Visitor week

Alhamdulillah, I am coming off a very enjoyable week. Muhammad Baba and Atiya left Friday early in the morning, but they had a great time I think, as did I. Muhammad Baba even suggested to Atiya that they move to Istanbul, only half jokingly I think. Still, during their visit, I was unable to blog, so I will try to recount the past week's events here. Alhamdulillah, we were able to achieve much of the schedule, though a few line items were passed over. I think the Galatasaray match deserves its own blog entry. Also, on Friday night, I saw Osmanli Cumhuriyeti, a Turkish movie about what things would be like if Ataturk had not been, which also deserves its own entry, in sha Allah.

Alas, I did not take any pictures of this week, and have only now recharged my battery. Atiya and Muhammad Baba took quite a few, and said they would send me some, so I will post a few when I get them, in sha Allah.


Saturday - 11/22


Alhamdulillah, I got to the airport with time to spare. Their Lufthanasa flight was to arrive at 1240 in the afternoon, and I reached at about 1220. I took the Metro to Taksim, then the microbus to Aksaray, and the other Metro all the way to the airport. The trip was about an hour or so, and I was able to sit the whole time, alhamdulillah.


Muhammad Baba and Atiya came out of customs about an hour after the arrival time, so I just hung out a bit. I had a hot chocolate, and just leaned on a pillar in front of the exit area, waiting. I was a bit hungry, haven not eaten breakfast, but I figured I would wait, as we had lunch plans.

As I was waiting, I saw three African Americans walk past security and into the customs/baggage area, just flashing their passports. I would have thought that was crazy, but I had overheard one of them telling an earlier guard that they were there to pick up Mike Tyson, who was coming at 1pm, and that one of the guys was Tyson's brother. I thought that was crazy, but the guards let them past. I guess the one guy was stocky like Tyson, so who knows. It would have been a crazy coincidence, seeing as the only other time I had seen Iron Mike was at a DC area airport. Alas, he didn't show at 1pm, and they headed back out - I don't know what happened.


Anyways, alhamdulillah, Muhammad Baba and Atiya came out without any trouble and we made our way to the taxi stand, as my mom had sent three suitcases (completely unnecessary, but they were pretty much full of clothes to give away). It was great to see them, alhamdulillah - I haven't had much of a social life over here, to put it mildly.


The first taxi we tried could not fit all of the bags, because there was a huge, oversized, unnecessary tire in the trunk. Someone offered to call another, larger vehicle, but I didn't want them to call those shuttles that cost YTL 70. Another taxi driver had a larger vehicle, so we fit in alhamdulillah. He asked me if I wanted to take the regular way, or a way that is 8km longer, but with "no traffic." I opted for the longer way, even though the meters run by distance, hoping to save time, but you really can't give these guys an inch. It took over an hour to get back, and the alternate route had incredible traffic. My guests weren't even able to get a nice view of the city, becuase we were on back routes. The trip cost YTL 50, compared to YTL 30 when I came the first time. Still, better than the shuttles, I guess.

Atiya napped during the trip, but Mobaba and I caught up a bit. We carried the bags up the stairs when we got to the apartment. Muhammad Baba took two suitcases up at once for the challenge of it, but I think he rather regreted it by the end.

I think the place was reasonably well prepared for their visit. Obviously, a hotel would probably have been more comfortable for them in a number of ways (elevator, cleaner, etc.), but alhamdulillah, they were happy enough. It was Atiya's inspection that I was most worried about, but I think the place passed muster.

Atiya and Muhammad Baba brought me a nice gift - a picture frame with several pictures from the wedding for me to rotate periodically and remember home. It was good, since I didn't have anything like this (although some images are still stored in the digital camera). It is still set at a picture of me and Mobaba.

We snacked a bit - cookies, sticks, cheese, and juice. We skipped lunch, as they were still full from several meals on the plane. The cheese was a big hit, alhamdulillah, as were the juices. I sent some cheese back with them. I think Muhammad Baba broke out some brownies my mom had sent as well - he was initially under the impression that the whole suitcase was full of them, but thankfully, there was just one box.

It was wierd - for the first time in two months, there were other people besides me in the apartment, other voices than the TV. For the first time in two months, I led prayer (Asr). A nice pace of change, of course, but a little surreal too.

After the snacks, Muhammad Baba and I went to pray Maghrib at the mosque. He really liked Konyali (which he refers to as Coney Island), and wants to bring something like that to the US (as opposed to my barebones ideas). Certainly, it is beautiful.

Atiya and Muhammad Baba napped a bit before dinner. I cleaned up a bit and waited. At around 615pm or so, I woke them up, so we could eat before the game. We went to Profilo's food court and had some Burger King. It was good, and both Atiya and Muhammad Baba were somewhat impressed by the size and nature of the place, I think. Mobaba changed some money at the Doviz, but I told him to change more money at Ayman doviz later on.

We had felt some rain entering Profilo, and it was raining quite hard when we left. Atiya got an umbrella and we headed to the internet cafe. I was pretty drenched by the time we got there, and I think Mobaba was also quite wet.

Although Mobaba tried to find some online sources of the game, we Skyped with mom, and she put the camera on our little TV back home - the picture was poor quality, but the audio was great. Of course the game was horrible. Next topic.

When we got back, unfortunately, our water supply had stopped. I'm still not sure what the cause is. We ended up going to my office to make use of the running water there. Mobaba and Atiya liked the view, but I was careful to point out that the skyline they saw was just a fraction of a fraction of the city.

We didn't stay up too late on Saturday.

Sunday - 11/25

I went and picked up some simit for breakfast. We had it with cheese, honey, and juice. It was quite good, and I think Mobaba might have become addicted to the stuff (sorry Atiya). I might have to bring him a fix of the stuff when I come back in sha Allah.

Alhamdulillah, the water was running in the morning. However, when we tried to plug in a hair drier with a outlet converter we had bought, the apartment's power went out. I couldn't figure out how to turn the circuit breaker back on from the apartment, but alhamdulillah, when I went to the basement, it was clear enough.

After breakfast, we headed down to Topkapi. We took the Metro to the funicular to the tram, so alhamdulillah, Muhammad Baba and Atiya got a good overview of the public transport system. I was using my recently purchased AKBIL (YTL 6), but alas, the discount only works on one person, not all three of us, for connections.

We prayed Zuhr at the Sirkeci mosque near the train station. Some nice brother there who had lived in Germany told us that today was the last day of certain sacred relic exhibits at Topkapi, so it was a good day for us to be visiting. I thought initially it was the whole exibit, which would be a disasterous loss for the museum but it was just some clothing and other items of the Prophet's family - still important, but not everything.

Alhamdulillah, we spent a few hours at Topkapi. Mobaba went and got the tickets (YTL 20 each), and we explored it ourselves, without a guide. We didn't get a chance to go to the Harem area (another YTL 15), since it closed at 3 or 330 or so, but I think by the end, we were tired anyways.

Obviously, the treasures and sights of Topkapi are well documented - we saw just about everything. We had some tea/apple tea and some snacks in a cafe overlooking the Bosphorus (way overpriced place - about 4x too much). I prayed Asr in the complex's mosque.

Alas, we were too late for Dolmabahce, and didn't feel like heading to the Galata tower, so these line items were skipped from the itinerary.

