Back in Istanbul

We got up early and left the Movenpick Dead Sea Resort about 7:30 a.m. The hotel is physically beautiful and the grounds and Dead Sea access are wonderful, but the hotel itself lacked a bit in service. The breakfast buffet tried to be the same as we had in Petra, but the quality was a bit off. Unfortunately, the hotel had a few Europeans, and some obviously wealthy middle-easterners, but the biggest group was a three bus load tour group, mostly from Texas, who were doing what appeared to be a Holy Lands tour with a brief side trip to the other side of the Jordan River. We talked to them a bit, and the day we were leaving, the were loading their buses for a one day tour of Mount Nebo (on the way to Amman, and then on to Petra, and then back to the same Dead Sea hotel the same night. That was going to mean about 5 hours on the buses and maybe three hours to see Petra. Given the physical shape most of them appeared to be in, they were going to be doing well to make it to the Treasury at the bottom of the siq, and were going to miss the vast majority of the site.

The first place we stopped for gas just north of the Dead Sea only took cash so I got rid of the last of my Jordanian money, but we needed to return the car at the 3/4 full mark, and it only got it to half. The road back toward Amman was wide and smooth. The directions got a little sketchy was we got into south Amman, so I took what looked like a major street going the right direction before we got too deep into the traffic craziness of Amman itself, and luckily it took us to the road south to the airport. We stopped for gas again, at a more modern place and had them put in 10 dinar’s worth, which got the tank up to where it was supposed to be. We found the airport, got lucky with a parking space right in front of the terminal and returned the car.

;

We were there before 9:00 a.m. We thought our flight was at 11:20 a.m., but it turned out that was the time they opened the gate and the flight did not leave until after 12:30 p.m. We found a Starbucks with comfortable chairs and read our books. The airport was chaotic, but we finally got on our flight, were fed lunch en-route, and landed at Istanbul by 2:30 p.m. We got a clean taxi with a clean looking, non-smoking driver and had a nice 45 minute ride to the InterContinental Hotel in the new city. Checking in was painless and we got a nice room on the eighth floor with nice views to the north and a peek at the Bosporus and the major bridge across it.

We went out for dinner and found a great place with pizza and pasta, and a good wine selection. Back to the room by 7:00 p.m., we tried to stay awake watching the BBC Entertainment Channel, but were asleep by 8:00 p.m.

Patty’s Advance Anti-Counterfeiting Strategies conference started with registration and a continental breakfast at 9:00 a.m., and I went down with her; me in jeans and her in her suit. I helped myself to some breakfast and I left her and went out to explore. The InterContinental backs up to Taksim Square, the start of Rick Steves’ walking guide to the new city. I walked around there, oriented myself, and started down Istiklal Street, the main modern shopping street in Istanbul. One of my goals was to find some black dress shoes for the nice dinner we are invited to tonight. I had purposely not brought any and my regular walking shoes were pretty scruffy after a few days of desert walking.

I spotted a shop with nice shoes, claiming to be handmade, for 210 TL, or about $117, in a style I liked. I decided to keep that in mind, and kept walking down the street. It is the home to a lot of the embassies and consulates, as well as every store you would find in a mall in the USA or Europe. The street actually has a mall attached to it, but I did not go in.

At the end of the street, there is a funicular railway that descends to the bridge over the Golden Horn. I bought my first transit card, and with only the minimal help of the security guard (it turns out the card is sold for 4 TL blank and you have to load it with money for fares), I got the funicular train down. We had come across the bridge on our way from the airport and it was nice to be able to walk around it and the sea front.

I walked down an alley off the of the main street and found a North Face store. Along with the backpacks and flashlights, you could buy pistols and automatic sub-machine guns. I guess hiking around in the hills in this part of the world requires more than sturdy boots and insect repellant. (Yes, Rob, this store is for you.)

After exploring the waterfront near the bridge, I took the tram along the waterfront and got off at the Dolmabahce Palace. It is closed today, but I took some pictures, including of the InterContinental Hotel on the top of the hill above. After wandering around a little more, I took another funicular railway up to the Taksim Square.

I went back to the shoe store I had spotted earlier, found the shoes fit nicely, and bought a pair. I then had lunch nearby at one of the cafeteria style places and went back to the hotel. This afternoon is a Turkish Bath and then we are going out to a nice dinner courtesy of a Turkish law firm.

;
Turkish Bath Update
Imagine a large Turkish man, nearly naked, laying you on a marble slab and bending you to see if you break. (I am not yet sure; we will see how my lower back feels in a few hours.) That happened after sitting in a dry sauna at 47 degrees centigrade until almost melted. Then the guy takes a glove made of Brillo pads and scrubs two thirds of your skin off. At the end, you are relieved it is over, not in need of a dermatologist to remove skin imperfections, and undisputedly clean. (Taxi fun and games: 18 TL to get there; 8 TL to get back; metered, same rate. “Tourist route” vs. direct route.)