Escape from Istanbul

We had booked a rental car through Avis before departing Australia and headed out after checking out of Hotel Mina this morning to pick it up. We had to go from the old part of the city across the "golden horn" to Taksim precinct. We were familar with the area since our tours this week all converged or left from there. With our yellow Fiat taxi bulging with our four bags and 3 bodies we headed off through the narrow winding streets only to be blocked by a fire truck. No matter, our driver was a fire chief when not moonlighting in taxis, so was able to bring a certain authority to bear when shouting at the other driver to clear the road.

We soon made friends with our driver who was impressed that we were heading for Canekkale (the town of his birth) and was only too happy to stop in the middle of Attaturk bridge for us to get a good shot of the Crusaders tower on the other shore. I'm sure all the traffic behind us didn't mind a bit.

Finding Avis wasn't that easy. After asking several other taxi drivers and hotel concierges, we finally tracked Avis down by phone and were "talked down" to their offices. This had to be the most well-staffed little office in all of Istanbul, but sadly our car was waiting at the airport and we would have to go there. I'm sorry? Then the "we try harder" emblazoned on your uniform means something else I guess. When they realised we weren't moving, it was decided it would be easier to just give a car that was more to hand, which was most efficiently done. And after seeing our bags (duly guarded by Alex on the footpath) they gave us a station wagon. Packed in our brand new Kia, we were ready to leave, just had time to duck across to the diner for donor kebabs which were just fantastic and we were on our way - after being driven out of the melee that is Taksim by a friendly Avis staffer. Then, with Deb at the wheel and Geoff at point, we were off!

We had had quite good instructions for how to get on to highway O3 heading west from Istanbul and made it without a hitch (no one was more shocked than us). Canakkale was about 5 hours drive and we passed through the ever-increasing outskirts of Istanbul, dominated by groups of very tall, and very new, apartment blocks. Presumably, this is where Instanbul's 11 million inhabitants are living. Once free of Istanbul itself, we were treated with expansive views of farms growing, mostly, sunflowers it seems and farmers and their families everywhere on tractors or horse-drawn carts. And if the tractor is on the road, why not take your whole family, parents, neighbours with you? These are just many of the hazards of driving on Turkish roads, with the other drivers being the most hazardous. We saw at least 3 accidents that afternoon, one of which most likely was fatal. A combination of speed, risk taking by poor drivers and deplorable roads would seem to have been contributing factors.

We took the turn off to Terkidag on the coast and saw the Marmara sea again with its very pretty blue/green clear waters, and then to Gelibolu (Gallipoli) which had a number of tourist accommodations offering views across the Dardenelles strait. We finally drew into Ecebat and boarded the ferry to take us across to Canakkale.

We had booked ahead (using trusty iPhone and free hotel wi-fi at Hotel Mina) to the hotel Askin Art in Canakkale. With addresses in Turkey more of the "you know, turn left where Akmed has his shop" type, we pretty much had to follow our nose to find it. Which we eventually did after doing several circuits of the small town. The deal with parking was: we have free parking if you can find a park and get away with it without somebody noticing you. Hotel was nice, small, but charming with an old world character. With high 30s the norm here, we were pleased it offered air conditioning.

Canakkale was to be our home base for a couple days and our visit to Troia. Pictures here.

3 days in Instanbul

Hotel is nice, staff are nice and helpful. First day hit the Grand Bazaar getting Deb some clothes. I am still wearing the trackie dacks! Got some jeans and a Turkish top, scarf and sandals. Starting to feel a little better. But we are not very happy about the baggage still. Decide we should just act like it never happened and continued doing what we had planned.

Day 2 - spice bazaar, cruise on the Bosphorus, blue mosque and hagia Sofia. Back to the hotel after dinner and apple tea next door with our friends at the gozleme shop. Even Alex drinks the apple tea. Our bags have arrived! Just so glad to see them.

Moods are much better this morning since we got our bags back! The missing bags were mine and the spare (with Mandolin and camera)

Alex has been having lots of new experiences and making new friends. We get some stares sometimes but mostly people work out that he is different and make a bigger effort. People in Turkey are very friendly. I think on the whole he is taking to the additional discipline from us very well. He is responding, trying new things and learning. We are pretty impressed.


Cheesy turkish night club show last night. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Arrrrgh. But Geoff and Alex did like the Belly Dancers.

Off to pick up car today. Bit apprehensive driving here looks much worse than Italy. They drive like crazies here. See Observation on One Way Streets.

Hotel has free wifi. This seems to be common here. See Observation on Cost of Wifi and Water. iPhone is great. Got the data working after calling TravelSim. Very expensive in Turkey. $3.73/100kb. Goes down to 0.57/100kb in every other country (including Greece). Google maps has saved us a couple of times by telling us where we are when we didn't have a clue. Can't read the street signs (when there are some).

Highlights - Turkish ice cream and toffee on a stick from the street vendors. Turkish delight (with honey and double pistachio) and dried fruits stuffed with nuts from the spice bazaar. Mosques and prayer time ringing out across the city. See the Pictures.

The Long Way There

The A380 was a pleasant surprise compared to previous trips on Jumbos. Even in economy we had USB plugs for our iPods and a power outlet for our Mac. Definitely more leg room and a smoother ride all round. Highly recommended for those of you venturing forth in the future.

Arrived in Singapore just fine where security was tighter than anywhere else we have been. Next stop London with just enough time to get to the Finnair flight to Helsinki. Arrived in Finland to an almost empty and pristine airport environment. Made use of the recliner lounges and ultra modern facilities. After 4 hour stopover felt a little more human.

Next stop Istanbul - this one was bumpy! and hot! Arrival in Istanbul in a storm at days end. Alex loved the bumps! We were both pleasantly surprised by how well Alex travelled. On the A380 he listened to kids nursery rhymes almost the whole way.

The long wait for our very wet bags at the baggage carousel was only partially rewarded. Two out of four bags arrived. Deb wanders into lost baggage turkish style. Staff extra attentive and particularly polite because I am a woman (who looks pretty tired). And what the hell, what can you do after 35 hours in transit and then no baggage. But apparently there is a system and I receive a receipt although he seems somewhat concerned that we will only be in Istanbul for 3 days (at our hotel address which is where he promises to send them just as soon as they find them).

Finally we accept that there will be no further baggage and make our way to the exit. However, there is some kind of riot at the exit - a local celebrity I think - flashbulbs etc. We wait and luckily our hotel pick up guy - Too Good (Turget) - is still waiting for us. We fly through the narrow streets to arrive at a completely dark hotel - the power is off. Geoff loses it now.

He tells TooGood that he cannot leave us here and wants another hotel. TooGood laughs politely and sells him two tours. The power comes back on after about 10 mins and the hotel looks good.

www.minahotel.com.tr

All is in readiness ....

It's been a while since the last post. We have had our UK work visas granted along with Alex as our dependant; which is wonderful after so much effort, cost and awaiting the pleasure of UK border protection. Have also settled on the house in Reid, dispensed with most of our encumbrances and now packed and ready to travel. I'll post a link to our itinerary soon, but we leave Australia next Sunday 25th July.