We decided to have dinner at a place near Sirkeci train station, instead of going to the water front or up to Suleymaniye - it was just too cold. The food was quite good - we got a mixed plate of different kebab types, upon the waiter's recommendation. We thought we were getting a good deal - a family platter type thing for YTL 12, but it ended up coming to three times that - they gave us three of the plates, which was the most expensive item. You really can't give these guys an inch. Alhamdulillah, at least it was good. As usual, I drank Ayran, but neither Mobaba or Atiya really developed a taste for the stuff during this trip.

I thought we could salvage our trip down to the Eminonu area by a visit to the Spice Bazaar at least, in lieu of the Galata Tower or Dolmabahce, but alas, it was closed.

We took a bus back to the apartment, and Mobaba and Atiya both took a nap. Mobaba only thought it would be 5 minutes of shuteye, but I waited for a bit, and when I heard some snoring, I headed to the office to check my email. It was certainly the jetlag effect making its presence felt. I left my Turkish cell phone with a note for them to text me when they woke up.

They texted me at around 1030 or so when they awoke, when I was on my way back. We ended up heading to starbucks for some hot chocolate and baklava. We stayed until closing (midnight), and then chatted about this and that when we got home for another couple hours. At least it wasn't raining, and and the power was working at this point, alhamdulillah.

Monday - 11/24

Mobaba picked up some borek and simit for breakfast, which we had together. Mobaba and Atiya thought the borek was okay, but it had nothing on the simit and cheese in their opinion.

I went to work and left the AKBIL for transportation and the cell phone for communication. Work was a bit rough because of the late night.

First, Mobaba and Atiya went to pick up the Galatasaray tickets, which had finally gone on sale on Monday. We ended up getting some "seats" in the Galatasaray fan section for YTL 30 a piece. They looked around Cevahir a bit, but not much at this point.

After that, the plan called for Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in the morning. Alas, Hagia Sophia was closed on Monday. I don't know what is up with these Turkish museums - they have very strange schedules, hours, and pricing schemes. Alhamdulillah, Mobaba and Atiya at least saw the Blue Mosque and liked it very much, although they agree with me about the wires.

They had some Sultanahmet Koftecisi for lunch. They also spent some time walking around the Spice Bazaar and shopping. Atiya really liked the plates that my mom also admires. They were still in that general area (at a Starbucks) when I came down. I left work at 715 or so, and got to Eminonu at 8pm using the Metro/funicular/tram. Alas, there was a bit of confusion on the train, so Mobaba and Atiya were held up a bit near the Blue Mosque. We met at the Yeni/new mosque, and then walked over to the Suleymaniye. Alas, it was rather cold. I was wearing only my suit, as I hadn't had a chance to change, coming straight from work, and would have liked a warm coat.

Alas, the Suleymaniye was closed at this point, but we walked around the complex. We had some fasuliye, which was quite good, alhamdulillah. Then, we headed down to the same downstairs plaza where Omer and I had gone earlier this year. We sat around the fire and had some apple tea. They really enjoyed this. I wish I could come sometime when it wasn't so cold though!

We thought we would return on the bus, but after waiting for a few minutes, it appeared as though the buses were done for the day. We went to the Eminonu tram stop, which was rather empty, and went back up the funicular/metro instead.


Tuesday - 11/25


Bad news today at work - alas, my boss back home lost his job. I'm not sure what that will mean for me, but it can't be good, and I only see downside at this point. Khayr in sha Allah. Not much good news coming out of Michigan these days. I sent a letter to hundreds of state senators, representatives, other leaders, analysts, and press to spur thought about my ideas/suggestions for Michigan to help itself. I had been thinking about it for a while, and decided to get people thinking. I drafted the letter, had Zeshaun Ahmad, Aamir, and my mom review it, and sent it out after collecting the contact info. Basically, Michigan should take a stake in the Big 3 (like VW) if the US government is slow to act, and we should also have a gas tax that is used to pay for new jobs. We'll see what happens. So far, not much response, but that might be because of the holiday week.

Again, no joint breakfast, but I think my guests had some Simit and cheese - they really liked that cheese. Mobaba and Atiya decided against Buyukada and went for the Bosphorus cruise instead. They liked it, but didn't feel the need to see the fortress up close. They had Iskender kebab for lunch and enjoyed it quite a bit. After that, I think they checked out the grand bazaar before grabbing some baklava while waiting for the Dervish show. Alas, around this time, the cell phone I had given them was lost, so our communications was rather crippled for the rest of the trip. Alhamdulillah, I don't really need it, and it was not a terrible loss, but it made things a bit more inconvenient. They didn't think the show was too great either, after the first few minutes of spinning.


I had gotten out of work early, so I was at the apartment when Muhammad Baba and Atiya rang the bell (first time I heard that). We decided on pizza for dinner and went to Domino's. We got a couple - one called the Turkish pizza, and I forget the other. They were both good. I told the Domino's staff that the order was for Mehmet Bey - I think they both got a kick out of that.


Alas, Mobaba fell asleep early, so our night was cut short a bit.

Wednesday - 11/26


No joint breakfast today unfortunately, although I think Mobaba and Atiya made it to one of the numerous Simit cafes in the area. Alhamdulillah, things were busy at work, but I was able to take a half day for Thanksgiving at least (I am down to 1.5 personal days left now). I took the brownies in, and everyone liked them. Our Bahrain partner came in to visit - it was nice to see him. I hope he has some work for me soon in the Gulf.


Muhammad Baba and Atiya started the day at the internet cafe - they hadn't been online in a couple of days, and there were some urgent messages that needed to be sent. After that, they went down to see Dolmabahce. Alas, they went the wrong way from Taksim and missed it, going toward Kabatas. Still, they enjoyed a nice walk - the weather was beautiful on Wednesday, alhamdulillah. They also stopped at some five star hotels to ask about Turkey dinners for Thanksgiving, but no such luck. They saw the Hagia Sophia, went back to the Blue Mosque, and did some shopping. They picked up some interesting gifts. They also had lunch on a waterside restaurant - nice view but bad food/service unfortunately.


We had pre-arranged to meet at 730 at the apartment, as our means of communication had been eliminated. I was caught up in a meeting at 730, and headed back home at 740. It was raining and I forgot my umbrella at home, so I briefly considered waiting at the Astoria. Alhamdulillah, there was a lull of merely light rain, so I quickly sped home, but did not find them waiting. I was really worried that they had come and gone. I went up, changed, and then came back down to look for them at nearby cafes. Alhamdulillah, right as I left the building at almost 8pm or so, they came around the corner - I hadn't been too late.


We dried up and recovered a bit, and debated where to eat. Johnny Rocket's was the plan for Thursday's lunch, but we decided to prepone it. We headed out to Cevahir mall in the rain and made it in one piece, although we all took at least a little splash damage, I think. I don't think Muhammad Baba and Atiya were too happy with the walk, but what can you do - taxis aren't really an option since they don't like short distances and are typically full when it rains anyways.


Muhammad Baba and I split the Smokehouse burger. We also had some chili fries. Atiya ordered a salad (Turkish Johnny Rocket's doesn't have the same appeal to her as it does to us). It was all good. I'm glad we split the burger, because I was quite full by the end. Our waiter was a bit confused by our English - some things were lost in translation. Still, he was nice and pleasant, so we left a good tip.


I had discovered some hot chocolate packets in one of the bags my mom sent, so I boiled some water and we had that and some cookies to warm up. There were a lot of different flavors - so far, they have all tasted good.


Everyone stayed up reasonably late today, alhamdulillah, although Mobaba did try to drop off early again. We had a nice discussion anyways about a variety of different issues.


