There are people in Asia!

You might have believed this is obvious, but now - and for the first time - I can say this on the basis of personal experience.

C and I crossed the Bosphorus yesterday evening around 7PM, so I first set foot on this new continent. I think it has lots of potential - but then there are all these natives...

Actually, the crossing was a lot of fun. It took some figuring and quick assumptions to find the right boat and how to get admission to the right boat. This involved buying a toke - but that was not obvious at the time. You can get to Asia really cheaply - about 1.4 YTL (Turkish Lira) - and you can even buy tea and simit while enjoying the Bosphorus breezes.

We had a few hours poking around Haydarpasa (where the ferry lands in front of the old train station. Not an especially fascinating place except for the fact you definitely feel that you are NOT in tourist land any more. We walked around the harobor docks for a while and saw the amazing TurkBalon (see below).

We finally got some dinner at a kind of sandwich/diner shop. The waiter of couse spoke no English, but he did have an English menu. Unfortunately when we ordered from that he had no idea what we were asking for. But happily for us, this was not an example of what philosophers call "radical translation" and we made it by ok.

The train was lots of fun. It lurched out of Hayderpasa station around 10:30. The station itself is a beautiful old looming 19th c. (?) building. We each had our own sleeping room (even though the rooms are doubles - squeezing two people into one of them would have removed any chance of a night's sleep).

Even though the train ride was at night, it was remarkable. There was a nice moon. Every now and again you would wake up and find the train standing in the railyard next to cars loaded with enormous blocks of stone (marble?- some white stone) - or see features of land or water move by. I believe the train gained a good bit of elevation at one point - Turkey must have the quality of a plateau.

Woke up on another planet. Sunrise over vast rolling wheatfields, and little patches of melons or orchards. Remarkable scenery - especially for a son of New England like myself who is not used to the really big horizons. Breakfast on the train was fun too - bad coffee but excellent olives and tomatoes (so far I have not seen ANY bad produce in Asia). I think I need to reform my breakfast habits - the Turks seem to be on to a much more sensible way to do things.

And on that subject - Dad - fresh squeesed orange stands are all over the place. Big glass tubs of oranges next to a hand press.

Arrival in Ankara was uneventful. I saw someone fumbling with a guide book and some program from the CIEE that I recognized, so we met up with at least one other person from the seminar. After settling at the Dedeman Hotel, and taking a walk around the neighborhood with C - the three of us had a really nice lunch near the hotel. The best of it was a great tomato salad - dressed tomato chunks on a bed of minced fresh hers, lettuce and a sweet vinegar dressing. Just the thing to go with yet another array of grilled meats.

The seminar officially begins with a reception this evening. I am going to get to the sauna and pool here before that.

It's really nice to know we will be here for five nights - nice to settle for a bit. The guide books did not have much nice to say about Ankara, but so far I really like it. Shady streets - much less humiditiy than Istanbul - a bit more workaday in its business (and a more noticeable presence of soldiers - for some reason 19 year olds with machine guns don' make me feel safer - but the diplomats might be better off for it).

Most remarkable thing:

Has got to be the TurkBalon - Bob (Scimitar?) - that peculiar round ball we were puzzling over on the Dersaadet terrace turns out to be this enormous hot air (or helium?) balloon held down in nets (on the south edge of Haydarpasa harbor). Apparently someone had the inspiration to try to create a floating cafe or room that can be lifted up under this thing. It looks like it's seen better days - but a Ferris Wheel works for London on the Thames - why not a balloon ride for Istanbul and the Bosphorus.

Asia promises many marvels - even great than this.

Pictures:
Breakfast on the train - note portrait of Ataturk over the counter in the back.
Scenery from train.
Sorry for the botched formatting - if you click any of the photos you can see a much larger version.