City of Saints/ Evliyalar Sehiri

  

My final stop: Bursa.  One of the capitals of the Ottoman Empire, Bursa is the fourth largest city in Turkey with a population over 2.5 million.  The city is also home to the defending champions of the Turkish soccer league.  This was an incredible feat by Bursaspor, the soccer team, as they were the first non big four team to win the championship in the league’s 51 year history.  The city flaunts the teams green and white colors throughout the city, and miniature models of the new soccer stadium that is going to be built in the shape of the team’s official mascot: an alligator.  Bursa is known as the city of Islamic saints.  There are nearly a 100 of these saints in Bursa’s history, and is a common pilgrimage stop amongst Turks.  Other religious sites to see are the Ulu and Yesil Mosques.  The Ulu mosque was built in 1399 and can accomdate a few thousand people to pray.  The interior has gorgeous Arabic calligraphy decorating the walls, and a fountain in the middle of it which can be drunk from as holy water.  The Yesil, green in Turkish, mosque was a gorgeous mosque with an interior color that apparently cannot be produced anymore.  This note was apparent by the stark contrast of the shade of green of the original mosaic tiles from the newer tiles that replaced broken ones.  I would claim that the Yesil mosque was by far the most colorful mosque I visited out of all the mosques on my trip.  Another must see site in Bursa is its old market that houses various ancient hans.  Hans were safe houses for those traveling on the silk road, and some of the hans that can be found in the old market now have various silk shops, one of the particularly popular productions of Bursa.  After enjoying a drink in a han, I traveled upward to the tombs of the first and second sultans of the Ottoman empire.  Perched on the top of large hill, these tombs attract a lot of local tourists that come to pay their respects to the founders of the Ottomans.  Alongside these tombs you can also find the castle and its defending walls that were used while Bursa was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and panoramic views of the entire city.   

I was then taken to my first Turkish bath experience, and what an experience that turned out to be.  Bursa is one of the famous cities for Turkish baths and the one I particularly went to was quite clean.  It is not an experience that I recommend any of you go through by yourself, especially if it is your first time, like it was mine.  I purchased a bath and massage option where they scrub away your entire life’s dirt and then give you an aggressive massage.  Prior to this, you change from your clothes into your towel, which I quickly understood would be better if I had something underneath to wear.  Then you sit in the sauna portion of the bath and sit there so that you can produce sweat which makes your cleanup easier and more effective.  A Greco-Roman wrestler like figure called for me and scrubbed me in such way that once I left the bath, I felt as if the wind outside was flowing right through me.  The massage itself was interesting primarily because I believe it is a miracle that my entire spinal cord is still intact.  I would like to experience a Turkish bath once again, but with people that I know so that it isn’t nearly as awkward for me as it was during my first experience. The food was of course great and highly recommended as it home to one of the primary dishes of Turkish history, Iskender.  Gyro beef placed on think pida bread, and the topped with tomato sauce and yogurt is a delicious dish and one of my favorites.  It is the melted butter that they apply at the very end that I think gives it that strong taste.  I also recommend traveling to some of the sea side neighborhoods of Bursa like Mudanya which has various gorgeous looking Ottoman homes and great places to eat. 

Geldik son gezicegim sehire:  Bursa.  Ulkenin dorduncu en buyuk sehir, Bursa evliyalar sehiri diye biliniyor.  Yaklasik 100 tane evliya tarihinde bulundurmus olan Bursa, bir kutsal havasi sezdiriyor.  Ulu ve Yesil camilerinin guzellig gormeye deger.  Ulu Camii’nin Arapca  duvarindaki yazilari, ve Yesil Camii’nin tekrardan canlandirilamayan yesil rengi gorulemeye deger.  Carsinin cevresindeki kervansaraylarin birtanesinde cay icmeye de deger.  Osmangazi ve Orhangazi’nin turbelerin onunde saygi durusunda bulunmakta cok tuhaf bir duyguydu gercekten.  Bir kocaman tepenin basinda, bir muazzam imparatorlugun kurulusun onunde durmak herkeze nasip olmali diye dusunuyorum, ve Turkiye sinirlarinda bu ancak Bursa’da mumkun.  Oradan ciktiktan sonra 50 adim ilerisinde ise Bursa var ayaklarin altinda.  Manzarada birtek sanayilesmis bir sehir goruluyor, ve bu manzaranin karsisinda insan  biraz da olsa yesillik gormek istiyor.  Umut ederim ki, Bursa belediyesi sehire yakisan buyuklugunde bir park kurmayi dusunur ilerde. 