Thursday - 11/27


I wasn't able to eat breakfast again with my guests on Thursday, as I was running late. Work went ok, but was a bit busier than it had been - I had to go back in briefly after lunch, despite the half day. I delayed lunch until Muhammad Baba and Atiya came to the Astoria (they slept in to prepare for the short night and decided against going to Eyup Sultan), so we could have manti together at the smoothie bar. Somehow, they became lost and the 7 minute journey took half an hour, but we fortuitously ran into each other at the elevator. They really liked the manti (if not quite as much as the simit!). They shopped around the mall for a bit while I went back upstairs - Atiya debated buying galoshes do deal with the constant rain. In the end, bags around the socks seemed to be the optimal option instead.


We headed from the mall back to a super market to pickup some things to take home (e.g., cheese, cookies, etc.). Then, we went to my place for a short break, before heading out. We stopped at Starbucks and Gulloglu to pick up some coffee/sweets, then head down to Istiklal street on the Metro. It was already getting dark by this time, but at least it wasn't raining, alhamdulillah. The road had a decent amount of traffic, and I think Muhammad Baba and Atiya liked it. First, we went to a Starbucks to enjoy our spoils. Then, we stopped and prayed maghrib at the large mosque, then headed to Ali Muhideen Haci Bekir to get the Turkish delight. We spent about half an hour there, and received some advice from some German immigrant who hadn't heard about Roland Berger, but really recommended some coconut variety. I bought one kilo of mixed cookies for YTL 20, and then 10 half kilo mixed turkish delight boxes for YTL 10 each. I didn't really allocate the 10 boxes to anyone, but just wanted to send them to my mom to distribute as she saw fit.


At about 6pm, we headed to a KFC we had seen for our Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of basing the meal around a bucket, we took an alternate approach. We each got the same thing - two pieces of chicken, two biscuits, and some mashed potatoes. I had it with Ayran, which was interesting, but it doesn't really go with Thanksgiving. Then again, I am not really sure what our traditional Thanksgiving drink is in our family, come to think of it. I think Popeye's might have had a slight advantage with the corn, but it was decent. It filled us up I guess, although I wanted seconds (at the next door doner place) just for tradition's sake. However, we were running late, so we left Taksim at about 7pm. Thanksgiving was Muhammad Baba's treat - thanks Mehmet!


We got back to Mecidiyekoy at around 730, but we had to go back to the apartment to get the tickets, so by the time we reached the stadium it was 750 or so. There was no time to check out the Galatasaray store ahead of time, though we were afraid it would be closed after. Adil was waiting near the bus stop. We headed toward the game - I will detail the rest in another entry in sha Allah.


After the game, we went to the store, as it was open. The place advertises 40% off, but the jerseys, jackets, and other good stuff is still full price. Muhammad Baba found another outlet branch across the street which was even cheaper, and he ended up getting some stuff there. I will have to come back later and check it out in sha Allah.


We briefly stopped at the office, as Mobaba had to contact home and Farah Auntie in Germany before leaving, and we couldn't find a payphone. I also took the opportunity to bring back the leftover brownies.


After that, we headed back and hung out/rested/chatted a bit before preparing for the early departure.


Friday - 11/28


Muhammad Baba and Atiya's flight was at 530am on Friday, so there wasn't going to be much sleep in any case - they needed to leave around 3-330 or so to reach on time. Still, they both got at least a little shuteye before leaving. After our midnight snack of hot chocolate and cookies, I emptied the three bags mom sent finally, and packed them with various gifts and the things I felt I didn't need anymore. I sent some turkish delight, extra prayer rugs, some clothes, other sweets, towels, cookies, cheese, etc., and that pretty much filled the bags 80% volumewise, if not weightwise. Alhamdulillah, there is a taxi stand just outside my building, so we didn't have to go looking for a cab. Muhammad Baba called one over after we took the bags down, and they were off. It ended up costing YTL 45 I found out later - cabs are more expensive in the evening - but at least they got there in half an hour. As I trudged back up to the apartment, I felt the emptiness right away. My place was no longer bustling - I doubt anyone else will come in now before I leave in a few weeks. It is certainly never good to be alone - I will have to continue to keep busy until I leave, in sha Allah, to fill the gaps.


Work was tough on Friday, seeing as I didn't get much sleep, but alhamdulillah, I didn't doze off, even without caffeine. I was awake enough to see Osmanli Cumhuriyeti in the evening as well.

Preparation and Airport

Alhamdulillah, my guests are finally arriving in a couple of hours, so I will head to the airport shortly. I think the most efficient way to go is to take the Metro to Taksim, the minibus to Aksaray, walk to the other Metro, and go from there to the airport. I could use the funicular/tram route, but I would have about fifteen less stops this alternate way I think.

I've spent much of the past few evenings and this morning cleaning and getting ready for my guests. The apartment was much dirtier than I thought - the realtor "cleaned" it himself, instead of hiring a professional cleaner, so I think most of the dust and dirt predated me. I did a better job cleaning than he did, certainly. For example, he left a bunch of garbage from the previous inhabitant that I started disposing of - there is still quite a bit left, but it is more out of sight.

I didn't really feel any need to clean up when it was just me - it wasn't overwhelming by any means, and I am hardly in the apartment, and my corner of it is clean enough. Now, I will be leaving it cleaner than I found it, which I hadn't necessarily intended. I must say, if it was just MoBaba visiting, I doubt I would have expended a quarter of the effort, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Alhamdulillah, the weather the past few weeks has been nice, although this week it rained a couple of times - at least it hasn't rained every day. I haven't been wearing my winter jacket much yet by any means. My colleagues expected snow this weekend, but so far, it has just been windy.

I probably won't be able to blog too much this week, but we'll see what I can do. At least there should be more pictures coming, in sha Allah.

Edirne/Adrianople

Alhamdulillah, all is well. I am slowly making preparations for Muhammad Baba and Atiya's visit (e.g., buying stuff, cleaning up, etc.). I sent them a proposed itinerary (see below) - we'll see what happens in sha Allah. The highlighted areas are where I can probably join them. Alas, still no luck with the Galatasaray tickets - I hope they go on sale soon!

Alhamdulillah, I prayed fajr at the masjid on Sunday, but still got up too late to make an early start to Edirne. I need to pray fajr at the mosque more often, since it is difficult to make the later prayers in congregation during the week now that the time has changed. I also need to start getting up earlier for these weekend jaunts - especailly the day trips. Khayr in sha Allah.

As I returned home from Konyali, I could smell the fresh delicacies from the bakery - unfortunately, it was not open that early. Speaking of bread, I think that it goes moldy rather more quickly than I am used to out here. In about week or less I have had packages of bread go bad - probably because of the moisture/humidity. I think I will just buy individual pieces of bread from now on, in sha Allah. I managed to salvage a couple of half loaves, so that is what I had Sunday morning, with some cheese.

After my second slumber, I got ready and left my apartment by about 915am. I headed to the office so I could download the Turkey Travel Planner guide for Edirne (that is a great website by the way, for any visitors to Turkey). I left the office at around 10am and went to the Gayrettepe metro station. Unfortunately, no AKBILs for sale on Sundays, I think. Most stores were closed, and the station was empty - I guess Sunday morning is quiet time, kind of like how Sunday is quiet day in Germany.

As I had to get to the other Metro line, I did not use the funicular. At Taksim, I went up (first time I had seen Taksim in weeks it seems) and got on a minibus to Aksaray. From Aksaray, I walked to the start of the other Metro line. It was the first time I used this line, so it took a little while for me to find the entrance. This line is a bit older, so it isn't as fresh as the Taksim-Levent 4 line, but it works well enough, alhamdulillah. I took it to the Esenler Otogar stop, and I reached at 11:15 or so, for a trip time of about 1:15.

