We are heading back to Istanbul. This means that our tour is almost over. Humph.
The drive is not very far, and includes a short ferry ride that prevents us from having to make a rather long detour around the bay just below Istanbul. During our time here, people have often mentioned the number of people living in Istanbul. The number always varies. Usually by 10's of millions. It starts with 16 million, but sometimes goes way over 20 million. The problem is that the city was not built for this number of people. One of the first things that shows this, is traffic, and shortly after we cross the Bosphorus bridge, we hit the traffic, so actually getting to our destination takes a great deal longer than hoped for. We are astonished to see that there are street vendors halfway up the freeway selling things.
Our first destination back in Istanbul is the Grand Bazaar. Kamil, our very capable bus driver, has to squeeze the bus through narrow streets laden with excessive traffic and pedestrians, a task that he accomplishes with great ease. The Grand Bazaar is situated in the historic part of town, close to other large tourist attractions, like the Blue Mosque. A series of narrow streets lead up to this very busy shopping mecca. Ilker gives us the rundown of the where's and how's, and then sets yet another busload full of retail-hungry foreigners loose.
It is overwhelming. A maze of little shops manned by eager Turks who know just about every trick in the book to lure you inside their shops. The first question is always "Where are you from?". Some guess, based on what you have been speaking. Some immediately get the Afrikaans, and then recite some of the Afrikaans terms they have cunningly picked up from other tourists. I'm quite sure these are tricks of Marketing 101. Make any connection to the prey that you can possibly think of, to at least get them talking. You hear things like "Ahh, South Africa. Bafana Bafana". Or "Ahh, South Africa. Charlize Theron" (this one admittedly surprised us!). Or "Ahh, South Africa. I have lived in your country for 2 years." They often use this last line. If you had to quietly sit and watch one of them for a day, you would probably find that he has lived in other countries for more years than what his age is.
Initially, we figure that our three hours would be sufficient to spend in the Grand Bazaar. We could have spent a lot more. In time and money! But a Bosphorus cruise awaits.
The temperature in Istanbul is a bit higher than that of Cappadocia, yet we feel a great deal colder here. The boat used for the cruise along the Bosphorus strait fortunately has a warm cabin with a little coffee shop, so we are able to get some warm apple tea, the drink that we have come to love in Turkiye. I braved the elements for a while on the top deck for some photo's, but very quickly preferred the warm cabin. The Bosphorus is a great way of seeing life in Istanbul, albeit mostly luxury life. It is considered a huge privilege to be able to own a house on the Bosphurus. Mostly because of the fact that the Bosphorus is really a sea, not a river. You don't really get cities that has a sea running through it. The most expensive house sold here, was sold to a Russian, the owner of the Chelsea football team. He bought the house for USD 240million. We wondered about the way the houses were built so close to the water. The natural concern would be - what about flooding. But because this is not a river, that is not an issue. But what about tides then? Well - this is not a major ocean, so their are no tides either. Or at least no major differences in water levels. You do however need a special license to steer a ship through the strait. We saw one ship being towed by a tug boat. Clearly an unlicensed captain.
We end the day off with a Belly Dancing show. These organized shows for tourists can admittedly be rather cheesy, so we went with some apprehension. Judging from the faces of the musicians providing the background music, the apprehension sky-rocketed. The show was great. We are told that we were privileged to see Turkiye's best bellydancer. We also saw some other traditional dances, as well as a singer who proceeded to sing a song from each country represented in the audience. He quickly dubbed our table the United Nations, and then proceeded to sing a Zulu song for us South Africans.
Izika Zumba Zumba Zumba.
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