The Turkish Experience

Here are our thoughts on some of our more interesting experiences in Istanbul, Turkey…

Driving in Istanbul:
The roads and driving conditions have slowly been deteriorating as we’ve headed east. They didn’t get any better once we arrived in Istanbul…driving there was chaotic, to say the least. As we entered the city the main freeway slowly turned into complete mayhem. The traffic lines disappeared, cars drove literally wherever they felt like, and traffic laws apparently did not exist. We could now see why the guidebooks said driving into the city was not recommended. None of the road signs matched anything on our maps so we made more than a few wrong turns trying to get to the town center. The one nice thing about the lack of law and order was if you went the wrong way you could always just back up into oncoming traffic or make that U-turn across four lanes. We tried both of these a few times and somehow managed to survive.

Sleeping in Istanbul:
Camping, or even safe parking, in the city is pretty much non-existent so we broke down and got a hotel for a few nights. We had no desire to camp way outside the city and make the drive into town a part of our daily experience. It turns out getting the room was an experience in itself…we got a good deal at a very “unique” place. Everything in the room was black or white. The walls and bedspread were zebra print and the drapes were metallic silver. This place definitely had character. Anyway, what the hotel lacked in décor they made up for in their location. Since they were located in the heart of Istanbul’s Old Town it was easy to walk to everything and avoid the hair-raising commute.

The Turkish Bath, Rachel’s Take:
After a couple of days exploring the city on foot, we decided an authentic Turkish bath would be a great way to the end the day. After checking a few out, we ended up at Gedikpasa Hamam which has been around since 1475. Upon entering the baths we were immediately separated. Dustin went his way and I went mine. I quickly changed into my swimsuit and headed into the hamam only to discover everyone else was naked. It was a funny thing, but I felt out of place in my swimsuit and it just confirmed that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I quickly made a beeline for the safety of the sauna. My attendant kept trying to get me out of the sauna, but I insisted I could take the heat much longer than she thought. Yes, you really get an attendant, which is a Turkish man or woman (women for women & men for men) who attend to you during your bathing experience. My Turkish attendant did not speak English but I could tell she wanted me out of the sauna when she literally came in and pulled me out. Next, she decided to pour cold water over my head and have me lie down on the warm, marble stone platform. After laying on the stone for awhile it was time to exfoliate. Exfoliate she did! Several layers of skin came off during this process, which I guess was a good thing since I got the thumbs up sign when I had dead skin covering my body. Finally, the exciting part…your attendant soaps you up so you’re covered from head to toe in bubbles! I felt like a little kid again playing in a bubble bath. I admit it was a little odd having a stranger wash me but it was all part of the Turkish experience.

The Turkish Bath, Dustin’s Take:
Have you ever wondered if something could be both disgusting and relaxing at the same time? Well, that’s what the Turkish Hamam (Bath) experience was. We went to an authentic place in the heart of Old Istanbul that was built in the year 1475. Think about that for a second, it was built over 500 years ago…this place was around before Columbus set sail for America. From the looks of it, a lot of the building hasn’t changed since then either.

First the relaxing parts: Laying flat on your back while staring up at the ceiling in the hamam was a very relaxing, almost surreal experience. (The heart of the Turkish Bath is a large room with domed ceilings full of interesting designs and a raised, heated marble platform in the middle that you lay on….kind of like a big, fancy steam room.) It was quite an experience to lay there and realize that guys have been doing the same thing here for 500 years. The sauna was also nice and relaxing.

The not so relaxing parts: The place stunk, although I guess anywhere that has had sweaty guys in it for 500 years isn’t going to smell great. Also, getting rubbed down by a large, hairy, half-naked Turkish guy isn’t my idea of relaxing. We’re talking exfoliating, massaging, and getting soaped up by a 300 lb version of Borat…it wouldn’t be my first choice of evening activities.

Call to Prayer:
One interesting thing we’ve noticed while traveling in Muslim countries is the “call to prayer”. Throughout the Muslim world they have a call to prayer five times a day. The prayer is blasted over loudspeakers throughout the city. The five times vary by day, almost like an ocean’s tides. During the prayer time, which lasts about an hour, the mosques would be closed to visitors and you’d even see streets blocked off with the entire area covered by people praying. Of course, a couple of the calls to prayer would occur during the middle of the night which means you’d be awakened at all hours by this loud song/prayer.

The Blue Mosque:
The Blue Mosque, built in the early 1600’s, is probably Istanbul’s most popular, and certainly most recognizable, sight. Upon entering we were surprised to see many similarities between the mosque and Christian churches…stained glass windows, painted ceilings, and intricate carvings made it feel like any other Christian church. The only difference was that there are no pews in a mosque-just open floor-and we were walking around barefoot-no shoes are allowed inside.

The Grand Bazaar:
Hoping to find some great bargains we headed to the Grand Bazaar, supposedly the largest covered market in the world. After all of the great markets we visited in Africa and the SE Asia countries -Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia-we were hoping to find more of the same here. We could not have been more wrong. The Grand Bazaar was filled with nice, but way overpriced leather goods, ceramics, clothes, rugs, and just about anything else you could want. The one thing everything had in common was it was very expensive, costing more than you’d pay just about anywhere in the US or the rest of Europe. Even the obvious name-brand knockoffs were expensive. Needless to say, after fighting the crowds through the market and being shocked over and over by the ridiculous prices, we quickly got out of there.

That's it for Turkey...Greece is up next!