Getting Around Turkey

It occurred to me yesterday that I have used almost every conceivable form of transportation to get around Turkey. I have been on an airplane, tramway, taxi, hot air balloon, car, ferry, dolmuş, gulet, paraglider, city bus, truck, metro, and an indefinable cable car type thing that pulls you up a hill. In addition I booked a ticket on a train for next month. Therefore I thought I would hand out some awards for the best ways to get around

Most Expensive, Most Useless & Most Rewarding: Hot Air Balloon.
I was about 100 feet off the ground when I learned that hot air balloon have no control over which direction they fly, only the altitude they fly at. Suddenly I realized why airplanes had become the preferred mode of aerial transportation over blimps and balloons. In the two hours we spent in the air we moved maybe three miles during which we watched another balloon land precariously on the top of a mountain. Our pilot told us that a few times every year the wind is strong and the basket will be dragged along the ground and knocked over during the landing. While hot air balloons have proved worthless for transportation purposes, they spectacularly fun to ride in, particularly when you are floating above a landscape as beautiful as Kapadokia on a pleasant summer morning. I felt like I was floating on air, smoothly and silently drifting up and over the jagged mountains into puffy clouds. It was literally dreamy. By far greatest morning I have had in Turkey so far.

Most likely to make you sick: Tie- Taxi and Paraglider

These two methods of transport will get you sick for two different reasons. When our family went paragliding near Fethiye, my ‘driver,’ for lack of a better word, caught a thermal and climbed rapidly to almost 10,000 feet. Only one hour before I had been enjoying the sun at sea level and now I felt as though I would puke all over the snazzy flight suit I had been given. Luckily we began to descend and my breakfast was spared an atmospheric re-entry. A ride in a city taxi causes either motion sickness, anxiety sickness, or a combination of both. I have already written about Turkish driving techniques, so you can understand why putting your life in the hands of a total stranger would be a little nerve-wracking. One second we are in gridlock traffic and the next we hopping the curve doing 30.

Most Culturally Adventurous: Dolmuş

A dolmuş is essentially a cross between a taxi and a bus. A dolmuş can take many forms from the glorified VW bus I rode in Istanbul to the new air-conditioned mini busses pictured above. Each dolmuş has a list of destinations posted on their windshields and if you see one with your destination on it you flag it down like a taxi. While most of the dolmuşes look the same on the outside, the inside is always a unique experience. Dolmuş drivers decorate the inside of their cabs with all sorts of ridiculousness. Chrome steering wheels, blue LED lights, and custom gear shifters are not uncommon. The driver will usually find at least one place to display a Turkish flag as well as a decal for the local football club. Once I was in a dolmuş where every lever, button, and bar was covered with at least one puffy pastel colored hair-tie. Once you become accustomed to your surroundings you play the driver a fare of 1.40 Lira. It is not unheard of to encounter dolmuş drivers who will be smoking, talking on their cell phones, driving, and making change for you all at the same time. What is nice about a dolmuş as opposed to a bus is that you can be dropped off at any point along the route whereas a bus will only stop at the designated stations. The other plus about the dolmuş is that they are literally everywhere. I swear there is one dolmuş on the road for every 10 cars therefore you don’t have to wait long for one to come by and whisk you off on another adventure.

Most Used: Walking

When your budget is limited and your time seemingly endless, there is no better way to get around than walking. Sure I show up everywhere sweating like a fat man on a Stairmaster but it is good exercise and lets me see the city. I am walking an average of two hours a day with books and computer on my back so I feel much less guilty about not running while I am here.

This week I have been trying to break out of my daily routine and mix things up a bit. Wednesday James, Anna Kate, and I took a dolmuş to Lara beach to swim, sunbathe, and play tavela all afternoon. On Tuesday I had a great interview with James (Bultema) that ran until past 4pm. Today some of us men went out to the storage unit to reorganize some things. I have had dinner at the Bultema’s two days in a row now. Their open-door policy reminds me very much of Mom’s house. Today I had the honor of grilling enough köfte and zucchini to feed 10 people on a grill smaller than a sheet of paper. The little grill was set up on the Bultema’s 14th floor balcony where I got to watch the sunset over the sea and mountains sipping on a glass of white wine. The Bultema’s neighbors joined us for dinner and we had great food and great conversation well into the night. This coming weekend is shaping up to be very exciting: The Krauses are in town! :)