Turkey | On My Canvas

In Izmir (Turkey), a City Where The Sea Never Leaves You

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Things To Do in Izmir, Turkey (If You Could Ever Leave the Seaside)

On Sunday, my first day in Izmir, I was awake at 8:45 am. I went to the toilet quickly, showered, and got ready. I scanned the receipts from Dubai to send to my travel insurance company (you can read the story in the linked piece). Everyone in the house, which meant my host Mohammed, his cat, and his friend, whom I hadn’t met, were still asleep.

Mohammed probably woke up at 10 but stayed in bed for another hour and eventually came to ask me if I would like Turkish coffee. I was scanning documents, which I continued to do after coffee. Over that big cup of delicious Turkish coffee, we talked. He said he would go to the market to get some things for breakfast. I offered to go too, but I think he felt it would be a waste of time. Before heading out, he took out a few tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and a cucumber from the fridge. I told him I would chop the vegetables.

Mohamed went to the supermarket, and I continued to put together the insurance things. When he returned, I chopped the tomatoes and mushrooms, and he cooked them with eggs. He had also brought halloumi cheese, which he grilled. He heated the Turkish bread bibit in a sandwich press and made two big cups of tea, too.

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A Few Hours in Rize Turkey: Things To Do in The City and More

Rize was more than a transit town for me. I had arrived in Rize around 11 am from Avanos. Avanos is a sister town of Göreme, where I had been for two nights and three days. Göreme is Capadoccia, the most famous location in Turkey, where you can find tourists from around the world. That is not so true for other places in Turkey.

Göreme was the only place in Turkey where I saw other Indian faces, not that I was looking for them. In Rize, there were only locals; at least, I didn’t see any tourists.

I had had a special bus experience from Avanos to Rize. But more on that in a separate article on the bus journey.

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I wrote most of this piece about taking a bus from Istanbul to Izmir City in Turkey as it all happened. Sharing it here as it is. I also added a part about the host in Izmir after I arrived in the city. Enjoy!

Leaving Istanbul, Taking a Bus From Istanbul to Izmir, and a Great Welcome Dinner in Izmir by a Couchsurfing Host

Today morning started at seven am. After the long laundry confusion (with a Couchsurfing host in Istanbul), I had gone to bed at almost 11:45 pm. A little more here and there and another toilet run, I put in my earplugs and tried to sleep. Earplugs because the dryer was still running. The host’s clothes, which he had asked me to wash in the machine, weren’t dry yet. I didn’t think they would dry at all with that pathetic dryer, which wasn’t working. The host had still not returned, so some lights were on too, but I couldn’t care too much. I covered myself with a blanket, and then you can hardly see any light. The couch was big and comfortable, and I was adamant about spending six to seven hours in bed (which was the couch). My bus in the morning was at 9:20 am. I had had a long cold and wet day out at the Basilica Cistern. Finding some vegetarian food and also the long way back had tired me out.

I looked at my clothes on the chairs. They were all wet, almost as wet as they had come out of the machine. My leggings and bag, which I had kept near the radiator, were dry. I should have put all the clothes next to the radiator. They would have looked too odd, though. All shirts, leggings, and undergarments wrapped around the radiator. No. No. We’ll see in the morning.

In the morning, I put a few more clothes on the radiator and removed the ones that had dried. Thankfully, I had clothes to wear. My leggings and jackets had dried. I went to the toilet and messaged this dryer story to my partner, Sagar. “I don’t know why he asked me to use the dryer when it doesn’t work. He knew I had to leave. Now I have to carry wet clothes. He asked me to wash his clothes, too. It was a huge pile.” Still grumpy, I boiled the kettle, started packing my clothes, and put my laptop on the charger. You need to be well planned for the day.

Time passes slowly when you have nowhere to go, but quickly when you have to be somewhere. I packed all dry clothes in one pack and made one empty for the wet ones. I signed a copy of my book for my host and sipped hot coffee, thinking that if I had to go to the toilet, I’d better go now, and not when I am on the bus. Right after eight, I went to shower, carrying all the clothes that I had to wear. My host had woken up too, and I had to get ready in the bathroom. I didn’t finish my coffee. I had to get ready.

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This is How My Solo Trip Began

So this is how the nightmare began. I shouldn’t say that, though. Many people must have had it much worse.

I was in Dubai at my friend Haninder’s house, working on my newsletter, when I read a message from him. He had gone out.

“Heard the interceptions? Loud blasts?”

What blasts?

“Not really? You did?” As if that wasn’t obvious.

I checked the news.

Dubai airspace shut down. Flights canceled. Iranian missiles and drones hitting UAE. UAE intercepting the Iranian air attacks. Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan bombed as well.

NO. NO NO.