Tabii, Bursa’ya gidip de insane bir hamama girmezmi?  Vallahi ben hayatimda ilk defa girdim.  Gayet temiz ve geriye baktigimda keyifli bir 60 dakika gecirdim.  Ama hamam icin iki gercek oldugunu farkettim.  Hamama tek basina ve mayosuz gidilmez.  Hamamin gercek keyfi ancak dostlarla cikarabilirsin.  Bide pehlivan keseciler ne kadar ustaca olsa da, kendini korumak icin mayo sart goruyorum J.  Sonucta kendimi bir an bile tehlikede hissetmedim, ama mesaj esnasinda, derin nefes alma anlarim oldu.  Yani, daha rahat etme acisindan bir slip mayo giymek mantikli diye dusunuyorum.  Ama gercekten cok rahat bir ortam, ve sanirim bu da sectigin hamamina bagli.  Ben Kervansaray’da girdim, ve gayet memlun kaldim sonunda.  Bursa’nin iskenderine gecer not vermeden olmaz.

The first photo is a view of Bursa from above.  The second photo is of the market place.  The third and fourth photos are from the Ulu Mosque.  The fifth and sixth photos are from the Yesil Mosque.  The seventh photo is of the tomb of Osman, the first sultan of the Ottoman Empire.  The eigth photo is of the tomb of Osman's son, Orhan, the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire.  The final photo is a view of the resting room at the Turkish bath

Israel/ Israil

           Jerusalem, the world’s holiest site, is where I stayed for four nights.  The land that was once graced by Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammed is a city for those who truly wonder how society has developed throughout the last 5000 years.  Jerusalem was in the end exactly as I expected it to be and yet at times more.  While the old city was more or less what I expected, I did not think that the rest of the city, including the modern buildings would all look the same way.  The city planning has been done meticulously so that even the newly designed buildings are made of cut-stone.  If a tourist was somehow able to avoid any road that a vehicle could pass on, then they could easily be convinced that they were currently in a time much earlier than 2011. 

The sites I saw in Jerusalem were everything in the Old City, the Israel museum, and the Holocaust museum.  The Old City is truly a place to set foot in if you have even the slightest of interest in any religion.  Split into four quarters, the Old City offers a rare pure blend of the three major religions.  The streets and the homes are made of the same tan colored cut-stone that gives the whole area an aura of historic wealth.  While the historic Roman structures were interesting to look at, the Wailing Wall was where observation gave way to pure emotions.  While the wall did not have the particular overwhelming effect on me, what affected me was seeing others come into trance once face to face with the wall.  There were those that burst into tears, those that shouted prayers, others that kept rocking back and forth often making contact with the wall.  It was then that I realized the effects that a bland immobile object can have on humans as long as there is a belief in it.  We moved on from the wall and into the Muslim quarters where Christian’s pilgrims make one of their holiest of trips.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the site of Jesus’s Crucifixion and burial.  It could have been light reflecting off of all the gold that was found inside, but there was definitely a very different lighting in the church.  Watching people pay their homage made way for the same observation that I had made regarding the Wailing Wall.  My old town voyage concluded with my tour of the Dome of the Rock compounds.  Even I could not enter the mosque that is built upon the rock as a result of my lack of the Holy Qur’an knowledge.  I can at least say that the outside of the mosque looked quite colorful.

Other must see sites are the museums.  The ones that I saw were the Israel Museum and the Holocaust Museum.  The Israel Museum had a remarkable collection of historic artifacts and art collections from all ages.  Unfortunately taking pictures were not allowed so I will not be able to share any of the remarkable findings from the museum.  I can say though that I have never before seen such a vast collection that includes but is not limited to amazing historical artifacts (the dead sea scrolls amongst other things), beautiful art collections, and even life-sized interiors of different synagogues throughout Europe.   I finished my tour there by taking a photo with the Hebrew version of “LOVE” in New York City.  The Holocaust museum was also quite impressive, and was very vivid in explaining the different parts of the devastating results throughout WW2.  Taking pictures were not allowed in this museum as well.

