Eyes

Our first full day in Istanbul!  After yesterday's day of traveling, we were pretty pooped, and we all slept pretty good.  We were going to be in for a long day of sightseeing, so we were up and at 'em bright and early so that we would fit everything in.

We had our breakfast at the hotel (which wasn't as nice as the Best Hotel in Ankara), and we were soon hoofing it towards the sights.  Our hotel is just a few blocks from the major historical sites.  We walked towards the Blue Mosque, and along the way, we spied the Egyptian Obelisks in the middle of the Hippodrome of Constantinople (where they used to have horse and chariot racing).  The Blue Mosque sits right behind the Hippodrome, and is an impressive marble structure with six minarets.  It isn't blue on the outside, but rather it gets its nickname from the inside (it's actual name is Sultan Ahmed Mosque).  The decorations on the walls and ceilings feature a lot of blue, thus giving the mosque it's nickname.

The tourists were thick, and we followed along as people were making their way into the mosque, taking off their shoes and carrying them around in plastic bags.  I got separated from the group, and for a few minutes, was lost in the sea of people with their cameras and their loud talking.  I felt bad that such a beautiful, holy place was just another checkbox on these tourists' agendas.  It was a huge contrast from the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara.  That mosque was quiet, peaceful, contemplative.  The Blue Mosque was loud, crowded, and unappreciated for it's actual purpose of prayer.

I found the rest of the group, and after snapping some pictures and quietly observing the worshippers in the cordoned-off area of the mosque, we made our way out, put our shoes back on, and moved onto the next stop.

The Haggia Sophia is an old Christian Church that was converted into a mosque.  This conversion is likely what led to its preservation, and it is very impressive. The ceilings are high, and there is a mix of both Islamic and Christian art in the walls and ceilings.  The marble work is impressive (veins of marble coordinated to sit next to each other).  It would have been a moving experience had there not been throngs of tourists.

After a thorough touring, we headed out and up the street towards the Topkapi Palace.  By now, we had been touring old buildings for hours, and I was thankful for the break that the group took.  The majority of the group headed off to find lunch, while Wil, Spencer, and myself--not being hungry--wandered around, snapping pictures and taking in this historic district of Istanbul.  We roamed through the gardens of the Topkapi Palace, walked along streets and alleys until we were sitting on the banks of the water where the Bosphorus Strait meets the Sea of Marmara.

We soon headed back towards the Topkapi Palace to meet up with the rest of the group as we had negotiated earlier.  When the three of us guys arrived, we realized we were early.  So we decided to wander some more, and we ended up walking through this archway that seemed to lead somewhere interesting.  It was a classic line from Wil:  "What's over there?"

As we passed through the archway, it seemed as if we had stepped into another world!  There were no tourists, nobody trying to sell you something, and strangely, not much noise from the streets of Istanbul!  It was as if by walking a few meters, we had left the Istanbul we had been racing all day, and found an Istanbul that revered it's prized silence.  Noontime prayer had just ended, and we stood as rocks in a river as men streamed around us, putting their shoes back on and heading back to work.  From people that looked like stall vendors to policemen, we saw all walks of life pouring out of the small mosque and heading back to work.

We followed in the direction of some policemen who walked out of a different exit, and we found ourselves on a street without much foot traffic.  It was surprising to not see so many people.  It felt like we had stepped into a completely different part of town, and yet we had just walked a few hundred meters.  Wil, Spencer, and I explored this world a bit… Wil and I snapping pictures, and Spencer taking it in.  We slowly wandered back to our meeting place with the group.

At this point in the afternoon, we realized that touring the Topkapi Palace would take up most of the afternoon.  A decision was made that instead of the Palace, that the group would break up and tour other things.  I wanted to do a boat tour of the Bosphorus, and that would leave the station at 2pm from the docks.  My camera's memory card was more than half full, and I had a feeling I'd run out of room if I went directly to the tour.  So I decided I'd go back to the hotel room, empty my card, and then meet the rest of the boat tourers at the docks.

No one else needed to go back to the hotel, and I was pretty sure how to get back, so I took off by myself, pushing my way against the current of tourists in the direction of the hotel.  Well, I'm pretty sure you can guess what happens next.

Yeap.

