A Turkish Odyssey Ahmad Faruqui (Published originally in Dawn, Pakistan, 2005) We spent eleven wonderful days in Turkey in the second half of September. The first five days were spent in Istanbul, the only city in the world that lies both in Europe and Asia. Like San Francisco or Rome, it is spread over seven hills. But what really brings out its beauty are two flowing bodies of water, the Bosphorus, which divides the two halves of the city and connects the Sea of Marmara in the south with the Black Sea in the north, and the Golden Horn, which separates the old city from the new city. Nothing had prepared us for the history and culture lesson that awaited us when we landed at Istanbul. Once we arrived at our hotel, dusk had settled in and I went to take in the view of the Bosphorus from the rooftop restaurant. It was breathtaking, with a myriad minarets and domes glistening in the distance. And as the full moon rose over the Bosphorus Bridge, causing the water to sparkle like glitter, Istanbul resembled a bride on her wedding night. Touring Istanbul, we encountered remnants of several civilizations including the Hittites, Persians, Romans, early Christians, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks and of course, the Ottomans. The last have bequeathed to it the grand mosques located atop the hills that give this city the world’s most unique skyline. We spent quite a bit of time in the Sultan Ahmet area. This includes the sprawling Topkapi Saray (Palace), the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. History oozes out of every brick and stone of these architectural marvels. We toured a vast underground Cistern with 1,001 columns that was used to transport water from the Bulgarian forests. Built by the Byzantines, it lay undiscovered by the Ottomans for a hundred years. Inside the cistern are two statues of Medusa’s head built in green marble. When the Turks arrived, they heard that Medusa would turn all those without blue eyes into stone. Since none of them had blue eyes, they developed the practice of wearing trinkets with a blue eye as a talisman. These can still be spotted in every taxi in town and probably every homebound tourist has a few in his suitcase. Just about everywhere in the old city, we saw remnants of the Byzantine Wall. We also saw Suleymania Jami (grand mosque) built by the Suleyman the Magnificent, who ruled at the zenith of the Ottoman Empire, and Fatih Jami, built by Mehmed II. Nearby the latter is an aboveground Byzantine Aqueduct. We also checked out the Four Seasons Hotel where the Pakistani and Israeli foreign ministers had met a few weeks prior. Finally, we toured the Dolmabachie Saray, which was used by the Ottomans during their last century and in which Ataturk died. Its architecture and furnishings provides a visual reminder of the Europeanization of Turkey that began two centuries ago. We took the Bosphorus cruise and got to see up close bridges, villas, mosques, forts, palaces, shipping boats and large Russian ships. We got off at the last port, which was in Asia. I could see a Genoese castle perched above a hill and wanted to check it out. But first we stopped for a wonderful seafood lunch. Afterwards, I wandered off to climb the hill and take some pictures while my family checked out the quaint shops in the village. My heart sank as I got to the top. There were signs prohibiting photography and barbed wire fences. The steep and rapid climb had been wasted. Worse. There was a guard in a gatehouse with a helmet and an automatic rifle and he was looking with dismay at my Pentax camera and its zoom lens. Anxious not to become his “enemy of the day,” I reversed course and started walking downhill. Unfortunately, an army truck was coming up the road and I was certain they would pick me up. Images of what the Turks had done to Lawrence of Arabia in David Lean’s classic film filled my mind. I avoided all eye contact, kept my head down, and continued walking. I got a few stares from the soldiers but they went by. Then we were off to Cappadocia, where George Lucas had filmed scenes from Tatooine, the desert planet, in the first episode of Star Wars. The area has gigantic mushroom-shaped rock formations and caves that give it an eerie feeling. Our rooms at the Lale (tulip) Saray were entirely inside a cave. Our tour guide introduced himself as Genghis and when I looked at him with some apprehension, he nodded, “just like Genghis Khan.” He took us to another cave that evening where we took part in the somewhat raucous event that passes for a Turkish night. The next day, we toured an underground city dating back to the Hittites. Some of the houses were seven stories deep and we had to bend and stoop through low passageways. Afterwards, we walked through the largest open-air museum featuring churches in caves and unusual lava formations. The next morning, we hopped into a hot-air balloon at 6 in the morning. Sharing our tiny wicker basket were a Belgian couple living in Dubai and a young Turkish pilot dressed in a leather jacket and military cap. The views were beyond description, especially as the sun came out. It lit up miles and miles of “fairy chimneys” that were formed millions of years ago by gas bubbling through volcanic ash and shaped subsequently by wind. This quiet aerial journey over a surreal landscape will stay with us forever. That evening we got into a tour bus for an epic, 13-hour night journey to Kusadasi on the Aegean Sea. The bus stopped briefly in Konya but there was no time to visit Maulana Rumi’s mosque, where his birthday was being celebrated in earnest. The long bus ride tired us out so we decided to simply relax at our hotel on Polat Beach and take in the beautiful views of the sea. The sunset was beyond words. Later that evening, we went shopping in Kusadasi’s vast market. The next morning, we toured Heirapolis, a Roman city with unusually photogenic houses, tombs, and a vast amphitheater. Then we drove to Pamukkale (cotton castle), one of the world’s most photographed sites. It has unusual white formations running down mountainsides, caused by the deposition of calcium from mineral springs. On our final day we checked out Ephesus, one of the world’s best-preserved Roman cities. It has marble lined streets, a big library and an open-air theater that is the site of summer concerts by Elton John, among others. In the afternoon, we flew back to Istanbul from Izmir, which had been called Smyrna in Homer’s days. During our last day in magical Istanbul, we stayed at the Pera Palace hotel. This is an Istanbul classic, located close to the train station. Agatha Christie wrote “Murder on the Orient Express” at this hotel. Our daughters were lucky enough to stay in a room that had been used by the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. The Shah of Iran, Ataturk, the King of Egypt and other heads of state had stayed in other rooms. As our plane lifted off the runway at Istanbul airport for the long flight home, my mind drifted to another set of monuments that I had grown up with in Pakistan, those of the Indus Valley civilization, the Mughals and the British Raj. There was no doubt in my mind that the ones in Turkey were vastly superior. Perhaps they had been more interesting and varied to begin with. But the authorities had also preserved them much better. No wonder that Turkey attracted 15 million tourists last year and hopes to attract 20 million this year.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 06:31:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015