Bursa

The mosque sounded calls to prayer at 0400 and 0500. One of the drawbacks of visiting a muslim country I suppose. Time to start my explorations of other parts of Turkey. I caught the tram to Laleli Caddesı (Laleli Street) and walked to Yenikapı. I should have taken the main drag instead of the small streets, so I got a bit confused, but fortunately I had only to keep heading downhill towards the water. The ferry terminal was very prominent and spanking new. So was the catamaran. It was air-conditioned and had two levels. I hoped that the rocking and the diesel fumes wouldn't make me seasick. Some Asiatic looking visitors were speaking Turkish (or what sounded like) and reading Turkish newspapers. I guessed that they were from Turkmenistan.


The departure was punctual. The TV screened archive films of the earthquake of 1999. Yalova, the port I was heading for, was about 70km from the epicentre. I didn't stay long because I immediately transferred to a bus for Bursa, about 2 hours away by road. But as we drove out of the town, I saw many damaged buildings. But people were rebuilding and life went on.

As is common in Turkey, the otogar (bus terminal, hint: it's a loan word from French) was some ways out of the city. A helpful clerk pointed me to the bus for the city centre. After Istanbul, Bursa was a pleasant surprise. It was tidy and prosperous looking. It had clean streets and civic pride. (Note from the future: Wikipedia informs me that it's an important centre of industry.) The hotel I picked from the guide was very clean.


I had the recommended İnegöl köfte of the region for lunch in a small restaurant and it was indeed very delicious. Even now, looking at pictures of it makes my mouth water. Turks make tasty food from basic ingredients. I'm sure that the freshness of the produce is key. Turkey is one of few countries that is self-sufficient in food, with their fertile land.

I took a dolmuş from the bus station to the base station of the teleferik (cable way) which goes up a ski slope near Uludağ. By the way dolmuş means stuffed, like paprikas, eggplants and so forth as dishes, and this refers to the service leaving when there are sufficient passengers rather than to schedule. I caught the cable car to the middle station. A friendly Turkish family waved to me as the car ascended.

I wasn't going to the ski grounds, as it was summer, but just wanted a cool escape from the heat of the lowlands. I decided I would tarry until the temperatures there cooled a bit.

The forest was coniferous with deciduous varieties. It was very quiet, and had the feel of a resort of out season. Here and there were groups of people cooking over grills, families I supposed. There were also a couple of buses of schoolgirls all with headscarves, religiously observant. A friendly group of girls waved to me. People around here sure are friendly to strangers, I thought.

But there were also mosquitoes near the mountain stream, even that high. They're a bit hard to see in the photo, hahaha.

For dinner I had an İskender kebap in one of the chain of restaurants still run by the descendants of the inventor. Before that, drippings from the meat would fall into the charcoal and catch fire, giving the meat a burnt fat taste. His great breakthrough was positioning the spit vertically.


My kebab was served with bread, salad and clarified butter for dipping. Absolutely delectable but artery clogging stuff! Good thing I don't have it often.

In this fountain plaza, residents are cooling off in the evening breeze, as was I.