Alas, I had to wait this time for a bus to Edirne - for the first time, there was not a bus leaving for my destination within a few minutes of my arrival to the Otogar. The Esenler Otogar is huge (see the borrowed picture below). I walked around the whole complex, trying to find a bus that left at 11:30, to no avail. It took me half an hour to make a complete circuit. There are about 180 stalls, and probably almost 100 bus companies. I'm a bit surprised there has been no consolidation, but I guess no small company owner wants to kill the golden egg laying goose. This Otogar was much bigger than the Harem station. It is probably double the Harem station, kind of how like Marjeh is the dominant station compared to Baramkeh in Damascus.

Despite the hundreds of buses, I couldn't find too many companies going to Edirne, let alone one going at 11:30. I had to settle for a noon time with a company called Volkan, which seems to specialize in Edirne and even dominate that route. There were a couple of other companies also going to Edirne, but I think Volkan had the most times. I guess Edirne is just out of the way for most companies - you can't really stop there on the way to anywhere else in Turkey so companies can't combine two destinations on one bus (like Bursa and Izmir). Maybe the buses going to Greece or the rest of Europe stop there.

My ticket cost YTL 20, and the ride was about two and a half hours - we only had one brief, five minute stretch break. The bus was not completely full, but I did have a seatmate. Alas, the sun was in my face nearly the whole trip, so I couldn't get much sleep. It was not really warm outside, but the beating sunlight became rather uncomfortable. The busride had the typical service - drink, Dan cake, etc., but the attendant had a strange getup - he had a white shirt and bowtie, but instead of a sweater vest, he was wearing a jacket vest the whole time, which looked rather odd to me. Better than the return attendant, I guess, who had crude tattoos clearly visible on his hands.

Alhamdulillah, once again, it was a very nice ride with interesting views. It took about forty five minutes to get through the urban areas surrounding Istanbul. Thrace seemed to be much less hilly/mountainous than the areas of Anatolia I have seen. There are some hills, but not too many. At first, I could see the Sea to the south, but gradually, we went further inland. The land was very green, with lots of farming, closer to Istanbul - they do a lot of organic farming in this area. I saw a lot of nice country homes - it would be a nice area to live, I think.

There were some trees along the route, but I didn't see any forests. The trees were still mostly green, but some were changing colors. I didn't see any conifers in Thrace, although there are some in Istanbul. The middle part of the journey found us in a rather desertish and barren area. It was brown, and at best, uncultivated. Once we got closer to Edirne, the farming and greenness reappeared.

Upon reaching the Edirne station, I went to the back of the station, looking for the minibuses. I learned my lesson from the previous trips - it was completely unnecessary for me to take a taxi, especially since I didn't need to go anywhere in particular. Besides, I figured it would be a good way to see a bit of the city. Still, I needed a starting point, so I consulted the notes I had downloaded - apparently, the city center is called Hurriyet Meydani and there is a tourist office there. I thought I would start there, so I asked at the minibus station which one went there - someone pointed me to the A bus, so I got on.

In my trip to Edirne (Adrianople, the second Ottoman capital, before Istanbul, after Bursa), I didn't see any normal buses - only extended minibuses or stunted large buses. There were steps to get on, and benches on both sides, but at most these things were half as long as the typical bus in Istanbul. The bus I got on was decked out in Fenerbahce colors for some reason (which are essentially maize and blue - I wish I could root for them). The fare was only one YTL.

I really liked Edirne. I was on the bus for maybe twenty minutes, but I think I saw about a third of the city at least. A lot of the buildings were in pastel colors - pink, green, blue. The apartment buildings were also a bit more spaced out, unlike Istanbul, where they are almost on top of each other. Edirne wasn't very crowded either. I think I saw more people and automobiles at the Mecidiyekoy intersection when I returned home than I did in all of Edirne. It just seemed like a peaceful place. Lots of nice parks, and even a river. Indeed, it reminded me a bit of Sham, even though Damascus has twenty times as many people and you could probably fit Edirne into the Old City walls (I did not see any walls around Edirne, by the way).

I saw signs for the Selimiye, and shortly after that, the driver told me that I was near Hurriyet Maydani. Since I now saw the Selimiye (Sinan's masterpiece - see pics in previous post), I figured I didn't need to go to the tourist office anymore. Still, I didn't directly go the Selimiye, since I saw several other large mosques on the way from where I had been dropped off.

I saw this interesting looking tower as well. I approached it, and actually entered it. Alas, the stairs were damaged and I couldn't figure out how to reach the top. It had cannons and everything. It must have had an interesting view.

Anyways, I first went to the Üc Serefeli, or Three Balcony, mosque. It was built by Murad II, Fatih Sultan Muhammad's dad. It was named after an interesting minaret that had three balconies - I guess that was revolutionary at the time or something. Actually, each if its minarets is different, built by a different sultan (see pic in last post) - I thought the twisty one was quite neat. The courtyard area was undergoing construction, so there was a lot of dust everywhere. The pillars inside were quite massive. Interestingly, the women's prayer area was in the front right corner. I prayed zuhr and asr there. Unfortunately, my camera died as I was taking pictures in this mosque.

Next, I went to the Eski, or Old, mosque. It had had several name changes, but as the other mosques came up, it got the name Eski. It was also undergoing construction. I thought it was interesting that Imam Hasan and Imam Husain did not have their names up in this mosque like they do in most other mosques - rather, aside from a number of names for Allah and the Messenger painted on the walls and pillars, the 10 promised paradise had their names on the walls.

I went up to Selimiye next (all three of these mosques were within five minutes of each other; there are a couple of other notable mosques, the Beyazit II and the Muradiye, but I didn't see those or some of the other recommended sights as a consequence of my late start). Alhamdulillah, there was some photographer who had set up shop near the mosque, so I paid him YTL 3 to take a pretty good picture of me with the Selimiye in the background, seeing as my camera was out of juice. The guy made me take off my glasses - I think they must have been tinted. I picked up my picture after about half an hour.

While I waited for the picture to develop, I made a circuit around the mosque complex. It is on a hill and overlooks some of the city. There is a nice park surrounding the mosque as well, although I did see some dogs even here. The mosque itself looked a little bit like the Suleymaniye, but it is somewhat bigger. On the east side of the complex, I saw what looked to be a graveyard, I thought it was wierd however that the graves were pointing in all different directions - I figured, in a Muslim country at least, they should all be buried facing the Qiblah. As I looked closer, I saw a sign that said that it was a mock/exhibition graveyard. Wierd. There were some vendors selling the Ottoman era gooey sweet/treat as well.

The complex also had a museum and a covered shopping area as well. There was some neat stuff in the museum, such as examples of Ottoman calligraphy, metal works, wood works, ceramics, etc. Sinan had some pretty interesting quotes on display as well. I didn't pay an entry fee, although there was a metal detector even here. I almost cried when I saw the Ottoman era flag with various Islamic/Arabic inscriptions on display.

I prayed Maghrib in the mosque in congregation. There was a decent crowd - almost a hundred people probably. The mosque was quite beautiful - I like the dome and its paintings. It seemed like the lighting was better in this mosque than the others I have seen as well. The chandelier in the front was very nice with its colors. I think the Selimiye had much less tilework than the Blue Mosque though. It is a very solid building - apparently, it took a hit from Bulgarian artillery, but was hardly damaged - it hasn't been repaired, and I didn't notice any problems.

