Bayram and departure preparations

Alhamdulillah, these past few days have been quite busy and eventful - I will be back home in just over a week in sha Allah. At least the weather has still been beautiful - I've been walking around in short sleeves without a jacket today. Still, I don't mind the cold that much.

Last week was busy workwise. I have a few small projects I have to wrap up, and only have one work day left - next Friday. Erkut also gave me some more to do's to deal with as well. Khayr in sha Allah.

On Wednesday, I made two liters of sheer korma using the packets my mom sent with me. She sent three packets total - I am not sure why, as there are only two Eids - so I brought the packets and the milk to the office and made it there for everyone. I think my coworkers liked it, but they certainly weren't as enthusiastic about it as me. I made the most damage through Friday, when I sent the rest with Gizem for her family. I will have to collect the pot next week, in sha Allah.

My colleagues had warned me that I would have a hard time getting tickets on buses or trains or even airplanes due to the Bayram. They were surprised I hadn't made reservations yet. I would have liked to, but I still hadn't decided on how pr when to leave the country so I could get a new Turkish visa. Still, their concern, and also reading about an early December Rumi festival in Konya that usually fills the city, spurred me into action.

On Thursday, I went to a travel agency near Ali Sami Yen stadium (I could hear chanting in the background) that I often walked by. I went just for information purposes, but I ended up buying some tickets. I tried to find out my options. A flight to Athens (one way) was several hundred Euros. Northern Cyprus would be cheaper - only YTL 300-330 or so roundtrip. However, I could not book a hotel room for only one night at this time - they wanted a minimum of three nights during Bayram season. I didn't want to pay that, and figured a day trip to Greece would have the same utility as one to Cyprus for less price, so I decided upon the train to Greece option. Alas, I couldn't get train tickets at the travel agency (or bus tickets) - I had to go to the train station (or the Otogar).

Alhamdulillah, when I asked about Konya, he did have a flight available for YTL 149 one way (including YTL 15 in fees), leaving from Ataturk airport on Sunday night. I went for it, since I didn't want to risk missing out on Rumi, and bus spots were now in doubt. Also, the price was rather reasonable compared to what I had seen online, and I would be saving a lot of time. I also asked about hotels, and he had availability in Konya, so I took it. It was rather expensive, at EUR 86/YTL 174 for just me, but it is a nice hotel, the Dedeman. As a foreigner, the price was YTL 174 instead of YTL 140, which is annoying. I ended up using my credit card for a purchase in Turkey for the first time (other than transactions with US entities like apps and flight to DC). I wouldn't have, but the ATM was out of order when I walked by to get some cash. I guess this does give me some protection anyways, which is not a bad thing.

The guy took a really long time to give me the tickets - I was in there for over an hour, mostly waiting for him. He was chatting with some girl the whole time, and the wierd thing is, I think it was for my tickets and reservations somehow.

I did research on the best way to get to Greece for visa purposes. I read about and called the bus companies. Alas, I couldn't make out what they were saying. I kept trying to piece together some itinerary, triangulating where and when the buses and trains stopped, so I could have as short and cheap a trip as possible. It seems like the schedulers have made it as difficult as possible to do what I wanted to do - just go, cross the border, and come back, painlessly. What I gathered was that buses and trains to Greece are rather infrequent. The bus companies might have one bus going per day. There are two trains a day between the two countries. That is it from Istanbul - from Edirne, there may be more, but I didn't want to risk my visa status on speculation. I had a hard deadline to be back in Istanbul as well, given my 1020pm flight to Konya on Sunday. I could either head to the Otogar or the Sirkeci train station to buy tickets. I opted for Sirkeci first, since it was closer.

Early on Friday morning, after fajr, I went to the train station, leaning towards getting the overnight Istanbul-Thessaloniki roundrip, where I would leave Friday evening, get to Saloniki Saturday morning, come back in the evening, and reach Istanbul Sunday morning. I just didn't want to risk getting stranded somewhere in the middle, waiting for a bus or train or connection that might be late. However, after studying the schedules, it appeared I could just do a day trip to the border, coming back on the same train on Saturday. The ticket guy recommended this, saying that doing that with the sleeper train would be much more expensive (4x). I got the roundtrip tickets to Pythion and back for YTL 55 total. They were open tickets, even though I told the guy the dates I wanted. It was still risky, depending on how long it took to process my visas and stuff, but I figured it was worth it. Sorry Omar, it would have been nice to go to Thessaloniki and actually see part of Greece, but I will have to save that for a more meaningful trip than simply trying to get a new visa.

I got up early again on Saturday to make the trip down to the train station. I got there with plenty of time to spare - it leaves and 830 each day. By and large, the train was on time, alhamdulillah. Of course, it was terribly inefficient - a dozen stops at least - making the 3 hour bus ride a 6 hour one way trip. Only one segment of the train makes it all the way to Greece, so beware what compartment you sit in if you take this train. Also beware of where you sit, because I had the most horrible seat in the train on the way there. The usher bade me to a relatively empty section - just one Japanese tourist in it. I sat there, and the entire trip, I was shaken up, down, left, right. If I was a baby, I would probably have shaken baby syndrome or something. My bottom was quite sore afterwards. I knew I had the worst seat on the train - the others in my compartment even didn't have it so bad. I thought I knew what was happening, and after getting off, I confirmed it - I was sitting on the wheel/spring part of the train that is on the track - each bump, each divot, each twist of the track, I felt. If I had a problem with motion sickness, it would have been all over. The way back, I picked a much better seat, right in the middle, and alhamdulillah, it was still a bit bumpy, but not so bad.

The ride was actually quite horrible overall. Some of the views were nice, though. As we exited Istanbul, there were new developments/suburbs wwhere there were nice looking cookie cutter houses. However, instead of each house being the same structure with different features, there were three or four of each type of house/building, EXACTLY the same, and there were dozens of different patterns. It looked pretty neat, maybe like something out of Dr. Seuss. Also, more leaves had started to fall.

Still, aside from the bumpiness, the compartment had filled up with some grungy looking Turks (long hair, scraggly beards, dirty, smelly). Actually, two were like that, and one was different - clean shaven, less annoying, less smelly. I couldn't figure out what he was doing with them, and I was wondering about this the whole trip. I later found out he was a Syrian, from Latakia, named Hani. They were conversing in Turkish the whole time, so I didn't figure it out until I saw his passport. He is probably Alawi, but a nice enough guy. Perhaps he is an outcast here, just like them. So anyways, I didn't have much room to strech out. I did manage to drift off a bit though. I had to stand several times to shake off the bumpiness though.

I hadn't eaten anything all day, so when we got to the Turkish visa checkpoint, I grabbed some cookies, biscuits, and water (YTL 4) - no dan cake (or anything) served on Turkish trains I guess! We were there for maybe half an hour, without any problems. Some guy came and collected all the passports and then gave them back after we got back on the train. We crossed some farmland and then a river before stopping at the Greek checkpoint.

Again, the passports were collected. Everyone was told to get off the train for the switch. I did as well, but I mentioned to some official looking people that now I wanted to go back to Turkey. One of the train people kind of figured out what I was trying to do, so he had the Greeks expedite my entry/exit stamp at the same time. I got back in the same train (only one segment had made it across), and went back after another half hour. I think what I was trying to do was at least not unheard of. Hardly anyone was on the train going back. I had a whole compartment to myself, and it stayed like that. The Turkish officials wanted to make sure I had the Greek entry/exit stamps before giving me a new visa. Make sure you have Euros if you try this, since the visa place asks for them - USD did not appear to be an option. Alhamdulillah, I had Euros on me (first time I was carrying my wallet in months - I had just been putting cash or cards in my pocket). I wouldn't recommend this way to get a new visa - planning a nice trip to Greece or Cyprus is a much better option, but I just don't have the time. In terms of time wasted, it worked out to about the same as the overnight train, but I slept at home two extra nights and spent much less.

Both the Greek and Turkish border posts were in little more than villages. I'm glad I didn't have to wait around in either one or get stuck there. The Turkish post is about 50 km from Edirne, so there might have been transportation, but it was probably more trouble than it was worth. There were shops and stuff - they were towns after all, but the crossing is probably the biggest thing that happens there all day. The river reminded me a bit of the Anduin from the LOTR movie - with the troops on both sides and just a kind of sense of emptiness but wariness.

For some reason, we stayed in this area until about 4/430 instead of leaving at 330, but we got back to IST on time more or less - about 930. The ride back was ok, if dark. I did some work composing Eid letters, but my battery lasted only so long. Alhamdulillah, I was able to stretch out. There was an officer with a gun patrolling the train, looking in after every stop. I'm not sure why - maybe to prevent stowaways.

I got back last night and came back to the office to drop off my laptop. I had a late, late dinner so I didn't have to worry about suhoor in the morning.

Today, I went to the Sunday bazaar near my house. I think I will get some gifts from there, like scarves. I also need to pick up a backpack for my trip. I will go back shortly.

I kept on trying to find the muezzin at Konyali but he has disappeared. Perhaps he is visiting family for Bayram (or on Hajj). I need to give him the clothes mom sent. I might have to wait until next weekend, in sha Allah.

Other anecdotes:

I saw a sign encouraging people to throw trash away in the metro (a sticker) - the trash was in the shape of a swastika, which was wierd.

They got rid of the manti special at my mall - disappointing - I paid YTL 17 for what I used to pay YTL 11.

Ayman doviz has changed the price on my downwards twice now, after I walked in.

The AKBIL recharge stations are easy to use - but be careful, they might spit out your money after you leave and void the transaction. I saw this happen to someone.

Now, I am off for some more errands, and then to the airport in sha Allah. If I take my laptop, maybe I will post from Konya.