Well now, I still
have a whole month of catching up to do since I only left you with the account
of how I arrived in Turkey and not how I stayed here for so long. I have many
other things to write about but I thought it would be unfair not to register this
for the sake of my travel adventure and hopefully yours when reading this.
So I arrived in Istanbul with Alex and spent the first night in a public park just outside of Ataturk Airport and the next day we went on looking for couch surfing hosts that could have us for a couple of nights before either of us got back on the road. I was up for finding more lush green parks to squat, although Alex being dirty and tired decided for a hostel. I went along so that maybe I'd be able to use their showers before heading off again.
It was a nice little place called the Harmony Hostel on the main touristic area of Istanbul called Sultanahmet (next to the Blue Mosque) and their terrace had a spectacular view. I decided to stay there for the afternoon, chill and use their free internet and computer. As the day neared it's end and I with no sure host in sight met up with the owner and started talking, telling him my story. In the end of it he simply asked "Do you have place to sleep?" to which I said no and no money to stay in his fine establishment to which he immediately replies "Ok, you stay here for free". Surprised and thankful I did.
Sleeping on a matress in an air-conditioned room in Istanbul Summer heat is a wonderful thing and the next day I proposed to the owner that I repay his kindness by working for him and improving his ratings since I speak a few languages, have worked in a hostel before and most importantly know what it takes to make a good hostel (most important are the guests, who really make the whole athmosphere for fun and having a traveler working there who knows how travelers think). He said OK and had me staying for free, eating for free and getting a modest monthly pay (quite modest, but I was ready to do it for nothing). My job was to hang around the wonderful terrace area and chat around with guests, make breakfast, play music on the computer for ambience and just be generally helpful while enjoying the nice breeze from the Bosphoros. It was a great time! While I was there I met so many interesting people doing all sorts of trips like Chris who biked his way from the Channel Islands on his Jersey to Asia trip (google Jersey to Asia) and got stuck in Istanbul waiting for his passport to come back from the Pakistani High Council in London for his visa. Or David from the Netherlands who travels down to Istanbul nearly every month to spend some time with his Turkish girlfriend (has been to Turkey 14 times in the last year alone). Or Rey from the Mauritius Islands who records a very detailed photo report from erywhere he goes. Not to mention the three Muslim Danish sisters (Khadija, Asma and Mariam) who travel around and keep getting their pictures taken by tourists who are anxious to photograph a woman in a hijab.
All this was really great and laste for a great 2 and a half weeks in Istanbul with lots of fun. Although after that time I had met Elif who I started to couch surf with and was so nice to me treating me with the best of Turkish food and hospitality and introducing met o the greatest dessert in the world... KUNAFEH!
So I arrived in Istanbul with Alex and spent the first night in a public park just outside of Ataturk Airport and the next day we went on looking for couch surfing hosts that could have us for a couple of nights before either of us got back on the road. I was up for finding more lush green parks to squat, although Alex being dirty and tired decided for a hostel. I went along so that maybe I'd be able to use their showers before heading off again.
It was a nice little place called the Harmony Hostel on the main touristic area of Istanbul called Sultanahmet (next to the Blue Mosque) and their terrace had a spectacular view. I decided to stay there for the afternoon, chill and use their free internet and computer. As the day neared it's end and I with no sure host in sight met up with the owner and started talking, telling him my story. In the end of it he simply asked "Do you have place to sleep?" to which I said no and no money to stay in his fine establishment to which he immediately replies "Ok, you stay here for free". Surprised and thankful I did.
Sleeping on a matress in an air-conditioned room in Istanbul Summer heat is a wonderful thing and the next day I proposed to the owner that I repay his kindness by working for him and improving his ratings since I speak a few languages, have worked in a hostel before and most importantly know what it takes to make a good hostel (most important are the guests, who really make the whole athmosphere for fun and having a traveler working there who knows how travelers think). He said OK and had me staying for free, eating for free and getting a modest monthly pay (quite modest, but I was ready to do it for nothing). My job was to hang around the wonderful terrace area and chat around with guests, make breakfast, play music on the computer for ambience and just be generally helpful while enjoying the nice breeze from the Bosphoros. It was a great time! While I was there I met so many interesting people doing all sorts of trips like Chris who biked his way from the Channel Islands on his Jersey to Asia trip (google Jersey to Asia) and got stuck in Istanbul waiting for his passport to come back from the Pakistani High Council in London for his visa. Or David from the Netherlands who travels down to Istanbul nearly every month to spend some time with his Turkish girlfriend (has been to Turkey 14 times in the last year alone). Or Rey from the Mauritius Islands who records a very detailed photo report from erywhere he goes. Not to mention the three Muslim Danish sisters (Khadija, Asma and Mariam) who travel around and keep getting their pictures taken by tourists who are anxious to photograph a woman in a hijab.
All this was really great and laste for a great 2 and a half weeks in Istanbul with lots of fun. Although after that time I had met Elif who I started to couch surf with and was so nice to me treating me with the best of Turkish food and hospitality and introducing met o the greatest dessert in the world... KUNAFEH!
With Elif I had
some great times here in Istanbul and slowly lost my fear of cats as well as
aquiring a taste for many things like kebaps, çay and many more. Part of me
stays here and part of me goes. Tomorrow I leave for Bursa where I meet my
friend and old neighbour Priscila along with Daniel and their son Oliver. From
there I hitch-hike on to the ruins of Aphrodisias, to Konya, to Capadocia (perhaps
even to Batman) and then to old Tarsus and Mersin where I take the ferry to
Northern Cyprus.
I’ll keep this one short if you don’t mind ;)
I’ll keep this one short if you don’t mind ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment