Sitting on the Roman latrine at Ephesus, I was contemplating the life style of the rich and powerful Romans. Imagine yourself seated on a heated marble top latrine with your fellow compatriots sitting around you looking at a fountain and discussing the affairs of the state or your latest conquest. Just next to the latrine on one side are heated plush baths and on the other side a brothel (excavations discovered a statues of god Priapus, think of an enormously endowed individual where his member is bigger than himself). Across the street is your palatial home with mosaic floors and slaves at your wish and command. You take a walk outside and see the temple to Emperor Hadrian and further down is the magnificent three story library leading up to the marble street which runs perpendicular to the harbor street. From the hilltop you can see merchant vessels with goods from across the world and of course the flying colors of the Roman fleet. Every Saturday you go to the theatre which seats 25000 fellow citizens to enjoy music and dance. You are in the capital of Asia Minor! 

 

                                                  I got lost there for a while but it didn’t happen quite so quickly. I spent my first week in Istanbul in the older area called Sultanahmet, the seat of Ottoman Empire that lasted from 15th century till the WWI. The remnants are on display at the Topkapi palace. The most intriguing thing was the harem where 200 concubines and 100 wives lived in cloistered quarters. Those that gave birth to a son of the Sultan got better accommodations while others had to live dormitory style and pick up gold coins thrown by the Sultan as he walked into the Harem on the Golden Corridor. A Black eunuch and the Queen were in charge of the harem. White Eunuchs were to protect the Sultan. Besides that the palace is not impressive. I expected something on a more magnificent scale along the lines of palaces of Indian Maharajas. So I wandered the halls looking for something interesting and discovered that Prophet Mohamed’s foot print, hair from his beard, clothes and his sword and a covering of the stone at Mecca were enshrined there. Ottomans ruled Mecca at one time. I was duly impressed and took the obligatory video. Mohamed is the only prophet I know that carried a sword! So be it. I walked over  to the treasury to see the Golden throne and the 82 carat diamond.  Not bad for ruling a good part of the Arab world and Europe for close to 500 years.

 

                                                  The other notables are the Blue Mosque; majestic in the night lit sky and Aya Sofia. Aya Sofia owes its fame to being the largest church built by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD (and rebuilt a few times) and a huge dome which apparently collapsed a few times. On to the Sulamenyi Mosque, the magnificent creation by Mimar Sinan, Turkish architect. It is massive and probably better admired from a distance since there is no way to view it up close. However, I was disappointed in the rather simple décor inside. The Turkish mosque design has been the same since Sinan. Overall, my impression of Istanbul is that it is not unlike Venice in that it looks better in photographs than up close. The views of Istanbul from the Bosphorus and from the other side are far more impressive as they are in old postcards. Like the best views of New York are from New Jersey. The haphazard growth of a crammed inner city has robbed it of its beauty. The Turkish mosques with their not so blue domes and minarets are an artists’ dream and look beautiful in distance or when they are lit at night. Daytime sunshine harshly exposes the patches of discoloration. Luckily I was there in off season so I did not have to endure the masses of tourists that are unloaded by tour buses. I walked up and down the hilly streets and managed not to buy a carpet. A week in Istanbul and I had enough and decided to move on to see the rest of the country. Overall, I was underwhelmed. The main event of the week was the stabbing of English soccer fans in Istanbul. The newspapers and TV covered it incessantly. After all, Turkey’s reputation as a civilized country was at stake!

