Запасайтесь платочками. Стамбул-Каппадокия-Стамбул Stock up on handkerchiefs. Istanbul-Cappadocia-Istanbul

Rest. Kyiv-Istanbul-Cappadocia-Istanbul-Kyiv 16.04. 2021-21.04. 2021. On April 16.4 women (ladies, madams, girls) flew to Turkey for a study tour and to celebrate a birthday, one of whom speaks fluent English. There is a huge airport in Istanbul, they already knew in advance that the quarantine and everything was closed, restaurants, cafes, shops and shops, many tourist places and cathedrals were closed, so they did not count on vivid impressions, but... everything turned out differently. Either Istanbul ACCEPTED you or NOT).

At the exit from the airport, we were met by a handsome, tall guy (Turkish) in a coat and cap, with a sign in his hands with our names. Our guide is Izmir))). We got acquainted, showed our passports, started talking and he asked us for VOUCHERS. And our holiday, as they say "ARE STARTED". Each of us showed all the papers we had, tickets, a program, something else, a negative test for COVID (for some reason, no one was interested in the test, not in Ukraine, not in Turkey at all), and so we shifted the papers during 30 min. Izmir put on a cap and put on gloves, we tensed up... So to say "NO VOUCHER, NO REST)))))". We called Ukraine, it took a long time to find out something, and we were told that the host party would help. Izmir said: "Okay... I'll find out through the travel agency. " Get in the car, let's go. . .

Istanbul is teeming. They trade everything and everything from every window. A sea of ​ ​ people. . . Traffic jams, toffees are huge. Quarantine? )))) We saw street food through the bus window - we were delighted, we won’t lose weight))). Izmir began to conduct reconnaissance in force, to talk about excursions in Istanbul. Since on the 16th we ourselves are like, on the 17th you can take a full day tour of Istanbul with food, and on the 18th we fly to Kayseri in the morning, and then we go to Cappadocia. He began to talk in colors about Istanbul. We all like it, blossomed))). The price of the tour is $80. They tensed up, because in Ukraine they said that it was $30-40 each. Thought. And Izmir does not stop talking about the beautiful eastern city of Istanbul. The collective female mind decided to take excursions, but at a discount. They began to insist... agreed on $ 60 per person. They were as happy as if they had won the lottery. Izmir smiled. We drove an hour to the hotel, in anticipation of normal living conditions.

The hotel "Altun Life" in the center of the old city, 10 minutes from the Grand Bazaar, where we were settled - this is just an incredible place that you want to bypass the 10th side. The rooms are terrible, cold, the blankets are plaids. But the staff has a good sense of humor, they told us that it's cold, turn on the air conditioner, and we would be happy to turn it on, it just wasn't in our room. We were not upset, the collective female mind decided that two nights and we are constantly on excursions, we will survive in this hotel. Put things and ran to get acquainted with local attractions. We left the hotel at 15.50 The idea was to get to the pier and buy a boat trip along the Bosphorus, which should be just a bright adventure and complement our holiday. Last check-in at 17.00. Lost. Arrived at the pier at 5:15 pm. The ship sailed away. Dejected. We decided to eat on the pier, so to speak, to “taste” Istanbul - it didn’t help. We returned to the wonderful hotel, ate our food, drank cognac... The city sparkled with amazing colors through the windows of the hotel.

On the morning of the 17th we went on an excursion. Dress beautifully, put on makeup, so that you can immediately see how beautiful Ukrainian women are. We envied ourselves how beautiful, but we live in a not very good hotel, we were not upset. Let's go on an excursion. Dubar is such that the tooth does not fall on the tooth. We regretted that we dressed beautifully! For some reason, I didn’t want a photo, the guide Ali was dressed like at a winter ski resort and with an umbrella in his hand (there was no rain). The walking tour didn't come to us. We began to buy scarves, blouses, hats, gloves, scarves in local shops and put them on! We looked at each other, thought that they were still beautiful. The tour goes on as usual, we visited Hippodrome Square or as it is officially called Sultanahmet Square. Then the famous Sofia Cathedral - a monumental building surrounded by four slender minarets. Fabulous inside. We plunged into history, listened to the guide. Frozen. We took a photo. Cold. We left the temple. We went to the Blue Mosque. This is a unique building that has great architectural value. It was built on the orders of the Turkish Sultan Ahmed I, who for a long time failed to win a single war, and Turkey began to give up its positions. To win God's mercy, the Sultan began the construction of his entire life - the Blue Mosque. Beautiful, majestic, interesting story. We took photos, lots of photos. In Sofia and the Blue Mosque, you need to take off your shoes and walk in socks, and you need to put your shoes in a bag and walk with it or in a cabinet in Sofia. We have a lot of things, handbags, scarves, blouses, bags in which shoes, phone chargers, etc. , things were constantly shifted, from larger to smaller bags and vice versa.

