“What? You don’t have two seats together?” I was angry.
“No. But you can try to exchange with someone.”
Yea, right. Like anyone from a window or aisle will want to come to my middle seat.
So the trip began on a bad note. I felt like crying sitting 20 rows away from the Boy. It was an overnight flight and I sat squeezed between two rather good-looking men. But well, that was a fantasy that should have been fulfilled at another age and another marital status!
“You can have complimentary breakfast and we will give you an early check-in at 9:30 a.m,” said the kind soul that sat at the Hotel Reception. Thanks to them, we slept like dogs till 1.
And then began our journey into Istanbul. Tripadvisor had told me to be cautious of notorious taxi drivers. We were vigilant yet they managed to rip us off. Topkapi Palace was boring. I kept thinking of the grand palaces in Jaipur and how we never bothered to pay much attention. I was keenly interested in the Harem. It made me very sad to think how a Sultan kept numerous wives and mistresses. On top of that, they kept Eunuchs to guard the Harem. It is our ancestors who have objectified women. It’s so hard to change the mind set now. It’s depressing, very depressing. Indian kings were no less. 100 wives, 1000 kids, utter nuisance.
We then got lost and hence bugged. That’s the beauty of doing everything on your own. You go through so many emotions. People advised us to take guided tours, but we are nomads, we get a sense of achievement if we get lost.
Anyway, we saw the European and the Asian side of Istanbul, went to a huge island near-by, looked for happy squares, hogged on ice-cream and doner kebabs, and kept the historical sites for another day. Such people should never go to Istanbul because the city is well-known for it’s rich heritage. If you are looking for Mac Donalds in a mall, go to Dubai.
We saw Istanbul’s best site on our last day. But that comes at the end of this travelogue. We couldn’t go the city’s supremely awesome night clubs for the party began at 12 and we were always tired by then.
Our next journey was into Pamukkale. I did not know why people were fascinated by a white colored hill that was made of limestone. But this is a chance we had to take. It was a tourist destination and we would have looked like fools if we avoided it!
Walking down the travertine was the first
high-point of our trip. The hill has been formed by mineral deposits left by
flowing water. From the top, you look down a spotlessly clean white mountain.
There is greenery everywhere around it, something that you don’t see next to a
snow-clad mountain. We started our walk downwards and it felt magical with
water touching our feet at every level. The flowing water had formed mini pools
and it was amazing to sit in them. No words, no pictures, nothing can describe
the feeling. You have to feel it to know it.
We didn’t like the food in Pamukkale. The sun was unbearable and I emptied
half my sun block bottle. It was God- sent for my nikhri tvacha!
Speaking of which, we saw an antique pool in Pamukkale. It was next to the
ruined city of Heirapolis, which, by the way had such an eerie feeling to it.
The pool was a natural site where you could swim amidst trees in natural spring
water. Pretty sight it was.
Our last stop was Oludeniz. We were the only Indians in the whole village. People confused us with Turks. And when we told them we were from India, they asked if we lived in England ‘coz only Britishers went to Oludeniz! We always thought that wherever we’ll go we’ll find someone from our 1 billion plus population. Oludeniz proved us wrong and we were delighted to be in a foreign land!
The beaches made our holiday awesome. I picked up the boy in water. What a
joy it was! Oh, and another highlight was that I walked around the village in a
Bikini top with shortest shorts. Cheap thrills, I tell you.
Oludeniz has outstanding surroundings. We went to one park that was set amidst rocks. The water flowed from the top and flowed all through the park. They had smartly places tables in strategic locations where you could sit and eat. We wished we had a park like that in our city of Nawabs where we could have dated in our ‘golden’ days. Anway, it was romantic like hell even today!
The last day of our trip to Oludeniz was the best one. We went to a remote
beach called Patara beach. I have seen nothing like it. You could walk and walk
into the sea and the golden sand will never leave your feet. Romancing in clear
waters was my favourite memory of the trip.
We had another 3-4 hours in Istanbul before our flight back home. We covered Hagia Sophia. The history of this museum is fascinating. It was a church before the Ottoman Empire took over Turkey. They converted it into a mosque. In 1923, Ataturk became the first President of the Republic of Turkey and he restored parts of the church. He then converted this site into a museum. This place made me remember Babri Masjid and the issues revolving around it. When will we have a revolutionary leader like Ataturk? His efforts to modernize Turkey made me fall in love with him.
We had an over-night stop-over at Abu Dhabi airport. Being residents of Bahrain we can get UAE visa on arrival. We jumped at the opportunity to catch up with friends. The thrill of getting a visa on arrival is unsurpassed. Americans should count their blessings!
I found Turkey exactly like India. It is full of history and beautiful landscapes. They have vibrant restaurants and varied shopping avenues. It seemed like an agricultural based economy with plantations and tractors all around the highways. It was like the India of my dreams that has concrete roads, lower density of population, tourist friendly people and cleaner environment. We have more scenic mountains and beaches, our architecture is unparalleled and our food is divine. Really, I dreamt of an improved India all through my trip.
