New Years in Istanbul (2013) and some Turkey Visits!

 12/28/13

When I arrived in Istanbul for the first time, it was pretty late at night. I was happy I had a friend from Travel Buddy that was waiting to hose me. By the time I arrived at his apartment, I was ready for bed. So, not much more to talk about. 

On my second day, my host had to go to work. Luckily, he had a brother who was free. His brother took me to a park and we walked around the city for a while. It was awesome to see the coast and all the local attractions. 

We stopped for a drink. I ordered what I thought was an iced coffee, but ended up being some sort of delicious ice cream. We then made our way to the center of the city, near the boats. We had dinner, the food was amazing. Afterward, we took a ferry over to the European side of Istanbul.

Then, I met up with some other travel buddies and the party really began.

It happened to be Samina's birthday.  So that's just added another reason to celebrate. We walked around looking for pubs. After visiting a few we settled on a place called. At the end of the night, I made the trek back to the Asian side and have a peaceful sleep.

12/29/13

After sleeping in a bit, my host took me back to the European side of Istanbul to check out the grand bazaar and some other attractions. The bazaar was filled with whatever person could ask for. My favorite part was looking at all the food and spices. It was all so colorful!  We had lunch inside the grand bazaar and had traditional kebabs. They were delicious, of course.

Next, he showed me the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque. He also give me some history about the area and some of the relics that remained.

Later in the day we had some tea and smoke some hookah at one of his recommended places, Çorlulu Ali Paşa Medresesi. This is where I had my first taste of apple tea, yum!  

Before it was time to me the travel group for dinner, I squeeze in a traditional Turkish bath.

Honestly, I had no idea what a Turkish bath was but it was quite relaxing and even enjoyable, even though I had to be naked in front of a group of strangers, lol. 

I caught up with the rest of the group and we had our largest turnout for dinner. After which we found a hub and I was introduced to Raki :(

12/30-31/13

I spent most of the 30th sleeping. After the crazy night, I ended up booking a hotel room on the European side. I was so sleepy and there was no way I was going to make it back to where my host lived, on the Asian side. 

I stayed at an American chain hotel, I think it was a Best Western? It was nice and comfortable. It was great to have some privacy after being around so many people for a few days. I slept for a long time, then had lunch at a small café in the hotel. I think I spent most of the day relaxing in the room. 

It was either the 30th or the 31st that I met up with more travbuddies. We went to the Stern, the underground temple or something. I remember taking photographs of Medusa and hearing stories behind why her head was sideways or upside down. We had some more apple tea there. Afterward, we all had lunch together near our hotels. 

From that point, the others have plans to see the inside of the haggis Sophia and the Blue Mosque. 

 

New Years!

So, the whole point of this trip was to celebrate New Year's with the group of travbuddies. It was getting closer and closer to that time. I had to rush to change into my New Year's outfit, but I told the group to leave without me if I was late. Luckily, I caught them just in time. The place we were celebrating was not where I thought it was. We all squeeze onto a very crowded train and went quite a ways away. I also remember having to walk up a crazy hill to get to the bar where we were celebrating. We made it to Ponte, the place where we had arrange for the celebration. We were given wristbands to drink free all night and people started crowding in. The actual countdown for New Year's took place on the roof. We were able to see the Bosporus and fireworks. It was so much fun and there were so many of us there it was one of the greatest New Year's I have ever had.

Afterward, we partied a bit more and then people started making their way back to the area that was closer to where they were staying. I was walking with someone back to the hotel area and got a little lost. Of course, I drank too much. The person I was with ended up leaving with her boyfriend, so I was alone in this crazy city on New Year's. I was walking around and a local guy tried to help me out. He was very sweet. He even got in the taxi with me to take me back to the hotels we were saying out. I tried to pay him for helping me, but he wouldn't accept my money. I was near the train station where the travbuddies would constantly meet and luckily I ended up seeing some… Or they ended up seeing me. Unfortunately, I had left my phone in the taxi so I was freaking out for the rest of the night. But, luck ended up being on my side again. The taxi driver had called the hotel whose card was in my phone case and called the hotel. He even brought my phone back. I was so grateful. The locals in Istanbul were probably some of the nicest people I've ever met.

Some of the girls I met at the meet-up were planning to visit other places around Turkey. Since I still had a lot of time off, I decided to join them. However, I still had to go to the Asian side to bring my luggage over to the European side, where the girls were. And on the ferry, I saw this very handsome Turkish guy! I sat by him before I noticed him, but it didn't take long to notice his bright blue eyes. By the end of the ferry ride, he had asked if I would have tea with him. I accepted the offer. We spent time trying to communicate but it is difficult. I told him that I was on my way to get my luggage and he offered to help me, thankfully. We made the half-hour trip to my host’s apartment and all the way back to the European side. After that, he took me to dinner, and then we went out for drinks. He didn't leave me until 2 AM, even though I have a flight to catch at six in the morning. It was still a very nice evening, and I kept in touch with him for months after that. But by 6 AM the girls and I were up and ready to start our next adventure!

1/2/14

The girls and I left Istanbul early in the morning. We got on our first of many flights and ended up in Selçuk. We were only staying in this area for one night, so we wanted to make the most of it. We got a tour guide that we had planned for in Istanbul and saw the ruins right away. For lunch, we ate at the Kebab House. One of the girls that were with me had met the owner on couchsurfing.com. The food was amazing. We are also able to have some more apple tea! Next, we made our way up the mountain to the house of the Virgin Mary. There we saw the place where the Virgin Mary was supposedly laid to rest, after hiding due to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We got to run her fingers through holy water, and leave a wish on the prayer wall. 

Next, we went to Ephesus. We walked through the ancient city. This was probably my favorite part of my day. It was amazing to think of a civilization bustling around hundreds of years ago. After our walk through the old city, we made our way back to Selcuk, and the Kebab House.  We went to sleep early with plans on waking up at 4 am to leave at 5 am, so we would have time to see Pamukkale.

1/3/14

The following morning was another early one for me and the girls. We were leaving Selcuk that evening, but we still wanted to see one of the World Heritage sites, Hierapolis. So, before the sun even thought about coming up, we were being driven to Pamukkale. We only stopped once on the way to have some breakfast of chai, Turkish coffee, warm bread, and lentil soup. After the stop we continued our journey. 

When we got to our destination, we walked slightly up a hill that looked like many fallen ruins were scattered across it. We walked past the old, broken city to some hot springs. The springs looked quite beautiful, especially in the cold weather. You could see the steam rising from the pools. It looked like white frosting covering the side of a mountain. Even though it was cold out, I couldn't miss the chance to walk in the Hot Springs. I took off my shoes and went for it. The water was quite warm and would have been very refreshing if I could've taken a dip in it. But I would get a similar chance later in the day.

I went a little ahead of the girls because I knew I wanted to take a dip and Cleopatra's pool. I didn't want them to have to wait for me. I quickly went through the museum and looked at all the artifacts and tombs fairly briefly.

Next, was Cleopatra's pool. I believe I paid about 20 Turkish Lira to be able to swim in it, and five Turkish Lira for a safety deposit box leave my things (I was told the prices are higher in the warmer months). I waded in the warm water until the girls finally caught up with me.

We exited the area going through Hierapolis. We were able to see more ruins on the way out. Before we made our way back to Selcuk, we had lunch at a nearby buffet. There was a great variety of food where everything looked and tasted so good. With full bellies, we rode back to Selcuk.