I got lost.  I took a turn too early, and by the time I realized that the hotel isn't where I expected it, I was way off.  Not having an Istanbul map, I turned to my third hand… my iPhone!  He led me back to more familiar territory, and I was able to make my way back to the hotel.  I emptied out my flash card (you'd think a 16GB card would go further!), and was then hitting the pavement towards the docks.  The woman at the front desk told me that it would be about a 15 minute walk, which I figured I'd have time for.  I grabbed a map from the front desk, and I was out the door.  I enjoyed my brisk walk towards the water, snapping pictures as I went.  About 5 minutes away from the docks, I got a call from Wil.  He told me that the boat would be leaving at 2pm, and that Spencer would be waiting outside for me.  He did his best to describe where the boat was, and I figured I had enough to find them.  Well, I was wrong.  When I got down to the docks (with 10 minutes to spare!), I realized that it was going to be a larger task to find the right boat.  I called Wil up again, and asked for further clarification.  Needless to say, by the time I found the right boat, I was on the phone with Wil, and I had only one question on my lips.

"Wil, is your boat the one that's pulling away from the dock right now?"

"Are we?  Um, yes.  We are."

Merde.

I just spent the last 15 minutes in a frenzy trying to catch a boat that I missed by mere seconds!!  You must forgive me for not appreciating the humor of my situation.  I watched the boat pull away, and I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do.  I hadn't really planned for anything else this afternoon, and now I was--for the moment--on my own in Istanbul.  As I was weighing my options, I got a text from Wil saying that Yaseen was going to meet up with a local friend at 3pm, and that I could hook up with him.  Having an hour to kill, I figured I'd take the opportunity to familiarize myself with the public transport system of the city.  Istanbul has trams that run around the city on various lines.  They use a token system, and after some wandering (and mistakenly ending up in a train station!), I found where to buy the tokens.  I bought a few, found my way to the Sindikli Station, and jumped on a tram towards the historical sites that we were touring this morning.  My Rick Steves guidebook said the Basilica Cisterns only takes about 15 minutes to tour, and I figured I'd have enough time to see them and meet back up with Yaseen at 3pm.  While riding, I texted Yaseen and made arrangements to meet him at 3pm.  I rode along the tram, watching the shops and the tourists outside the windows as we slithered our way through the historical (and very touristy!) part of Sultanahmet.  I jumped off at the Sultanahmet stop and walked my way to the Cisterns.  

Something that we saw in Istanbul that Ankara spared us was aggressive entrepreneurs.  Whether they are restaurant owners or souvenir dealers, you are guaranteed to be harassed by these piranhas when you walk through the tourist-heavy parts of Istanbul.  They want your business, and the competition is fierce.  So they use very aggressive tactics to get your business.  It isn't the first time I've seen this, and I actually feel bad for these business owners that they have to resort to a form of begging just to make their livelihoods.  I know it would kill me inside to do that.  But it is their life, and that is how they make a living.

Well, as I was walking to the ticket counter for the Basilica Cisterns, a Turk started walking with me.  He was older, and he spoke a little English.  I assumed he was trying to bait me into buying something because he started asking me where I was going, and where I was from.  He was actually helpful, showing me the way to the ticket counter.  This lowered my guard a bit, because it seemed that he was just being friendly.  He said that he thought I was a Turk when he first saw me, which I took as a compliment.  After a bit of walking and small conversation, he asked if I was looking to buy any leather while I was Istanbul.  He claimed the city is famed for its leather, and that I should consider it.  He had been kind to me, so I tried to return the kindness by saying that I was considering it.  I wasn't actually going to buy any leather, but I would show interest.  I know it's deceiving, but in a weird way, I felt it was showing him respect for his sales pitch.  I told him that I didn't have much time today, but I would consider coming back tomorrow.  He said that his shop was nearby, and that he'd like to give me a card.  I told him a friend was waiting for me by the ticket counter, but he insisted that his shop was nearby.  Tourists were everywhere, so I figured it'd be okay to follow him.  We started walking down this busy alley, and I saw the sign for a leather shop.  He said that wasn't his.  So we kept walking, and I started to make an insistence that I had to go.  He kept pressing, saying that we were getting close.  (I know what you're thinking… I'm not stupid.  I have a well-developed sense stranger-danger and my surroundings… I was just being polite at this point.)  He turned into a building, and I cautiously followed.  There wasn't anyone in this hallway, so I hung behind, following about 5 feet behind the man.  I saw that there were some small shops around the corner of the hallway, so I wasn't completely freaked out at this point.  As soon as he stepped onto a stairway, I locked my heels.  He said his shop was right upstairs, but I said no.  He insisted, but my need to be polite had evaporated at this point.  I thanked him, and I walked out without looking behind me.

