Ölüdeniz Live Cam

I'm back from my holiday in Turkey (1995) and I am pleased to say that Istanbul was certainly an interesting place to go for a break. Beforehand, I had pictured Istanbul to be a rather romantic city with beautiful mosques, exotic market stalls and golden sunsets tinged with an atmosphere of mysterious Eastern Magic just like that you always see in those postcards. Well, this wasn't true! The real Istanbul sykline was polluted with smog caused by the burning of coal fires and the filthy fumes which poured out from the exhausts of the cars and buses which speed their way through this hustling and bustling city! It was quite unpleasant sometimes - a face mask would have been useful here.

Commuting was very cheap in Turkey. Everyday I would get on a minibus and a ferry in order to get to the town centre from my friend's flat where I stayed throughout my 10 days (thanks Ruth & Ibrahim!). The minibuses and shared taxis (called Dolmus) were incredible. The Turks have great pleasure in trying to break the world record for fitting in as many people as they can in such a small, confined space. Just when you think your minibus or Dolmus that you're travelling in is absolutely full, the driver stops and picks up more passengers! If you're unlucky to be tall like me then this type of transport can pose a few problems especially when standing up whilst travelling - the roof can be a little low sometimes and so you have to travel with a crooked or bent neck.

To make things worse the taxi drivers like to drive like Nigel Mansell and don't believe in wearing seat belts, even on busy motorways. They're all mad. The ferry was essential because Istanbul is unique in that it is the only country in the world to be built on two continents. The European half is separated from the Asian half by a waterway called the Bosphorus. The Asian side is mainly residential whilst the European side contains the tourist attractions. A 20 minute journey across the Bosphorus only set us back 30p. (The sun setting over the back of the Istanbul skyline was truly wonderful - one of the best sunsets I had ever seen. Truly magnificent).

Most of the tourist sight-seeing attractions over there were of the mosques (equivalent of churches) and palaces (equivalent of Buckingham Palace). On going in to the mosques it was respectful to take your shoes off and women had to wear headscarves to cover their hair. It's all part of the Muslim religion which seems to give the women an unfair deal and less respect than the male sex. It was easy to see why tourists would come to Istanbul to see the mosques. They were all very beautiful inside, their roofs and walls were decorated with very pretty tiles and stained glass windows.

The Muslims take their religion very seriously indeed. They pray five times a day. At set times during the day a message is sent from each of the mosques by a man who sings through a microphone. His job is to "call people to pray for Allah". His voice is broadcast (live) over the entire city through lots of loudspeakers so that everybody cannot miss his call. It would have been quite unobtrusive were it not for the awful quality of his singing. And remember, this was done five times a day.

Another reason why people come to Istanbul is to take part in the shopping extravaganza which goes on here. The Turks are very, very keen to sell you things. They try to tempt you to walk into their shop to browse at their goods for sale. On many occasions, Al and I have stopped to look at our map because we wanted to find directions to go somewhere. A seller would come up to us and appear to be very friendly by showing us the best route to take for our destination. Cunningly he would tell us to go down a road where his carpet shop was and ask whether we would be interested in buying a carpet! What a cheek! (Apparently, Turkish carpets are quite famous for their quality).

On every shopping street that we walked down there would be shopkeepers standing on the doorstep ready to pounce on you and ask the same old question: "Hello, would you like to come into my shop? I'll give you good price. Are you from Japan?" In the end I got used to and rather enjoyed it because it gave me the chance to reply back and practise my Japanese.

Bartering for good prices was essential because prices were not marked on the items for sale. Every purchase was hard work. We had to spend many minutes negotiating prices because the shopkeepers would always want to overcharge you by a staggering amount. When I enquired about the price of an onyx (stone) chess set he initially asked £45 for it. I said "no thanks, it's too expensive... I'll go somewhere else." and so I walked towards the door. He pulled me back in and then offered it to me for £30. I declined the offer again saying that I could get it cheaper at another shop. In the end, after 15 minutes of intense negotiations and several attempts at trying to leave the shop, he offered it to me for £13.

So if you're prepared to be patient, you can get some good bargains : waistcoats for £7; "Reebok" track suits for £11; leather belts for £3. In the covered markets you could buy various things like lucky charms, copperware, hand-painted bowls and plates, pictures (incredibly good ones), bags, hand-painted silver boxes. The list was endless.

Al & I went out to a restaurant in Turkey with Ruth's family for a pre-wedding celebration meal. We even cleared the table for her so that she could dance on the table for u.

Also fairly common in Turkey were the shoe-shine boys. These were little boys aged from ten years upwards who would walk round the streets of the city looking for shoes to clean and shine! They carried all their equipment with them (brushes, cloths, shoe polish etc.) Of course, they followed the usual Turkish custom of hassling you for their services and did not take "no" for an answer. After the usual bargaining, you could get some really well polished shoes for 30 pence - very useful in a city as dusty and filthy as Istanbul.

One day, after a few hard hours of shopping, Al & I decided to go for a drink at a cafe. After ordering our coffee (for which we had to negotiate a good price for) we were surrounded by two shoe-shine boys who desperately wanted our business and a man who wanted to sell us some "Reebok" sport jackets! All three of them wouldn't leave until we bought something from them! Why couldn't we be left in peace? All we wanted was a coffee in a quiet relaxing place.

As part of a plan to get away from the pollution and shopkeepers of Turkey's biggest city, we often went on little excursion trips to visit some of the beautiful surrounding countryside. Buyukada was an island off the mainland which was vehicle-free. Making the island free from cars and buses does wonders for the air quality. For the first time in a week we could breathe in some fresh air! The main form of transport was horse and cart so we indulged in the luxury of going on one of these for a peaceful, relaxing trip around the small island. We enjoyed the trip so much that we went around the island again but not in a cart this time - we hired a couple of bikes instead.

After a few hours cycling we re-fuelled our bodily energy resources by buying some of the delicious cakes which they sold in the cosy cafes they had there. On another day, we sailed up the Bosphorus for 1½ hours to a place called Anadolu Kavagi. We climbed up a hill here to reach a ruined fort. At the top we had a magnificent panoramic view of the Black Sea. Because the fort was quite high up, I felt as though I was on top of the world! The view was so lovely that we sat on the hill for nearly two hours just absorbing what lay in front of us.

So there you have it, my holiday in Turkey. I'm glad that I went there. I saw a glimpse of what life could be like in a Muslim country, although I must admit, due to the westernising influences which have evolved during this century, much of what I saw was similar to British life! 10 days in Istanbul was too long though and I must recommend that if you ever go to Turkey one day that you only spend 4 or 5 days there. The remaining days should be spent on the west and south coast which I am told is quite different and less hectic than the city life of Istanbul. My boss, Dudley, has a different opinion. Oh, I can't finish without giving a mention to my hosts in Turkey - many thanks Ruth & Ibrahim for your splendid hospitality! Very much appreciated.