Rocky Road Ahead / Turkey | Departure from a Standstill

I had originally planned to visit Turkey during Japanese Golden Week in May, but, despite out of my character, I analyzed the global situation and decided to postpone the trip until Japanese Silver Week in September. As it turned out, the global situation had not changed much, and I ended up just paying for huge flight change and cancellation fees. As someone whose job involves managing costs, I had to admit this trip is shaping up to be a rocky road ahead.

Since I went to Uzbekistan with my wife during the Golden Week, my trip to Turkey during the Silver Week turned into a solo travel. Because I had already incurred unnecessary expenses, I revisited my plan from a cost perspective; and Cappadocia, famous for its unique rock formations and hot-air balloon rides, caught my attention. As it is a famous tourist destination, hotels and tours are expensive, making it a place worth reconsidering. Furthermore, a middle-aged guy riding a hot-air balloon alone at dawn would probably end up feeling somewhat hollow. I decided to omit Cappadocia as it did not seem worth the cost and explore some provincial towns instead.

I visited Turkey about 15 years ago, and when I analyzed my photos from that trip using AI, many of my favorites were mosques in a city called Bursa. While researching other Turkish destinations, another place that caught my eye was Edirne, a city near the Greek border. Both cities can be visited as day trips from Istanbul, but I wished to set aside some time for them. Besides, since hotels in Istanbul are also expensive, staying in smaller cities is not a bad idea from a cost perspective.

During my last visit in Istanbul, I stayed at a hotel where had a great view of the Blue Mosque. Back then, it was kind of a hidden gem; but the hotel was renovated and turned into a luxury hotel, making it too expensive for a solo traveler. That said, it was a hotel I would have stayed even if I would go with my wife, so I assumed that overall expenses should not be changed much in this regard. Hoping to capture a beautiful sunrise, I decided to stay at that hotel for three nights, as originally planned.

I love traveling by train, but unfortunately, Turkey’s rail system leaves something to be desired. Buses are the main mode of transportation for medium-distance travel. After searching online, I found a direct bus service from Edirne to Bursa and another direct service from Bursa to Istanbul Airport. Combining these, I decided to visit Istanbul, Edirne, and Bursa, in that order.

However, just as I was about to book the buses, I finally realized something I had not anticipated. I had assumed that both Edirne and Bursa were close to Istanbul, but the bus ride between Edirne and Bursa alone takes over five hours. If I included the time to move to/from the bus terminals, the total journey would likely take about seven hours. Given this long travel time, plus the fact that mosque visits are restricted on Fridays, my plan seemed doomed to fail. Furthermore, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, where was said to be one of the finest in Turkey, was apparently undergoing restoration work. This trip seemed to have a rocky road ahead from the very start.

After thinking it over for a while, I decided to abandon my plan to visit Edirne. As an alternative, I considered going to Konya, home to the Mevlevi Order, known for its Islamic mysticism (Sufism). Since the trip between Istanbul and Konya involves a domestic flight, I figured I could connect to my international flight back to Tokyo at Istanbul Airport.

However, even though I enjoy visiting mosques, my primary interest is as religious architecture. I am not well-versed in Islam itself. After giving some thought again, I decided to prioritize my time constraints and abandoned the plan to go to Konya as well. In the end, I decided to extend my stay by one night each in Istanbul and Bursa, making it a trip to two cities in total.

The issue was the hotel in Istanbul. No matter how beautiful the view might be, I did not think it was necessary to add an extra night at an expensive hotel to make it four nights. However, as proven by my trip to Guanajuato, Mexico, my yardstick for travel is the opportunity to take photos. Conveniently recalling that I had saved money by skipping Cappadocia, I concluded that moving hotels within Istanbul to cut costs further would cause another time constraint. I tend to think things over and over; yet I am the kind of person whose logic often loses out.

Even though I had put together a nearly perfect travel itinerary, that was not the end of the story. A few days before departure, while taking out my bulky trash, I fell over along with the handcart. I landed after making almost a full flip, but since I am not a ninja, I slammed my right side hard and ended up bleeding from my hands and knees. I took half a day off work to treat the bleeding, and then another half day off due to the resulting back pain. The road ahead looks way too rocky.

