Things we learned:

Currency: Lira (1.5 Lira=$1 USD)

Cities Visited: Gaziantep, Göreme, Antalya, Olympos, Fethiye, Ölüdeniz, Pamukkale, Selçuk, Istanbul

Turkish is relatively easy to read because they have the same alphabet as we do, with the exception of a few letters.  The alphabet is what it is now due to a reform passed by Atatürk in the late 1920′s.

We found the Turks to be very proud of their country with monuments and statues everywhere especially those of Atatürk, the first president of the Turkish Republic.

Some Turkish words:

• Hello = Merhaba
• Thank you = teşekkürler (sounds like “te shik u lar”)
• Bread = Ekmek
• Water = Su
• Me/I = Ben
• All right/Ok = Tamam (used ALL THE TIME)

The blue eye or “nazar” is seen hanging everywhere in Turkey.  These handmade, glass eyes are used to protect inhabitants, businesses, people, babies, etc. from “evil eyes”.

The variety of food here is phenomenal.  You will be exposed to a mixture of fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, and sweets.  You will see the different ways it is all prepared.

We were shocked at the amount of solar panels and green houses we saw in Turkey.

Check the opening hours and days of everything as they are different from place to place.

Turkish crafts include intricately painted ceramics and beautifully woven rugs which can be relatively inexpensive.

You will still hear the call to prayer here, but unlike other Muslim countries, the work week is Monday through Friday.

Turkey is working on getting into the European Union.

Different fruit flavored tea is in abundance here and usually very sweet.

The infamous baklava dessert here seems to be made with honey as opposed to rose syrup like in Syria.

Unless you have a cell phone you bought in Turkey, DO NOT BOTHER TO BUY A SIM CARD HERE as it will stop working as soon as the government finds out your phone is foreign (which takes about 7-8 days).  The SIM card seller may try to tell you that it will work and will sell it to you at the expensive rate that it is, but don’t believe him and don’t buy one.

Bus Know How:

Finding good bus companies in Turkey can be an expensive and time consuming process especially if you aren’t prepared.  It doesn’t help that the Turkey section of the Middle East Lonely Planet book provides limited information on transportation around the country.  Check the internet to prepare yourself and ask willing locals questions about the transportation system.  Here is a breakdown of some basic bus information we picked up along the way.

• DO NOT GET ON A BUS WITHOUT A TICKET THAT HAS A DESTINATION PRINTED/WRITTEN ON IT.  Numerous companies will get you on a bus promising that you will get to your destination, then drop you off at a “hub” in a city near the destination where you will have to purchase another ticket.  Make sure that the company has made FREE travel arrangements for you if this is going to happen or talk to the police (with ticket in hand) if they try to do this.  Good companies will tell you where they will arrive and whether or not you will have to purchase additional tickets to get to your exact location.
• Same drill as South America – amenities will be promised (i.e. air-conditioning, bathrooms, movies) that will not exist.
• Traveling during off-peak seasons can mean long waits and higher ticket prices (this is not a typo) to get to towns such as Olympos.
• Purchase the tickets at the counter because the men selling tickets outside will try to get you on their bus no matter where it is going which could include an extra transfer.
• We would highly recommend Pammukkale bus company and maybe a couple of their sister companies (Metro and Golture)

Deenaree´s list…

• Food: Bread
• Experience:  Walking around Hagia Sofia and seeing Christian and Muslim influences in this one massive and historic building
• Something to remember: Visit the Mediterranean coastal towns when it is warm enough to swim in the water.

Ben´s list…

• Food: Gözleme (Turkish pancakes)
• Experience: Walking around the surprisingly interesting mosaic museum in Gaziantep
• Something to remember: Finding humor in watching a stray dog at Olympos beach chasing and eating rocks that I threw

Our Couchsurfing hosts in Istanbul lived well north of the city center and upon arrival in their apartment, we quickly noticed they could see the Bosphorus from their window high in their building perched on a hill above the surrounding neighborhood.  Our first day there took us to a large castle nearby that is stationed right on the banks of the strait.  The actual castle was quite interesting, on steep terrain with lots of great views from the outer walls and towers.  Perhaps more impressive than the castle itself was the gorgeous 30 minute walk along the road that faces the Bosphorus.  Along this stretch, the strait is the center of cultural activity.  Cafes were crowded onto the main street, spilling over around the corners of the intersecting streets.  A short walk away from the Bosphorus and the shops and restaurants disappeared and life seemed to return to normal.

