragedy when we realised that what we'd thought being waved at us was cheese for some kind of [vegie] cheese dish, was, in fact, a chip. Consequently, we were proudly served with a plate of chips with tomato sauce.
[We later discovered that Canakkale is obsessed with anzac tourists, which might explain why they didn't seem to think we'd want any real food.]
So now we're in a different cafe, after an actual meal.
11:03pm
Twice people have mistaken Fraser and I for brother and sister and twice I've been jokingly called Chinese.
Something I totally failed to mention earlier is that I get stared at a lot, sometimes to the point of feeling harassed.
Also, Turkey is full of street and domestic cats - you could trace generations of street cats in Sultanahmet.
Did I mention that I get stared at a lot? Whole streets stop and nudge each other to have a look. At first I thought I must have been dressed inappropriately (in an ankle-length dress!) but maybe it's just cos I'm pale. One guy crapped on about my milky skin, but maybe he was just trying to sell us something.
Bus to Canakkale. Stayed in noisy pension.
7/6/2000
Cannakale, stayed in scary strict pension. Dinner
and drinks with Abdul.
Bogaz Loktamtasi, 12:39pm.
The hotel we were staying at turned out to get all the noise of the nearby clubs. It was very, very hot.
We went to a student bar that Abdul had recommended for drinks, where I wrote the entry before last.
Checked out of Hotel Efes and into the one next door - refused a double room cos we had no wedding rings (presumably, anyway). Fraser was asked if we were 'familiar'.
It's hot again today. Having breakfast now, must organise Truva and away soon.
Meeting Abdul (guy from the bus) at the clock tower at 8 tonight for a drink.
People here seem more genuinely friendly - they say hi as you walk down the street without it leading to 'come and see my carpets'.
Very yummy Spanish omelette type-thing on rice, Fraser's dolma not so good. Very much a local's cafe, so we were treated a little like the village fools, but that's ok in context.
Aile Restaurant. 2:22pm
It might seem like we spend a lot of time in cafes, but it's just the best place to stop and catch up.
Apparently it's 44 C which might explain why we're so hot. One beer and it's siesta time, which would be really good except that the guy in the hotel is forbidding enough to be scary.
Oddly enough, there's a word in Turkish for this: Yaramazlastirikimiyabilenlerdenmipsiniz (You seem to be one who is incapable of being naughty).
7/7/2000
Arrived in Bergama. Ate at Meyan Restaurant, went for a walk to look at the Acropolis, me with the idea of re-enacting ancient rites, Fraser with the idea of whinging. Back for a drink at another cafe/pub. One of those guys who hang out like they own the place sent me a plate of cucumbers via the waiter. No idea how to respond or what it meant, but I ate them anyway. Made Fraser eat one in case it was some kind of sexual thing. Travelling makes you suss.
Acropolis in Bergama very cool. Spent most of our time being dickheads. Cab driver was an arsehole who pretended he didn't know what change was when it came time to pay him.
Saw the best TV in the Meyan cafe the night before: horse and cart involved in police chase, televised in full OJ-style glory.
7/8/2000
Sel¨uk, 9:07pm.
Today has been a very long day. Wrote up stuff on Bergama (see up).
9:55pm, Ejday Restaurant, Sel¨uk.
Otvey. 43 today, 45 tomorrow. Run out of room in my other notebook.
Lots of hassles today - Fraser conned into following guy to small, hot bus instead of ticket office for usual bus lines to Sel¨uk. Lots of touts in Sel¨uk, on bus and hassling us while Fraser was having a cigarette before heading to pension that German lady in last pension had told us about.
Fraser loves the cocker spaniel here at the Siesta Pension more than he loves me, and it has fleas. The pig latin thing really works except when Fraser mouths things under his breath then says, for example, 'ohhh, FUCK!' aloud.
7/9/2000
Beachside bar, Dereli Motel, Parmacak, 7:54pm.
We are such wankers. The sun sets over the Aegean, we eat and drink and enjoy it.
Finally got a swim. The Aegean seems warms and green. For once I really have an excuse for being the whitest person on the beach.
Finally saw Ephesus (Efes locally). 3km walk out of town in the (45 degree) heat, once we'd figured out where we were going.
Wandered through the ruins for hours, and if you timed it right you could explore without hearing any of the 1,876,347 tourists from the cruise ship. [ stupid Sea Princess and her cargo of dumb rich tourists ]
Rm 18, 11:13pm.
Going to the disco - apparently we can just walk down the beach til we hit it. The guy next door has a quite incredible snore.
[As it turns out, it wasn't a disco unless you were a guest of the attached hotel, and it was full of eurotrash parents and young teenagers, but hey, we got a free drink. Very young boy also working as barman, looked about 12 and already a wanker. Fraser was sick when we got back, which in hindsight was probably the first intimation that he is susceptible to heat stroke after the day in the heat at Efes.]
7/10/2000
checked in at Kas. Bus from Sel¨uk to Aydin
(hassled by little shoeshine boys), to Fetiye (enough time for dinner
before the bus trip) to Kas. Drinks and pomme frites at restaurant of
the sad man in Kas.
First day in Kas: piss-farted around, net, booked cruise. Dinner at the restuarant of the sad man, walked around town, bought sarongs, drink at Elit Bar on the shore of the Mediterranean, live music from the top bar. A path of moonlight lit the sea.
7/11/2000
Kas. Pool has a water slide! Dinner at restaurant
of the sad man. Finally got a sarong.
7/12/2000
Kas, cruise, bus to Antalya. Stayed at the Hotel Alp Pasa (crap,
but very expensive crap). Up early, checked out, left luggage, walked down to marina for gulet
cruise. Fucking beautiful. Dive off boat into sea, swim around.
Late flight from Antalya to Istanbul tonight. Would be nice to stay in Ortakoy but might be a hassle to find somewhere as it's not a tourist suburb and places to stay aren't generally listed.
Yesterday was the hottest day for 40 years. Thank god we were on the
cruise but I got a little burnt, especially my shins, which is odd cos I
didn't think they got that much sun. And my ankles didn't get burnt at all.
7/13/2000
Old City, Antalya. 11:55am.
Four hours on a bus last night from Kas to Antalya, stayed at the Hotel Alp Pasa because some Americans we met on the cruise we took yesterday who were also staying at Hotel Club Phellos had stayed there. But it was very expensive ($US90) and I didn't sleep well because the blinds didn't keep out much light, the sheets were weird (I think they were single bed sheets) and the pillows tiny.
Fraser's been riding the porcelin bus a few times this morning.
From Parmacak, dolmus to Sel¨uk, bus to Kas. Majorly hassled by little shoeshine boys at Aydin while waiting for the bus to Fetiye. 1 1/2 hour wait at Fetiye but was much better cos we had dinner and a beer once we'd gotten ourselves sorted. Minibus to Kas. Arrived late (10:30), called ahead to hotel from Fetiye. Town still going strong, partly cos of the heat but partly cos it's a beachside holiday town with lots of bars and cafes.
1:14pm, Tea Garden, somewhere along the old wall above the harbour, Antalya.
After our elma cay in the last cafe, I went through a lot of sign language and bad Turkish to ask where a pharmacy was while Fraser had another spew. [as it turns out, it was diarhhea, but hey, it's all fluid.] A guy from the cafe took us to a pharmacy outside the old city where we got an anti-emetic. Quick drink in a cafe with an annoying tout (we only got a water between us so Fraser could take the tablet, serves him right), then off to find the Turkish Airlines office. Fraser had to be sick again in a back street, guys from the shops around brought him water to wash his hands and to pour over his head and bandana.
He won't go to a doctor but eventually agreed/decided to go to a pansyon where he would lie down for a few hours. Went through a slapstick routine where the guy was really suspicious of the foreign couple who wanted a room for a couple of hours (can't say I blame him) but with sign language and very slow English managed to explain what we wanted - a room for Fraser to rest in while I did other stuff. We even had a laugh when he said something that obviously meant 'he should go to a doctor' and I said something that clearly meant 'that's what I said!'. In the end, they offered their foyer for Fraser to rest in, because it was dark and cool and they could see if he got worse.
So Fraser's resting in the foyer of the Alkan Pansyon behind the
Cumhuriyet Caddasi [not that I was worried about losing him, or
anything] and I'm out on the town til 3. Already been suggestively
stared at a lot, just crossing the street to get to the gardens.
Incredible view though, down onto the Marina tucked into the old castle walls and the blue, blue Mediterranean. Big mountains fade into haze across the bay.
Oddly enough, the touts in the Old City aren't really bothering today, but the beggars and touts outside it certainly are. [The little boy beggers really scare me. I think it's cos they're very insistent and once they get wind of a fuss they crowd around you and it's hard to keep track of all of them.] It's very hot again so I'm going to have to be careful not to get too dehydrated myself, and damn, Fraser has the sunscreen, though we only put it on at 11 so I should be ok. I'm more worried about being hassled or robbed than anything else.
Looking at the map, this cafe is actually built on top of the old wall. It's odd to be in a country where historic things are just old and are built around or into. Storks nest in the old acqaducts at Sel¨uk and where they are more complete they have been built into houses - unique way to divide terrace houses, I guess.
[As it turns out, the waiter who I thought was casting disapproving looks my way (and I didn't even order beer!) was quite lovely. I don't know whether I feel very self-conscious as a white woman here or because cultural differences make it hard, but I keep thinking people are disapproving of me when really they're not, or they're only staring because they haven't seen anyone that looks like me before.]
7/14/2000
Istanbul. Arrived late, called a hotel from the
airport.
7/15/2000
Back in Sultanahmet. Finally made it to
Blue Mosque, incredible despite other tourists, quick pack, last view from roof,
quick lunch (had to be takeaway in the end) before shuttle bus to airport.