Regardless of the reason, falling down in middle age takes a significant emotional toll. This led only to negative thinking, and all sorts of anxieties kept crossing my mind. Turkey was the country where two of my credit cards were skimmed during a few days of staying, and I am also acutely aware of my lack of negotiation skills in a country where there are no fixed prices. Even though this was my long-awaited summer vacation, I was still not happy at all, even two days before departure.

This was hardly how a summer vacation should be. I needed to seek some healing.

A wound on the fingers of my dominant right hand is healing poorly, and it hurt when I was carrying heavy luggage; I decided to take a taxi from Istanbul Airport to the hotel. It seems Uber was available in Turkey these days, but regardless of whether Uber was an option, Turkish taxis still felt very much like Turkish taxis even 15 years later. It seemed there were all sorts of potential issues with taking a taxi especially from the airport. Since I was already starting out with low mental to begin with, I gave up on the taxi and arranged for an airport pickup instead. Also, since the flight from Tokyo to Istanbul took over 11 hours, I bought a pair of wireless earbuds designed for long-time use. I am usually not bothered by the sound of airplane engines, but I wanted to have additional healing.

They seemed not enough to me; I decided to take further measures. On the afternoon of the day before departure, I took off from work and went to a chiropractic clinic in search of even more healing. They told me that my muscles had stiffened as a defensive reaction to the fall, and I had also sprained my ankle. Since my ankle apparently could not fit for long walks, they spent more time than usual adjusting it and applied tape to my ankle. From there, I went to three bars and finally felt happy.

Even though I was finally feeling happy, that was not the end of the story either. There was indeed a rocky road ahead. I managed to catch my flight without oversleeping; but for unknown reasons, I could not charge my phone from the seat’s power outlet on the airplane. My iPhone’s battery capacity was only 80%, and with 75% remaining, I effectively had only 60% usable. If I kept listening to music for more than 10 hours, I would have to be worried about having enough battery power to use my iPhone after landing. Just as I was about to give up and put my charging cable and wireless earbuds back in my bag, I dropped the earbuds with their case. I found one earbud, but the other had vanished under someone’s seat. A search for it was no longer feasible. As I calmly reflected on the situation, I also realized I had forgotten my tripod.

Convincing myself that there would be a rocky road ahead, I landed at Istanbul Airport.

Even after clearing Immigration of Turkey, things still looked rocky. I went to the airport pick-up service counter, but the driver had not arrived yet. I wasted about an hour before leaving the airport, and to make matters worse, I got stuck in evening traffic. By the time I arrived at the hotel, it was too late to go to the Blue Mosque.

As an alternative, I decided to rush to the Hagia Sophia, which I could still make in time. In the past, the Hagia Sophia was treated as a museum, visitors could enter relatively freely; but as an active mosque nowadays, tourists are only allowed to visit on the second floor. Besides, the admission fee is high. Perhaps because of this, a lady at the ticket counter suggested that it would be better to come back next day. I bought a ticket and went inside anyway but then found that they were conducting large-scale restoration work. Not just the view from the second floor was limited, steel support columns were built inside the dome. At this point, taking photos was out of the question. This trip really looked too rocky.

I cut my visit to Hagia Sophia short and returned to the hotel in a gloomy mood. I then found that my room was unexpectedly luxurious. I just remembered that hotel staff had mentioned a free upgrade when I checked-in. Because I was pressed for time, I simply dropped off my luggage and left the room. Perhaps things had been going downhill until the Hagia Sophia visit, and from there on out, things might actually be taking a turn for the better.

The next morning, I woke up early and found that the sky was slightly cloudy, perfect conditions for photography; and to my surprise, the window in my room fully opened. There was a glass wall to prevent falls, and using it as support, I was able to enjoy taking photos before dawn until sunrise without a tripod.

I suppose the reason I thought a rocky road ahead is because there is a road ahead. Life has its uphills and downhills. If I believe the road would eventually be uphill, a rocky road may not be such a bad thing after all.