One of the more interesting places I visited in my life was Masada and then the Dead Sea.  Masada is a giant fortress located on top of a massive rock in the Judean desert looking over the Dead Sea.  Some people choose to climb the steps leading to the top.  But we were told that this takes a few hours, and because we were a little short on time, we decided to take the tramcar up to the top.  While there were some very interesting remnants of this old fortress, what was really interesting to me was how the tenants kept themselves alive while they were being attacked by the Romans for over a year.  The Romans cut off all of the supply chains going to the city.  In response, the fortress tenants bread birds with large bird feeds, and created an intricate water collection system when it rained.  The Romans eventually built a ramp to the fortress, and the tenants killed each other as they chose death over slavery.  After this site, I took a dip in the Dead Sea, and what an experience it was.  I had not taken more than ten steps when I felt my feet abruptly rise up and they never went down as long as I remained in the water.  The Dead Sea is 9x saltier than the Mediterranean Sea.  Just to give you an idea of the saltiness of the sea, only a single drop fell upon my eye while I was in the water, and that drop was enough to burn my eye to the core and caused me to not be able to open my eye for 5 minutes because of the pain.  It was truly a unique experience, especially because your swimming in water that is 1388 feet below regular sea level, the lowest point man can go on dry land.

I had a great experience in Jerusalem, and I enjoyed Tel Aviv very much as well.  I have just one tip for anyone that wishes to travel to Israel.  If you are a guy, and you are by yourself, delay your trip to Israel.  I had the easiest time getting in, but I was hassled to the brim when leaving the country.  Save Israel for a group tour or a family trip, other than that, no complaints.

Kudus, dunyanin en kutsal sehiri, beni dort gece boyunca konuk etti. Tabii tarihe bakilinca, benden cok daha onemli gucler konaklanmis burada.  Peygamberlerimiz Ibrahim, Isa, ve Muhammed tarihdeki yerlerinin bir kismani bu sehirde gecirmis ve din etkisini buradan yaymislar.  Kudus de her hangi bir ana caddeye gelmeden dolasmak mumkun olsa orta cagada yurudunuzu dusunursunuz.  Yanlis anlasilmasin, Kudus geri kalmis demiyorum.  Demek istedigim sehir planlamisini okadar guzel yapmislarki, insan yeni bir binayi eski bir binadan ayir etmekte zorlaniyor.  Butun sehir tarihsel gorunuyor bu sebeple. 

Kudusdeki ilk duragam eski bolumu, yani eskisehiriydi.  Kanuni Sultan Suleyman’in yaptigi duvarlarin icin kismina gectiginizde kendinizi bir anda dunyanin cestili tarihsel anilarla karsi karsiya geldiginizi hisssediyorsunuz.  Dort tane bolum ayrilmis durumda eskisehiri: Ermeni bolgesi, Musevi bolgesi, Hiristiyan bolgesi, ve Musluman bolgesi.  Tabii ki eskisehirin en degerli noktalarindan bir tanesi aglama duvaridir.  Ben diger kisiler gibi duygusalasmadim karsisinda, ama duygulananlari izlemek gercekten cok ilgincti.  Aglayan bir suru kisi vardi, ama onlarin yaninda da, sessizce dua edenler vardi, bagiran vardi, vede transa gecip kafalarini duvara vuranlar vardi.  Gercekten aglama duvari hayatimda gecerdigim en sembolik anlardan birtanesidi.  Bu noktadan sonra Musluman bolgesine gectim.  Bu arada Hiristiyanlar icin cok onemmli tarihsel anilar var.  Girdigim Sepulchre kilisesi Isa’nin oludurulup ondan sonra da dirildigi alandir.  Burada da cok sayida yeri open Hiristayanlara tanik oldum.  Burasi da, aglama duvari gibi, en sembolik anlarimdan bir tanesi hayatimda.  Eskisehirdeki en son gittigim nokta ise Kubbet-us-Sahra’iydi.  Icini goremesemde, disi yine de pek gorkemliydi. 

