A Series of Events - Istanbul Day 5
Well, here I am at 38000 feet again, as usual. You’ll hear about this part of the story later on, but for now, let me carry on where we started.It was an interesting day nonetheless, with lots of running around and stress towards the end, but that is what makes a good story after all.
We woke up early in the morning, quickly getting ready in time for our 7 am ferry to Bursa. It is very fortunate that the ferry port is less than a 5 min walk from the hotel, so that we did not have to wake up too early.
Once on the ferry, we were in for a 2 hour smooth ride south to Bursa. Unfortunately did not get to sleep much but was able to rest our eyes for a bit. Upon reaching our destination, we made way to the bus which would take us up to the city. Let me explain how things work - the ferries from Istanbul stop at one of two ports in the coastal towns underneath Bursa. From there, it is about a 25 minute bus ride up to the edges of the city of Bursa. We bought some tickets and unfortunately, one misprinted. The bus driver however was kind enough to let us proceed either way, after trying to explain several times through a language barrier.
On the ride, it was easy to start recognizing that we were no longer in Istanbul. The roads were not as trafficked, and the air just a bit cleaner. The bus dropped us off by the metro station, and I was surprised that there was actually a metro station at this city. Even Ottawa has a barely functioning light rail system, and it was only built recently. We took the metro to the city centre, and then made our way on foot to the old city.
This was an amazing experience, and brought back memories of old cities I had visited in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Walking through the Bazaar, which was still empty even though it was almost noon, we were on the hunt for food as our stomachs were loud. We managed to find a Pide joint, which unfortunately did not server Pide. Getting over how upset I was, I settled for a lentil soup, which hit the spot considering how cold it was out here. Bursa is much higher than sea level, and is right under some mountain peaks, which means that it is colder than Istanbul. The added rain and clouds that we were greeted with did not help either.
Over our breakfast-lunch, we discussed what we would do today. We had initially planned to take the cable car up to Uludag, the nearby mountain, but decided that it would not be the best idea since the weather would make it extra cold and hide any views that we would have. Our only other goal was to have some Iskender Kebab at the restaurant where it was invented, so we were now tasked by wasting time until then.
We walked through the Old Bazaar, which was nicer than Istanbul’s as the prices were more reasonable, the crowds smaller, and the shop-owners less pushy. I had a quick pastry at the end of the Bazaar which was filled with Turkish sausage - one of my favourite Turkish snacks. While taking a picture of the pastry display, the man working the counter urged me to include him in the picture (see below), so please visit his stand located towards the end of the Bazaar if ever in Bursa.
Following the little snack, it was time to warm up again and we decided to find a Han to sit in. A Han is basically a courtyard in the centre of a block of buildings. Imagine the buildings arranged in a square or a rectangle, with a big beautiful courtyard in the middle. The last time I sat in a Han was likely when I was back in Sarajevo a bit over a year ago. We warmed up again, this time opting for a tea for Karim and a Salep for myself. You’re probably starting to get a theme in this trip - warming up with a cup of something hot.
After we finished our drinks, we decided to go explore the Bazaar side streets a bit more, especially since the rain had stopped. We would discover that this Bazaar was more for locals than it was for tourists, especially when considering that you can practically get anything here. Repairs for your electric razor? Yes. A custom made multi-use table? Of course. Some furniture or clothing, gold or watches? You bet. Anything you want, they have it. It was nice to see this old way of life which was outside of big box stores, and is more communal than anything else. Oh, and let’s not forget the in-between cafés between all the stores.
Making our way outside of the Bazaar, we had a new goal, to at least get a view of the mountain, considering that the fog had lifted by now. We walked through the outskirts of the old city, going up sets of stairs and enough hills, but found that we were only met with more of Bursa. This was interesting, as we were not getting an appreciation for how big it actually is. We found ourselves at a Mausoleum and a Mosque, both of which were beautiful on the inside and outside, and it seemed that this is where the tourists were. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
After that, we started to make our way back down to the core of the old city for the long awaited Iskender Kebab. While I have had this dish all over the place before, it was Karim’s first time and he was genuinely so excited. Once we got to the restaurant, unironaically called Iskender Kebab, we were told that it was actually all they offered. You could order 1, 1.5, or 2 portions of the Kebab, and that was it. We started with Sira, a drink made of lightly fermented grapes, traditionally consumed with Iskender Kebab, and each opted for the 1.5 portion. Upon being served, the chef came with a pan of melted goat butter, which he poured over the plate, coating the meat in a beautiful shiny layer of delicious fat.