 

                                                I scoured the guidebooks to plan my itinerary and soon discovered that it would be difficult and painful to tour it on my own. The distances are large, auto rentals expensive and all the sites are far from any city. Reluctantly, I signed on to a tour. The last thing I wanted was to be herded around in a bus full of yappy tourists with their cameras and bags. I got lucky. I landed by a short flight to Ankara to be greeted by my tour guide who told me I was the only one in the tour. So we took off in a Toyota Corolla for a personalized tour. The first stop was Ataturk Memorial. For those of you unfamiliar with the Turkish History, Ataturk (Father of Nation) was a General in the Ottoman army and defeated the allies in their invasion attempt at Gallipoli. He soon left the Ottomans and with his followers established Modern turkey in 1923. He is interesting in his attempts to westernize Turkey. He banned the Fez, romanized the alphabet and even banned scarfs for women. He succeeded partially in his attempts to get Turkey on par with Europe. Turkey still hopes fervently to join European Union and sees itself as more European than Asian. I was surprised to discover that most Turks look more European than Asian or even Greek. Although Islamic party has a say in politics and 99% of Turks are Muslim; they profess a secular country. Turkey has a large industrial base but most of it is controlled by two families. The country continues to struggle with massive inflation (67% annual), political instability and recently quashed Kurdish rights movement it manages to put on European airs.

 

                                             Let me get on with the tour; the next stop was Hitite museum which is more than worth a visit for a fascinating display of excavations from Neolithic period to the Hitites. The early rock paintings are unbelievable. The city of Ankara offers little otherwise in character to deserve a stop. We then drove to Capadoccia. After a seemingly endless drive we arrived at this magnificent landscape. It is as though you are on a lunar landing (first Star Wars was filmed here). I had left historic Ottoman era to arrive in this landscape that captures one with its unrivaled beauty. It is difficult to describe in that there is no other place like it. You drive to a valley and see an expanse of chimney peaks and shapes not unlike the Indian huts. The beauty of the landscape is marred only by human destruction. These magnificent structures are formed by volcanic rock that is easy to carve so the Christians carved churches into them and other people houses. Why couldn’t they leave God’s creation alone and worship it for the Church of Nature it is! The places to go are the open air museum in Goreme and the pigeon valley. You see these chimney rocks which have the most unusual fairy tale look. If that is not enough there is the underground city of Kaymaki. Hitites and Chrisitans hiding for Romans lived in these cities carved under the ground that goes almost three floors with secret passages, air vents and blind passages. One of the cities accommodated 15000 people who could just vanish under the earth. Now that is a science fiction movie!

 

                                  The next day, my personalized tour ended and I had to join a mini bus with a couple form Italy and a couple from Uruguay.I argued with the Italian that American wines were as good if not better than European and the Italian insisted that nobody can do Chianti better. The Uruguayan Bankers found the Turks rude and food unpalatable. As for me, the locals spoke to me in Turkish only to find a bewildered look on my face, then they apologized in English that they thought I was Turkish! Except in Bodrum, where they disregarded my claim of being an Indian, they would invariably say, “You live in England now.”

 

                               The bumpy ride on Turkish roads did not help but we headed for Konya. I had wanted to go there to see the Whirling Dervishes. This is where the Sufi poet Rumi is buried. However, there was great disappointment in store for me. No more whirling dervishes. Ataturk had closed religious schools so now they perform only for a week in December. I had to settle for a videotape that I have to wait to get back to US before I can see. Konya is an unremarkable city. A tour of the tomb revealed  out that Rumi wrote his poetry after separation from another dervish! All that romance and love for an older man! We headed towards Hierapolis and Pammukale. Hierapolis did  not do much for me and neither did Pammukale. Pammukale is famous for the spring water that deposits salts in pools that looks like snow. Most of the water is used up by hotels so the thrill is gone. I might as well have skipped this part of the tour. Another long drive later we arrived at Ephesus.

 

                                You may have gathered already that it was the highlight of the tour. Ephesus is the best preserved and largest Greek/Roman city. There is enough of the ruins to fire your imagination for a city that only existed once and none other has been built since to match its splendor. That was the end of the tour and I gladly parted company from the routine of get up and go one night here and one night there. I figured I had enough and needed a place to settle down for some time. A Turkish friend had recommended Bodrum on the Aegean Coast. I arrived after a short bus ride and after some difficulty found a hotel with a bay view. The city is built around a 15th century castle built by the Knights who gave it up to Ottomans without a fight. The massive (relatively speaking) castle is in the middle with bays on either side. The city has a reputation for being the “wicked city” or “wild flesh pot”. Something to see! Unfortunately I arrived too early in the season so the young British have not arrived yet and usually very loud bands are quiet. The tourists are mostly Turkish. The town is getting ready for summer with lot of renovation. The views are beautiful, a quiet place for contemplation; I figured I need that. So I settled in this relatively inexpensive town for a few weeks. I spent my days reading “Nausea”, internetting, walking by the marina or just watching the sun rise and set from my balcony. May be tomorrow I will go to the Greek islands that is if I can get up early enough to catch the ferry.

