Turkey- Istanbul and Cappadocia

At first when we were getting close to Turkey I was not very excited to go. We had pre-departure meeting the night before arriving and when we get the information we need about that port and traveling within the country. They told us that this was a turning point in our voyage. I realized this because we were turning from Catholic Europe to a Muslim country that was going to be different from the other countries that we had traveled. After pre-departure I went to a meeting where they gave us more information about all the things to do while in Turkey. After hearing all the things that there was to do I was ready for Turkey and so excited for this country. I looked over the information and figured out some top things to do while in Istanbul.

I woke up to watch the sunrise as we pulled into port in Istanbul. The sunrise was beautiful and it was great to see the city as we approached it. The horizon was different from other cities and we were greeted by mosques instead of cathedrals. Istanbul looked like a city waiting to be explored. We had breakfast and waited for the ship to be cleared. For the first time the ship was chaotic, we had to all get our landing cards that we had to carry around with us at all times. People were everywhere trying to get those and information about Istanbul and figuring out their trips. That morning I had been watching the people passing by our ship and lots of people were in pants and most of the women were dressed in long pants or skirts. We got off the ship and we walked to the bazaar. We walked through the spice bazaar and the smells were incredible. There were so many smells and they were intriguing and intoxicating. We stopped to ask for directions and made it to the bazaar. The bazaar was over 4,000 shops all split up into categories such as clothing, rugs, jewelry, beads, gold and more. We spent several hours walking around and shopping. We experienced our first taste of Turkish hospitality and were given apple tea by one of the shop keepers. It was very good and I ended up buying some later in the day. We got to bargain with the shop keepers and try to get the best deal. This took up most the day and later I went out with some friends to see Harry Potter. We ended up watching a dance festival going on in one of the squares. There were so many people out walking around and watching the dance festival. The festival was traditional dances from the countries the dancers were from. We watched for a while and then went to get our tickets for Harry Potter. We got our tickets and then went to a café to enjoy some tea before the movie started. We got to the movie and were half way through the movie when the movie shut off, the lights came on and all the Turkish people got up to leave. I was looking around wondering what was going on but found out that there is intermission during the middle of the movie. Harry Potter was good and we went back to the ship and I packed to leave for my trip the next day.

Our second day in Turkey I left for Cappadocia very early in the morning. I was very glad to see that a few of my friends were on the trip. We drove to the Istanbul airport and then got on our flight to fly to Cappadocia. The airport was interesting because at the gate we gave our tickets and then got on a bus right outside of our gate. Then the bus took us to a large area where all the planes were lined up in rows. We flew to Cappadocia and toured some of the caves where the Christians lived and hid. The Christians carved our tunnels and rooms and made houses in the caves and would hid for four months from their enemies to escape from persecution. We got to tour one of the caves and see the stable, living areas, the kitchen that had black on the ceiling and on the walls because they had no ventilation. It was awesome getting to go inside and look around and hear more about their lives that they lived. While in the cave I was thinking about how awesome it was and it would have been to live there, I stopped to think about it and how I knew that I would be leaving the cave within 20 minutes but the people lived underground without going outside for months. This put things in perspective and really made me thing about the Christians who lived there and how there faith was so important to them and so strong that they lived underground without going outside so they would not be persecuted for their belief in Christ. This was powerful and gave me a new perspective on the trip. The rest of the day we stopped at three scenic stops and got to take pictures and walk around. The view and the landscape was amazing and like something that I had never seen before. There were tall giant rocks shooting up for the ground. It was amazing and every time we got off the bus it was a new amazing landscape. We went to a pottery shop before going back to the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was so nice and after dinner we went to a Whirling Dervish Ceremony. This is a traditional religious ceremony and we were able to go and watch. After the ceremony we went back to the hotel and some of us sat by the pool and got to talk until we went to bed.

The second day in Cappadocia we went on tours of the churches in the caves. We got to see several and I was shocked to see painting on the walls. We left the caves and went to a carpet store and got to see how carpets were made and how to tell the difference about what they are made of and the quality. We were shown many carpets and told that all carpets could fly- with MasterCard and Visa. Some people bought carpets so I wandered through the different rooms and lived vicariously through others buying carpets. After the carpet store we went to a jewelry store and got to look around and buy of course. I was looking around and with one of my friends looking at rings and told me to try one of them on. I tried it on and it was beautiful and handed it back and walked to the next case. As I was walking away my friend informed me that I had just tried on a 20,000 dollar ring. I had no idea. After the jewelry store and lunch we did one of my favorite things of the whole trip. We were told we were going to a museum and I wasn’t too thrilled but the museum turned out to be chimney fairies that we got to run around and explore. We got a chance to hike up to the caves and go in and explore them and climb up them. It was so much fun and we all agreed that we could have spent all day there. After our great adventures there we left Cappadocia and got on a plane back to Istanbul.

The fourth day in Turkey I met up with the girls and we went back to the bazaar so the girls could do a little shopping. We shopped for a while and then went to see more of Istanbul. We went to the cisterns and got to see the Roman Aqueduct system that was used in ancient times. It was really neat going underground and getting to look around. Outside of the cisterns we walked over the Blue Mosque and got to hear a group of travelers singing Christian praise songs. I couldn’t understand the words but I caught on the melody and knew that they were singing Christian songs. It was pretty awesome in the middle of a Muslim country to hear Christian songs and Christian songs that I recognized. We went to the Blue Mosque and got to go in. It was the first time that I had been in a mosque. We got our postcards and then went to the ship to have dinner and then we went to try and get internet without much luck but I did try Turkish coffee.

The last day in Turkey I did not feel well and slept until I went to go to a student life in Turkey. We got to go to an American university and meet with Turkish students and ask them questions. We were able to ask a lot of questions and I learned a lot about their education system, culture and student life. It was a special and unique opportunity to have and talk to students in Turkey and get to hear about their country and culture. They asked us question about our education and life in America. We left the university and went back to the ship to get on before we departed Turkey.