So... my blog is 2 weeks behind i think... So I went to Istanbul for the reasons
already explained. Got the overnight train from Thessaloniki. It was quite exciting because i had never travel by train before (long distance). I had
my own cabin and a berch and everything... (actually not more than that, it was very small). Met a French guy - Benjamim - and was talking to him for many hours. Shame I didn't get his e-mail address, or I could visit him in Paris...
They take your passport and keep it for about 2 hours, until we pass the Greek border. it was quite scary because my passport is my life... then they wake you up again when we reach the Turkish border a
nd take your passport one more time. We have to get out and pay for the visa. and only after that they give you the passport back, but they still wake you up another time - customs... i had to open my lugagge but the guy didn't even look at it.
So after this 14-hour journey we arrive in Istanbul. It was very hot and very crowded. It was like a Disneyland for adults - queues to get into places, overpriced tickets, and amusement in the end. I was asked to describe it in one word and I said 'colorful'. It is just so different that it is nice. I have to say I didn't do much. I did the main things and I liked them all - the Topnaki Palace, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, I went to the new part of town, and to the Archeological Museum.
And that's it. It is not much for 3-4 days, I could have done it in 2. But it was so hot... and the hostel had a roof terrace and it was nice to go back to the hostel around 4pm and just relax, have a shower, sleep a bit, read, feel the breeze, do nothing. The area I stayed at is quite leafy, it is nice when you get a shade. I met 2 girls in my room on the very same day I arrived: Ann and Kayla. They were my compagnions in Istanbul and we had fun! We would do our own things during the day but always meet up back in the hostel in the afernoon and always go out for a drink - the endless search for the cheapest beer in town!
we went to a Turkish Bath (the one you go completely naked and have a massage) and that was quite an experience. It was a bit odd at some points, but very relaxing and you do leave with the feeling that you are clean.
By the way, do you know that Troy is in Turkey???? I ALWAYS thought it was in Greece but it is not!
So whilst in Istanbul I started seeing lots of things about Cappadocia and felt like going there. So i did. Booked a tour (so i wouldn't have to figure anything out on my own)! It is a crazy place.. i mean, people lived in caves in the rocks... until the 1920's!! It is something like you've never seen before. I enjoyed it. I stayed in a cave room. heheh
So there was another site that i also wanted to go: Ephesus. It was an important city in ancient times, i wanted to see the ruins because from what is left you can actually have an idea of the city, you can still see the street, etc. So went there. Ruins, ruins, ruins. Also went to the house where they say Virgin Mary died. We went to a place where they make the carpets.
When i looked at the map I realised there is a Greek island just off the coast of Turkey and the ferries leave from the city where i was staying... so instead of going all the way back to Istanbul and taking the train back (that was the original plan), it made more sense to take the ferry to Samos.
This was last Tuesday (exactly a week ago), and this is end of my Turkish tale.
