In The 'Bul

Whenever I go to Turkey, I feel at home right away. Even popping into the downtown, tourist-soaked area of Istanbul, people recognise me as a 'returner' and cut all the crap about buying carpets and asking me stuff like, 'Hey, lady, I have a question for you' and instead welcome me back and basically show me the beautiful warmth, hospitality and humor that I have come to love and appreciate about the Turkish people.




So by 9am I had been given a really good deal on a room, and after having a bit of a walk around the area to go buy some souvenirs for the students, taking a kip, and then having my second shower of the day,


















the guys at Aussie Travel set up a little table for me outside their agency cos I couldn't get net access in my room. Thank you Aussie Travel!
Anyway, this guy was really interesting and absolutely loved Ilala Cream. Loved it.

I had been dreading having to leave the Ilala behind [a girl can only drink so much Ilala in one day] so was dead chuffed to be able to empty the bottle with this man.
He was hanging out/working at a restaurant two doors down and after expressing interest in the Ilala, I asked him to go and get a glass with some ice in it, and I'd give him some. So he did, bringing me a glass with some ice in it, too.
Hic.
And that was the end of the Ilala. We polished that thing off in no time.
He kept coming back over and enthusing about it. It was too funny. I promised to bring him a bottle should I ever do a Cape Town/Istanbul trip again.
Anyway, he used to be a popular tour guide in his heyday and can speak fluent French and English. He showed me some old photos of himself, well, not that old, like one was taken ten years ago, but boy has he aged in that time. The guys at Aussie travel told me that he was a really great man, and it was obvious that they had a lot of respect for him, but that his love of booze had kinda messed him up a bit.
Mr Ilala told me about another creamy alcoholic drink that I could get if I went to Kazakhstan; fermented horse milk. He said it was okay if you didn't smell it before drinking.
Classic!

Deniz at Aussie Travel bought me this traditional sweet dish from a street vendor.














It had enough sweetness in it to make somebody get over craving sweet things for an entire life time. I barely skimmed the top of it before I'd had enough.
Deniz had lived in the UK for 20 years and owned a transportation business there but was now semi-retired and running a travel agency. He has a boat too and showed me some awesome pics of various bays in Turkey.
I tell ya, get thee to Turkey. It's a beautiful country.

Read The Full Article:
http://ihaveaboat.blogspot.com/2008/08/in-bul.html

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