P.S. I realised I don't have many pictures without either me or the Boy in it. Although we don't have much interest in photography, will try to capture more next time.We also don't have many pictures of historical sites. Our interest in them is evident :D
Yea, right. Like anyone from a window or aisle will want to come to my middle seat.
So the trip began on a bad note. I felt like crying sitting 20 rows away from the Boy. It was an overnight flight and I sat squeezed between two rather good-looking men. But well, that was a fantasy that should have been fulfilled at another age and another marital status!
“You can have complimentary breakfast and we will give you an early check-in at 9:30 a.m,” said the kind soul that sat at the Hotel Reception. Thanks to them, we slept like dogs till 1.
And then began our journey into Istanbul. Tripadvisor had told me to be cautious of notorious taxi drivers. We were vigilant yet they managed to rip us off. Topkapi Palace was boring. I kept thinking of the grand palaces in Jaipur and how we never bothered to pay much attention. I was keenly interested in the Harem. It made me very sad to think how a Sultan kept numerous wives and mistresses. On top of that, they kept Eunuchs to guard the Harem. It is our ancestors who have objectified women. It’s so hard to change the mind set now. It’s depressing, very depressing. Indian kings were no less. 100 wives, 1000 kids, utter nuisance.
We then got lost and hence bugged. That’s the beauty of doing everything on your own. You go through so many emotions. People advised us to take guided tours, but we are nomads, we get a sense of achievement if we get lost.
Anyway, we saw the European and the Asian side of Istanbul, went to a huge island near-by, looked for happy squares, hogged on ice-cream and doner kebabs, and kept the historical sites for another day. Such people should never go to Istanbul because the city is well-known for it’s rich heritage. If you are looking for Mac Donalds in a mall, go to Dubai.
We saw Istanbul’s best site on our last day. But that comes at the end of this travelogue. We couldn’t go the city’s supremely awesome night clubs for the party began at 12 and we were always tired by then.
Our next journey was into Pamukkale. I did not know why people were fascinated by a white colored hill that was made of limestone. But this is a chance we had to take. It was a tourist destination and we would have looked like fools if we avoided it!
 |
| Pamukkale Travertines |
 |
| Antique Pool, Pamukkale |
Our last stop was Oludeniz. We were the only Indians in the whole village. People confused us with Turks. And when we told them we were from India, they asked if we lived in England ‘coz only Britishers went to Oludeniz! We always thought that wherever we’ll go we’ll find someone from our 1 billion plus population. Oludeniz proved us wrong and we were delighted to be in a foreign land!
.JPG) |
| Yaka Park, Near Patara Village |
Oludeniz has outstanding surroundings. We went to one park that was set amidst rocks. The water flowed from the top and flowed all through the park. They had smartly places tables in strategic locations where you could sit and eat. We wished we had a park like that in our city of Nawabs where we could have dated in our ‘golden’ days. Anway, it was romantic like hell even today!
 |
| Patara Bach, Southern Coast, Turkey |
We had another 3-4 hours in Istanbul before our flight back home. We covered Hagia Sophia. The history of this museum is fascinating. It was a church before the Ottoman Empire took over Turkey. They converted it into a mosque. In 1923, Ataturk became the first President of the Republic of Turkey and he restored parts of the church. He then converted this site into a museum. This place made me remember Babri Masjid and the issues revolving around it. When will we have a revolutionary leader like Ataturk? His efforts to modernize Turkey made me fall in love with him.
We had an over-night stop-over at Abu Dhabi airport. Being residents of Bahrain we can get UAE visa on arrival. We jumped at the opportunity to catch up with friends. The thrill of getting a visa on arrival is unsurpassed. Americans should count their blessings!
 |
| Hagia Sophia, Istanbul |
I found Turkey exactly like India. It is full of history and beautiful landscapes. They have vibrant restaurants and varied shopping avenues. It seemed like an agricultural based economy with plantations and tractors all around the highways. It was like the India of my dreams that has concrete roads, lower density of population, tourist friendly people and cleaner environment. We have more scenic mountains and beaches, our architecture is unparalleled and our food is divine. Really, I dreamt of an improved India all through my trip.
P.S. I realised I don't have many pictures without either me or the Boy in it. Although we don't have much interest in photography, will try to capture more next time.We also don't have many pictures of historical sites. Our interest in them is evident :D
The pictures look nice. Though I was about to rue about the fact that these should have been more, your P.S. stopped me :)
ReplyDeleteI know.. even these pictures are cropped! Somehow we never took pictures of scenery,buildings etc. I even have a theory.. "you have the best time when you don't get time/forget to take pictures" :D
DeleteThe pictures are beautiful. I think I will be visiting Turkey sometime in the next ten years now that I have heard about it from so many of my blog friends.
ReplyDeleteOnly bloggers go to Turkey, I think. People have been asking me the reason we went to Turkey. All I could tell them is that we wanted a cheap holiday this time around! Although we ended up having a great time :)
DeleteFor long Istanbul has been on my places to visit list, should plan sometime soon now
ReplyDeleteOh ya, you must go. It's a great value for money destination, especially from the Middle East.
Delete