Kudus’te gorulmesi gereken baska noktalari ise muzeleriydir.  Israil muzesi hayatimda gordugum en kapsamli muzeydi.  Tarihten muazzam kalintilardan Andy Warhol’in eserlerine kadar cesitli gorulecek kisimlari vardi muzenin.  Sizinle gordukerlimi paylasmak isterdim ama resim cekmek yasakti, onun icin gorduklerimi aklimda ezberlemem gerekti.  Gittigim diger muze ise Soykarim muzesiydi.  Bu da mutlaka gezilmesi gereken bir muze.  Ikinci dunya savasindaki olanlari ve bitenleri guzel bir sekilde hem anlatip hem yasatiriyor.  Kudus disinda gittigim cok enteresan iki yer vardi: Masada ve olu deniz.  Masada muzevilerin milattan bir kac sene oncesi olan bir yerlesim.  Bu yerlesim bir dagin tepesinde bulunuyor ve olu deniz manzarasi var.  Normalde bir cok insan saatler boyunca basamaklari tirmanip oyle variyorlar tepeye.  Zaman kistili diye ben teleferikle ciktim.  Bu yerlesimin hikayesi cok ilginc.  Romalilar fet etmek icin Masadaya geliyorlar.  Museviler de bir sene boyunca direnis gosteriyorlar.  Ama Romalilar dagin etrafini ele gecirdikleri icin, yiyicek ve icicek hatlari tamamen kesiliyor.  Ona karsilik, yerliler yuzlerce kus besliyor ve cok kompleks bir kanalizasyon sistemini yaratiyor yamur suyunu toplasin diye.  Sonucta bir sene boyunca kus ve su la besleniyorlar.  Romalilarin yerlesimi ele gecirmeye yakinken, butun yerliler, kolelikten kacmak icin, birbirilerini olduruyorlar.  Romalilar kaleyi giriyorlarki herkezi olu buluyorlar.  Ve sehir de oylece kaliyor. 

Teleferikle indikten sonra olu denize gittim.  Olu deniz deniz seviyesinin 423 metre altinda.  Dunyanin, insanlarin ulasbilecegi, en alcak noktasi.  Suyu ise anormal tuzlu.  Ornegin akdenizden dokuz misli daha tuzludur.  Yuzerken, en azindan yuzmeye calisirken, sadece bir damla geldi gozume, ama damla nasil bir damlaydi anlatamam.  Gozum bir kizardi ki bes dakika boyunca acidan acamadim gozumu.  Okadar tuzluydu yani.  Ama onun yaninda ben boyle bir duyguyu ilk defa hissetim hayatimda.  Resmen ucar gibi oldum.  Daha on adim atmadimki ayaklarim bir anda havaya kalkti ve suda bulundugum surece bir daha da inmedi.  Bu su da batmak imkansiz! Gelenler genellikle geldiklerinde suya girip gazetlerini okuyorlarmis.  Zaten pek yuzulemedigi icin, bu pek mantikli geldi bana.  Ayaga yarmasam iyice tadi cikicakti, ama bunca seyahatdan sonra tamamen kazasiz belasiz gecirmek cok da mumkun degil diye dusunuyorum.  Genelinde Israil seyahatim gayet guzel gecti ama size bir tavsiyem: erkek ve bekarsan, Israile gitmeye dusunmeyin.  Cikista, guvenlikten dolayi, ben ve birsuru daha damsiz erkek cok cekti.  Cok merakliysan, biraz daha sabredip aile yapip  oyle gitmeye bakin ki benim cektigimi cekmeyin.       

First picture is of a typical Jerusalem landscape that includes the dome of the rock.  The following three pictures are of the streets of the old city.   The next two photos are from the wailing wall.  The next three photos are from the site of Jesus's crusification and resurrection.  The three photos that follow the mural are from Masada and the dead sea.   I put up the final picture because the sign was urgin people that were not Hasidic to not enter their neighborhood.  These communities do not like to see outside influence walking around in their neighborhoods and they are very clear about it.

  

Round 2 of Destinations/ Ikinci turdaki vardigim noktalar

       My Secound round of cities included primarily South/Southeastern cities in Turkey, although many would not consider Sanliurfa as a southeastern city.  I managed to see only the major highlights of all the cities I visited below.  In fact, because of the weather, I had to cut a few cities off my original plan.  Oh well, I'll save does for a another time when the weather is more appropriate.

 Ikinci turdaki sehirlerim genellikle guney ve guney dogu'ya odaklanmisdi.  Tabii ki, bir cok insan Sanliurfa'yi guneydogulu olarak tanimaz.  Ama Urfa benim simdiye kadar gittigim en dogu nokta oldugu icin, simdilik guneydogulu diye sayicagim.  Ama gittigim sehirlerin sadece ana yerlerini gormus olabildim.  Turumu biraz da erken kesmis oldum hava kosullarindan dolayi.  Olsun, artik bir sonraki bahara kaldi goremedigim sehirler icin.