After leaving the Selimiye, I headed to look for the Hurriyet Maydani, since it seemed to be nearby. On the way, I noticed a sign advertising some badam sweet. I stopped at the store and picked up some Badam halwa for YTL 14, which Edirne is apparently famous for. I also got a bottle of a corn based, golden colored drink called boza, which I had seen before and looked interesting (I later learned from my colleagues that it is to be drunk cold and with cinnamon sprinkled on top) for YTL 3.

Edirne is also famous for peynir halwa and deva'i misk sweets. I stopped at another store and picked up some deva'i misk (misk medicine) for YTL 5 - it smells really nice, but tastes to sweet I think. It has an interesting story, being named by Murad II who liked it. It has 40 different spices in it as well. I got some two-colored halwa from another store for YTL 1, but it wasn't so good.

I walked up and down the Edirne equivalent of Istiklal Cd (pedestrian road with stores), but it was quite empty. Quite a few stores were open, but a lot were closed - not many people around. I stopped at a fasuliye joint for dinner, since I was quite hungy by then - 6pm or so. I ate fasuliye and rice and drank ayran for YTL 4.5. The staff was friendly and happy to see an Indian Muslim. I made some rudimentary conversation; alhamdulillah, my vocab is slowly growing.

Expectedly, it seemed Edirne was cheaper than Istanbul, between this, the price of sweets, and the price of the microbus. My whole trip, from door to door, only set me back YTL 80.55, alhamdulillah, or 50 dollars.

After eating, I went to the main road and waited for a minibus that had the Otogar label. Once again, YTL 1 only. Like a typical dolmus, it waited at the stops. It became very crowded - standing room only. I was happy to see for the first time in Turkey someone stand and give their seat to an old lady.

We reached the bus station a couple minutes before 7pm. I hurried in, found yet another bus company, Ulusoy, with a bus leaving at 7. I gave my YTL 20, jumped on, and got to the Esenler Otogar at around 930. I had been dreading the Metro ride back, but alhamdulillah, I had forgotten about the bus company shuttles. I quickly got on a shuttle heading north. It dropped us off at another Ulusoy base, where I got on a second shuttle that took me to Mecidiyekoy. I was in the office to type out notes of my trip by about 10pm, alhamdulillah - we didn't encounter much traffic.

Edirne was a pleasant experience, and if I get extended in Turkey, I will try and go back and see the parts I missed. I'm not sure if I will be able to find the Edirne specialties to send/take home in Istanbul though - I wish Istanbul had stores that carried products from the various regions of the country, so I wouldn't have to go all the way there to buy them (e.g., canes from Zonguldak, towels from Izmir, sweets from Edirne, etc.). Khayr, in sha Allah.

Olivium and Towel Shopping

Alhamdulillah, despite getting a late start on both Saturday and Sunday, I had a pretty eventful/productive weekend.

I wanted to make a daytrip on either Saturday or Sunday to Edirne/Adrianople or Troy. I was kind of leaning towards going to Edirne on Sunday when I went to sleep, and that is what ended up happening, alhamdulillah. I will follow up about Edirne in the next entry - today I will just cover my shopping trip to Olivium, aside from the pictures.

I figured I would get some work done on Saturday, both in terms of business school (Berkeley) apps and preparing for Muhammad Baba's and Atiya's visit next week. I made decent progress on the latter issue, but none on the former. Certainly, not as productive a day as I would have hoped.

I got up late Saturday, and after getting ready and putting in a load of laundry, I headed to the internet cafe to send an email to call for a Skype telco with Osman, Mom/Rabia, and Muhammad Baba at 5pm Istanbul time (10am Eastern, 11pm Singapore) - it had slipped my mind that I could have done that on my Blackberry, but it was running low on juice anyways. In any case, I needed to access the internet to figure out where to go to buy towels and sheets, since Mom didn't want to send towels to a country that is apparently famous for producing nice ones. Aside from Bursa (where I should have found excellent towels but didn't know where to look), I found recommendations for a store in the Grand Bazaar as well as an outlet mall in Zeytinbornu, the Olivium. I was pretty certain that I would get ripped off in the Grand Bazaar, so I took my chances with Olivium, figuring I would be less likely to get ripped off in an outlet mall in working class Zeytinbornu than a tourist trap. Also, a trip to Zeytinbornu would be a test run for my trip to the airport next week in terms of timing.

After praying Zuhr at Konyali, I headed down using the Metro, funicular, Kabatas tram, and a dolmus/microbus to the mall. Alas, the trip to Olivium took a long time - 1hr 45min - longer than I expected. I thought I could walk from the Zeytinbornu tram station, but I ended up having to take the dolmus, which added 20-30 minutes.

The tram from Kabatas to Zeytinbornu was quite packed. I stood almost the whole time. Some people got off at the Sultanahmet station, but only after the A.O. Yurdu station could I sit. I had never been past the Grand Bazaar/Beyazit on this tram. There are twenty four stops in total, and I got off on the last one, Zeytinbornu. Some of the stops had rather interesting names, like Seyitnizam, or Akşemsettin (the light of the sun of the religion, or maybe white/pure sun of the religion; on a side note, I have taken to introducing myself as Şemsettin from Hindistan, since I had not heard of anyone named Nauman in turkey before; I still don't know how they pronounce it hear, but a week or two ago I learned that apparently there is an Islamist successor to Erbakan named Numan Kurtuluş who may challenge Erdoğan for power; alas, the AK Party has been undergoing some trouble in recent months; I will blog about it later, in sha Allah).

The trip was also a sight more expensive than it should have been. One way was YTL 5.4 (the microbus guy took 1.2 going, and 1.5 returning) and the way back was YTL YTL 5.7. If I had an AKBIL, the outlay probably would have been closer to half that. I need to get one in sha Allah. I have never seen them being sold though - only the recharge stations.

The Zeytinbornu area reminded me a bit of going down to Zablatani or parts of Midan from Mount Qasiyoon where I usually lived in Damascus. It was south, seemingly more polluted, more condensed, and just strangely, weirdly new and disorienting for a city I had been living in for two months. While in the dolmus/microbus, I had absolutely no idea where I was, where we were going or any sense of direction. That is kind of how I felt when I went to the southern areas of Damascus.

Olivium was a decent sized mall, but not as large as some of the ones near my apartment (like Cevahir or Profilo - more on that in the Mall entry, in sha Allah). It seemed like a typical outlet to me, with expensive stuff selling for less than normal, but still a lot of money. The place was about half foreign brands and half local brands. It wasn't packed, but there were a lot of people there. Apparently, it is a pretty well known mall, and my colleagues had been there several times before, I found out later.

I ended up staying in the mall area for almost six hours - I had reached at about 2pm and left sometime after 7pm. I had to pray Asr soon after I got there, but no one knew of any nearby masjid. Luckily, I knew that these big malls typically have a masjid/prayer area somewhere from my experiences at Astoria. I asked and was directed to the parking area (I guess this is the usual spot - that is where it is in Astoria as well). It was small and cramped, but it did the job. The one downside to the location is that I had to go through security again. I repeated the process at Maghrib as well. It felt like I should have been traveling, given the journey, but Zeytinbornu is only about 10 miles away from my apartment.

