Spicy Times

The overnight bus from Goreme was fairly straightforward. Once again, I was able to sleep pretty much the whole way even though at times I was jolted half awake. When we got to Istanbul, they dumped us at a switching station and not the Otogar, saying we had to take a shuttle to the Octogar. Well a ton of other people who came from Goreme started complaining because they were apparently told that they'd be dropped off in Sultanhamet. They were also told that there would be bathrooms on the bus and there would be english audio available for the videos. All patent lies. I hate how you can't trust anybody selling anything here. They're perfectly happy to lie out their ass in order to get you to buy something so you have to argue everything. Anyways, I never got those promises because I booked online, but I was more than happy to add my voice. So we got dropped off right near my hostel. No metro necessary.

Anyway, after dropping off my bags at the hostel, they wanted to charge me 5 lira to use the shower because I hadn't checked in. So, I figured it was a good time to try a Hamam or Turkish bath. It was ok, but it was overpriced and the massage part was fairly cursory and then there was a cockroach in the sauna that kept bugging me at the end. I've also come to the conclusion that getting a message on a hot marble slab isn't the best of ideas, especially with a bum knee. You get pressure points because there's nothing that conforms to your body like the cushion on a modern message table. It being warm was nice though.

After the bath, it was time to go shopping. I mostly wanted stuff from the Spice Bazaar, but I was also looking for some gifts. I spent a good while wandering around the bazaar seeing what was available and what prices people were charging. I didn't buy everything from one guy because different people had better prices for different things. One guy was great, he saw the Canadian flag and guessed I was from Toronto which was fun, then he kept showing me all his spices and Turkish delight and letting me try them. I did buy half a kilo of black chilies from him but in the process he shoved about a dozen pieces of Turkish delight in my face and at the end, he asked if I had a Canadian flag pin that he could have. I never thought to carry around that kind of thing when traveling but it's a good idea because people will appreciate it.

Oh, on a side note, with the Canadian flag you have to watch out for people yelling at you stuff like "hey Canada" or "Hello friend where are you from". They're trying to sell you something.)

In the market, I had some things I wanted to find. Namely sun-dried red pepper paste, chiles and apple tea, but I was also keeping my eye out for something interesting. I found it when I found some dried lemons. I've heard that they have a unique flavor and can be used to add an extra depth to a lot of dishes like stews. They're really hard to find in North America but I found them here about bought 200g worth for 15 lira or about 10 bucks. I also ended up with 500g of black chiles, a kilo of red pepper paste, 500g of red chiles and 250g of apple tea (a Turkish specialty). I also found half a kilo of fresh figs for a Lira that I couldn't pass up :-)

Some other fun finds in the market: dried eggplant on strings just like a string of chiles. Logs of Turkish delight. Crystallized citric acid. Sumac that was premixed with olive oil and salt (I didn't buy it because the raw sumac I have at home is better). Everybody trying to sell their own version of "barbeque spice" or "fish spice".