TheStorytellersBazaar:Travel Log:Turkey: Wednesday 2 August 1995
I wasn't feeling at all well today. I still hadn't shaken off my tiredness even though I was making sure I was getting plenty of rest. I couldn't walk very far before my legs turned to lead but I struggled on until I began to realise that this couldn't all be due to the high altitude.
I left my hotel by 11am and spent over an hour at my first port of call, a pastanesi, where I sat and drank tea and ate porcha's. It was here, on visiting the toilet, that I realised that all was not well with my stomach. But that wasn't going to stop me exploring.
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Ehram
I wandered around for a while, following theYapi Kredi sign because I needed some more money, until I heard the call to prayer whilst passing a mosque and decided to join the midday prayers. After withdrawing some money I happened to pass a shop selling religious items and went in to enquire about an ehram. This is the large shawl made of course wool with small embroidered designs on it which is worn by many of the women of Erzurum. They use them to cover themselves from head to foot and they are very striking as they are only to be found in this area. I have seen nothing like it in Ankara or further west of the capital. I saw my first ehram in Erzincan but they are more common here in Erzurum.
I went into the shop and asked whether they sold them. They didn't but the shopkeeper's son took me to a shop down the road that did. There I was shown a light brown one with blue embroidery that I really liked. He was asking 2 million TL for it. I had asked how much an ehram should cost at the hotel and was told that 2 million was a reasonable price to pay for a decent one but I told the shopkeeper I would look at a few other shops before I decided. He seemed confident that I would buy his because he said he would put it under the counter for me. I walk up the street and saw that many of the shops sold ehrams. Some were cheaper than the first I'd seen but none of them were better quality, not even the ones that were more expensive.
Mehmet Akgun
I decided to postpone my purchase until I had met Isik's uncle, Mehmet Akgun. Isik was a colleague from where I worked in Ankara and she had given me her uncles address so I could pay them a visit. The Turks are very hospitable people and Isik would have been offended if I didn't visit her uncle when I was in his city. I knew he sold women's clothing and I hope he would be able to advise me on my purchase.
It turned out that he sold western clothing, so when I met him I was a bit reluctant to mention the ehram as I didn't know how he might react to me wanting to but religious clothing. A lot of Turks are staunchly secular. In the end I did ask him and he said that he had no idea how much an ehram cost but he would take me to check out some prices in an hours time.
Yakutiye Medrese
So I disappeared for an hour and went to the museum in my favourite of favourite places in Erzurum, the Yakutiye Medrese. The exhibits in the museum are mostly from the Ottoman period. The minaret is the best part of the medrese. It has cast its magic spell on me and I keep returning to it. Each time it looks even more beautiful.
Back to Mehmet Akgun
An hour later I returned to Mehmet Akgun's shop and he drove me to the same street I had visited a few hours before. He seemed to have many friends there and one of them recommended we go to the shop across the street from him. I had already been there and, in my opinion the ehrams in that shop were of low quality and heavily overpriced. I told Akgun Bey that I had seen a good one down the road. When he saw it he agreed with me and complimented me on a my good eye. As it was, 2 million TL was a good price for such a good quality garment and he could only get the price down by a mere 100,000 TL. So it seems that people are quite genuine here and they immediately lower their prices as soon as they learn I am from Pakistan.
The Citadel
After my exciting buy, Akgun Bey dropped me off at the citadel and went back to work. I spent an hour there and climbed the stairs to the top of the wall. The view was amazing. Most of the city could be seen from where I stood. Towards the end of the hour I began to grow more and more tired. My whole body was aching and I had a bad headache. I quickly made my way back to the hotel, stopping once for a drink, took two painkillers and went to bed.
Three hours later, when I awoke, I felt much better. I went out for a meal and then went to the jewelry bazaar in the Rustem Pasha Caravanseray. They sold jewelry and rosaries made of black jet (oltu) and silver, which is something else Erzurum is famous for. I was tempted to buy something as some of the jewelry seemed quite cheap but I didn't want to load myself with souvenirs so early into my journey.
On the way back to the hotel I passed the Yakutiye Medrese and it had me spellbound once again. I sat and stared at the crescent moon, the stars and the minaret and could not decide which of the three was more beautiful. I took a photo of the minaret surrounded by stars. It was quite dark so I used the flash but unfortunately it did not come out well.