I walked around the whole mall, all four floors - I wanted to see everything, so I could make an informed decision if I thought of making the long journey again. Lots of clothing stores - typical. I did see three places that sold towels. They all had sale signs, but I tried to figure out what had the best deals. I ended up coming back to a place that seemed to be relatively specialized in towels and beddings. I just got some towels, after thinking for quite a long time - I think the salespeople must have thought I was quite strange, staring at the towels and bathrobes so long. In fairness to me, I did have a number of variables I was considering - cost, color, quality, towel vs. robe, weight, bulk, feasibility/logistics of taking home, purpose, etc. I settled on a large green towel for myself, and a couple of matching bathrobes and towels for my guests. We'll see how the washing process treats them - I have no fabric softener, and drying on a rack is no good. The only tip the guy gave me was to wash them at a maximum of 30 degrees (Celsius). Still, I was happy with my purchases alhamdulillah. I would probably go back for gifts if I decide to take back more than Turkish Delight for everyone. The robes were YTL 29 each, and I spent YTL 19 on the large towel and YTL 8 for each small towel - the total was about YTL 93 I think. It was a decent deal - I need to learn how to bargain though. The bulkiness and weight may preclude me from taking many back though.

I had some manti at a restaurant in the food court for dinner, as well as some soup. It was ok, and the service was quite quick, since the place specialized in manti. When I have ordered manti in the Astoria, it takes at least ten minutes usually. I also left the mall briefly to try and find an internet cafe for the Skype call. I did end up finding one - alas, however, the place did not have Skype. Quite a few internet cafe's do not have skype. Shortly after that, I prayed maghrib, got the towels, and left. It took another 1hr 45min to get back home. Alhamdulillah, at least the tram was not packed going from Zeytinbornu to Kabatas - it only filled up at Sultanahmet. Still, the Kabatas to Zeytinbornu tram I saw going the other direction was packed. I guess in the morning, it must be the other way around - there is no way the same direction is full all day long.

I stopped again at the internet cafe and Skype'd with the family. After going home, I did some more laundry - in sha Allah, more on Edirne tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some pictures I have borrowed from the internet to illustrate my weekend (because my camera is currently out of battery). In sha Allah, I will try and upload what I have stored on my camera later, but these should suffice for now. In no particular order:

The Eski Camii, or Old Mosque (it had several names before this, but after the other ones came up, it got the name Eski; currently undergoing repairs):


The Üç Serefeli Camii, or Three Balcony mosque, built by Murad II, named after the three balconies on the original minaret, which was revolutionary at the time I guess (each minaret has a different style, built by a different Sultan; also undergoing construction):



Nice view of the Selimiye, Sinan's masterpiece, named after Selim II, the wastrel:

Dome of the Selimiye - very intricate:

You can see the nice park surrounding the Selimiye:

Inside of the Selimiye:

The Olivium outlet mall in Zeytinbornu - it reminded me a bit of Castle Wolfenstein or some other fortress, given the layout and the guards as well as people on the roof (they turned out to be customers):

Sweater Vests and Risk

Alhamdulillah, the weekend is hear. However, I have still not made up my mind about what to do this weekend. I have narrowed it down to Edirne, Troy, or staying in Istanbul. I am leaning towards Edirne. However, I had wanted to bundle Edirne with a border crossing to Greece, and I don't feel like dealing with that this weekend. Either Edirne or Troy would just be day trips, so the free day I could work on Berkeley essays in sha Allah. We'll see what happens. As for Konya, Cappadocia, and Izmir, in sha Allah, I will work on them over the next few weeks. I think Konya and Cappadocia I will try to visit in one trip over Bayram, since they are the furthest.

After dinner today, I had gone to try and buy some winter gear. In particular, I went shopping for some sweater vests. I have always like sweater vests (despite the recent emergence of Jim Tressel), and it seems that they are also rather fashionable in Istanbul. From what I can tell, about 10-15% of the men I see walking around are either wearing sweater vests or sweaters patterned to look like vests. Consequently, there are quite a variety of sweater vests for sale, mostly in the YTL 15-25 range. Mostly, I have seen either plain colored ones (ranging from traditional colors like navy blue and gray to more exotic colors like green, purple, and pink) or sweater vests with some kind of diamond pattern - I cannot recall seeing any other kind. Some of these vests look kind of wierd. I was quite close to buying a couple of solid colored ones, but decided to shop around a bit more. Maybe I'll have a chance this weekend in sha Allah.

Also today, I noticed a commercial for Risk on TV. Now, I have never seen a commercial for Risk before, and I don't remember seeing commercials for conventional board games in America for many years. That being said, I have not come across any place selling board games here in Turkey; I would presume the primary entertainment is video games these days, same as America. Perhaps Risk is a new entrant and board games have yet to make a splash. That would be wierd, considering that Risk was for sale in Syria when I first went there almost fifteen years ago. Maybe it was banned in Turkey so the people would feel bad thinking about how they once controlled most of three continents - I really can't think of any other reason Risk would be entering now, so late. Perhaps I should have brought Settlers with me to speed up the evolution.

Smoking and Geography

Alhamdulillah, Turkey has a pretty good position with respect to smoking, compared to other parts of the Middle East I have visited. Most indoor places are no-smoking areas, although some restaurants have smoking areas or are not smoke free. The buses are smoke free, alhamdulillah. Signs are everywhere, and more importantly, people follow them.

That being said, Turkey is between Europe and the Middle East, two of the most smoker-intensive places I've ever been. Naturally (or unnaturally), a lot of people smoke here as well. I think half of my colleagues here smoke. Most of the men probably smoke, and a lot of women as well. I must admit, it is a little disconcerting to see so many hijabis smoke. But then, after jumuah, most of the guys have lit up, so I have to deal with that as I walk back. Truth to tell, it is when I am walking that I get most of the secondhand smoke - people can't do it inside for the most part, so they smoke in transit. Whenever there is a lot of foot traffic, usually someone or the other ahead of me is smoking, so I smell it.

In other news ...

The dollar is rebounding again against the lira. It had dropped down below 1.5, but now is back near 1.7. Of course, my US holdings have fared quite horribly in the meantime.

The last veteran of the Turkish War of Independence died earlier this week. The last Ottoman veteran of WWI died last year. Only eight WWI vets are still alive around the world. Sad, but natural.

I am still watching quite raptly to see what becomes of my hometown - decisions made over the next couple of weeks in DC could have long lasting impacts on Michigan.

Other than that, I am trying to figure out if/how/when to visit other places in Turkey over the rest of my trip. I think Muhammad Baba and Atiya will probably want to stay in Istanbul for the most part during their visit, so I am keeping a few of my Istanbul to-dos undone for now. I still have a few extra weekends however. I am trying to figure out the logistics and feasibility of visiting Konya, Izmir, Cappadocia, Edirne, and Greece in particular. I probably won't be able to see all of them, but in sha Allah, I hope to visit at least some of them. Konya is a 10-13 hour trip, depending on if I take a bus or train, so it would make the most sense over my Bayram holiday, I think. Edirne is about a six hour bus ride - I could do that over a weekend, and see the Selimiye mosque, Sinan's masterpiece. Edirne is right next to Greece, so I could do that in one trip if I just want to go for visa purposes. Thessaloniki is a bit further - that would be about an eight hour trip total, but still doable on a weekend. Izmir is about eight hours away - also a possible weekend trip. Cappadocia is the furthest I think, out in Nevsehir. I should probably try and bundle it with the Konya trip, since it is three hours further from there. We'll see.

Anyways, I wanted to show you a map so you can see where all of these different places are. The orange dots represent places I've been this trip. Light blue are potential destinations. Dark blue, I have seen in previous trips.

