Turkey

I scrabbled through thousands of passengers at the huge Ankara bus station after 11pm and got myself a bus to Istanbul. The cost doubled this way but I had no choice. After a sleepless and freezing night, I finally arrived at my friend's flat in the trendy town of Bebel in Istanbul. Finally, a day of rest. I did nothing except walking along the mighty Borphorus river that divides Europe and Asia, taking photos of fishermen and exotic cars. I sipped my first Starbuck hot chocolate in months. Welcome back to the Starbuck society with a Starbuck generation.

The modern tram system took me downtown early next morning. Two feline friends ran toward me when I walked towards the Topaki Palace the next morning between Roman grave stoneyard. I sat down for some purry cuddling that really warmed me up on this cold morning. The Harem, where the Sultans and his Corcubines reside, and various exhibitions are impressive proof of the opulent Ottoman empires.

By the time I left the Topaki Palace, busloads of tourists had swallowed up Aya Sofya Square in Sultanahmet. I squeezed myself inside the Aya Sofya and managed to admire this great Byzantine architecture triumph. Built by Emperor Justinian around 530 AD, Aya Sofya is a church in the Byzantine period, then mosque during the Ottoman era, now a museum, protected by yet another feline in front of the spotlight shining on the mihrab.

Hungury and exhausted, I sat in the courtyard of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) to watch families and tourists. School children and young couples came over and asked me for photographs, a first in Turkey, after many from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. What a difference of friendliness between ordinary locals and tourist shop or hotel keepers. My perception of Turkey was renewed in this Islamic countyard.

Among the many underground water storage area in this area, the Basilica cistern is one of the most magnificent constructions built by the Byzantine emperior Justinianus I around mid-550 AD. It has 336 marble columns raising out of water and capacity to hold 100,000 tonne of water. Fish swim freely in this impressive hugh 'tank' and Medusa's heads were put upside down underneath one column to prevent people who look at her turning into stone, according to ancient belief.

My last destination of the day is the Cagaloglu Hamam, with news article from every corner in the world posted outside this 300 years old bath house. Advised as 'One of the 1000 things to see before you die', I walked into the empty reception area and was a bit shocked by the skyhigh prices on the service list. A complete service with scrubbing and massage costs $50 and pay ahead! Another tourist trap. How can a local possibly afford this?

I reluctantly paid, went into the lady's section and undressed myself in my very own room with locks. Then an old lady brought me into the famous but old steamy room with ottoman-styled faucets and sinks around a giant marble slab in the middle. After splashing water on myself for 20 minute, admiring the interior and imagining the old days where public can enjoy this beautiful bath, the old lady came back and asked me to lay down on the marble for the scrub and massage. Although she was very professional, the entire procedure took only 30 minute and I couldn't help but think that I could have had a equally enjoyable experience in a less expensive price somewhere else. I paid for the location and location is what's sell, to tourists, at least nowaday in Istanbul and in all modern cities.

I secretly hope that my impression of Turkey would change after my encounters in the first 24 hours. When I was offered a private tour by the guidiance of the Open Air Museum for a ridiculously low price and invited for drinks alone by my hotel owner after watching the Whirling Devils on the next day, both were in their late 40s or 50s, I was left feeling quite cynical.

Putting cautions aside, I chose to join others on tours for the next 2 days. The regional tour started out with Derinkuyu, one of the underground cities in the Anatolian plateau 50 kms south of Goreme. Once inhabited by over 20,000 Hittites in 8 levels of narrow tunnels, it had a cross-sized church, school with private study rooms, olive press room, crematory and 15,000 ventilation ducts. Some sections can be closed off by circular stoned doors of more than two feets in depth. After the Assyrians, Persians, Romans and Byzantines ruled this area over thousands of years, these cities are used by early Christians to hide from invaders until Christianity was allowed after Muslim took control in the 11th century.

After lunch at a cave restaurant in Avano catered to group tourists, mostly older japanese and korean in this case, we were taken to a pottery and a jewelery store in Uchisha. I dragged myself through these tourist traps until we were taken to the Fairy Chimneys. These unique conical rock formation caused by the different rate of wind and water erosions on the top volcanic layer of basalt and softer bottom layer of tuff. Plenty of caves are visible and used by early inhabitants for religion and other purposes. The day ended with a chilly hike through the mountain opposite the Rose Valley which turned into a beautiful sea of soft orange during sunset. We drove through vast empty lands with occasional petrol stations before reaching Goreme.