 

                                   The fascination for Turkey besides its treasures of ancient Greece and Capadoccia are the prices. Turkey is cheap. I found I can become a Billionaire easily by quoting my networth in Turkish Lira( $1= 600,000 Lira). I can catch up to Bill Gates in no time (even before the price of Microsoft price crashed). I would hate to count his networth; too many zeros to contemplate. Since the exchange rate changes every day it is always cheaper tomorrow. So take out as little as you need from the ATM’s. Credit Cards give terrible rates and cash is best. The Turks also seem to benefit by charging you outrageous prices. A markup of 30 to 300% is common. Never buy or order anything before checking prices and always check the total! Flights are cheap, food reasonable and plenty of sunshine on the Aegean coast with its deep blue water. Yachting is a dream come true on the Aegean coast. You could always pretend you were on Cleopatra’s boat or may be Caesar’s! Cleopatra is rumored to have fled Roma for the Black Island across from Bodrum. She took mud baths in the warm springs that are renowned to have beautifying properties and later she had her honeymoon with Mark Antony on the Aegean coast. When she discovered there was little sand on the beach, Antony had a ship load of sand brought in. I cannot speculate what it will do for your love life but it is worth a try.

 

Time to Go: Tourist season; June to October, May is pleasant and not so crowded

Suggested Itinerary:

3 days in Istanbul to see the Topkapi palace, Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Dolmabahace palace, Sulemanyii Mosque, Underground bazaar, chic hangout Ortakoy, cruise on the Bosphorus to Princes Islands(Adalar)

Place to stay; Four Seasons if you can afford it, otherwise Spina Hotel (modern) or Sokullu Pasha (No A/C).

 

Fly to Nevsehir, take a bus to Urgup and stay 3 days so see Goreme and Kayamaki. Hire a taxi for a few days. Stay at Almira Hotel.

Fly to Izmir. Take a bus to Bodrum, stay 4 days to see Ephesus (take a day tour), ferry to Greek islands Kos and Rhodes and just stroll along the waterfront. Stay at Bac Pension, if you can’t sleep at night (the mayor of Bodrum is known to have said, ”If they don’t want loud music why do they come to Bodrum?”) move to Marina Vista or Selcuk. Try the sweets and sandwiches at Karadeniz Patisserie

 

Flights are cheap, cost runs from $80 to $90 and you maximize your time doing what you want to do.

 

Or take an Aegean cruise

 Or take a Fez Bus(budget travel)

 

Guide books: Let’s go Turkey and Lonely Planet, They are expensive in Turkey.

Travel agent in Istanbul: Orion Tour

Literature: Orhan Pamuk if you like Umberto Eco you will like him, I find the Proustian dialogue tedious. The other author is Yashar Kemal, I enjoyed reading “Memed, My Hawk”

 

I did not manage to develop a taste for the traditional music. I find that wailing and moaning difficult to bear just like the Chinese classical music with its shrill sound.

Food: Iskender Kebab is a sliced layer of beef on a pita bread covered with tomato sauce and yogurt sauce is a must. Otherwise the usual kebabs, eggplant and lentil soups are mainstays of the Turkish food. Turkish coffee is not as good as I had hoped it would be. Tea is better. Wine is uninspiring. Raki and local beer Efes are good. Sweets are better than most Arab countries and Greece. Turkish pizza(Lahmacun) is common place and of course everything made from Yogurt. One surprise was a yogurt and honey mixture on a road side stop.

Internet: easily accessible at $1.60/hour.