Izmir is on the western end of Anatolia. Konya is in the south center, north of Cyprus. Cappadocia is near Nevsehir, which is northeast of Konya. Edirne is northwest of Istanbul in Europe. Zonguldak was on the eastern end of the Black Sea coast. Bursa was just on the southern side of the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul.

Hmm...while I have this map up here, I may as well explain some geography and the different bodies of water as well, since they confused me for a long time. The Black Sea is clear - north of Turkey. The Mediterreanean is clear as well - south of Turkey. The Aegean sea is east of Turkey, where all of those islands are near Izmir. Anatolia refers to the part of Turkey that is in Asia. The Sea of Marmara is the body of water directly south of Istanbul, that is separated from the Aegean Sea by a narrow channel. This narrow strait is the Darnadelles. Between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea is the Bosphorus, which cuts Istanbul into Europe and Asia. An offshoot of the Bosphorus is the Golden Horn - this cuts into the European side of Istanbul, but you cannot sea it on this map. Those are the main bodies of water in Turkey. Of course, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers lie to the east, but they are not clear on this image either.

Zonguldak weekend

Alhamdulillah, I have been able to check off another to-do this past weekend - I saw the Black Sea! I wanted to see it sooner rather than later, since it is getting cold. Thankfully, the weather was quite beautiful - it didn't rain at all, and it was quite warm (in the sun - in the shade or wind, it was on the cold side). I also wanted to go to a nearby city, since I didn't want to fly last minute or take a very long bus ride. However, I didn't know where to go - Trabzon and Samsun are the big names on the Black Sea coast that I had heard of, but they were too far. Erkut suggested Zonguldak (later, I learned he has some family/historical ties to the area) on Wednesday or Thursday, so I did a little prep work and went for it.

Regrettably, there is not a whole heck of a lot of material out there on Zonguldak. It is a 5-6 hour bus ride. There are a lot of caves. There are some historical cities nearby. There is a nice waterfall. There are a lot of trees. It rains a lot. They make nice canes. The mine coal there (it grew as a result of the coal industry). It is on the Black Sea. That is about all I knew when I jumped on the bus. I found a bit of material on http://www.turizm.gov.tr/EN/ and one or two other sites - I emailed the relevant stuff to myself on my Blackberry so I could travel as light as possible - I didn't take anything other than money, keys, phones, camera, and the clothes I was wearing!

I left my apartment at around 9am on Saturday and took the same route to the Harem bus station - a bus to Besiktas (YTL 1.5), a ferry to Uskudar (YTL 1.4), and a taxi to Harem (YTL 6). I keep on forgetting about the dolmus from Uskudar to the bus station. Anyways, right as I entered the bus station area, one of the bus people was yelling Izmir, Bursa, ZONGULDAK, etc. I had to doublecheck the name on my Blackberry (I kept on forgetting what it was called), and then followed him to the right bus. I hopped on and it left a few minutes after 10am. It was YTL 30 for this trip. Another bus, another bus company - there are so many there. I am glad I haven't had to wait for a bus yet.

The bus was rather empty, compared to the Bursa trips. I had both seats to myself for some of the ride, although a kid sat next to me for part of the trip. There were a lot of empty seats, both going and coming. Zonguldak just isn't on most people's radar I guess. Probably for good reason. None of my other colleagues had ever been there besides Erkut.

The bus ride was okay, alhamdulillah. Not much traffic, except in a couple of spots. I dozed of for much of the trip. What I did see was quite beautiful though, subhanallah - lots of trees, hills, mountains, changing fall colors, pink and green mosques, windy roads, the Black sea, etc (thankfully, there was no rain, otherwise the trip might have been more dangerous). We made several stops to pick up or drop off people along the route, including one 10-15 minute break about halfway at a rest stop (the bus pulled out, so I thought I missed it, but perhaps it just went for fuel; all the buses were getting washed by the service station people as well, I noticed) where I got a chocolate bar (YTL 1). Most of the stops came in Zonguldak province, in smaller towns on the way, including Eregli, which is named after Herakles/Hercules. It is there were he supposedly entered Hades and defeated Cerberus. Eregli was on my radar as a potential place to see. More on that later.

We reached the final stop, Zonguldak terminal station, at around 330pm or so. I could see the Black Sea right away - it is quite easy to see from the central city area. I walked to the downtown, which was about 1 km away from the bus stop. I prayed at the only mosque in that area - there are a few in the city, but rather more spread out than even Istanbul. I saw other mosques, but they were in the distance. As I was walking in, I saw a hotel, the Mer Hotel, so I was relieved that I at least could stay somewhere - I couldn't find too much hotel info online and wasn't sure if there were any in Zonguldak or if they were in Eregli or what. I hadn't made up my mind if I wanted to spend the night or take the midnight bus back, but after darkness fell at 5pm or so, and all I had done was walk to the pier and gaze at the sea, I knew I had to stay the night to have a better experience for my time invested.

It was getting chilly, but I walked up and down the sea wall area around sunset time. The waves weren't too big, but they did break on the rocks and I did take a little bit of splash damage. Not a whole lot of people out watching the waves, but I wasn't alone either. It was very rocky - no beach. I didn't see too many boats at first, but then, a bunch left the harbor area - I think they went out to help guide the much larger Rafi back in. I saw it enter the port as I ate a very late lunch (Kofte Burger and Ayran for YTL 4.5) at a small cafe that was built on the water. Some people were selling fish, so that smell was there. Many of the restaurants seemed to specialize in fish as well.

There were a lot more people closer to the inner harbor/dock area, as the seaside restaurants were full from about 4-9pm. Lots of people playing backgammon. However, after walking up and down (and avoiding more dogs, even here), I decided to go and check out the hotel to see what the rates were. It is always nice to have a base (and bathroom) in any new place. Alhamdulillah, YTL 70 is what I paid as a single person for a decent room - more people would have a higher rate. Hotel Mer purported to be a two star. It was clean, and my room was quite large. No AC, but there was a TV and (I think) even wireless. Alas, the elevator was worthless. Still, the lights were motion sensing and the key card was needed to power the room's electricity. I also got some tourism material and maps to help plan my activities. I was happy with the place and it was in a good location. My target rate would have been YTL 50, but 70 was close enough. FYI - I haven't needed a passport to use the bus system, but I did need one to check in.

It was still early when I got the room, and even though the staff wished me a good night, I wasn't quite ready to sleep. I had passed by a movie theater earlier, so I figured I might as well do that. I went and saw Max Payne at the 745pm showing for YTL 7. I walked in right as it started I think - I didn't feel like I missed anything other than the previews. An usher showed me to an empty row. It was a decent movie. A little dark, and somewhat predictable, but in English! About halfway through however, the lights came on and the show stopped - there was an intermission! That was wierd.

After the movie, I went to an internet cafe for half an hour (YTL 0.5), but they didn't have Skype. I walked around a bit more. I almost walked into a different restaurant that was packed, but upon closer inspection, it appeared as though a wedding was happening there, so I went to the same restaurant for a late dinner (hamburger combo for YTL 6.5) - this time I sat inside though. I went back to the hotel, watched a bit of TV, and slept early.

