I'm back! As you know, while I was in Turkey, I was unable to access my travel blog on Google Blogger because the Turkish Courts had blocked it at the request of a Turkish Cable TV Company. Some young turks were posting soccer footage on Blogger and the cable company went to court to stop them. The Court solution: Block Blogger for everyone in Turkey. That's absurd. No wonder Turkey has not been admitted to the European Union.
I confess, initially I did not like Istanbul. Why? Well, first I had a hard time getting there. If you recall, EgyptAir had mistaken me for a terrorist because only me (and terrorists) buy one way plane tickets to Istanbul! Secondly, I arrived at the Attaturk Airport in Istanbul, go to use an ATM to get Turkish Lira and my ATM card was swallowed. I ultimately got the ATM card back but it was a heck of a lot of work – Strike Two! Lastly, I arrived in Istanbul and a blizzard hit the next day. It snowed for 3 or 4 days with icy winds and temperatures down to -5 deg.Celsius. Brrr... I'm a cold weather wimp who had just spent the past month in South Africa in shorts and t-shirts. I thought I was going to freeze to death.
However, upon further consideration, Istanbul was an amazing experience. It's a city of 11 million people. Istanbul straddled two contients, Europe and Asia. It is (technically) a democracy with separation of church and state but has a 98% Muslim population. There are over 3000 Mosques in Istanbul and everyone of them calls the faithful to prayer 5 times per day – At dawn, shorty after noon, late afternoon/early evening, when nightfall begins and before you go to bed. The calls go out from loud speakers on the minarets or towers on the mosques. Muslims pray facing east towards Mecca. You don't have to actually go to a mosque every time you are supposed to pray, but every Friday afternoon is mandatory and the Iman will deliver a sermon in additional to the usual prayers.
In Istanbul, I visit an amazing number of museums, palaces, mosques, cisterns and had some incredible experiences. I had the best rice pudding I have ever had in my life. I watched (from a distance) riot police lined up against a protest by Turkish journalists, (No worries - everything was completely peaceful). I ate like a local and had a street vendor make me a lollipop from hot molten sugar. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside most mosques but some of my favorites places were the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, Topeki Palace, Galanta Tower, Taksim Square and the Basilica cistern. I bargained with Turks in the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar - ( I hate bargaining but it is expected in Istanbul).
I enjoyed Istanbul so much I decided to tour the rest of Turkey. I went on a bus tour of Gallipoli and Troy where we had an excellent tour guide. He was a young man of 26 but he really loved his job and he loved the stories of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp.) at Gallipoli. Winston Churchill had sent Anzac forces to take Gallipoli penninsula -- the path to Istanbul because the Turks were an ally of Germany. A horrific battle that went on for 8 months with massive causualties on all sides. April 25th is Anzac Day which is a public holiday in New Zealand and Australia, with celebrations similar to Veteran's Day in the USA.
I'm tired. More to come later, (with pictures hopefully), on Troy - (Yes, remember your Greek mythology - Helen of Troy, big wooden Trojan horse..), the Cotton Castles and healing waters of Pamukkale, Pergamon - an ancient Greek city in modern day Turkey), the ancient city of Ephesus (which was the 2nd largest city in the world behind Rome in 100 BC), Cappadocia with it's eerie rock formations with churchs built into rock caves.
Shari
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Goodbye Istanbul, Hello Athens...
Well, I'm back to blogging, finally. I left Istanbul this morning for Athens, Greece. All the time I was in Turkey, I was not able to access my blog because Blogger was blocked for all internet user in Turkey. It will take some time for me to upload pictures from Istanbul and my tour of Turkey. Please be patient...
My first impression of Turkey was not good. I had just left sunny, warm South Africa and had spent most of the last month in T-shirts, shorts and sandals. I flew into Istanbul just as a blizzard was hitting. I arrived at the Attaturk Airport and patted myself on the back because I had made it through to Turkey, got my Tourist visa and had my bags. Amazingly, the hotel had sent a driver to pick me up and he was standing just outside of Customs with my name on a sign. Yahoo!
I tell him to wait a few minutes while I go to an ATM to get some cash to pay him. I walk up the the nearest TEB (Turkey Economic Bank) ATM and the machine eats my card! Now I'm paranoid and afraid to try another card for fear it will also be eaten. I make a note of the time, date, location of the ATM and when I get to the hotel I hop on Skype and call the 1-800 number for the Matador Credit Union and tell them that the machine ate my card. At their recommendation, I report the card lost since it is out of my hands. I next email TEB and tell them that their ATM at the airport ate my ATM Card. I'm staying at the Grand Mark Hotel and I want it back! Well, at least I felt like I was doing something.
Two days later, I get a call at the lobby of the hotel. It's TEB, they have my ATM card and want to give it back! They tell me they will deliver it to thet branch nearest my hotel - the Grand Bazaar branch. I head over to TEB later that afternoon, no card. I come back 24 hours later and still no card. Finally on the third day, my card is delivered to the branch. Yahoo - my ATM card is back in hand. Unfortunately, I had reported it lost to my credit union. I email my credit union and they were able to reactivate it. Turkey was much more enjoyable after that!
Shari
My first impression of Turkey was not good. I had just left sunny, warm South Africa and had spent most of the last month in T-shirts, shorts and sandals. I flew into Istanbul just as a blizzard was hitting. I arrived at the Attaturk Airport and patted myself on the back because I had made it through to Turkey, got my Tourist visa and had my bags. Amazingly, the hotel had sent a driver to pick me up and he was standing just outside of Customs with my name on a sign. Yahoo!
I tell him to wait a few minutes while I go to an ATM to get some cash to pay him. I walk up the the nearest TEB (Turkey Economic Bank) ATM and the machine eats my card! Now I'm paranoid and afraid to try another card for fear it will also be eaten. I make a note of the time, date, location of the ATM and when I get to the hotel I hop on Skype and call the 1-800 number for the Matador Credit Union and tell them that the machine ate my card. At their recommendation, I report the card lost since it is out of my hands. I next email TEB and tell them that their ATM at the airport ate my ATM Card. I'm staying at the Grand Mark Hotel and I want it back! Well, at least I felt like I was doing something.
Two days later, I get a call at the lobby of the hotel. It's TEB, they have my ATM card and want to give it back! They tell me they will deliver it to thet branch nearest my hotel - the Grand Bazaar branch. I head over to TEB later that afternoon, no card. I come back 24 hours later and still no card. Finally on the third day, my card is delivered to the branch. Yahoo - my ATM card is back in hand. Unfortunately, I had reported it lost to my credit union. I email my credit union and they were able to reactivate it. Turkey was much more enjoyable after that!
Shari
Friday, March 11, 2011
No posting from Istanbul permitted by Court Order!
Hi Everyone,
It appears I will not be able to continue posting my travel blog while in Turkey. Why? Because in late February, a Turkish Court ordered Google Blogger blocked to all Internet users in Turkey. Why? Because some individuals were posting soccer match video that belonged to a Turkish cable company and the cable company went to Turkish Court to stop it.
Isn't that insane? To block access for the entire Internet community in Turkey because of some individuals posting soccer video they didn't have a right to post. The more I travel, the more I appreciate how good we have it back home. Freedom of speech should never be taken for granted.
I will continue to post comments on Facebook as Shari Holloway, so please, look for me there in the meantime. Thanks!
Shari
It appears I will not be able to continue posting my travel blog while in Turkey. Why? Because in late February, a Turkish Court ordered Google Blogger blocked to all Internet users in Turkey. Why? Because some individuals were posting soccer match video that belonged to a Turkish cable company and the cable company went to Turkish Court to stop it.
Isn't that insane? To block access for the entire Internet community in Turkey because of some individuals posting soccer video they didn't have a right to post. The more I travel, the more I appreciate how good we have it back home. Freedom of speech should never be taken for granted.
I will continue to post comments on Facebook as Shari Holloway, so please, look for me there in the meantime. Thanks!
Shari
Monday, March 7, 2011
Do I look like a terrorist to you? Part II
No, seriously, do I look like a terrorist to you? Well apparently I fit the profile of a terrorist. Why? Because only me (& terrorists) buy one way tickets to Istanbul!
My flight to Istanbul was on EgyptAir and had a stop in Cairo. (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to go to Egypt) but there are no direct flights from Johannesburg, South Africa to Istanbul, Turkey. I did have a choice to change planes in Heathrow but that flight was twice the price and was 23 hours long instead of the 13.5 hours that I had. The actual flight time is 9.5 hours from Joburg to Istanbul with a 4 hour layover in Egypt.
