Arriving at Antalya airport, I met
a school friend with whom I would travel for the next month, and attempted to
negotiate the route to our first hostel in the old town area. The first thing
that struck me on leaving the surprisingly ornate airport was the heat. It was
already dark but the air was hot and humid as we got on our bus. With little
English spoken, it was difficult to find the old town and our own vague
directions didn't help. Fortunately, everyone we met genuinely wanted to help
and pointed in a vague direction if they weren't sure, and with the old town
streets resembling a maze and the main point of reference being a broken
minaret, it was hardly surprising when they didn't know!
First look at a new world: Old Town Antalya
It was my first time in Asia and
also the first time that I have visited a predominantly Muslim country, so it
was initially strange to hear the calls to prayer from minarets across the
city. I quickly felt it was a pleasant sound and nothing else would seem
fitting here. We traveled on a bus trip around various sights in the area and
saw rich and perfectly preserved heritage left behind by the Romans but also
possibly the worst town in the world. Side was built by slavers with a
reputation for extreme cruelty and described as 'the worst people in the
world'... maybe not much has changed! From the lack of anything uniquely
Turkish to the hordes of European tourists, it was an overpriced, generic
coastal town that could have been anywhere in the world.
Travelling north on one of the many
excellent public buses, I realised we were the only foreigners, and definitely
the only English speakers, on the bus. This was surprising to me as it was such
a good service and remarkably cheap, especially considering that petrol prices
are the highest in Europe. As the only foreigners, the conductor made special
efforts to make sure we had everything that we needed and generally made us
feel very welcome, which seems to be the Turkish way.
I was amazed at how laid back the
country is. Everyone is relaxed and helpful even in the absence of a common language,
nobody rushes and I was quite content to sit by the street in the old town with
tea and a shisha! It was nice to get away from the tourist coast and see some
of real Turkey, and I found it difficult to get excited about going to the
other places on my trip because I really just want to continue exploring the
less known parts of Turkey. The only real issue that we was due to a delayed
dolmus (minibus) that was to take us to the bus station, although after some
fairly robust driving we made our connection with about 30 seconds to spare!
We finally made it to Istanbul
after a 9 hour bus ride from Izmir and an encounter with the only unhelpful
person in Turkey (another dolmus driver). Istanbul is utterly amazing. I knew
it was a big city but it is difficult not to be in awe at how massive it really
is. We were there for 3 days and I think we would have needed months to fully
explore and understand it. It seems fitting that a city so vital throughout
history remains so important now, and as the only city that spans two
continents it seems to go on forever. It is easy to think of Istanbul as the
capital of Turkey as it is the city we hear the most about in the media and it
is far more accessible to Europe. However, the much revered Ataturk moved the
capital to Ankara in 1923 where the headquarters of his resistance movement was
based.
I found the city to be as lively as
I had read. Everything seemed to be on sale in the bustling bazaars which were
alive with the sound of haggling, a skill that as an Englishman I had to
develop rapidly! I also found that the only way to walk on Turkish streets is
to just keep walking and someone else will probably get out of your way. This
is what the locals do so no matter how hair raising, I felt it was worth a try.
The system of traffic and pedestrians seems to work although I have absolutely
no idea how.
The Turks are a lively and
emotional people, most clearly evident when it comes to football! During my
stay in Istanbul, it happened that Galatasaray were playing my team, Manchester
United, and despite this being an away match the streets around the Galata
tower were packed full of fans singing and shouting as if they were at the
game. Any event in the game was greeted with excited cheers or howls of
derision, especially when it came to refereeing decisions, and as United scored
I decided that I definitely would not admit to being English.
So I have been particularly
saddened by the recent unrest in the country as I found the Turkish people to
be so welcoming, laid back and friendly. A walk through Taksim square, which
has been the centre of the problems in Istanbul was a peaceful, pleasant
experience only 6 months ago and I hope that the problems can be resolved as
soon as possible.
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