Waking Up
Somewhere between 10:45 and 11am my phone began ringing. It would ring once, than stop. The second or third time the cycle repeated I managed to catch the caller. It was the manager asking if I was coming down for breakfast. I noted that breakfast service stopped at 10:30am - but she insisted i come down anyhow for breakfast. Since I've gotten to Turkey I'll usually get 2-3 calls a day from her via Skype asking how I'm doing and what I'm up to, so this wasn't out of the ordinary. I started running the hot water while brushing my teeth. In older hotels it's not uncommon to have to run the water for several minutes before hot water starts. In the case of this hotel, hot water would never come. The best I could get was lukewarm, one more thing to add to my list of complaints about the hotel that included: overbooking, in room WiFi that didn't work, and a broken television. On plus side was the staff was incredibly hospitable. The hot water issue was the straw that broke the camels back - I packed my bags and was checking out.
Considering Cappadochia
I went downstairs and the manager asked if I wanted tea, cake and/or borek. Borke was the mystery dish I had a few nights earlier. She asked why I was checking out and I mentioned I wanted to venture over to Cappadochia - about 400 miles east of Istanbul. Cappadochia is a region full of beautiful rock formations that dates back to the 6th century BC. The site was recommended by a Turkish friend I made during the Israeli Masada and Dead Sea tour. It was also part of Ryan's tour group's itinerary, so I figured it was worth a stop for a couple of days. The most common way of getting there is by overnight 14 hour bus ride. There are daily flights from Istanbul to Cappadochia, but they are 3-4 times the cost of the bus ticket. I figured crashing on the bus overnight would be an adventure and save me the cost of a hotel for 2 nights. She checked me out and charged me 60 euros, right around $80 USD. This was about what I originally anticipated paying when I booked the nights through Kayak.
The manager mentioned she had a friend who put together tours. I'm not a fan of large tours and find them incredibly annoying. So much time is wasted getting everyone on and off the big bus, everyone is looking at the same thing at the same time...making it impossible to get good photos, you have next to no control over the itinerary or to explore on your own, etc. I guess I'm a bit of a control freak, but large tours make me feel claustrophobic. I enjoy reading about a location in advance and picking out things I want to do. Knowledgeable guides are an important part of more important tours, but guides are easy to find and hire when necessary.
After chatting with the manager about my intentions, she still insisted on helping. I needed a bus ticket to Cappadochia so she said she'd help with that. The first few bus companies were full, but she found a seat for me on a bus company called Metro. I found a couple of low cost places, but the hotel manager scoffed at my selections. She suggested a hotel that was around 30 percent more, but had perfect ratings on Trip Advisor. I'd later find out she was able to work out an even better deal for me, saving me about $10/night compared to Kayak.
I couldn't purchase the bus ticket over the phone - someone had to go to the bus depot a few miles away. She offered to have someone do it for me, but I insisted I do it. All I had down as a must do for the day was to tour Topkapi Palace, so I had time. The told me to take the tram and wrote down the the stop on a piece of paper for me. I was familiar with the tram
Finding Metro
Since I knew the stop, knowing when to get off the tram was simple. The instructions given once off the tram were problematic. What I thought I heard was to look to the right after getting off the tram for a metro office - and there was nothing. I thought I was looking for a bus station, in the end it was simply a ticket office. I asked a few local guys who looked to be in high school and they directed me. They were laughing a bit much, so I didn't put much faith in what they said. They ended up chasing me down because they noticed I made an off turn - looks like they were genuinely trying to help. They spoke broken English, but found a native who spoke English a bit better. Unfortunately for me, the person was unfamiliar with where Cappadocia was and simply thought it was a stop on the local train line. We went to station after station trying to find a train card good for local public transporation - something I knew I didn't need. I needed a bus ticket to another city far away. I did end up being glad I got a transit card because carrying the card is easier than carrying change. The kid wouldn't give up on me though. It was incredibly frustrating, he insisted on helping and we were doing the same thing over and over again. I was hoping we would leave because I knew the direction he was taking was wrong - I just struggled getting through to him. After about 15 minutes he finally understood that the bus company was called metro and I didn't simply need a token or card for the local train line. We finally made it to the bus company and he helped communicate my needs to the ticket agent who spoke little English. He was incredibly helpful at the bus company. I was very glad he hung around to facilitate the ticket purchasing process. I gave him $20 USD, which he accepted with a confused and happy look. I'd later find out the ticket I got was the very last ticket sold - talk about great timing.
Touring Topkapi Palace
After wandering around beautiful Gulhane Park, I approached the entrance to Topkapi Palace. Both Topkapi Palace and the Istanbul Archaeology Museums are adjacent to Gulhane Park. I thought I knew right where the entrance was, having passed it a half dozen times or so. Since I hadn't eaten lunch yet I was pretty hungry. I walked around the gardens but realized I really needed some sugar in my blood. I stopped at the cafe for fresh orange juice and cake. The chocolate cake was disgusting and expensive - it had slices of banana in it. The orange juice was fresh and delicious.
After the cafe I head over to see some of the prize exhibits. Some of the exhibits caught me by surprise, like the Staff of Moses. Others, like the Topkapi Emerald Dagger and the 86 carat Spoonmaker's Diamond I head read about earlier. This place was definitely worth the stop. I didn't get a chance to visit the Harem though. Photography isn't allowed throughout most of the exhibits, so I couldn't snap pictures. I did try though, as evidenced by the guards below chasing after me.
After touring Topkapi Palace I went back to my favorite restaurant in Instanbul, Khorasani, for one last meal. I was sure to take in the baklava for desert, as I enjoyed it the first time I was there with Ryan's tour group.
Saying Goodbye
After leaving the Khorasani restaurant I head back to the hotel to pickup my bags. I was running a little behind schedule, but still had plenty of buffer time. Realistically the train ride to the bus pickup point would take under 30 minutes and I was budgeting an hour. I had about 15 minutes short of 2 hours to get to the station. When I arrived, the hotel manager asked I wanted to have dinner with her and her sister, who also works at the hotel. I mentioned I had a pickup time at 9pm and was planning to just pickup my bags and head for the station. The manager's sister started on me about why I didn't do a bundled tour. I mentioned I prefer exploring things myself - she didn't like my answer. She told me I should do a private tour than. I tried explaining that private tours would bankrupt me for the length of time I was traveling, but it would lost on her. I really didn't care for the line of questioning around why I like to do things the way I do. Shortly thereafter, the manager insisted I stay at least for tea, saying the train ride was 15 minutes at most. I hung around longer than I wanted and left about 45 minutes before the pickup time. I was nervous, but figured I still had more than enough time.
Catching the Bus
The local train reached the exit about 2 minutes before pick up time. I was irritated with myself for cutting it so close. Without breaking a sweat I made it to the ticket station, where pickup was, right at 9. There were a few other people there waiting. It took about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive. The bus that came to get us was simply a van that took us to a bigger station. As I boarded the bus I noticed a tall man with long hair in the seat next to me. He had very long greasy hair and was scruffy - I think he thought he was a rock star. He didn't speak English and repeatedly tried to talk to me in his native language. Simply put, the guy was very dumb. The bus was pretty empty when it started to move, so I moved to the empty room across from where I was sitting. I had a window seat, but the window and aisle on the opposite side were both empty. What I wasn't expecting was for the bus to make an additional stop at a major station to pickup more people. When I noticed this I hopped back over. The guy that was sitting next to me blurted some comments at me. I assume he was trying to tell me the bus made an additional stop. He was very proud of himself for being right. I think this moment might be the only time in his life where he felt more intelligent than someone else.
Bus Ride
The bus did not take off on time, I think it left about 15 minutes late. Before the bus took off the attendant checked everyone's ticket and passport. About an hour later he'd do the same thing. He had a clipboard and was taking notes, so I assumed he was taking drink orders. I really wasn't paying attention and didn't see the guy next to me hand his ticket over. The attendant blurted something at me not in English and I responded Coke or Pepsi, he than said"ticket" in English. I was a little embarrassed but handed it over. The guy next to me started laughing at me like I was an idiot. He said something to the attendant and laughed - I could tell the attendant was uncomfortable with whatever was said. I put up with my neighbors obnoxiousness for a bit, trying to let the fool have his one moment of glory. Eventually though he got to me and I let out an obnoxious and than glared at him. He shut up quickly.The attendant gave me a high five for some reason.
The bus had 3g WiFi and individual entertainment consoles on every seat. One of the channels showed a camera at the front of the bus. I didn't play around with the entertainment console because it wasn't in English and I wanted to sleep. The seats have a lot of pitch, taking away most of the tray table room one available on an airplane. Since most people recline their seats fully it's not a big deal. Trying to use a laptop though is difficult. For the first couple of hours I simply listened to music and enjoyed the scenery. After it got dark I updated the blog for a while. After a couple of hours the WiFi went out. I didn't mind, it gave me a good reason to try to sleep. I probably got about 4 hours of sleep on the bus. Overall, the experience wasn't bad. I'd prefer a sleeper train for a 14 hour journey, but the bus wasn't bad. I did get out at one of the rest areas to use the washroom - I looked in the usual spots on the bus for the restroom, out of curiosity and not necessity, but couldn't find one.