I woke up early next morning in my cave room expecting to see sunrise. To my complete surprise, the town below me had already turned bright white and snow is still falling softly. To hike or not to hike? I wondered back to sleep for another hour. The man who arranged my hiking tour seem to care less about the weather condition, but more to make a few bucks by stuffing me with a group of young Koreans from another agency, even if it means that all the spots are the same as the previous tour except the Ilhara valley. On top of that, I was told that my overnight bus reservation to Istanbul was not made on time and all buses were full.

To make up for my disappointment over this arrangement, my driver took me into a smoky, local cafe with only Muslim men playing cards and games while others went inside the underground city in Derinkuyu. I was greeted by many stares initially but everything goes back to normal after a few seconds.

As a hiker, I put my hope on the Ilhara valley. Fortunately, the slope downhill was paved with concrete steps and walking on slippery snow along the icy river bank was more scenic than I thought. After only a few kilometres, we were treated with a simple lunch in a small restaurant and then taken back to Goreme after dark, leaving me just enough time to climb uphill to my hotel to check out with a hugh bill and rushed down the slippery slope again with my backpack, despite of the previous promise of a ride by the hotel management. They did, however, manage to make a last minute reservation for a bus to Ankara for me. 'Adjust your expectation of hospitality here, you are just another tourist to them,' I kept telling myself.

If being stranded by a deserted highway intersection at midnight in 0 degree or pulled off the hillside by someone demanded a wet kiss after a short tour did not dempen your impression in a country (where you don't speak a single word) in the first 24 hours, it will definitely make you redefine how rough your tolerance level can go when backpacking alone as a single woman.

After boarding a 5am bus from Aleppo, Syria and waiting for 5 hours to board another bus from Antanlya, Turkey to Keryseri, I was told to get on another bus supposedly going to Goreme, a town in Cappadocia area written on the ticket. That was around 11pm. I dozed off on this bus after a while and all of a sudden, the bus attendant woke me up and told me to get off the bus because this is my stop, I looked outside the window only to realize this is a highway intersection. I used my broken turkish to ask for my hotel ('otel' in turkish) and he pointed at a direction. I was deserted on the highway in a nearby town called Neveshir at midnight half awake on my first night in a country not knowing a word of the language.

I picked up my backpack and walked toward the direction where the bus attendent pointed at but there is nothing but a residential area. My brain was blank for a moment trying to stay calm and formulate a safe plan for the rest of the night. Trying to walk on a slippery icy surface carrying 30lb of lugguage on your shoulder is difficult enough, let alone you are completely lost in a foreign country. Most houses have turned off their light already at this time, I sat on an intersection with my guide book trying to phone a hostel in Goreme (where I thought I was) and hope that they will come pick me up. The call did not go through.

When an old Mercede drove pass, I had no choice but hope for the best. I waved at it and fortunately, it backed up and a woman face emerged from the open window. Since I had no idea of what she was trying to say, I pointed at the map in my guidebook. When she realized that I did not understand, she talked to her husband who was driving, turned back to me and said 'otel', then put her hands on her cheek to signal 'sleep', and told me what I thought to be 'tomorrow' 'Goreme'. At this point, the rear window lowered and a boy signaled me to get inside the car so they can take me to a nearby hotel. I was speechless. The next morning, I took a taxi to Goreme, 20 minute away.

After checking into a hotel with my own cave room in Goreme, I went to explore the Open Air Museum. This historic area was inhabited by hedites many centuries ago who built many churches inside stone caves. Many paintings are still clearly visible nowaday. After the museum, I walked alone in a nearby area with many caves in beautiful eroded rock formation. While I was having a private moment inside a small cave, a middle-aged man, the guide, appeared outside. He introduced himself and volunteered to show me around. Although I had second thought, I went along thinking what would happen in an open area, right? Not exactly.

After showing me many more hidden churches and houses in this area for the next hour speaking turkish to me the whole time, I thanked him and started to walk away. He grasped my arm at this point and tried to pull me away and point at a cave, then signaled that I should give him a kiss. I tried to pull my body away but his hold was strong. When he showed me his wedding ring and then his tongue, 'running' is the only thought in my mind. I managed to pull myself away from his arm, and run I did. He gave up after my rude gesture. Should have never taken up his guiding service in the first place, right? Sometimes, to assume that any friendly person is out to take advantage of you when travelling seems a bit prejudice especially after the exceptional hospitality that I had received from the last 2 months. It must be a preview of the complexed world I had to go back to. A bit of adjustment in human nature will be necessary.