I arrived safely back in Amman yesterday after six days in Istanbul! What an incredible city. We visited such sights as the Ayasofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Cistern... and that was just the first day. We also went on a ferry cruise on the Bosphorous, ventured over to the Asian side for an afternoon, ate fish sandwiches right off the boat, saw a whirling Dervishes show, enjoyed a Turkish bath, and wandered aimlessly through the Grand Bazaar almost every day. We had multiple groups of friends come and go during our stay so we were never bored. Our hostel was located within walking distance of the Ayasofia and the Blue Mosque which was convenient, but everything was pretty expensive because it's such a touristy area. However I really enjoyed the fresh fish and kabob. Also, I loved that no matter where you are in Istanbul there are always at least six gigantic ancient mosques, thirty Turkish flags, and some body of water within your line of sight.
Advice to future travelers:
-Expect extreme nakedness in the Turkish bath. I think that's all I need to say about that.
-Be selective about which whirling Dervishes show you choose to attend. Ours was expensive and not that cool. I recommend consulting a guidebook rather than taking advice from your "friend" at the hostel who just happens to be selling tickets.
-Save Topkapi Palace for a day when you feel fully energized and prepared to get excited over a lot of old stuff... not after you've already been to the Ayasofia, Blue Mosque, and Cistern. You will also feel like your money is going further if you don't pay four different entrance fees in one day.
The only thing I hated about the trip was when my wallet was stolen. I had just purchased some bread and put my wallet back in my bag when a fight broke out nearby. Distracted, I failed to zip my bag. A couple of hours later when it came time to pay for lunch I discovered it missing. My wallet contained a decent sum of cash, my debit card, and my Jordanian residency card. Luckily superhero parents came to the rescue and took care of the money issue, but the residency card is going to be a bit more of a hassle. I can get the money replaced by travel insurance, which requires a police report which I obtained after an awkward and embarrassing trip to the police station. After I wasted about half an hour of their time, they gave me a book about Istanbul as a gift. I guess that's Turkish hospitality.
Something that surprised us was how little Arabic is spoken in Turkey. It's written all over every mosque, and according to our guidebook 98% of Turkey is Muslim. However we saw many fewer women in hijab and the bars were always crawling. I should also take into account that we were in the hottest tourist destination in the country, so Istanbul is certainly not an accurate reflection of the rest of Turkey.
Meanwhile, this Sunday is Easter according to the Eastern Orthodox calendar. The ladies wanted me to attend a "funeral for Jesus" on Friday evening, but unfortunately I was unable to due to a previous commitment. I was less upset when they said that it would last from 5:30 until 9pm. Today I helped/watched the ladies dye Easter eggs. I tried to explain how in the US we buy plastic ones, put candy and treasures inside, and hide them for children to find, but I don't think they really got it. On Sunday I think they are having a lot of family over, so that will be fun for about ten minutes before everyone starts ignoring me.
I will probably come back and modify this post later, but I am trying to step up my blogging and give more frequent updates. Also, I managed to upload some photos to this website today: http://s573.photobucket.com/albums/ss177/anna_in_amman/Wadi%20Rum/
although Turkey is 98% moslem, i understandd that they are very much secular in practice. hence they do depart from the customary moslem norms in their everyday lives.
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