Somewhere between 10:45 and 11am my phone began ringing. It would ring once, than stop. The second or third time the cycle repeated I managed to catch the caller. It was the manager asking if I was coming down for breakfast. I noted that breakfast service stopped at 10:30am - but she insisted i come down anyhow for breakfast. Since I've gotten to Turkey I'll usually get 2-3 calls a day from her via Skype asking how I'm doing and what I'm up to, so this wasn't out of the ordinary. I started running the hot water while brushing my teeth. In older hotels it's not uncommon to have to run the water for several minutes before hot water starts. In the case of this hotel, hot water would never come. The best I could get was lukewarm, one more thing to add to my list of complaints about the hotel that included: overbooking, in room WiFi that didn't work, and a broken television. On plus side was the staff was incredibly hospitable. The hot water issue was the straw that broke the camels back - I packed my bags and was checking out.
Considering Cappadochia
I went downstairs and the manager asked if I wanted tea, cake and/or borek. Borke was the mystery dish I had a few nights earlier. She asked why I was checking out and I mentioned I wanted to venture over to Cappadochia - about 400 miles east of Istanbul. Cappadochia is a region full of beautiful rock formations that dates back to the 6th century BC. The site was recommended by a Turkish friend I made during the Israeli Masada and Dead Sea tour. It was also part of Ryan's tour group's itinerary, so I figured it was worth a stop for a couple of days. The most common way of getting there is by overnight 14 hour bus ride. There are daily flights from Istanbul to Cappadochia, but they are 3-4 times the cost of the bus ticket. I figured crashing on the bus overnight would be an adventure and save me the cost of a hotel for 2 nights. She checked me out and charged me 60 euros, right around $80 USD. This was about what I originally anticipated paying when I booked the nights through Kayak.
The manager mentioned she had a friend who put together tours. I'm not a fan of large tours and find them incredibly annoying. So much time is wasted getting everyone on and off the big bus, everyone is looking at the same thing at the same time...making it impossible to get good photos, you have next to no control over the itinerary or to explore on your own, etc. I guess I'm a bit of a control freak, but large tours make me feel claustrophobic. I enjoy reading about a location in advance and picking out things I want to do. Knowledgeable guides are an important part of more important tours, but guides are easy to find and hire when necessary.
After chatting with the manager about my intentions, she still insisted on helping. I needed a bus ticket to Cappadochia so she said she'd help with that. The first few bus companies were full, but she found a seat for me on a bus company called Metro. I found a couple of low cost places, but the hotel manager scoffed at my selections. She suggested a hotel that was around 30 percent more, but had perfect ratings on Trip Advisor. I'd later find out she was able to work out an even better deal for me, saving me about $10/night compared to Kayak.
I couldn't purchase the bus ticket over the phone - someone had to go to the bus depot a few miles away. She offered to have someone do it for me, but I insisted I do it. All I had down as a must do for the day was to tour Topkapi Palace, so I had time. The told me to take the tram and wrote down the the stop on a piece of paper for me. I was familiar with the tram
Finding Metro
Since I knew the stop, knowing when to get off the tram was simple. The instructions given once off the tram were problematic. What I thought I heard was to look to the right after getting off the tram for a metro office - and there was nothing. I thought I was looking for a bus station, in the end it was simply a ticket office. I asked a few local guys who looked to be in high school and they directed me. They were laughing a bit much, so I didn't put much faith in what they said. They ended up chasing me down because they noticed I made an off turn - looks like they were genuinely trying to help. They spoke broken English, but found a native who spoke English a bit better. Unfortunately for me, the person was unfamiliar with where Cappadocia was and simply thought it was a stop on the local train line. We went to station after station trying to find a train card good for local public transporation - something I knew I didn't need. I needed a bus ticket to another city far away. I did end up being glad I got a transit card because carrying the card is easier than carrying change. The kid wouldn't give up on me though. It was incredibly frustrating, he insisted on helping and we were doing the same thing over and over again. I was hoping we would leave because I knew the direction he was taking was wrong - I just struggled getting through to him. After about 15 minutes he finally understood that the bus company was called metro and I didn't simply need a token or card for the local train line. We finally made it to the bus company and he helped communicate my needs to the ticket agent who spoke little English. He was incredibly helpful at the bus company. I was very glad he hung around to facilitate the ticket purchasing process. I gave him $20 USD, which he accepted with a confused and happy look. I'd later find out the ticket I got was the very last ticket sold - talk about great timing.
Me and the Turk who got me to the Metro ticket station
Touring Topkapi Palace
Model of Topkapi Palace
Entry to Topkapi Palace
After wandering around beautiful Gulhane Park, I approached the entrance to Topkapi Palace. Both Topkapi Palace and the Istanbul Archaeology Museums are adjacent to Gulhane Park. I thought I knew right where the entrance was, having passed it a half dozen times or so. Since I hadn't eaten lunch yet I was pretty hungry. I walked around the gardens but realized I really needed some sugar in my blood. I stopped at the cafe for fresh orange juice and cake. The chocolate cake was disgusting and expensive - it had slices of banana in it. The orange juice was fresh and delicious.