Some things in Zonguldak are relatively cheap compared to Istanbul. Aside from the hotel, even candy bars (I got two for YTL 1) are about half off, and movies in Istanbul are closer to YTL 10-12. It is like Damascus in some ways actually, with some guys picking up garbage with donkeys, and it got quiet even earlier than Damascus - nine or ten at night. Still, I didn't hear the adhan at all during my visit.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to start my day early. I went back to the sea wall/rock area at sunrise and hung out for a while - the primary purpose of my visit was to see the Black Sea after all. The Black Sea is not really black. I am not sure how it got the name, or how the Red Sea got its name, or even the Mediterranean, which the Arabs call the White Sea. Rather, I saw four colors - cloudy green, sea green, aquamarine, and blue. Alas, there were some clouds that morning, so I missed the sunrise part anyways.

I went back to the hotel and got ready. I grabbed a simit (they are growing on me; I know think of it as kind of like cram) for breakfast for YTL 0.75 and went out. I wanted to see the nearby Gokgol caves as well as the Harmankaya waterfalls before coming back for a noon checkout. Gokgol was only 2 km away, so initially I figured I would just walk or maybe take a bus. However, I wasn't sure how to get to Harmankaya from there, so I ended up going to a taxi stand and asking how much it would be for two hours, to take me to both places and bring me back. I got a quote of YTL 40, which I thought was reasonable, so I went for it. Alas, taxi drivers are ever scammers and not to be trusted.

A short, five minute drive brought us to Gokgol. The place opened at 9am, so we waited about 10 minutes before the caretaker arrived. Entrance was YTL 3, although I paid after I exited. I went in alone, as the taxi driver stayed to chat with the caretaker at the entrance. I certainly had not planned on entering a huge, dark cave that was actually quite dangerous by myself, but that is the situation I ended up in. The cave itself was actually secondary - I really wanted to see the waterfalls, However, I decided to go forward, despite the possibility that wild animals might have taken up residence in this out of the way Turkish cave! Alhamdulillah, the cave was completely empty except me. No evidence of bats or bat guano at all, unlike the caves I saw near San Antonio. Another difference was the presence of an underground river that would overflow with any rain from above. It was quite wet throughout, with lots of dripping and puddles on the path itself. The deeper I went into the cave, the more that worried me (I had seen The Rescuers on the plane just a few months back!). Another thought that troubled me was the possibility of being buried alive in an earthquake - after all, I am in an unstable, quake-prone part of the world. Still, I kept pushing forward until I reached the end, almost 1 km in. I was quite impressed that even here there was motion sensing lights - they are everywhere in Turkey!

Alhamdulillah, the cave is quite beautiful - lots of neat formations, stalactites, stalagmites, crevices, and open areas (alas, no pics or touching allowed though - no one was watching, but I don't like breaking rules unnecessarily). Still, I wouldn't recommend it, given the potential for earthquakes and flooding I mentioned. The flooding risk is quite serious. I was quite thankful that I wasn't exploring the caves in Eregli - those caves are named the Caves of Hell or something like that (after Hades), and I would rather not be buried alive in the Caves of Hell or even give fate the chance to do that. Needless to say, once I reached the end, I hurried back.

The taxi guy was waiting for me - about one hour had passed since I hired him. The sunlight was quite amazing as we left Gokgol - it seemed almost solid (perhaps due to smoke or dust; we did pass a coal mine shaft). We drove back into the city and then back out again in another direction (even though the map showed that we could have just gone further past Gokgol). Then the guy says, sorry, we can't go any closer to the waterfalls - you have to walk. He should have told me that to begin with! Then, he said, well, you can pay me YTL 20 more to go to the forest which is actually closer and on the way to the waterfall. I was angry and said just take me back to Zonguldak, which is probably what he was aiming for. I am not going to curse him to hell, but I will admit that I won't be disappointed if I get some of his good deeds on Judgement Day. I paid him the full YTL 40 upon reaching the hotel, even though there was still half an hour to go on my time. I certainly didn't need him just for Gokgol - I could have walked, taken a bus, or even paid a cab YTL 20 for that much. Khayr in sha Allah. I hate it that I spend more on taxis inside these random cities than I do on the bus to get there in the first place.

I cleaned up a bit, checked out of the hotel, and then started walking up the coast, trying to find a beach. Alas, all I could see was rock, rock, rock in Zonguldak. I went to the western end of the city limits and found a beach like area. The approach was a bit dangerous though, and I didn't want to risk it by myself. I called Osman as I tried to find a good place to stop and we chatted for a bit. I saw another beach further west, so I kept walking for a couple of kilometers and found it. Unfortunately, as I walked down towards the beach area, a dog started barking at me, so I ran back up to the road. Foiled again. Some things just aren't meant to be. Still, it was nice to watch the sea for so long anyways, alhamdulillah. I even saw some rainbows form in the spray as the waves smashed against the rock.

I had lunch at a nice looking restaurant with a penguin logo that is right next to the bus station. I had the house special, which was chicken in soy sauce with rice and some Ayran for about YTL 15. It was okay and the view was nice. The waiter took a while to break my YTL 100, so when I got my change, I rushed out to the station to see if I could catch the 1pm bus, since I had enough of Zonguldak and didn't want to get home too late. Alhamdulillah, I caught a bus right as it was exiting the station - I just stopped it and hopped on, without a ticket. I paid the attendant YTL 30 and it seemed everything was ok. However, at the first stop, he gave me my money back and told me to take another bus, so I went and got a ticket and jumped in the second bus, only paying YTL 20. Strange. We reached Istanbul at the same time, I think - certainly, we reached the rest stop at the same time. I'm not sure what the transfer was all about - it is not like the bus was full.

The ride back was also nice and beautiful. I felt a bit queasy, but it passed, alhamdulillah. The trip was a bit longer though, because of traffic near Istanbul. Erkut says traffic on Sunday afternoon is always bad. It took closer to 6.5 hours, including the transfer to Mecidiyekoy - the shuttle/transfer bus guy almost dropped me off very far from my place, and I indeed got off the shuttle, but I think the other passengers must have yelled at him, because he told me to come back on. It would have been quite a hike for me. Alhamdulillah.

I tried to Skype after eating dinner, but I think the internet connection wasn't working well in MI. That is too bad, since everyone was at our house. Khayr in sha Allah.

Overall, I had a nice trip to Zonguldak. It was an interesting place. I think more time would have been helpful. to hike to the waterfall and maybe see some other things. I am also disappointed I couldn't find a place with local cuisine (other than fish, which I didn't want). It was worth it to see the Black Sea, although I am a bit disappointed I didn't find a good beach. I saw some nicer beaches in Alpali, which is in Zonguldak province but closer to Istanbul. Perhaps that would be a better place to stop and stay to access beaches. Also, there is some Black Sea frontage very close to Istanbul - I could try checking that out as well. Khayr in sha Allah.

My trip set me back about YTL 200, or USD 130, which isn't bad. Alhamdulillah.

Here are some pics, not in any particular order:

A borrowed image of Gokgol - since I didn't take any pictures. A beautiful cave, but keep a weather eye on the weather forecast:


Me with the main area of Zonguldak in the background:


You can see the different colors within the Black Sea - none of them black:

The sunlight seemed almost physical, possibly due to smoke or dust or whatever that is:

Some nice fall colors just outside of Gokgol cave:

This boat was just sitting there the whole time I was in Zonguldak:

I couldn't tell this was a wedding for sure, until I saw the wedding car:

I saw this wall - it looks like a memorial or something; I couldn't figure out what happend to 1983 though - almost everyone was ripped off for some reason:

Fish mongers - no thanks:

Alas, the sea front area nearest to the city was just a bunch of rocks:

Alhamdulillah, I caught a nice sunset:

The bus ride had some nice views:

More bus views: