Water is not the only torture perfected by the Turks. In spite of being a Muslim country, thanks to their visionary founder Mustapha Kemal Ataturk (the founder of modern Turkey)…
Mustapha Kemal Attaturk in IZMIR
the Turkish women really know how to strut their stuff. Not only are they astoundingly beautiful, but their clothes (or rather lack of it) really tortured the men in our diverse group...
The face of modern Turkey!
Turkey is doubly blessed- not only do they have beautiful natural wonders but they have mastered the art of civilizing their ‘ruins’. Every artifact, every remnant of a bygone age, every museum that has lovingly restored a relic and showcased it is a tribute to the one thing they venerate above all- the tourist!
Lovingly restored ruins
In Turkey, the tourist is regarded either as a God or the devil in direct proportion to how much he spends and how much he tips. Even a canny tourist cannot help but fall prey to the water torture, but if he signs up for a guided tour like we did, then the tourism department has thought of a myriad ways to rook him. For every museum visit there is a subtle deviation to a carpet manufacturing unit. The Turks are famous for their carpets and tremendously proud that only their carpets have the double knot which makes it the most durable in the world (and also keeps their women bent over the loom for a year to produce one carpet). All the time, while they show you a dazzling array of carpets and an equally dazzling number of facts about weaves, textures and styles, you are subject to subtle pressure to buy, buy and buy. And a Turkish carpet, however beautiful can blow a hole the size of a water bottle through your wallet...
Wherever you go you are offered tea. The Turks take their ‘chai’ pretty seriously (apart from taking the tourist’s money) and thankfully it comes virtually free especially when you are being subtly pressurized to buy carpets. Turkish tea is a treat. They give it to you in small hour glass shaped glasses, without milk and with a cube of sugar on the saucer. In that heat, the tea is like manna from heaven. Apple tea is a favourite (there are quite a few flavours), but drinking Turkish tea is an experience to relish. And a sure way to offend a Turk is to refuse the offer of a tea. You can refuse to buy a carpet and get away with it, but refuse tea and you leave a bad taste in the mouth, literally...
Turkish ‘Chai’ and the Chaiwallah!
Apart from carpet factories, we were whisked to pottery making units, fine jewellery factories and select restaurant stops, where if by some oversight you have bought nothing but water whole day, there are shops that sell you all the knick knacks which are somehow irresistible when you are a tourist.
A pottery making workshop.
The temptation to buy lies all around you (even among the ruins you have the mandatory gift shops which conveniently stock water among the curios) and actually there is a WC alongside where tourists queue obediently like sheep and then pay to use.
Like Wine, Women and Song – Food, Water and WC – pay for all 3 in Turkey
The WC of old - the LATRINA
The tour guides are thorough professionals and know how to captivate their audience. Apart from the mandatory stops to help part the tourist from his foreign exchange, they are walking talking
Cihat – our long suffering tour guide - Always on the job!
encyclopedias. And they are proud of their country. The Turks revere their founder, Kemal Attaturk and everywhere there are statues to commemorate his leadership. Our guide’s name was pronounced as ‘Jihad’ (spelt as Cihat) and unfortunately he had 8 Indians in his group of 11. Throughout the tour the only war he waged was to capture our attention. We had 2 couples from Mumbai who were more interested in eating ‘Theplas’ (they had packed a suitcase full of snacks which they had carted everywhere) and the leader of this group frequently interrupted Chihat to ask ‘how much longer’ and when we stood amongst the ruins ‘Is this what we paid to see?
Cihat waging his holy war – 4 out of 11 were listening!
Indians love shopping and hate keeping time. Since we were on a strict schedule, Chihat had to literally herd us because invariably one member of the group would have wandered off and got lost among the shops. At one stop to drop off a member of the group in his hotel, one of the shopaholics ran off to shop in the hotel lobby while the rest of us fumed in the bus. Our guide went berserk in trying to keep to his schedule.
Cihat with the Indian Shopaholics
Turks are unfailing polite. They never get angry (maybe they have a punching bag at home), but we never got a glimpse of road rage or any public displays of anger. Traffic flows smoothly and the roads are clean – the two things prized above all by the
Food is exquisite. Salads accompany every meal, even breakfast, and olives, yoghurt and honey are delicious add-ons. The rice has a unique flavour and sticky consistency, which is rather delicious, and the breads – a bountiful collection! There are flat breads, hard breads, thin crust and thick crust, rye bread, sesame bread- you name it the Turks have baked it! And unlike in China where the vegetarian tourist has to gaze forlornly at birds nest soup on the dining table, in Turkey there is a banquet of legumes and vegetables and a variety of cheeses- goats cheese, feta, soft cheese, hard cheese to name a few. It’s a gastronomic dream and the wines are pretty smooth too...
A veggie’s dream spread!
Turkish delight and Baklava are two must try culinary experiences if you have a sweet tooth but not everyone likes the taste or consistency (too sticky, too sweet!).
Turkish Delight on the left.
Apart from these two Turkish sweets, the Turks delight in offering you a sweet made of thick yoghurt (much like the Indian shrikhand) topped with poppy seeds and with a smattering of honey on top. They call it “Turkish Viagra” and caution you with a twinkle in their eye from eating too much of it. Both of us had some and it did nothing for the libido- our packed tour itinerary and fast depleting resources took care of that...
Nila sampling Turkish Viagra!
The only jarring note in this land of cheese and honey was the cigarette that hangs from almost every Turkish mouth, both male and female. There is no ban in smoking in public places and in some places we had to view the sights through a haze of cigarette smoke. Other than that
Beautiful Turkey
Nimmou Nilakantan