At 11.00 we discovered that we had forgotten our phone somewhere. . . Apple iPhone 11 Pro max. We split into teams together with the guide Ali, ran through the Hippodrome, Sophia Cathedral and the Blue Mosque - they did not find it. It got cold. Ali took the whole group to another mosque and gave them 45 minutes of free time. It started to rain and the wind picked up, and we are beautiful, smart, standing near the Blue Mosque, thinking about the Apple iPhone 11 Pro max, and how to find it. Ali approached and began to think too, but he had an umbrella, it was much more comfortable for him to think. We began to do all the actions that are supposed to: block, put up beacons, call everyone you can, namely: relatives, friends, husbands, acquaintances, acquaintances of acquaintances, etc. , look for a phone on the map and much more... We cried, but not much because it was raining and nature itself did it for us. Guide Ali introduced us to the Blue Mosque security, we told them that we had lost our phone somewhere, they said that they would look for cameras. Guide Ali followed the group, and we went to be sad and continue to think how to find the phone.

The rain passed and the sun came out, I wanted to eat. We found a restaurant along the way and ordered food. Sat down to wait. And then the security from the Blue Mosque called us and told us to urgently come. Two of us ran to the mosque, and two of us stayed to wait for food (generally split up). They brought food. And soon our girls from the Blue Mosque came running, so happy, especially the one who lost her phone. And they said that they say that we didn’t forget and didn’t lose the phone, but it was simply stolen. The guards from the Blue Mosque found a video recording of our tour and showed step by step how the thief works. He turned out to be a professional. Followed us. And he led us..... worked quickly. They were happy for the thief, but upset for themselves. The collective female mind decided to go to the police. We ate and went out in search of the police station (the gendarmerie in their language). People whom we asked along the way where the police were, showed us to different places, but we did not give up and trotted around the area. Found this branch within an hour. We crossed the threshold of the gendarmerie at 14.30. We were surrounded by gendarmes and we began to broadcast. They took virtual seeds and popcorn. Three of us speak, the fourth translates into English. We see that the gendarmes are depressed, and we began to physically show how it was. After that, one of the gendarmes was somehow able to convey to us that they do not speak Ukrainian, Russian, English, and just in case, they also do not speak and DO NOT UNDERSTAND any other language in the world, except for Turkish. Apparently, it was necessary to learn Turkish, and only then come to the gendarmerie. We were asked to wait a bit for the tourist police, who speak English. We sit and wait.

After 2 hours, another victim appears at the entrance of the gendarmerie, gr. USA and begins in bright English, telling how her iPhone was stolen in the Blue Mosque. The gendarmes surrounded her, took virtual popcorn and sunflower seeds. . . well, according to the worked out scheme, see above. We met this lady, Mrs. USA, exchanged sadness. Just in case, we exchanged contacts and invited each other to visit. In general, it turned out to be a cool young lady, she herself from Bosnia married an American 2 years ago, and now she decided to see Istanbul with her husband, son and daughter-in-law. Closer to 17.00, we, or rather the girl whose phone was stolen, were invited to the office, the tourist police never arrived)))), but one of the gendarmes, in the same gendarmerie department, whom we had seen more than once in 2 hours, tensed and remembered that he spoke English. For a long time I tortured the girl as it was, then an investigative experiment, based on our story seen on the cells in the Blue Mosque, how the thief worked. The policeman listened, was happy for the thief, and concluded “good job”. And we already knew about it, the guards from the Blue Mosque reported it to us))). At 18.00 the APPLICATION was submitted, hurrah!!! ! Leaving the gendarmerie, this gendarme asked us to stand in front of the entrance to the department and photographed us, saying that we needed to investigate this very important matter. He promised to find a phone and call us. We left.

We found a cafe and ordered Turkish coffee and baklava. We thought, don’t say, but Istanbul is a city of contrasts. Closer to 22.00 we came to the "beautiful" hotel "Altun Life", now we still saw the cockroaches that were crawling on the floor, we were surprised that they did not freeze like us. Hardened. We were not upset, because we just had to spend the night, and tomorrow Cappadocia is waiting for us!