I wasn't scared.  I was just more disturbed to think that it is so easy for a stranger to pull a foreigner away from the crowds.  And how a stranger could take advantage of a person's nature to be polite.  As I walked to the ticket counter, I wondered how many people that man was able to take to his shop every day?  Now, before you assume that the man had bad intentions, nothing in his demeanor or body language suggested that.  He may have had a shop.  But it was too big of a risk for me to find out for sure.

At the ticket counter, I paid for my ticket, and made my way down the steps into the Basilica Cistern.  A Cistern is an underground reservoir for holding water.  According to Wikipedia (because it's just easier this way), "This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber approximately 143 metres (469 ft) by 65 metres (213 ft) - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres (30 ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns spaced 4.9 metres (16 ft) apart."  I took my time walking through the dark hall.  The columns were lit with a reddish light, and it took some time for my eyes to adjust.  When looking in the water pool, I could see fish.  The air was cool, and water was dripping from the ceiling.  It was very impressive, and I can say I've never seen anything like it.  If it wasn't for the tourist pollution, it would have been a very peaceful place.  I tried to stay ahead of the tourist group behind me, seeing as much of the Cistern as I could.  Towards the back of the Cistern lay two Medusa heads.  One was upside down, and one was on its side.  It is said that the heads were placed like this to negate Medusa's power.  (This Cistern was actually used as a location in the Bond Film "From Russia With Love"… I've gotta watch it now!)

To escape from drowning in the sea of Asian tourists, I made my way out of the Cisterns.  Back in the hustle and bustle of the streets of Istanbul, I walked to the Sultanahmet Station and jumped on a tram.  I had about 15 minutes until I was to meet with Yaseen, and I spent my ride watching life outside the windows.  At the Eminönü stop, I got off, and walked down some steps to cross the street using an underground walkway.  As I rounded the corner, I didn't expect to see a full blown market!  Vendors were lined up along the sides of the underground walkway hawking their goods, and a sea of people was flowing along the center.  I pushed my way through to the other side, thankful to emerge where there was more room to breathe.  As I waited for Yaseen to call, I grabbed a mineral water and a Snickers bar, enjoying the fact that I wasn't counting my calories while outside the United States border!

I people watched for a bit…  Foreigners consulting their maps, vendors singing loudly to attract a sale, and pigeons busy picking up whatever the busy humans had dropped.  After some time, I heard from Yaseen.  We found each other.  He was with Becca, and together we caught up with what we had done since we'd separated.  We waited a bit for Yaseen's friend Frank, and after awhile, our trio became four.  Frank has lived in Istanbul for a number of years for work, and was like a local to us.  He knew the landscape, he spoke the language, and he knew all the best spots to eat!

We walked along the docks, looking for a boat that was still taking passengers to tour the Bosphorus.  Unfortunately, all of the big boats were closing down for the day.  However, we were approached by a vendor that spoke to Frank.  He said that he had a boat that could tour us around the Bosphorus, and all we had to do was follow him!  Frank said their price is the same as the other tour boats, and that there was no harm in checking it out, considering we weren't going to get on a boat otherwise.

So we followed our Hustler friend in his jeans and leather jacket down through the docks.  And we walked… and we walked… and we walked some more!  We passed all of the boats on this side of the bridge, and we were soon passing the docks on the other side of the bridge.  There were fewer tourists here, and the neighborhood seemed a bit seedier.  Frank said this wasn't the nicest part of town, and that we shouldn't really hang out here after dark.  Fantastic.

