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Report 1595: Turkey - The Turquoise Coast, Cappadocia and Istanbul, 2008

By Linda Hagstrom from Pennsylvania, Fall 2008

Page 17 of 20: 10/18/08 - Istanbul - Ferry Ride on Bosphorus

Summer homes along the Bosphorus

I should have paid attention to the CNN World Report's weather forecast.

About 11am I got on the ferry that goes up the Bosphorus, almost to the Black Sea. My guide from my day tour had told me which ferry to get and I double-checked with the information person at the train station. It cost 17 lira for a round-trip ticket.

The ferry trip was nice, a little more than two hours. The ferry stopped at maybe six places before reaching the 'end of the line', Anodolu Kavagi. I would have loved to go all the way to the Black Sea.

There were many things to watch for on the ferry trip: going under the Bosphorus bridge, going past Dolhambace Palace, the Rumali Castle, little towns along the way where people have their very attractive summer homes. At one stop, a young man got on the ferry with a big basket of yogurt in containers and then sold it to ferry passengers. I read in a guidebook that that particular town is in a famous yogurt area.

As we went along, it started to cloud up and by the time we reached the destination it was drizzling. It was also getting quite cool, which made sitting outside in the ferry uncomfortable (and I always like to sit outside). If I had listened to the weatherman, I would have waited for another day for the ferry ride, or at least I would have brought my rain jacket. I had seen a Rick Steves show where he rides the ferry up the Bosphorus and it is one of the things I had really wanted to do.

I got off the ferry at Anodolu Kavagi and knew it would be about three hours until the next ferry came for the return trip. It was a really small town full of fish restaurants. I walked around in the rain for a while and decided to have lunch. Every restaurant had a man outside calling to passers-by to come and eat in his restaurant (this was true in Istanbul too). I finally settled on a restaurant. I was the only one there. I had a good grilled whole fish and spent the rest of the time in the ferry terminal.

Back in Istanbul, where it wasn't raining, I walked a lot, returning to Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

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