Away with the ferries

Chora Church and Cruises

I got my motivation back today and felt the urge to go do things that I hadn’t done in Istanbul. It was tempting to just repeat the old best-loved sights of Istanbul. I wanted to combined the Chora Church with one-way journey between there and the Bosphorus. Due to fog, I decided that I should do the water journey last.

Taking the tram to the Chora Church involved a change and Edirnekapi and a short easy walk (which could have been very difficult if the man at the metro station hadn’t given me a map). I got there soon after its opening at 0900.

The interior of the church had very good mosaics and frescoes which were well-preserved. The core was closed for restoration. I followed a guide taking his party around, eavesdropping to the explanations which made the visit more meaningful. Anyway, my interest wasn’t that deep and after a while I did my own thing then took off as it was quite humid inside.

I found a bus to Eyup quite easily. I wandered around to find the ferry station reasonably easily and hopped on for a nearly immediate departure.

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Ferry back from Upper Golden Horn

The ferry zigzagged across the Golden Horn serving stations on both sides. The distances between the stations were very short at times, some only being directly across from each other.

The upper part of the Golden Horn isn’t that scenic as the water doesn’t flow that freely; some of the bridges across it do obstruct the water and only have a narrow gap for water flow and shipping. It isn’t that clear and has a slight whiff to it. Apparently it used to be worse.

Anyway, all the above public transport and exploration went so smoothly that I was back in Eminonu about 1100. I walked across the bridge to take the historic Tunel tram up to Galata / Beyoglu and then walk to Taksim for lunch. I had my mind set on a sandwich at Simit Sarayi, a Turkish lunch bar which I had been reminded of when I was in Brussels when I saw the outlet there.

While at Galata, I found that the whirling dervishes here (Galata Mawlavi House Museum) still had tickets for their once-a-week 1700 performance at TL40 but I had paid TL60 for somewhere closer to the hotel. This was the place I had wanted to come back to after missing out last year. I had bought the ticket at the other places as seats were running low already yesterday.

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Ferry on Bosphorus

I had the afternoon to kill so I decided to do the other ferry trip around here, which was the one going up the Bosphorus. Taking the modern funicular down to Kabatas and transferring to the tram, I got myself to Eminonu again and boarded a 1330 tour ferry.

This ferry took us 45 minutes up the Bosphorus to under the second Euro-Asia bridge before turning back. The 1h30 minute journey wasn’t my cuppa tea. It was crowded with lots and lots of tourists.

The view was good; Istanbul is a huge city of 14  million and it is very spread out. There are some very beautiful homes and apartments along the long coastline along with plenty of old historic buildings even quite far out from the city centre.

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Whirling Dervishes

After a rest back in the room, I went to see the whirling dervishes ritual at the Hojapasha Theatre. It was supposedly a 1h ceremony but this included a musical prelude and the lead-up by five participants which involved a bit of bowing – first heads down to the floor, then to each other.

The men wore black robes but removed them to reveal their white ones underneath when the time came to whirl. The actual whirling only lasted 20 minutes accompanied by live traditional musical instruments and chanting.

I was quite amazed by how they were in sync with the direction they were facing at all times except when starting/stopping their whirling. They started/stopped a few times. While whirling, their arms were generally up, with the right hand facing up and the left kinda limp-wristed facing down. Their heads were tilted to the right. The whirling was always clockwise.

Everything in the ritual has its representation. Per Wikipedia:

• In the symbolism of the Sema ritual, the semazen’s camel’s hair hat (sikke) represents the tombstone of the ego; his wide, white skirt (tennure) represents the ego’s shroud. By removing his black cloak (hirka), he is spiritually reborn to the truth.
• At the beginning of the Sema, by holding his arms crosswise, the semazen appears to represent the number one, thus testifying to God’s unity.
• While whirling, his arms are open: his right arm is directed to the sky, ready to receive God’s beneficence; his left hand, upon which his eyes are fastened, is turned toward the earth.
• The semazen conveys God’s spiritual gift to those who are witnessing the Sema. Revolving from right to left around the heart, the semazen embraces all humanity with love.
• Spinning one’s body in repetitive circles … has been seeen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun.

With poor ventilation in the converted hammam, the 20 minutes of whirling was enough for me. I think this is something I’ll only see once.

My stealthy shot at the Whirling Dervish ritual; I was mifffed that photography wasn’t permitted wheras at the cheaper performance at the official museum allows photography provided no flash is used.