Reflections on Turkey

Ouch, nine days without a peep. We have a good excuse: The Turkish laptops at our hostel make typing ridiculously slow. We are at an internet cafe now. Time has really flown the last two weeks, and I'm not going to even attempt to blog about everywhere we've gone. I will update the map on the sidebar and you can take a look.

Tonight is our last night in Istanbul, and our last night in Turkey. We have spent more time in Istanbul (8 days total) than in any other place on our trip. "Best Island Hostel" holds the record for most continous nights in one place (6), which is a shame because it is a total dive.

Turkey has been a very interesting place to travel, but also very strange and difficult at times. Rather than tell you all about Ephesus, our tour to Mt. Nemrut, or the churches we've seen in Istanbul, I just want to tell you more about what it is like for a westerner to travel here. Especially since the "Istanblues" post was such a hit (we have been to Starbucks two more times)!

The food has been good, although it has been hard for Morgan to find good vegetarian fare. She has eaten a lot of lentil soup, bean salad, and eggplant cooked in a variety of ways. Outside of Goreme, we have not found a restaurant we really like. There is no cheap, healthy, good food, and I can only eat so many meatball sandwiches and kebabs. At one restaurant, you may be pleasantly surprised to be served this (thank you Homeros Pension):



While at another, you may be shocked to be served this:



The hardest thing to get used to, however, is people trying to sell you stuff. For your first 15 minutes in Istanbul, you think that Turkish people are incredibly friendly. But 95% of the conversations begin with "Excuse me sir, where are you from?" and end with "Please come into my shop for tea/kebabs/carpets." If you respond to every person who politely greets you on the street, you will never make it 100 yards from your hostel, and your time will be spent explaining that you don't want what they're selling.

The first day, I was drawn into a lot of conversations. The tenth day, I shouted at someone "I don't want to but anything!" With that out of my system, I have been able to completely ignore people without the slightest trace of guilt. Avoiding eye contact is the best strategy. Though I have learned to handle it, I still do not understand the mentality behind waiters who stand in your way on the sidewalk telling you to come into their restaurant. (a) If I wanted to go to a restaurant, I would find one and sit myself down. (b) Even if I had intended to eat in your restaurant, I certainly don't want to now. I think it is fun to walk down streets with lots of restaurants, pause to look at each menu, and move on to the next one as soon as the waiter opens his mouth.

I should add here that Istanbul is an incredible city. In other cities, we were bored and ready to move on a matter of 2 days. Here, it would be easy to spend a month. In fact, we have some new friends from Vancouver (Canada) who have been here 6 weeks, and are still finding all kinds of interesting sights.

So now it is on to Jordan. We fly to Amman tomorrow, and will spend 7-8 days in Madaba, Petra, and Wadi Rum (the desert from Lawrence of Arabia). Then we head to Egypt, and another month of adventures. Yikes!