Closing thoughts on Turkey
I grew fonder and fonder of Turkey from when I first got here, and was quite sad to leave. Dare I say, after South Africa, it was refreshing to be in a place with such a rich intellectual tradition; after just a taste of the Istanbul art galleries, I'm hungering for more. The sense of humor that's evident everywhere is also something I'll miss.
When I come back, in addition to getting deeper into the art scene, I'd love to just connect with people more. I'd read so many warnings about traveling in Turkey, especially for single male travelers who often seem to be targets for scams, and staying in the Sultanahmet area, you're just bombarded by people who want to talk to you so they can sell you something! So it became habitual to just ignore or brush off greetings even if they might have been genuine, like people asking me if I needed help finding my way, or just asking me where I was from just because they were curious!
My parting impressions were of this genuine kindness - on the metro people saw I was carrying a heavy backpack, and offered to hold it for me when I didn't have a seat, or let me have a seat they were about to sit in. And older gentleman even walked me through a shortcut to my connecting train, and shared his umbrella with me since it was pouring.
Finally, I'd love to explore more of central and eastern Turkey. All over the country you will find the ubiquitous simit, a round bagel-like bread. (And on my Turkish Airlines flight to Bangkok, the flight attendant practically pushed it on me - after choosing my roll from the bread basket, she continued to hold the basket in front of me, pointing at the simit, "Turkish bagel, very good!" I had to oblige) Not only did the simit itself remind me of my trip to western China where there are a lot of Turkic people as well, but also the way in which the sellers stack the simit up in such neat patterns - exactly the same in the two places! Connecting the two via the Silk Road is something I'd love to do.
