There's Something Odrin Going Down

[lupestripe]

Written Friday 13 July, around 7pm EET

On Thursday, Stoyan and I went to the Turkish city of Edirne, some 30km from the Bulgarian border. It's the biggest city in the area and is most well-known for having the largest mosque in the whole of Turkey, as well as a charming city centre with a lively bazar.

We were driven to the border by Stoyan's mother and had to flag a bus to take us across. No one we knew was available or had special insurance to drive in Turkey hence why we had to rely on public transport once twe had reached the end of Bulgaria. We had initially requested a bus company to pick us up outside the Lukoil petrol station but with no bus forthcoming, we flagged down any old one which was heading in the right direction. This was a Turkish company transporting ex-pat Turks across the border and back to their homeland. The bus was rammed but the conductor chappie (who was separate to the driver) took special exception to me as I was British and let me have his conducting seat which was nice.

The border crossing was relatively painless except I needed to get a visa while the Turks and the Bulgarians didn't. Cue traipsing across the customs courtyard, avoiding traffic, to get to the visa office. Oddly, I couldn't pay for it in Turkish lira but thankfully had a spare tenner which proved to be acceptable. The guy then managed to affix my visa upside-down in my passport. Then it was back to where I started to get it stamped.

Once into Turkey, the conductor started handing around free cake and Fanta, as well as a pungent oil based cleansing substance to clean my face. And that was about it really as we soon arrived in Edirne. He told us where and when to get the bus back and left us to it.

The first thing that strikes you when you approach the centre of Edirne is the sheer size of the mosque. It's massive and dominates the skyline. In fact there are two mosques and the old one isn't particularly small either. As is tradition, they had a huge hallway out front for market traders to trade their wares. Most of the produce was tat in all honesty but the arched tiled hallways with pictures of the great Attaturk, the founder of modern Turkey, made for a great ambience. There were no calls to prayer throughout our stay though which was a bit strange.

Grabbing a sesame seed bagel, we first walked around the cobbled and rather beautiful city centre, admiring the innumerable water features dotted amongst the shops. This definitely felt like a European city but one with a uniquely Arabic twist, which I guess could sum up most of Turkey. There is also a rather nice clock and a water fountain marking the focal point of the town, alongside attractive municipal buildings painted on pink.

After a mediocre lunch during which I tried Turkish sausage and enjoyed a glass of Efes in its natural surroundings (we had spent a good amount of time trying to find a fish restaurant but couldn't - after we had eaten we found one right round the corner), we headed up towards the grand mosque to check it out further. It was built in the 16th century at a tine when Edirne was the capital of the vast and sprawling Ottoman Empire. As well as the mosque with its huge dome and four turrets, there are two madrases, one either side of the complex. In one is a fascinating museum detailing the history of the mosque, some of the timepieces, wooden and metal ornaments made for the mosque plus the day-to-day lives of the teachers and students who worked there. Islamic tiling also played a prominent role in the exhibition and it was truly fascinating to discover so much about a different culture.

After our trip to the museum, we entered the mosque itself, taking our shoes off as we entered (such is the custom). If the exterior architecture is grandiose then the intricate internal decoration is breathtaking, all done in pastel red and vivid dark blue. In the centre of the mosque there is a water fountain which again is customary. This was the first mosque I have ever entered and it was a privilege to experience such an important building so close up. The external fountain where your feet are washed is also a beautiful example of the power and creativity you can release when you are truly dedicated to something, in this case to God.

With an hour to kill ahead of the bus, we wandered around the bazars again before taking traditional Turkish tea in a small coffee shop. I also tried kelme, sliced ice cream, which came with a selection of dips akin to a pickle tray at an Indian restaurant. There was chocolate and strawberry sauces, cherries and something green and nutty that tasted quite nice. The tea was quite delicious too.

After this, we picked up some baklava from a sweet shop Stoyan knows and headed back to the bus. Perched on the wall of a school, we chatted to our fellow passengers as we waited, some of whom were on the same bus we had been on earlier that day. Once the bus arrived, we trundled towards the border area. Clearing it took forever, with a full customs check in place, but once we had, we were dropped off near the border (but further into Bulgaria this time) for Stoyan's mother to pick us up and take us back to Svilengrad. We got on well, evidenced by the fact she took time to wave me off when I left Svilengrad on Friday. If it wasn't for her generosity, and all of the other cool people I met during my time in South-East Bulgaria, my time there would have been a lot poorer.

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Comments

[skawinski.livejournal.com]

Not bad for a holiday, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Should have told you to say 'hi' to Stoyan from me. Glad you're back safe and sound. Looking forward to seeing you :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

And Greece too, got to write an account of that excursion too. I'll say hi to Stoyan on messenger if you like - I'm about to head to the office so if you are in, I'll see you there ^^

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Aaaah, no, no, I'm not envious in the least. ^_^;

Once into Turkey, the conductor started handing around free cake and Fanta

Hee! Sure, it may be cramped and marginally fatal a route, but who's to argue with free cake? =:9 (Imagine doing that on UK trains! It'd cost so little, but make people feel so much less like cash cows)

The calling to prayer reminds me I've never actually compressed (or indeed, edited =:) my footage from Singapore and Malaysia, from 2001. I'll have to remember to try finding those CDs next time I'm up at the former roomie's abode - hopefully the discs will still read! If nothing else, I do have the original Hi-8 tapes, but it'd then be a matter of locating those, and then re-digitising them. Only SD, of course, but probably still worth a bit of iMovie time.

all done in pastel red and vivid dark blue

Were you able to take photos? Some religious establishments rather frown on such, whilst others are perfectly fine.

This definitely felt like a European city but one with a uniquely Arabic twist, which I guess could sum up most of Turkey

Cue TMBG.. =:) It is going to become even more interesting if Turkey does come into the EU at some point. It's already quite a cultural melting-pot, which I'm all in favor of. Damn, I'd welcome California if they applied. ^_^

Oddly, I couldn't pay for it in Turkish lira but thankfully had a spare tenner which proved to be acceptable. The guy then managed to affix my visa upside-down in my passport.

The vital necessity of the entire visa process in a nutshell. ^_^

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

They would never hand out free cake in standard class on a UK train because the public is a cash cow, that's how large private companies work. The reason this bus was different was because it was a smaller independent operator. Plus the bloke just seemed to like me.

Yep, it was very similar to Singapore and Malaysia. I visited there in 2009 (see posts passim) and the call to prayer is one of my most enduring memories from the trip. In the mosque in Edirne I was allowed to take photos. Or at least, everyone else was doing so, so I did the same.

Turkish membership of the EU is an insanely complex proposition - that's an intellectual discussion right there.

Yep, I am a bit of a visa junkie, must admit.