Part II Cappadocia

Prehistory: I, author, dreamed of visiting my DR in Cappadocia and seeing all the beauties of this region from a balloon. Here I am with my girlfriends! 04/18/2021 arrived at Kayseri airport. at 8.30 we were met by the driver and brought at 9.30 to the city of Gö reme, the center of Cappadocia. On the way, we looked at interesting landscapes, what a beauty, it feels like it's not on Earth, but on another planet. We like everything, the hotel is excellent EMPIRE CAVE, the rooms are bright and warm, the beds are comfortable, the restroom and shower are also on the level, hot / cold water))). The owner of the hotel is a wonderful person, he helped us in everything with excursions for 3 days too. Everything is fine, but quarantine (. All restaurants, shops, shops are open until 17.00, museums and attractions (churches, temples, underground cities) work. BALLOONS DO NOT FLY, well, that was clear - LUCKY))). Not upset. 1st excursion on the day of arrival. We ride quad bikes for 2 hours. An excellent trip, we traveled the entire valley along the route, admiring the amazing landscapes of Cappadocia. There is no other similar place on Earth, with such an abundance of miraculous sculptures. We were glad that we are alive, healthy and can see such beauty!! ! Arrived, ordered food in the room. Ate. We're bored. The collective female mind decided to go for a walk.

Evening 19.00, they have quarantine, everything is closed, silence, and only single tourists pass. The lights are off in all restaurants, but the doors are open. We stood at the open doors of a dark restaurant, they came out to us, asked in English what they say you want, and we said we want wine. We were led into a dark room. I was very impressed with the choice of wines that we were offered that evening, namely: red or white, without a name. We chose red. They brought wine in coffee cups. We drank. It seemed that it was not enough, we decided to repeat it, but... we were asked to leave because it was a curfew. And the gendarmes monitor and fine for open cafes, restaurants and the absence of masks on the face. They remembered the Apple iPhone 11 Pro, they were sad. We discussed if the gendarmes were looking for a phone, and not masks on people's faces, it would be more sense. We left the restaurant, sat down on a bench and talked. At this moment, 2 girls from Kharkov come up to us and talk to them. They also got bored and went out for a walk. They told what sights they saw, including, they are one of the few who flew in a hot air balloon on 04/16/2021! They showed us photos and videos, we booted up. The girls found out that we were in Istanbul for 2 days and wanted us to tell them something too, but for obvious reasons, the exchange of information did not take place. They told us what and where in the city of Goreme is, and that we would bargain and bring down the price of everything we want to buy! But as it turned out later, we did not need this information))))). They also advised to take an excursion to the Cappadocia "Ihlara" canyon.

Ihlara Canyon is a picturesque valley of the small river Melendiz in Central Turkey. The length of this gorge is about 15 km. But we need to go only 3 km, since this canyon is divided into tourist routes of 3-4 km. It is impossible to get lost, as the girls from Kharkov told us. Since we will be dropped off at the 1st point, we will go down the stairs to the canyon, walk 3 km along the tourist, combed path, admire the beauties, temples in the rocks, the river, and then at the second point the restaurant and the driver will already be waiting. We said goodbye to the girls from Kharkov and went to prepare for the canyon. 04/19/2021 I have a DR, author. At 9.00, the girls congratulated me, in the hotel restaurant, together with the staff, they sang a traditional song, a cake, candles, in general, everything was superrr. Well, adventure awaits us. On this day, we saw the underground city of Derinkuyu, monasteries carved into the rocks, and now the excursion came to the Ihlara canyon. The driver brought us to one of the entrances / exits to the Ihlara Canyon, and said that you would walk 3 km, admire the surrounding sights and already at the exit, a restaurant would be waiting for you and he, in fact, the driver. This is around 60 minutes. We bought entrance tickets and photographed the map. Churches, cells, temples, dwellings are marked on the map (in the 4th century Christians settled here and carved churches in the walls of the gorge). In fact, the map is very clear, so we understood it and began to descend to get to know the history better. We went down with a young couple, a Turkish family, and a group of young people of 6 people. Everyone dispersed, sometimes we met one or the other groups with whom we descended. We took pictures, walked and took pictures again, were surprised, rejoiced, watched and then took more pictures.

We read on the signs that 800 meters ahead you can see 4 churches. And we rushed... A young couple came to meet us, then a Turkish family and a group of young people of 6 people, well, "all of us"))) they have apparently looked at these churches. We got to the churches. Looked. We took a photo. They wondered how it could have survived to this day. We discussed what we saw. And then we decided to move to the exit to the restaurant, as the driver, probably already tired of waiting. The collective female mind decided that a young couple, a Turkish family and a group of young people of 6 people went in the wrong direction or they still want to see something that we don’t really need. Since we have a map and we understood it. We walked happily, against the current of the river, photographing the landscapes. After a while, they stopped taking pictures, just admired nature. Later, they stopped admiring nature and just walked. Each of us realized that we were just going. "A samurai has no goal, only a path. " There were no signs along the way, but there were benches every 200 m. It was invigorating. After the next 200m, they sat down on a bench and were silent. It was scary to ask. In the distance behind the trees, we saw a guy, it seemed to us all to be a security guard, we cheered up, came closer, just a guy not a security guard, we didn’t ask anything, and neither did he. They tensed up, but didn't show it. (I thought that he went to the end of the canyon, and now he is walking back to the exit). The collective female mind did not think anything, and we just went ahead.

