Getting Lost in the Concrete Jungle

Many Turkish people have discouraged us from coming to İzmir.
'Why would you want to go to İzmir? It's just another big city.'
I think that this friendly advice is based on the assumption that all foreign tourists want to see are Turkish Mediterranean beaches - that all they want to do is lie out under the sun all day, buy chintzy souvenirs in the afternoon, eat fish in the evening, and party at nightclubs until dawn.

But our laidback and insightful receptionist in the Ateş Pension of Kaş raved about İzmir. He said that it was a place where people could feel free to do what they wanted, where people sat outside, relaxed & drank beer (unlike İstanbul, where alcohol is not served at most restaurants). Robby, impressed by this young man, wanted to see İzmir for himself.

We arrived to İzmir & immediately got lost. We had to somehow get onto Lonely Planet's map, which only showed the city center. After going up & down the same wide street for 30 minutes, we finally found our way to our destination and set down our packs.

From first impression, İzmir appeared to be a chaotic, crowded city. But we found a wonderfully large bazaar to get lost in, and then emerged at the sea side, where we walked along the First Kordon, a long, wide, & grassy walkway. Young people hung out everywhere on the grass, chatting & playing guitars. Couples hid behind bushes, and families strolled along the boardwalk. The First Kordon, which was mostly for pedestrians, was lined with cool pubs & restaurants with outdoor seating. We found a Dunkin' Donuts there. Before walking into the Alsancak neighborhood, we walked inland & found many alleyways full of restaurants. There were a plethora of restaurants - another place to get pleasantly lost in - & we sat down for some pasta. We found the most impressive bathroom in this Italian restaurant - comparable to the uniquely designed bathrooms in San Franciscan restaurants. Running along these alleys was a pedestrian street filled with boutiques & young people, very much like Istiklal Cad in the Taksim neighborhood of İstanbul.

Walking back to our pension from this lively area was a little scary though. The streets in the business center were empty, and a drunk man verbally accosted Robby & followed us very closely until he lost interest & walked away. We also had trouble buying tickets to Istanbul because the buses were full. We were finally able to buy tickets leaving İzmir at midnight & arriving at İstanbul at 8am. But there is only one bathroom break during this 8-hour drive, so I don't know how my bladder will fare on this journey.

The following day, we returned our rental car at the massive otogar. Again, we nearly got lost as we left the city center. But now we are sans car. Back to the bus we go.

Since our bus is leaving at midnight, we decided to kill some time at the bazaar. We almost got roped into buying a Turkish carpet. We made it clear that we wanted to learn about carpet making. The English-speaking salesman enthusiastically reassured us that we were not obliged to buy & taught us the different kinds of carpets: wool-on-wool, wool-on-cotton, silk-on-cotton, silk-on-silk, & kilim. As he explained the labor that went into making the carpet & how to distinguish the different qualities, we found ourselves interested in buying one. But if we bought a wool-on-wool carpet (you know, the traditional-looking kind), we could only afford to buy one that was slightly larger than a bathroom mat. Too small! A kilim was all we could buy, but a kilim really just a thin, super-itchy wool carpet. After some private discussion, Robby & I decided against purchasing this rash-inducing souvenir. The salesman was clearly disappointed that we would not buy his carpet. From 200 YTL, he lowered it to 165 then 150 YTL. He kept calculating how much it would cost in American dollars. Smart, but too late! We stopped thinking in terms of dollars 5 weeks ago!

It felt good to walk away from this bait-&-switch game knowing that we were not persuaded by charm, kindness, apple tea, or guilt-trıpping to buy the carpet.