Turkey, my thoughts.

An opportunity to visit Turkey came up and I just couldn’t pass it up. I was a “Tagalonger.” (New word: someone who tag along.) All I had to do was show up, how cool is that?

Thanks Marlene for putting us up and planning all our trips, and of course Jen helped with the planning, so thank you Jen, especially for getting us around Istanbul. If you left it to me and Dan, not that we are lazy, but we are “laid back,” (politically correct term.) we would still be walking around Ankara and still be wondering if Merhaba (hello) and Tesherkalur (thank you) were curse words. And we probably would never have crossed the Bhophorus to go to the Asian side of Istanbul.

I loved the Bazaars, the street filled with merchandise, the haggling, I would say, “how much?” and the respond would be, “25 YTL,” and, I would say, “OK, here.” Damn I am good, I would have paid 30 YTL, Suckeeeer.

The bus ride was definitely unique. You waved down a bus, get in and pass the money up, and if you need change, the money was passed back to you. And when you need to get off, you tell the bus driver to stop and they stop as soon as possible. Thank goodness I didn’t have to do that; we would be getting off at the end of the line, every time.

People were very friendly, always offering tea, or a drink. People didn't stare, unlike China, if you were not Asian; you were going to get stared!! So, I felt very comfortable. Maybe it was the Turkish jacket I bought; I must have blended in somehow, unless they see me with the blond and the two white people, one with a camera bigger than my suitcase, and the other with a professional Digital camera snapping away, which was a dead giveaway that we were tourist. Turkish people are very nationalistic, flags everywhere, showing national pride.

The food was amazing, I loved the Kebabs, the bread, the dips, the fresh vegetable, the yogurt drinks, everything except the rice, I was a little disappointed at their rice, but hey, you can’t have rice everyday, actually you can, but that’s just my opinion.

The Driving was a little insane, the lanes didn’t mean much, and the red light was only good sometime. If I didn’t run the light at a certain red light, I got honked, imagine that!! I hated that people just cross the street anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE!! Even highways!! I was always afraid that I am going to hit one of them. But after driving in London, this was a piece of cake, sort of.

The conservative part of town and the sound of the mosques reminded of Pakistan. The streets of Istanbul reminded of Hong Kong, except that the people are not Asian.

I had a great experience visiting Turkey, didn’t know what to expect, should have done a little research, but I was too laid back and being a tagalonger, I was hoping everything would be taken care, which it was. Thanks to Marlene and Jen. I loved the market, the bazaar, the food, the haggling, the Golzome, and most of all the hospitality


Hope you enjoy the picutres, and Yes, I would visit it again. Sorry, I am too lazy to write all about my experience it would take years, cos, I suck in writitng.