2011

Turkey  Tunisia  Algeria  Iran  Transnistria

Tehran was looking at its best when my alarm sounded at 2:40 am this morning.  It was dark - very dark.  Looking out from our hotel balcony, all I could see was dark blackness, with hardly a light showing.

Akba had farewelled us last night and arranged a taxi to take us to the airport this morning.  This was so he could start his return drive to his home town of Shiraz at about 2 am, thus avoiding Tehran’s notorious morning traffic and reaching home before dark.

Our drive through the streets of Tehran in a little yellow Fiat taxi was the antithesis of last night’s hair-raising rush hour adventure.  This time, the streets were almost deserted and the driving was fast - very fast - in fact, faster than much of our drive yesterday on the expressway from Esfahan.

We reached Imam Khomeini Airport at about 4:15 am, which is perhaps the airport’s busiest and most congested time with many flights arriving and departing.   Although crowded and busy, however, the modern airport worked well and we had plenty of time to enjoy the free internet access (to the small part of the internet that is not blocked in Iran, that is) until we boarded our plane (a Turkish Airlines Airbus A321 for the trivia buffs) at about 6:15 am.

The flight actually took off a little before its scheduled departure time of 7:00 am, and we enjoyed a far better breakfast than would have been the case at the hotel in Tehran (the sad details of our Tehrani breakfast were in my diary entry for 30th June - Day 18) - it was worth leaving Iran to avoid another like it.

Our flight was smooth and I was able to catch a short nap before approaching Istanbul and seeing some wonderful views of the city below - the Bosphorus and the huge mosques of the old city clearly visible in the glow of the morning sunshine.

When we boarded the flight in Tehran, every female passenger on board was clad in a black hijab (head covering) and chador (wrap-around cloth).  During the flight, all of these items disappeared into hand luggage, and not one single example was to be seen on any of the women who disembarked.  Instead, the women were displaying very stylish hairdos, colourful clothes and faces with more than a discreet amount of make-up.

After clearing immigration and collecting our luggage, both completed surprisingly quickly considering the huge crowds in the airport, we took a taxi to our hotel in the old part of Istanbul.  On the journey, Tim immediately expressed relief at being surrounded by vibrant commercial advertising rather than the religious and political propaganda of Iran - he was clearly back within his comfort zone.  Amazingly, we were at our hotel exactly one hour after the plane had touched down.

At the time we arrived (9:35 am), our room was - quite reasonably - not yet ready, so we left our luggage and started exploring Istanbul on foot.  As our hotel was so close to Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, we headed there and spent the next hour wandering through the maze of colourful, shady, cool markets, before returning to the hotel, resting a while, showering, and then heading out for some serious afternoon sightseeing.

As we walked eastwards along Divan Yolu Boulevard, one of Istanbul’s best known streets, it was immediately apparent to us that Istanbul is a much more relaxed and colourful city than anywhere we had seen in Iran during the previous week.  Part of the difference was the bright blue skies, as opposed to the off-white haze/dust/pollution filled skies we had experienced in Iranian cities.  But even more significant were the bright clothes people were wearing.  In Iran, men wear clothes of subdued colours, and of course most of the women are covered from head to toe in black.  In Istanbul, by stark contrast, the women were wearing bright clothes, sometimes following contemporary Western fashions, and sometimes wearing what I would call “Muslim chic” - bright headscarves matching bright, shaped clothing of varying designs.

We made one short stop during our walk along Divan Yolu Boulevard for lunch, which was partly a celebration of being in a truly global city (hence we ate at McDonalds) and partly a desire to try local cuisine (hence we chose McTurcos, which are delicious flat bread sandwiches filled with salad with a choice of beef or chicken, slightly peppered in either case).

Our first ‘real’ stop was the famous Blue Mosque, situated just south of the eastern end of Divan Yoly Boulevard.  Named because of the bluish tinge to the exterior stonework, the Blue Mosque was built between 1606 and 1616 and is simply massive in scale.  Constructed in Ottoman style, it is the largest mosque in this style ever built, and boasts six minarets around a roof that seems to bubble upwards with curves.  Being infidels, we had to enter through a separate door from Turkish Muslims, but once inside the atmosphere was awe-inspiring.  Although somewhat dark, the mosque was clearly serving its purpose as an active place of worship, with men praying in the main central area of the mosque, and women praying behind screens in a small closed-off area at the rear of the building.

One might think that after seeing so many mosques of various styles over the past few weeks, Tim and I would be suffering from mosque exhaustion.  That was certainly not the case, and after bring suitably impressed with the Blue Mosque, we were eagerly anticipating our next visit, which was a former mosque, now a museum, located on the opposite side of a small park from the Blue Mosque. 

Our destination was Aya Sofya (in Turkish), also known as Sancta Sophia in Latin, Haghia Sofia in Greek and the Church of Divine Wisdom in English.  This magnificent building has become a symbol of Istanbul, and indeed of all Turkey, and has a fascinating history.  It began as a Christian church when it was built in 537 AD, and for almost a millennium it was recognised as the greatest church in all Christendom.  Then, following the Muslim conquest of Turkey in 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror had it converted into a mosque, and it remained so until 1935, when Atatürk proclaimed it a museum.

When the church was converted into a mosque, most of the Christian murals and mosaics were left intact (as Jesus is revered as a major prophet in Islam), and the main changes were the addition of verses from the Qu’ran in Arabic script on large panels inside the building, and the construction of four minarets at the exterior.  The mix of Christian and Islamic decor was as fascinating as it was distinctive.

The scale, grandeur and beauty of the Aya Sofya were awe-inspiring for both Tim and I.  We both loved walking around the interior of the building, taking in the majesty and scale of the building (and getting lots of photos).  Having sone so, we proceeded up a long ramp to the upper gallery for even better views.  It is no wonder that this fabulous building is as famous as it is.

We had spent several hours exploring the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya, and with the evening rapidly approaching, we decided to return to our hotel, taking the long way back past the bright blue waters of the Golden Horn and through the narrow streets of the old city known as Sultanahmet.

We both felt that we had had a great introduction to Istanbul today, a city we have both grown to like very much in a very short period of time.  However, we have resolved to get an early night tonight, given our early rise this morning - after all, 2:40 am Tehran time was 1:10 am Istanbul time.

And that seems an excellent reason to stop writing now and start sleeping!

Day 25 - Tehran,  Iran to Istanbul, Turkey

Thursday

7 July 2011

Today’s Bonus Images