This first one of course is Medusa upside down, and the one below is Medusa sideways.
The Medusa head's were a bit eerie, especially since they supposedly don't know how they got into the Cistern.I was so mesmerized with the place I went on photo overload to try and catch all the cool angles. Everything was so symmetrical.
Look! There's even some pretty big fish that live in the cistern! I thought that was pretty neat. After I flicked a coin over my shoulder and made a wish, we were on our way to the next stop.
Now we were headed over to the Sultan's Palace. Neither of us were quite sure what this entailed but it was a palace and we figured it would be worth checking out. Of course when we get to the ticket window there are about a dozen different ticket options you can purchase and they want to charge you for each additional room of the palace! The area that was supposed to be the coolest was where the sultan kept all of his girls in the Harem....they also wanted a cool $20 extra bucks to enter (can't remember the price in Lira)! So of course we blew that off, and this time didn't talk ourselves back into it. Instead we weaved our way in and out of the various rooms, displaying really expensive jewels, war paraphernalia, and family heirlooms.
Soon after entering the gates of the Topkai Palace I almost got in a fight with a tour group of about 20 Chinese women. There was clearly a line forming outside the door of one of the exhibits, and Matt and I were standing in the line. Next thing I know one of the Chinese ladies has gone to the side of the line and somehow weaseled her way in front of everyone and then the other 19 of her comrades figured they would follow suit....uh homey don't pay dat. I then cut back in front of her and also another lady who was an actual tour guide (with another group) also got onto the women. After they were behind me, where they belonged, they then continued to creep so close, I could feel the lady touching my clothing. Back back lady, gimme 50 feet! Or how about 10 inches where your breath isn't tickling the hairs on the back of my neck! Anyway I was glad to get in the exhibit where the room opened up and my personal space belonged to me once more. I didn't take many pictures of any of the stuff we saw, because most of it was enclosed in glass cases (for obvious reasons) and a lot of the times there was a glare when I tried to get a shot. We did find a nice little park area where a few folks were lounging in the grass, so Matt and I decided to partake in this lazy activity.
After weaving in and out of a few more exhibits we had had enough of the palace and decided to head back to the hostel. I still had one thing left on my list of things to do...someone can't travel to Turkey without experiencing a ......TURKISH BATH!
I got a couple of suggestions from our hostel but ultimately ended up going to the world famous Turkish Bath that has been around for over 300 years. Plus I did have some type of discount coupon to the place, and I love discounts. The place I went to is also the same place the book "1,000 things you have to do before you die" recommends. After the guy from my hostel calls ahead to let them know I'm coming, I start on my journey over there. I wasn't really sure what I was about to encounter, but I'm not shy so I figured I would be fine. I did know, however, that inside the men and women are separated into completely different sections. In a largely populated Muslim country, this was taken very seriously. After I checked in and told them which Turkish Bath I preferred, I was lead to the women's area. On a side note there are different levels of baths. For instance you can pay a cheaper price and give one to yourself instead of having the ladies do it for you, basically you're just using their facilities. Okay so after I was in the women's section they gave me a key to a room and also a cloth to wrap around my body and some wooden shoes. I go upstairs and get in one of the rooms and change out of my clothes and come back downstairs with my cloth wrapped around me and clanking every step of the way due to the clodhoppers I had on my feet.
The next thing I know we have walked back into the main bathing area and I am immediately in front of about 15 naked women. My lady is also wrapped in the same type of towel/cloth that I have on my body and she is carrying a small bucket. We sit down in front of a running faucet and she then yanks my towel off of me exposing my body, and then she tears hers off of her self exposing hers, eek! She then rinses a bathing suit under the running faucet and proceeds to put on a 1 piece bathing suit...."hey, where's mine?" I thought to myself! She then takes the bucket, fills it up with water and splashes me with it, hands me the bucket, motions something at me and then disappears! There I am, sitting by myself, completely nude not knowing what the hell to do. Finally I look around and take the hint that I'm supposed to be getting myself drenched in water. Finally my lady shows back and and shampoo's my hair...with a bar of soap. After my hair is cleaned and rinsed we go and find me a spot on the marble slab, where the rub down begins. First she has me lay on my stomach and there is a small pillow for my head. Good thing cause marble isn't the most comfy of surfaces. I decide to look up and put my chin on the pillow and as soon as I opened my eyes there was a girl lying in front of me and I got a quick glance of vajay jay. It was at that point I decided that this experience would be best enjoyed with my eyes closed! So basically for the next 20 to 25 minutes or so, my massage lady scrubs me with soap and has this glove on her hand that scrapes away dead skin. At the end of the Turkish Bath, my lady then proceeded to show me all the nasty black dirt and grime skin that she had ridden my body of. It was kinda neat, but then again I'm kinda into weird things. All in all, the Turkish Bath is definitely not for the shy and timid! I saw all shapes in sizes in the marble room. From tall and skinny, to short, saggy, and hairy! They gave me a new cloth to cover back up in and took me to the sitting area to relax and have some coffee if I so inclined. Since I had a coupon for a free coffee I decided to order one while I sat and reflected as to what on Earth I just encountered!
When it was time to pay for the coffee, I told the ladies I had a coupon and headed back to my room to get dressed and present the coupon....umm, where are you coupon? I just had you! In the end I couldn't find the coupon and of course was summoned to pay some outrageously overpriced tourist fee for the cup of joe. Overall I am so glad I went and had the TB! The only downer was that most of my henna tattoo had been rubbed off from the coarse gloved used.
Back to the hostel I went, all fresh and clean, to report my experience back to Matt. He was interested in also getting a Turkish Bath, but first wanted to see what it was like. I think he was a little weirded out that you had to be nude and that other guys would be rubbing around on you. To this day, I'm still not sure if he ended up getting one during the rest of his stay in Turkey. Next time he's on facebook I'll have to be sure and ask him.
Later that night we decided to go and eat a nice dinner. We got a suggestion from a girl that also works at the front desk. I can't remember what either of us ordered, but I do remember it being tasty. Then again, anything would have been better than the Mexican food we had eaten the night before. That was absolutely gross, even more so than the French's take on Tex-Mex. All along my travels I tasted various country's take on Mexican food: France (Paris), Italy (Rome), Greece (Santorini), and Turkey (Istanbul). By far the worst was Turkey. Good thing I like their traditional food which more than made up for my tex-mex snafu!
After dinner it was time for bed, I had a flight to catch the next day that left at 3. Or so I thought...
stay tuned for the final Turkey tale!