Juniper
Any tour involves early morning starts as many tourist spots are covered in a day. There are pros and cons to taking a tour. The main pro is that everything is organised and you don’t have to worry about food and transport or even where to go. The con part of it is that you do need to keep to the schedule which means early starts to each day. Luckily, I am an early riser. However, what I didn’t sign up for was an extra early start to each day no thanks to my roommate who on the first day woke up before 330am to start packing with the lights on!
We’d just arrived in Turkey the day before. I was surprised anyone would sacrifice their sleep (and mine) to start packing 2 hours before call time. I drew up my sheets to try and sleep but couldn’t because of all the noise (rustling) she was making. She went back to bed an hour later by which time I was too stressed and anxious to sleep as it’d only be another hour before call time. Breakfast would commence at 6am so there was no point for me to sleep again.
To avoid the congestion in the tiny elevator, I brought my bag down to the lobby before 6am and waited for the cafe doors to open. Breakfast was good, not as much as we are used to in Malaysian hotels, but the fare was adequate and everything was delicious. We headed out for our day’s excursion at 715am.
The shop we were brought to sold everything from Turkish Delight, coffee, mugs, fragrances, saffron, honey to a vast array of souvenirs. I liked the colourful oil burners but anything I have to hand carry is a hassle as it adds to the weight I have to bear on my shoulders. However, it was very interesting tasting the various Turkish Delights, all of which I found way too sweet.
Next stop not too far away was the Grand Mosque from the time of Sultan Bayezid I built between 1396 and 1399 to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Nicopolis. This is the largest mosque in Bursa and the first in what was then the capital of the Ottoman Empire. There is a unique water fountain and basin in the centre and the calligraphy around the mosque is stunning.
Our next stop was the Green Mosque and then we would have lunch in a restaurant next to the Green Mosque. The Green Mosque was built in 1424 by Sultan Mehmed I. The Green Mosque’s green decorative tiles and this is truly one of the most beautiful mosques in the world.
After lunch, we had to make our 9-hour grueling bus journey to Cappadocia. There were some shops selling silk and it’d have been nice to have had a browse but no time otherwise we wouldn’t have any dinner when we arrived at the Cappadocia hotel. We had a tight schedule and off we went with a few toilet breaks along the way.
Before we arrived at the hotel in Cappadocia, our room numbers were announced. My heart fell when I heard that my roommate was the same person. At the Grand Mosque earlier, I had requested a change of roommate from the ikhlas.com tour guide but I sensed there would be no change as it was too late to be reassigned. I couldn’t take any more lack of sleep but alas, there would be severe lack of sleep until we departed Turkey. This hotel (Emin Kocak) in Cappadocia had 2 elevators so there was less of a squeeze up to our respective rooms.
Note to self: always ask whether you will be in a single room or double room and if you’re only entitled to a double room, pay the surcharge for a single room no matter how much more because it’s worth the peace & quiet otherwise you may end up suffering sleepless nights.