For those who do not know, Iskender Kebab is shaved meat, served on top of bread pieces which fill with all the juices, accompanied by some yoghurt on the side. Absolute heaven if you ask me. We were not the least bit disappointed by the food. After finishing our meal, it was time to head back to the port but not before a quick stop by a Palestinian Knefe place I had seen when we first arrived into town. We shared the house special, a Knefe filled with both cheese and cream, along with some tea. It was super delicious, the best Knefe I have had in Türkiye throughout my travels here. Leave it to us Palestinians to make the best Knefe wherever we are. It was also nice to hear the story of the shop owner, who said that they had moved in Palestine in 1948, then through to Jordan, and now in Bursa.
After the two delicious meals we had, we were back on the metro making our way to the bus station to catch our 6 pm ferry. This is where the day gets a lot more interesting. So the bus got caught up in some traffic, and we did not realize that it had so many stops, as it did not stop nearly as much on the way from the port. We rolled into the ferry station at 6.02 pm, but the security guys had already closed shop and refused to let us through, even though the ferry was very much still there.
It was not a fun situation to be in, but fortunately, I had heard of another ferry company that also operates between Bursa and Istanbul. We were more fortunate that there was another ferry departing in just over an hour, and proceeded to make our way to the port where it was departing from. What we did not anticipate was how difficult it would be to find a taxi. A minibus rolled in nearby and had a sign that it was going in the direction where we wanted to go. We tried confirming with the driver but to no avail, and chose to ride anyway as it seemed promising.
A quick tour of the suburbs (not many) and we found ourselves at the other port. We bought our tickets right away, and were lucky that there was still availability. We had sometime to kill so we took a stroll through town, grabbing some snacks to fill us up. I was not necessarily hungry, but I did not anticipate for that sprint to the initial ferry port, and as such, found myself craving anything sweet. A short while later and we were on the boat bound to Istanbul.
Things get better when we arrived in Istanbul. We had been anticipating to be able to take the ferry back to our area, since this ferry dropped us off on the European side rather than the Asian side. But our string of bad luck continued and we had missed the last ferry going to our area, with the only ferry available going to Üsküdar. A Google search showed that there was another ferry to our area from the port across, departing in 30 minutes, so we started our walk.
We made our way only to find out that the service we were looking for did not actually exist - way for trusting Google. But we still had some willpower left, and we did not want to pay the small fortune for the taxi, so naturally the next best option was to take the metro to the other side with a connection. We try to buy tickets and hit the next problem - the machines only accept small bills while we only had big bills. This starts our search for change.
We visited what felt like 100 establishments, refusing to give up, until we gathered enough 5, 10, and 20 Lira notes that we could use for the public transportation. Karim and I then split up, as he was meeting up with a friend while I was going home. Now I had to walk back to basically where we got off the initial ferry, to catch a metro, which is about a 15 minute walk. As I was arriving, I was on the line with my mother who had told me that on her previous trip, she was able to take buses between Üskudar and Kadiköy, and this information came through to me right as I was by the port for the ferry going to Üsküdar. I did not think about it further and jumped onto the ship right as it was leaving dock.
The ride was beautiful, and I was able to get amazing night views of the lit up city of Istanbul, and of the first bridge between the two continents. It was well worth all the troubles. Arriving at Üsküdar, I made my way to the bus stop and ended up waiting about 20 minutes for the bus. At least it was warmer than the previous day. I made it to the hotel and took a much needed long bath to wash off all the stress of the day, bringing the day to a close.
So here’s a few lessons learned - leave yourself extra time for public transportation, much more than you think you need. We left ourselves about 20 minutes which was nothing as we learned. Second - carry cash. I made this a habit through learned experiences and unfortunate events, but now I learned that I should also have small bills. And last, don’t trust google maps, it clearly does not know half the things it is spitting out.
And that’s all for what was the most eventful day for us in Istanbul. Despite all the events, it was a great day, and the day trip to Bursa was definitely the highlight of the trip. I would recommend it to all of you as it nicely depicts the Turkish way of life outside the megapolis.
What were your overall thoughts on my day. Have you ever been in a similar situation before? What are some lessons you learned while travelling? Let me know in the comments below, but till then, stay positive!