I was becoming very cautious at this point, as I felt safety in a foreign city would be closer to the crowds.  However, we were with Frank, and Frank assured us that we were okay.  We finally came down to a dock, and our Hustlier friend, whose name is Maksun (mack-soon), showed us our boat.  (See the Photo Gallery for the pictures!)  It was a little dinghy that didn't look too reliable.  Yaseen was pretty excited.  I said no.  To keep us from leaving, Maksun showed us ANOTHER boat.  This wasn't much better.  In fact, it actually looked worse than the first!  Again, Yaseen wanted to jump on.  I vetoed again.  I was suggesting we go do other things, when Maksun showed us a third option.  It was a bigger boat (like, almost as big as the first two boats PUT TOGETHER) but it had a funny name: "Mertcan Ufuk". It looked like it was missing a "c" somewhere!  Despite the name, this boat seemed like one that wouldn't require us to bail water.  I was okay with this one, and Maksun had us board, asking what we'd like to drink.  After taking our drink orders (and informing us that the larger boat will cost us 5TL more… each!), we disappeared.  I wasn't sure where he went.  When he returned 5 minutes later with a grocery bag of our drinks, I had a pretty good idea.

It was just the four of us on the boat as passengers.  Maksun was our host.  And there was a crew of about 5 guys.  We weren't sure how our payment was going to cover so many people, but Maksun assured us it was okay, and we were off.  Once we started going, it became apparent to me that we were now on a private boat tour of the Bosphorus!  Sure, it may not have been as glamorous or glitzy as the tourist boats, but our boat still got us around!  We rode down the Golden Horn, hugging the European side of Istanbul.  Frank pointed out the sights to us and telling us stories about his experiences in Istanbul.  Maksun was flitting about, and during a break in the conversation, he started telling us about his life.  He showed us pictures of his family, and of him when he was younger.  He took pictures with us, and used "My Friend!" a lot.  I cringe whenever I hear this phrase because it's usually a signal to me that someone is feigning a relationship for personal gain.  I guessed that Maksun was working for a tip later on.  (Turns out, I was right!)

We drifted from the lower deck to the upper (I'm being generous with my description of the boat here) to get a better view and better pictures.  We saw palaces, we saw mosques, we saw clubs, and we even saw a newly married couples taking pictures (we honked, they waved!).  The boat went under the bridge that connects Europe to Asia, and started its way back by now hugging the Asian side.  I took a gratuitous picture of myself straddling two continents (in the vein of me straddling two hemispheres last year!), and we all watched the sun lower in the sky over historic Istanbul.  It was beautiful.

The boat slipped its way back into the Golden Horn, under the bridge, and back to its dock.  As we were disembarking, Maksun was pestering Frank for a tip.  Frank was coming down some stairs with Maksun nipping at his heels.  Frank lost his footing, and landed wrong.  He rolled his ankle, and he was in a lot of pain.  Maksun was flittering about, trying to be helpful, but we shooed him away.  We walked to a taxi and went back to the hotel.  I opened up the pharmacy, pulled out some anti=inflammatory meeds and a sports wrap, and I wrapped Frank's ankle up.  We rested for a bit, and then as darkness fell on Istanbul, we jumped on a tram to meet up with the rest of the group.

Dinner was going to be in the Taksim District of Istanbul.  It is a district where younger people tend to congregate in the evenings.  We rode the tram line as far as it went, and then we changed to a Funicular train, which is a special train that takes you up and down a hill.  We got to the top, and as we exited the station, Taksim Square opened up to us.  People everywhere, stores open to sell their wares, and lighted lanes.  The rest of the group was found on the main drag, and together, we walked to a restaurant that Frank recommended for us.  The meal was delicious, and we all got a chance to catch up on each other's travels during the day.  Spencer was a good sport as the group ribbed him a bit for his adventures in Ankara, and we all had a lovely dinner.

After dinner, the group split off once again.  Some of the group wanted to check out the nightlife, and the other group, myself included, wanted to head back to the hotel.  I led the group back (the majority of them had WALKED up the hill!) to the Funicular, and we took the trams back to the hotel.  We ended the night with some blogging, and then bed.  We would start business meetings the next day, but not until afternoon.  The morning was reserved for the Grand Bazaar!

The day was a busy one.  Trying to take in the sights of Istanbul is a daunting task.  There is so much history here and there is so much to see!  Despite the challenge, I feel we did good at seeing a lot of Istanbul.  We saw it through the eyes of tourists, through the eyes of aggressive salesmen with questionable intentions, through the eyes of a local, and perhaps most importantly, through our own eyes.  The interpretation of Istanbul that matters the most is our own.  However the city reveals itself to me is the reality that I will see.  And that will lead me to the the experience that I will take away from this place.

Be safe and be kind.

With love,

SoJo