Today was a comedy of errors, mostly transportation.
I realized as soon as I got to Istanbul that I did not plan enough time to fully enjoy and appreciate Turkey. The country is much larger than I guess I imagined, and other places that are of touristic or aesthetic interest are a flight away rather than a bus or train ride. I spent 3 days in Istanbul, and realized I had only 3 days to visit somewhere else.
By tourists, I was recommended Cappadocia. It's a mountainous region in the center of the country that have these cave houses and stone chimney-like structures and underground city-like shit. You have to go with a tour group, as the region is too big to explore in another way. The package was something like 250 Euros, and that's taking an 11-hour overnight bus twice in 4 days.
Turkish people recommended Izmir. So, I chose Izmir.
Izmir is on the west coast of Turkey, south of Istanbul, an hour flight away (9 or so by bus.) It's right on the water, and has a big park next to an ocean wall where people like to walk and hang out. Evidently it's a fun, cool little town.
The day started off OK... the Koreans waited until about 7 am to turn off the bloody a/c, after I had already woken up. The guy at the hostel said that it would take me an hour to get to the airport, so I gave myself two. My brand new bag is barely stained from the exploding sunscreen, and the smell has mostly dissipated, and has 360 degree spinning wheels, so even with the cobblestones and having to go all uphill, the 15 minute hike to the tram was not unwelcome. Excersize, I thought.
I get on the tram. I notice that there's two chances to connect to the M1 metro line to the airport. A close station, and a station further away. The metro has to be faster than the tram, I thought. I'll get off at the earlier one, even though Lonely Planet said to get off at the other one.
And this is where my day took a turn.
I get off the tram, which is on street level. I see that there is boureki place that will have coffee, juice, and well, boureki for breakfast. I was so early!! I'll just make a pit stop.
To get to the cafe, you have to walk up about 25 stairs, go over the overpass, and down 25 flights of stairs. More excersize! Just a little more. This damn bag is heavy as shit. Up, over, and down I go. I ask the man for this boureki that is shaped like a huge intestine. I figure they will cut me off a small piece. They fill up a 1/2 kilo box instead. I'm still positive. I'll eat it later!
I now think that the metro is somewhere on the street in front of me. And then I remember that the last time I made a connection it was inside the tram entrance. Fuck. Back over and down I go. But wait, I'm wrong. It's not there. Back over and down. I get it in my head that the metro is on the OTHER side of the boulevard of death I'm looking at. Back over and down. Nope, not there either. Back over and down.
At this point, I am DRIPPING in sweat. The well-known kindness of the Turks clearly stop just short of helping a lady upstairs with her huge bag of shit (one leg of this journey was kindly taken by one dude... thanks, guy.)
This is also when I figure out that Turkish people HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHERE ANYTHING IS. I did find someone who could point me in the right direction. A sanitation guy. The "connecting" metro was 2 blocks away.
I ask a man on the platform which side goes to the airport. He tells me the wrong side. So I figure it out, but I missed the train. And now I'm convinced that there's NO WAY I am making the flight. I did, but I was really surprised.
And the intestine boureki was soggy.
Flight is fine. I once again ignore Lonely Planet, and instead of taking the suggested bus route that leaves the airport every 10 minutes, I take the metro. The metro at Izmir airport is a good 10 minute walk away, albeit with lots of moving sidewalks. The lady sells me my ticket and tells me where to change for Besmane, the city center. She tells me where to change. I half-listen, figuring there would be a map on the metro telling me where to change (the metro only has 2 lines.)
OF COURSE THERE'S NO FUCKING METRO MAP ON THE METRO.
Now, I should have listened to both the lady who told me where to change, and the conductor on the platform. But Turkish is hard to understand, and my memory sucks, and for some reason, I forgot to pack a pen. So I sit down, and realize I am the only non-Turkish person on the train. No one is paying me any mind, but I now know that you should always, ALWAYS, follow Lonely Planet when trying to get somewhere.
So, the lady next to me tries to help me (she speaks some English.) Instead of saying "I have no idea," she starts telling me all the facts she DOES know. Like, she tells me the name of each station as we're passing it (which is also clearly displayed on the rolling LED marquis.) She tells me where SHE is getting off. She is really, REALLY, trying to help.
I ask the next train platform's conductor, and he tells me. I get off, and this metro is sparkling, new, and beautiful, and has no direction whatsoever where to go. The man working there really did help me out.
I get to Besmane, and somehow find the hotel. The hotel gives me a map. The ENTIRE TOWN'S STREETS ARE NUMBERED, in no discernable order, as the streets are all curvy and twisty. There is no grid. And by numbered, I mean that the town, on a map, looks like a terribly disorganized set of prison cells.
THE HOTEL IS GREAT. It's tacky and opulent, and I somehow snagged a room for 44 euro a night, and the a/c is great and the room isn't smelly and the bed is hard and has linen art on it and some lokum on the pillow and I'm gonna wash some underwear in the sink and watch tv naked. Aaaah, finally things are looking up.
I spend the day lostlostlost. I don't even know how this is possible, with the map indicating all I needed to do was turn twice. At least it's really pleasant here, and I saw the water, and who cares if I find anything on the map! I'm meandering!!!
But now my feet hurt, so I hop in a taxi. It's not very far. I show the taxi guy my circled hotel on the map. He hasno idea where it is. He calls the other guy for backup. HE ALSO has no idea where it is. Two blocks from the metro!! Then I get in the cab, and realize that he hasn't turned on the meter. Classic scam. I point to the meter and tell him to turn it on. He speaks no English, but says "10 lira, fixed rate." I say no and get out of the cab. Asshole. I walk back to the hotel.
I rest up, and go back out, to look for some good food and go back to the laid-back looking bar area near the water.
I realize that the neighborhood I was walking around happily all day looks a hell of a lot more troublesome at night. Where did all the women go? There's men at all the bars, leering at me as I pass them, and one guy walks up to me and gives me the usual "hellowhereyoufrom?" and I walk away.
He follows me. About 10 feet behind me, but he was probably going in that direction anyway. There's still sunlight. It's fine. Just to be safe, I turn a corner onto a busy street. I walk another block, and he reappears, walking quickly towards me.
Now I wag my finger in his face and very loudly and sharply yell YOU HAVE TO STOP FOLLOWING ME, and he got the hint and started walking in the opposite direction. I duck into the Hilton right next to me until the coast is clear.
I'm done walking around by myself with no directional sense today, and truth be told, I'm a little shaken up, but I knew I did everything I should have done and my instincts were good.
I go to the cab. This time, armed with my map and my hotel circled, my hotel which is two blocks from the big fucking metro station and a huge traffic circle.
I show the cabbie. He spends about 5 minutes analyzing where he should go, and calls the other dude for backup. Even the taxi drivers can't read the map or know where they are. How is this even POSSIBLE in a country where everyone instinctively knows where MECCA IS?!?!?!? This cabbie is nice, somehow finds the metro, and when the fare is 5.20, I give him 10, put 4 fingers in the air to signify to only give me 4 back, he rounds down to 5 lira. I tip him 1 lira (not much but they really don't tip much here at all) and profusely thank him for doing his fucking job right.
I walk the block to the hotel, and realize that of the approximate 100 men people sipping tea, eating dinner, there are about 3 women and I am being stared at by everyone. I'm not even put off any more. I just want some goddamn fish for dinner.
I enjoyed a LOVELY dorado, and the staff at the place across the street all smiled politely and gave me food and drink and more toast I could possibly eat in the next week.
I'm sure this place is spectacular, if you speak turkish, or if you're not traveling alone. I'm not even so disheartened. I'm tired, so I can use some rest tonight, and I'll just take a taxi everywhere after dark, and only tell the taxi drivers monuments.
And writing this, I caught the young Chinese couple from the restaurant talking to the receptionist about going to cesme tomorrow, which I wanted to do. I asked them about it, and they said "we want to go. It's very confusing. The maps are very bad."
We're all going to figure it out together tomorrow, after breakfast.
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