The next few days we ventured into the center of Istanbul, Sultanahmet, to see the most well known sites the city has to offer.  Topaki Palace was an interesting look into the empiric history of Turkey.  The Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are two monuments that rightly deserve their status as world class attractions.  But some of our best memories of those days will be our lazy one hour commute back to our hosts’ apartment aboard the Bosphorus ferry.  The longer we stayed, the more we realized the ferry was a quite common mode of transportation, with ferries seemingly going everywhere and at all times.  Unlike our other stressful marathon commutes during rush hour in Istanbul by subway and bus, the ferry ride was calm and relaxing.  We could feel the gentle rocking of the Bosphorus underneath us as we warmed inside the cabin of the ferry, with weary 9-to-5ers at our side.  Drinks and food were even offered and we discovered one of our favorite Turkish creations, sahlep, aboard the boat.  Sahlep is a warm, milky concoction that warms the belly and sweetens the lips perfectly.  It is the perfect winter drink and seemed to take the place of hot chocolate.

The Bosphorus was important for both of us in other ways as well.  It is the official, unofficial border between Europe and Asia.  Our first time in mainland Europe, and my first time in Europe period, was first spent wandering the streets of Istanbul.  Istanbul may have been our first time in Europe, but it was sure not to be our last.

We had a great introduction in Gaziantep, our first Turkish city, when our hosts wowed us with their warmth and generosity.  Unfortunately, our enthusiasm gradually waned with each new city and I wouldn’t say that our memories here are as positive as those in some of our previous countries.  You could chalk it up to road weariness or frustration over our netbook – of only 6 months – dying right at a time when it was most essential (I was in the middle of a job search).  You could blame it on the fact that we had just come from Syria where prices were cheaper and where we were used to their kind of friendliness.  Maybe it was the cold weather or the time of year.  I would say it was probably all these things combined with the continuous onslaught of experiences that put us amongst some of the worst scam artists and most dishonest vendors we have ever met.  It was in Turkey that our guard came up out of necessity.

Our arrival, one stop before Istanbul, to the city of Selcuk found us mentally agitated and emotionally weary.  We had just spent the last few days in the small town of Pamukkale where our hotel owners had given us the runaround and most of the business owners, who survive on tourist money, were like hungry wolves ready to pounce on us every time we stepped out of the hotel.  We welcomed the change to another Mediterranean setting where life seemed a bit less intense.  However, the first order of business was to find accommodation, which had become just about as enjoyable as sticking our hands in a blender.  Couchsurfers are few and far between in these towns so the hunt for budget accommodation was necessary.

A few blocks away from the bus terminal, Hotel Antik (Antique in English), caught our eye.  It didn’t have the star rating, the lavish lobby, or the uniformed concierge that screams “expensive” so we went in.  Immediately, we noticed the manager’s style of “selling the rooms” to us.  Instead of showing us the most expensive room and telling us this is all he has, only to relent when we start heading out the door, this owner showed us a couple different rooms of different prices…all of them slightly over our price range.  The rooms were brightly painted in welcoming colors and there were objects hung to the walls to give them even more of a cozy feel.  I was taken in by the bright colors, décor, and cleanliness, of course, but we were both a bit hesitant to agree due to our budget.  He was casual in his demeanor and told us that he understands the traveler budget because he has traveled before.  He seemed understanding that we may not be able to afford the room and was friendly about us needing to shop around before making a decision.  We chatted some more about traveling, about the newness of the hotel, and about the ruins in neighboring Ephesus before heading out to check some other hotels.

Eventually, we found ourselves back at Hotel Antik, and even choosing a room that was the more expensive of the two.  We were so taken in by the manager’s honesty that we decided that spending a few extra lira would be a worthwhile investment considering what we had put up with over the past several weeks.  We learned that his name is Gursel Senturk, that he used to be a carpet seller (he appraised our newly bought Antalya carpet and we found that it was not 40-60 years old as previously touted, but brand new), that his young cousin helps him at the hotel, that he had just opened it up a few months ago.  Like a new house owner, he proudly showed us around the lobby area talking about the artifacts he had hung on the walls and the work he had done to the place.  We could sense that this building was this owner’s pride and joy.