My flight was a redeye so I got to the Joburg airport early and wasted some time. I lined up at the counter for EgyptAir at 7:30 pm to check my luggage and get my boarding pass. While I was in line, twice, young men came up to me and tried to take my luggage to be cellophane wrapped. Both times I told them No Thanks! I finally get up to the ticket counter and the agent tells me that I can't check my bag until it's cellophane wrapped! Oops. I went back to the two guys and apologized and they wrapped my bag in cellophane. Apparently, theft of items from inside your luggage was so bad on EgyptAir that they instituted a free suitcase wrapping policy to cut down on theft.
I head back to the ticket counter with my wrapped suitcase and I'm intercepted by three swarthy men in suits. They look very serieous and are obviously Security for EgyptAir. The supervisor asks me where I am going, & why do I not have a return ticket? I tell him I'm traveling around the world one stop at a time and I don't usually get a ticket until a week or so before I am planning to fly. He says, You must have a return ticket. I tell him I'm not planning on coming back to South Africa so I don't need a return ticket.
He asks, Where are you going? Now if I answered him truthfully I would have to say, Duh, I dunno, I'm not sure. So instead of sounding stupid I say, oh, probably Greece. (Which if you recall was not even on my list!) He says, Okay, you need to get a ticket going on to Greece. I ask him if EgyptAir flies to Greece and he says no. Who does? I ask. I don't know he says.
I leave my wrapped suitcase behind the counter at EgyptAir and I head for South Africa Airway and ask if they fly to Greece from Istanbul. They also say no but they check their computer and tell me that Turkish Airlines does. I head back to EgyptAir and tell them I'm going to Turkish Airlines to see if I can get a ticket. Now EgyptAir is in Terminal A and Turkish Air is (of course) in Terminal B. So I grab my carry-on and hustle on down to terminal B and I finally find (after much confusion) the Turkish Air ticket counter is closed. It's 8:07pm and they closed at 8pm. I'm screwed.
I walk slowly back to EgyptAir trying to figure out what in the world I can do. Maybe they will let me fly to Cairo and buy a ticket there from Istanbul to Greece, Maybe I can do some sort of bond or something. If I had internet access, I could possibly buy and E-ticket. Maybe I should try to bribe them -- Bad idea, Shari.
I walk back up to EgyptAir Security and there is a new guy there. He's obviously the Boss. I tell him I have a problem - Turkish Air is closed and only Turkish Air and Olympic Air fly from Istanbul to Athens. He asks for my passport and he looks at every single page and examines every single stamp and visa. Very slowly and very carefully. I start babbling, I tell him & the ticket agent that I only plan on being in Turkey 2 or 3 weeks, and here's my hotel reservation and I was planning on getting a tourist visa for $20 USD and I didn't know I had to have a follow on flight...
The Security Boss looks at the ticket agent and nods Okay. The ticket agent processes my wrapped suitcase and gives me my boarding pass. I breathe a sigh of relief and head for Security and Customs.
Security in the rest of the world is a cakewalk. I have never had to take my shoes off and they aren't as picky on the liquids but you ALWAYS take your laptop out of your backpack. After Security is Customs which fortunately had very short lines. The Customs lady stamps my passport and tells me I better hurry because the flight crew went through about 5 minutes ago. I race through the terminal to Gate 12 with about 10 minutes to spare.
I made it. Istanbul here I come!
Shari
My flight to Istanbul was on EgyptAir and had a stop in Cairo. (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to go to Egypt) but there are no direct flights from Johannesburg, South Africa to Istanbul, Turkey. I did have a choice to change planes in Heathrow but that flight was twice the price and was 23 hours long instead of the 13.5 hours that I had. The actual flight time is 9.5 hours from Joburg to Istanbul with a 4 hour layover in Egypt.
My flight was a redeye so I got to the Joburg airport early and wasted some time. I lined up at the counter for EgyptAir at 7:30 pm to check my luggage and get my boarding pass. While I was in line, twice, young men came up to me and tried to take my luggage to be cellophane wrapped. Both times I told them No Thanks! I finally get up to the ticket counter and the agent tells me that I can't check my bag until it's cellophane wrapped! Oops. I went back to the two guys and apologized and they wrapped my bag in cellophane. Apparently, theft of items from inside your luggage was so bad on EgyptAir that they instituted a free suitcase wrapping policy to cut down on theft.
I head back to the ticket counter with my wrapped suitcase and I'm intercepted by three swarthy men in suits. They look very serieous and are obviously Security for EgyptAir. The supervisor asks me where I am going, & why do I not have a return ticket? I tell him I'm traveling around the world one stop at a time and I don't usually get a ticket until a week or so before I am planning to fly. He says, You must have a return ticket. I tell him I'm not planning on coming back to South Africa so I don't need a return ticket.
