Today was definitely a slower start, with a later breakfast before heading out.
The chap manning the desk was extremely helpful, and with our limited Turkish and his limited English we understood that he was recommending we take a bus to the University in the hills or Kepez - a market village - by the sea. When we asked about purchasing the tickets, he immediately offered us his travel card to use, explaining that we would need to top it up.
Canakkle is a city of about 200,000 residents, about 37,000 of whom attend the university. We had no wait to catch the bus which quickly filled with young women as well as other locals who got on and off along the way. Arriving at the stop before the university entrance, we came across our first security challenge. Two uniformed men entered the bus requesting passengers to provide what we thought were their tickets. This was no the case, as when Michael showed it, one of them started asking questions in Turkish. When I finally asked if he could speak English (he couldn't) a young girl came over and asked where we had got on the bus and what we were wanting. We explained, she translated and after seeking the OK from the guards, she told us it was OK and we could come into the University! We took the bus to the end - atop the hills which gave an excellent view of the Dardanelles and the city of Canakkle.
Michael tried to engage a couple of groups in conversation however this proved fruitless - their English knowledge was the same as our Turkish!
We returned to the city and took another bus to Kepez. The market was bustling. Selling mostly fresh fruit and veggies, it showed why our guide the previous day had said that Turkey is self-sufficient. We purchased four mandarins - after overcoming the misunderstanding that it was only 4 units - not four kilos! Hopefully the pictures will indicate the range available!
We stopped for a cold drink and salad for lunch. One of the workers in the restaurant was called when they realised we couldn't speak the language - he explained that he could speak german and a little English. We had no trouble! On returning to the city we bought an ice cream and made our way back to the hotel to spend the heat of the day indoors.
The chap manning the desk was extremely helpful, and with our limited Turkish and his limited English we understood that he was recommending we take a bus to the University in the hills or Kepez - a market village - by the sea. When we asked about purchasing the tickets, he immediately offered us his travel card to use, explaining that we would need to top it up.
Canakkle is a city of about 200,000 residents, about 37,000 of whom attend the university. We had no wait to catch the bus which quickly filled with young women as well as other locals who got on and off along the way. Arriving at the stop before the university entrance, we came across our first security challenge. Two uniformed men entered the bus requesting passengers to provide what we thought were their tickets. This was no the case, as when Michael showed it, one of them started asking questions in Turkish. When I finally asked if he could speak English (he couldn't) a young girl came over and asked where we had got on the bus and what we were wanting. We explained, she translated and after seeking the OK from the guards, she told us it was OK and we could come into the University! We took the bus to the end - atop the hills which gave an excellent view of the Dardanelles and the city of Canakkle.
Michael tried to engage a couple of groups in conversation however this proved fruitless - their English knowledge was the same as our Turkish!
We returned to the city and took another bus to Kepez. The market was bustling. Selling mostly fresh fruit and veggies, it showed why our guide the previous day had said that Turkey is self-sufficient. We purchased four mandarins - after overcoming the misunderstanding that it was only 4 units - not four kilos! Hopefully the pictures will indicate the range available!
We stopped for a cold drink and salad for lunch. One of the workers in the restaurant was called when they realised we couldn't speak the language - he explained that he could speak german and a little English. We had no trouble! On returning to the city we bought an ice cream and made our way back to the hotel to spend the heat of the day indoors.
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