He introduced us to his young cousin, who requested that we call him Ronaldo (after the Brazilian futbol player), and we found out that today happened to be his 18^th birthday.  In fact, we were invited to celebrate later that night with some other hotel guests.  We took the rest of the afternoon exploring Selcuk and then made our way back to the hotel.  Already, Gursel, Ronaldo, and 2 guests from Japan were celebrating.  We had brought wine and the Japanese women brought some biscuits.  We spent the next few hours having a mini-party in the hotel room chatting, snacking, and drinking with Travel Channel in Turkish as background noise from the TV.

The next morning, we went up to the rooftop patio and ate a traditional Turkish breakfast, included with our room fee.  Although Gursel and Ronaldo had stayed up long after we had gone to bed the night before, they were still up bright and early to serve us breakfast.   Gursel even stepped out in the middle of our dining to purchase strawberries from a nearby market so that we would have a little something special for our breakfast.

I am sorry to say that our stay in Selcuk was a brief one as Istanbul was calling, but unlike many of the Turkish towns we had visited prior to Selcuk, we left with fond memories.  Gursel’s genuine and caring ways refreshed us and gave us new energy to face the next destination and beyond.

The shop we did end up stumbling upon was small, but its walls were dressed with monstrously large carpets.  As soon as we walked in, the store owner, a young man who appeared to be in his 20’s and who spoke English, invited us to take a seat while he pulled out carpet upon carpet for us to view.  It was very interesting to sit there as he exhibited all these rich carpets…it was like I was a fashion editor, the carpets being the models.

We found out that his name is Kamuran Sercan, but he goes by “Sercan”.  He was able to tell us where the carpets were made and how old they were just by looking at them.  He explained that the colors and patterns determine what region of Turkey it came from as people in these regions have a certain style.  He pointed out the designs and explained the meaning of the designs; some of them being religious.  He could also identify the age of the carpet by the wear and tear on the fibers.  Sercan described how carpet is like art work, it gets more valuable with age.  He said that some carpets, including his pile in the corner, can even be more than 100 years old.  We couldn’t imagine the events in time that brought these carpets to their current location in this little shop in the middle of Antalya.

We were quite impressed with Sercan’s knowledge of Turkish rugs considering most of the rugs were 4 times older than him.  He told us that his father used to be a seller and that he himself has been selling them since the age of 12 or so.  He even sold them in Iraq to American soldiers for a few years.  In fact, if you look up “Kamuran Sercan”, you can find an article written by an American journalist who had interviewed him while he was there.   Because of his time in Iraq working around other vendors, he was able to list off Iowa State University as soon as he found out I was from Iowa.  We were floored because we had not met anyone, especially a Turkish person, who knew about the state of Iowa much less its universities.  Needless to say, we became instant customers as we felt him an appropriate vendor to purchase a carpet from.  Go Cyclones!

I decided on a small red and blue piece, which was made locally and was approximately 40-60 years ago according to him.  We did a bit of haggling to get the price down, but it was a timid exchange.  He shared that his prices during the high season would be 3 times the price he sold it for so I felt like I had gotten a pretty good deal and I was pleased to have had such a pleasant exchange with this man who had been to Iraq and back.

When it was time to pay, we tried to hand him our money, but he told us to put it on the floor.  To our confused reaction, he said that putting money on the floor and leaving it there for the day would bring him good luck as we were his first customers at this location.  Perhaps, his business is on its way to success now that we gave it a healthy jump start.

At the end of this exchange, he invited us to have a cup of tea in his shop and we obliged as we have learned that this is the custom in many of the Middle Eastern countries we had already been in.  Plus, he had apple tea as an option and I had found that apple tea is my favorite tea of all and seemingly only found in Turkey.

We chatted a bit more over our teas and he said he had something to show us from his time in Iraq if we would be willing to come by later in the afternoon.  Although we were couchsurfing and hoping to catch our host around that time, we agreed to meet up.  The afternoon went by quickly as we explored the rest of Antalya and we found ourselves back in his shop late and in a bit of a rush.  Upon entering, he handed us a few wooden plaques that held large coins inscribed with “Operation Iraqi Freedom” on one side and the name and logo of an athletic team on the other side.  It was these medals with their sport’s teams that had helped him identify our university.  We were intrigued and shocked when he told us to pick one of the plaques to take with us.  We couldn’t believe his generosity and fervently refused, but he insisted citing again the fact that we were his first customers and going to bring him luck.  We finally accepted and picked one with an Arizona Cardinals logo on the back.  We left feeling very touched by his kindness and happy with our luck at coming upon his shop.