Istanbul to Izmir

Sorry for the delay in getting this latest post out. I've been busy with other endeavors and have lost a little momentum here in the blogosphere. I promise to be more diligent and not let so much time elapse between postings from here on out.

After five short days in Istanbul it was time to head south. Let it be known that five days in Istanbul is not nearly enough. You could spend a month in Istanbul and not see all that you should. I will be going back before too long. 

So, on to Izmir....

The Wheels on the Bus Go 'round and 'round....

We got up early on Day Six in Istanbul and headed to the bus station. Now, if you've ever ridden a cross-country bus then you're probably thinking, "Oh boy, this is NOT gonna be good". I know that's what I was thinking. The furthest I ever rode a bus before was from Phoenix to San Diego one summer when my best friend and I drove over to Phoenix in his '54 Ford pick-up for a weekend because the drinking age in Arizona at that time was 19. After two nights of waaaaayyyy too much party time his truck decided it wasn't up to the return trip and quit on us. In Phoenix. In the middle of summer. Not good. So, we left the truck at his aunt's house and off to the Greyhound station we went. The bus was packed when we boarded and we were unable to find two seats together. I ended up sitting next to some little smelly dude who sucked on a pint bottle of whiskey for the first couple of hours on the road before he fell asleep/passed out and then he spent the rest of the trip snoring. And did I mention it was summertime? Hot, cramped and uncomfortable with a guy who looked like the Kickapoo Joy Juice Indian from L'il Abner sitting next to me doing his best imitation of a chainsaw (and reeking) throughout the night. Not a pleasant memory. So, as you can imagine, it was with a slight amount of trepidation I prepared to take a nine-hour bus ride through the Turkish countryside. 

Once again, I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. The bus was exceedingly comfortable with plush, roomy seats, television (which did me no good as I do not speak Turkish) and an attendant who spent the entire trip seeing to our every need. Food, drinks (hot and cold), candy. All included in the price of the ticket. All in all, I highly recommend taking the bus if you're ever going that way because the roads are excellent, the ride is pleasant and it's a great way to get a look at the countryside. 

Check it out. 

Here is a picture of the bus taken at the rest stop about halfway through the trip. 

You can see that the rest stop is new and had a restaurant and, much to my chagrin, the ubiquitous rest stop Starbucks. Ah, good 'ol western style expansionism.

It was a beautiful day (finally) and the scenery all the way down was great. We passed through many small towns, but mostly it was wide open countryside. 

Here is our Rico Suave attendant. He spoke no English, so there wasn't a whole lot of conversation, but he was a pleasant enough chap. And damn good at his job. Very dapper too, I might add. On a freakin' BUS!! Take that, Greyhound!

All right. Now I'm just gonna drop a bunch of pictures I took from the bus on you. I can't name the towns or tell you anything about the towns. But I can show you what Turkey looks like between Istanbul and Izmir...

The stadium where Besiktas plays its home games. This is taken
on our way out of Istanbul.

More Istanbul

The Strait of Bosphorus.

The ferry ride across the Sea of Marmara to Asia. You can see the bus on
the right under the bridge. 

Another castle/fort. They're everywhere over there.

Rico Suave feeding the seagulls. 

I'll tell you right now I hate seagulls. But these were really cool seagulls. They're about two-thirds the size of the gulls you see in San Diego and they have very pretty markings. These seagulls I don't hate. 

Bye-bye Europe. Looking out the back of the boat. 

This is right after we drove off the ferry near a town called Yalova.
That's about all your gonna get out of me for the rest of the trip down. 

Some kind of municipal building. One of the many smaller cities we
passed through on our way south. 

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The Father of the Turkish Republic.
There are images of him everywhere you go in Turkey.
Look him up. 

Now we're getting into the wide open. You can see the further south
we go the better the weather gets. 

Looking out the other side of the bus. 

Cousin Cheryl. 

An absolutely HUGE horse farm. It took us ten solid minutes to
drive past it. 

The gates to the horse farm. I tried to get a translation for this but was
unsuccessful. Let me know if you find anything out. 

Big houses on the big horse farm. 

The far side of the horse farm. I took 17 pictures from one side
to the other. Big freakin' horse farm. 

Countryside. 

A shepherd and his flock. 

Bare trees in the countryside. 

A hillside town. Too bad that damned sign is in the picture. 

Heading down into Izmir. Evening light on the hillsides. 

I have no idea.  

Izmir

Sundown in Izmir.

Well, that's it. We made it down in grand fashion. It was actually a very relaxing, comfortable trip. And now that I've shown you Istanbul, from here on out I'll be showing the sights of southwestern Turkey and the Aegean coast. 

Until next time...

The Bay of Izmir