After the cafe I head over to see some of the prize exhibits. Some of the exhibits caught me by surprise, like the Staff of Moses. Others, like the Topkapi Emerald Dagger and the 86 carat Spoonmaker's Diamond I head read about earlier. This place was definitely worth the stop. I didn't get a chance to visit the Harem though. Photography isn't allowed throughout most of the exhibits, so I couldn't snap pictures. I did try though, as evidenced by the guards below chasing after me.
After touring Topkapi Palace I went back to my favorite restaurant in Instanbul, Khorasani, for one last meal. I was sure to take in the baklava for desert, as I enjoyed it the first time I was there with Ryan's tour group.
Unarmed guards rushing at me because I took a picture
Me, next to a hollow tree on the gardens
Great views from the Palace
Saying Goodbye
After leaving the Khorasani restaurant I head back to the hotel to pickup my bags. I was running a little behind schedule, but still had plenty of buffer time. Realistically the train ride to the bus pickup point would take under 30 minutes and I was budgeting an hour. I had about 15 minutes short of 2 hours to get to the station. When I arrived, the hotel manager asked I wanted to have dinner with her and her sister, who also works at the hotel. I mentioned I had a pickup time at 9pm and was planning to just pickup my bags and head for the station. The manager's sister started on me about why I didn't do a bundled tour. I mentioned I prefer exploring things myself - she didn't like my answer. She told me I should do a private tour than. I tried explaining that private tours would bankrupt me for the length of time I was traveling, but it would lost on her. I really didn't care for the line of questioning around why I like to do things the way I do. Shortly thereafter, the manager insisted I stay at least for tea, saying the train ride was 15 minutes at most. I hung around longer than I wanted and left about 45 minutes before the pickup time. I was nervous, but figured I still had more than enough time.
Catching the Bus
The local train reached the exit about 2 minutes before pick up time. I was irritated with myself for cutting it so close. Without breaking a sweat I made it to the ticket station, where pickup was, right at 9. There were a few other people there waiting. It took about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive. The bus that came to get us was simply a van that took us to a bigger station. As I boarded the bus I noticed a tall man with long hair in the seat next to me. He had very long greasy hair and was scruffy - I think he thought he was a rock star. He didn't speak English and repeatedly tried to talk to me in his native language. Simply put, the guy was very dumb. The bus was pretty empty when it started to move, so I moved to the empty room across from where I was sitting. I had a window seat, but the window and aisle on the opposite side were both empty. What I wasn't expecting was for the bus to make an additional stop at a major station to pickup more people. When I noticed this I hopped back over. The guy that was sitting next to me blurted some comments at me. I assume he was trying to tell me the bus made an additional stop. He was very proud of himself for being right. I think this moment might be the only time in his life where he felt more intelligent than someone else.
My Bus
Inside Bus - free 3G wireless and individual TVs on each seat.
Man in tux is the attendant who served drinks, etc.
Bus Ride
The bus did not take off on time, I think it left about 15 minutes late. Before the bus took off the attendant checked everyone's ticket and passport. About an hour later he'd do the same thing. He had a clipboard and was taking notes, so I assumed he was taking drink orders. I really wasn't paying attention and didn't see the guy next to me hand his ticket over. The attendant blurted something at me not in English and I responded Coke or Pepsi, he than said"ticket" in English. I was a little embarrassed but handed it over. The guy next to me started laughing at me like I was an idiot. He said something to the attendant and laughed - I could tell the attendant was uncomfortable with whatever was said. I put up with my neighbors obnoxiousness for a bit, trying to let the fool have his one moment of glory. Eventually though he got to me and I let out an obnoxious and than glared at him. He shut up quickly.The attendant gave me a high five for some reason.
The bus had 3g WiFi and individual entertainment consoles on every seat. One of the channels showed a camera at the front of the bus. I didn't play around with the entertainment console because it wasn't in English and I wanted to sleep. The seats have a lot of pitch, taking away most of the tray table room one available on an airplane. Since most people recline their seats fully it's not a big deal. Trying to use a laptop though is difficult. For the first couple of hours I simply listened to music and enjoyed the scenery. After it got dark I updated the blog for a while. After a couple of hours the WiFi went out. I didn't mind, it gave me a good reason to try to sleep. I probably got about 4 hours of sleep on the bus. Overall, the experience wasn't bad. I'd prefer a sleeper train for a 14 hour journey, but the bus wasn't bad. I did get out at one of the rest areas to use the washroom - I looked in the usual spots on the bus for the restroom, out of curiosity and not necessity, but couldn't find one.
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