He asks, Where are you going? Now if I answered him truthfully I would have to say, Duh, I dunno, I'm not sure. So instead of sounding stupid I say, oh, probably Greece. (Which if you recall was not even on my list!) He says, Okay, you need to get a ticket going on to Greece. I ask him if EgyptAir flies to Greece and he says no. Who does? I ask. I don't know he says.
I leave my wrapped suitcase behind the counter at EgyptAir and I head for South Africa Airway and ask if they fly to Greece from Istanbul. They also say no but they check their computer and tell me that Turkish Airlines does. I head back to EgyptAir and tell them I'm going to Turkish Airlines to see if I can get a ticket. Now EgyptAir is in Terminal A and Turkish Air is (of course) in Terminal B. So I grab my carry-on and hustle on down to terminal B and I finally find (after much confusion) the Turkish Air ticket counter is closed. It's 8:07pm and they closed at 8pm. I'm screwed.
I walk slowly back to EgyptAir trying to figure out what in the world I can do. Maybe they will let me fly to Cairo and buy a ticket there from Istanbul to Greece, Maybe I can do some sort of bond or something. If I had internet access, I could possibly buy and E-ticket. Maybe I should try to bribe them -- Bad idea, Shari.
I walk back up to EgyptAir Security and there is a new guy there. He's obviously the Boss. I tell him I have a problem - Turkish Air is closed and only Turkish Air and Olympic Air fly from Istanbul to Athens. He asks for my passport and he looks at every single page and examines every single stamp and visa. Very slowly and very carefully. I start babbling, I tell him & the ticket agent that I only plan on being in Turkey 2 or 3 weeks, and here's my hotel reservation and I was planning on getting a tourist visa for $20 USD and I didn't know I had to have a follow on flight...
The Security Boss looks at the ticket agent and nods Okay. The ticket agent processes my wrapped suitcase and gives me my boarding pass. I breathe a sigh of relief and head for Security and Customs.
Security in the rest of the world is a cakewalk. I have never had to take my shoes off and they aren't as picky on the liquids but you ALWAYS take your laptop out of your backpack. After Security is Customs which fortunately had very short lines. The Customs lady stamps my passport and tells me I better hurry because the flight crew went through about 5 minutes ago. I race through the terminal to Gate 12 with about 10 minutes to spare.
I made it. Istanbul here I come!
Shari
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Next Stop....Istanbul
Well, I finally finished up driving the Garden Route from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth. It took me about 10 days at my dawdling pace and along the way I saw some of the most beautiful rugged coastline and white sand beaches I think I've ever seen. On the inland portion of the trip, I saw eerie caves with stalagmites and stalactites along with stunning mountain passes. I also safari'd for several days at Addo Elephant Park.
I have really enjoyed South Africa and sadly, the pictures I've posted just don't do it justice. I hope all of you get a chance to visit here someday. South Africa is visually stunning, has good weather but it is the people that have made it special. They have been incredibly kind, patient and friendly. Also, South Africa has been fairly easy traveling because English is almost universally spoken here.
I have since flown back to Johannesburg. I've really struggled with where to go next. My original plan was to spend almost a month split between Egypt, Jordan and Israel but with the turmoil in Egypt that plan got tossed. I considered going to Jordan but I figured that if I got that close to Egypt, I'd probably visit it anyways. Both Egypt and Madagascar are on the US Dept. of State travel warning list. My travel insurance policy is voided (I think) if I go to places on the State Dept. Travel Advisory List.
Anyway, I fly out Saturday for Istanbul, Turkey. I can't wait!
Shari
I have really enjoyed South Africa and sadly, the pictures I've posted just don't do it justice. I hope all of you get a chance to visit here someday. South Africa is visually stunning, has good weather but it is the people that have made it special. They have been incredibly kind, patient and friendly. Also, South Africa has been fairly easy traveling because English is almost universally spoken here.
I have since flown back to Johannesburg. I've really struggled with where to go next. My original plan was to spend almost a month split between Egypt, Jordan and Israel but with the turmoil in Egypt that plan got tossed. I considered going to Jordan but I figured that if I got that close to Egypt, I'd probably visit it anyways. Both Egypt and Madagascar are on the US Dept. of State travel warning list. My travel insurance policy is voided (I think) if I go to places on the State Dept. Travel Advisory List.
Anyway, I fly out Saturday for Istanbul, Turkey. I can't wait!
Shari
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