"Merhaba, Turkey" a Turkey Travel Page by feline01

Sometimes ancient ruins can become overwhelming. But not in Turkey. The people, land, food, accomodation, shopping, architecture, history and culture seem to have reached a near perfect balance in this country. The cities were interesting, easy to navigate and as safe as most cities in the world. The countryside was amazing. Cappodocia looked like it was created by Dr. Suess. Antalya sat on the shores of turquise-colored waters. And places like Phaselis (above photo) reminded me of the insignificance of so many things in life.

I will tell you my favorite Turkish story. I was staying in a hotel on the Aegean. There was nothing around the hotel but turquoise water and rocky beaches. A fellow traveller that I met on this trip, Patrick and I decided to go for a walk down the beach accompanied by a bottle of Raki (national drink of Turkey-did wonders on me!). We pass a small cottage surrounded by olive trees and a high wall. Being 5'8" tall and Patrick being 6'4" tall, we were able to peer over the wall (I know, impolite). Inside a small courtyard were 2 women (elderly mother & daughter, I presumed) and a child. We smile and I say "merhaba" which is Turkish for hello. They smile back and say "merhaba." I then utilize 2 of maybe 20 Turkish words that I learned and say, "ufuk mufuk" (not sure of spelling) which I believe means something like small kitchen. They both smile much more broadly and signal for us to come in. We do. They then serve us glasses of mint tea accompanied by fresh baked bread made in a clay stove in the courtyard and topped with olive oil made from the surrounding olive trees (I assumed). As we are sitting enjoying this meal and smiling at them, I look into my daypack for something for the small child (maybe 2 years old). I find a Swiss army knife (not!), a pen and a pack of gum (sugarless, at least). I hand the last 2 items to the younger women, the child's mother I believe. Both women look eagerly at the items and are talking quite rapidly to each other. I am hoping that I didn't just completely insult them and Patrick is quiet (still feeling the effects of the raki). These women were so grateful for the items they kiss my cheeks and shake my hands. As we are walking down the beach on the way back to the hotel, the 2 women are holding the child over the wall and waving at us. Just a little peak into Turkish hospitality!

Some general info about these pages:
I am relying on my notes from my travel journal and as I mentioned earlier, I did enjoy Raki in Turkey so my notes are probably completely muddled so forgive me if you speak Turkish and can't figure out where I was or how a certain ruin became located in a completely different area of the country. I will try to research my notes someday and correct my errors.

Even if you're not familiar with Turkey, I'm sure you've heard of Istanbul. I consider Istanbul one of my top 5 cities in the world. I loved the architecture, the food, the friendliness of the people, the ambience, the price and so much more.