Ahead, we saw a waterfall, and decided to take a photo session, but what . . ? the benches were not over yet, they could be seen ahead. Therefore, if darkness catches us, we will either spend the night on benches or in the rocks, the monks could and we can too))))))). After all, we have no connection with the driver, since there are no money on the account, and not all of us have telephones)))). After the photo session, we walked in silence, but to our surprise, we saw a staircase leading up. It said that we still got there !!! ! But we sincerely regretted a young couple, a Turkish family and a group of young people of 6 people, we were the first !!! ! We climbed the stairs and sang, because there, at the top, a restaurant and a driver were waiting for us. But we did not guess, at the top we were met by a guard. And he was so surprised that we were scared. Sat down on a bench. The girl who speaks English asked him where we are? where did we come? He explained that there is no restaurant here and never was, this is not a very popular tourist spot, and the driver is not waiting for us. Asked for the driver's phone number and called him. Then he said that the driver would be in 20 minutes, since we got off on the wrong side, and we had to go downstream along the river to another point along the tourist, combed path))))))). The driver came, saw us, smiled! We thought that we did not expect to see us, laughed. The driver brought us to a restaurant, to which, according to the idea of ​ ​ this Turkish excursion, we had to come from the canyon. We were very surprised how it was possible to reach him from the point where he dropped us off. They didn't ask. We ordered food. It was getting dark.

There was one more excursion, another monastery, more churches, more dwellings. And now we have already bought wines and finally headed to a comfortable room, where there is a bed, and a toilet and hot / cold water. Celebrate DR!! ! They celebrated the DR, recalled our joint trips, besides this one there were 5 more, and even brighter than this trips were, they laughed, drank and had fun. In the morning we have breakfast and another excursion. 04/20/2021 at 18.00 we have a transfer to Kayseri airport and return to Istanbul! The collective female mind decided that today we are going on an excursion. We also went to museums, underground cities and valleys of love and other places where we were not on April 18 and 19. The driver suggested that we see another place, namely an observation deck with binoculars. We've arrived. We got up. Looked. Did not impress. Going down from the observation deck, we saw young people who stuck around the herma "balloon with a basket" (in miniature), we came closer and saw that these people put on 3-D glasses, and as it turned out later, they were watching a balloon flight ( realistic enough). We also took this attraction. We enjoyed it as if we saw with our own eyes a flight in a hot air balloon. She cried with happiness. At that moment, it seemed to me that I closed the gestalt.

We arrived at the hotel and another driver was already waiting for us, we headed to Kayseri Airport. We fly to Istanbul. We left the airport in Istanbul at 22.50 and discussed that we would arrive at the MAY Hotel ***, no longer at the Altun Life Hotel, and drink wine, so to speak, consolidate what we saw, remember, and perhaps on the way to the hotel, we’ll also go to the gendarmerie and ask how the work on finding the Apple iPhone 11 Pro max is going, and maybe we’ll pick it up)))))). And the driver was not there. At 23.10 we dialed Izmir, he did not immediately answer, did not understand who was calling, he was very surprised, but quickly got his bearings)))). He said that it turns out the driver is delayed, traffic jams because, and will be in 10 minutes. We called Izmir back at 23.40, and according to his version it was that the police stopped the driver, and our version was that they simply forgot about us))))))). The driver arrived at 00.10, we were at the hotel at 01.00. Have fallen. On 04/21/2021 at 4.30 we jumped out of bed at the sound of prayer. There was a feeling that the mula sat down between us and sang into the mouthpiece. We looked out the window, but of course, in front of us was a mosque with mouthpieces. They listened to prayer. They went to sleep. At 9.30 a driver came for us, he was not late))))), and we set off on the return journey to our homeland, to UKRAINE. Unfortunately, as of April 2021, we did not get to know the “museum city” - Istanbul, as a friendly and full of oriental charm city, so we will have to return and get to know it again, take a boat ride on the Bosphorus, walk around historical places and listen to the ALI guide . Of course, with the guide Izmir, I no longer want to cross paths on tours, and also visit the "luxury" hotel ** "Altun Life". We paid for a tour in which there will be hotels only *** and ****.

I got a very long review, if someone has read it, he is smart. I wish you to travel all over the world!!! ) The world is beautiful and amazing, and if a person tries to dissuade you that the world is beautiful, take pity on him. He is an unhappy person.

With SW. Lilia Trubetskaya.