Weekend Istanbul

13th April 2007

Just came back from a fabulous trip to Istanbul - short, but indeed a very exciting one. We lived a very Istanbullu life thanks to the lovely ladies who take care of us during the time. We did very little touristy stuff, but instead dined in the finest restaurants and cafes, chugged shots and shots of raki, listened to some fine music and lazed around in comfy cafes smoking nargillas. Istanbul is a beautiful city and the mosques and the Bosphorous and of course the wonderful women, gives it a very exotic feeling. Its flavours are rosewater, pistachio, almond and cinnamon - all rich, complex and redolent of the exotic east - but its packaging is different, reminiscent of the elegantly boxed treats sold in Paris. East meets West here, all in one delicious mouthful.

Day 1 - Friday 6th April
Arrived at the Sabiha airport at around 2am in the morning. If you are staying in the heart of Istanbul, I advise you not to take a flight to this airport. It took me about 2 hours to reach my hotel and it was a nightmare getting back to the airport while leaving also. George came down in the morning and we went on some sight seeing expedition. We started off in Old Istanbul where we stayed. Most of the tourists stay around Sultanahmet and many never make it out of Sultanahmet. This is definitely a shame, but it does have a concentration of major sights, shopping precincts, hotels and eateries within easy walking distance. The heart of Byzantium, Constantinople and the Ottoman empire, it's the area where emperors and sultans built their palaces, places of worship and major public buildings.

We started off with the Sultan Ahmet Camii (or better known to tourists as the Blue mosque). Sultan Ahmet I set out to build this monument that would rival and even surpass the nearby Aya Sofya in grandeur and beauty. The mosque's architect, Mehmet Aga, managed to design this elegant building with a visual wham-bam effect. Although there are several other mosques built very elegantly, the Sultan Ahmet one does strike out and gives it the alluring charm to Istanbul. Inside, the stained-glass windows and Iznik tiles immediately attract attention.

We visited only two other monuments - Aya Sofya (exterior) and the Topkapi palace, the reason being our tendency to hit the bottle and also to experience the local life. Aya Sofya is the most famous monument of Istanbul. The Topkapi palace is the subject of an award-winning feature film, an opera (Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio and a blockbuster social history (John Freely's Inside the Seraglio When we visited the palace, there were so many tourists, including lots and lots of kids, and after a bit of wandering, we went straight to the Topkapi treasury, which we were interested in. The Treasury, features an incredible collection of precious objects made from or decorated with gold, silver, rubies, emeralds, jade, pearls and diamonds. In the first room, you will find the jewel-encrusted sword of Suleyman the Magnificent and the Throne of Ahmed I, inlaid with the mother of pearl. In the second room, the tiny Indian figures, mainly made from seed pearls, are well worth seeking out, as are the bizarre and vaguely sinister relics of the Arm and Skull of St John the Baptist

After the long walks around Sultanahmet, we decided it was time to come back to the hotel and soak in some rum. After chatting with a couple of other backpackers, we headed out to Taksim square where we were supposed to meet Pinar and Hande, George's friends of UMich. After chugging a glass of Mojito in an upmarket establishment, we went to a local restaurant, Sofyali, which served arrays and arrays of mezes. You can understand why Turks love to eat, the food is unbelievably delicious. Flavours explode in your mouth and definitely satisfy your tummy. We were the noisiest bunch in the restaurant. The other important item on the table was Raki, the effect of which is demonstrated in the adjacent pictures.

Dinner at Sofyali:
1) From left to right, Hande, myself, Pinar and Georgeee, all sober in the beginning
2) And, more join the band

Day 2
The next morning we had breakfast in a small eatery at Kale next to the Bosphorous. Once again, we were delighted by the food and the fine tea that constantly kept coming to our tables. The bread with honey and butter, unstructured salad. One thing you will observe in all the restaurants in Istanbul is that they are always full. Meals are indeed treated with respect and the supposedly the idea of eating in front of a TV or from a freezer is absolute anathema to the Turks. The next 2 days, we basically lazed around in sheesha cafes and in the night we partied like crazy in an exclusive club playing 80's music.

The amazing delicacies! - Breakfast at Kale

Cold and smoking the sheesha in Tophane...

1) George and I in a ridiculously expensive cafe (7 euro for an espresso!)
2) Outside the Museum of Modern Art

1)Playing cards - well, we all got a chance to become shitheads
2)Bahar pondering on what to do, when she had all aces on the table???

photos by Arun George (Copyright, 2007)

Book I have just read: In Spite of the Gods by Edward Luce

India remains a mystery to most young Indians, let alone foreigners. Edward Luce gives a superb analysis on the background and future direction of Modern India. It is a great read which is deeply informed by author's extensive research, leavened by humor and rich in anecdote, it shows that India has huge opportunities as well as tremendous challenges that make the future “hers to lose.”

Ancient Universities of India - Nalanda

A view of the ruins of Nalanda University
In the extreme rear is visible stucco (lime plaster fresco) wall art from the Gupta period. In the foreground are recently excavated (2006) stupas, notable among them the chariot stupa of Buddha. The chariot stupa in Sanchi was considered the only existing chariot stupa till this stupa was discovered.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article refers to Nālandā University, the ancient seat of Buddhist learning in India. For other uses, see Nalanda (disambiguation).
Nālandā (literally "the giver of the lotus"), about 55 miles south east of Patna, was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 CE to 1197 CE partly under the Pala Empire. It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history."

Characteristics
Nalanda was one of the world's first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. In its heyday it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an "architectural masterpiece," and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

The university was an architectural and environmental masterpiece. It had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university’s heyday and providing accommodations for 2,000 professors. Nalanda was also the most global university of its time, attracting pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.

Influence on Buddhism
A vast amount of what is considered to be Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) actually stems from the late (9th-12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. Other forms of Buddhism, like the Mahayana followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan, found their genesis within the walls of the ancient university. Theravada, the other main school of Buddhism, followed in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and elsewhere, and later the mystic Theravada schools also developed here.

Legends in Buddhism and Jainism
Various figures in Buddhism and Jainism are associated with Nalanda according to legend, although in many cases their dates are wildly discrepant with those of the university. The Jain Tirthankara Mahavira is believed to have attained Moksha at Pavapuri, which is located in Nalanda (also according to one sect of Jainism he was born in the nearby village called Kundalpur).[citation needed] Sāriputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nālandā. Asoka is said to have built a temple there. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna taught there. However, historical studies indicate that the university was established c. 450 CE under the patronage of the Gupta emperors notably Kumaragupta.

Decline and End
In 1193, the Nalanda University complex was sacked by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khalji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. Cite source:It is said that Khalji asked if there was a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it[citation needed]. When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa visited them in 1235, he found them damaged and looted, but still functioning with a small number of monks. Cite source: The destruction of the universities at Nalanda, as well as the destruction of many temples and monasteries throughout northern India which housed centers of learning, is considered by many historians to be responsible for the sudden demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy. Fortified Sena monasteries along the main route of the invasion were destroyed, and being off the main route both Nalanda and Bodh Gaya survived. Many institutions off the main route such as the Jagaddala Monastery in northern Bengal were untouched and flourishing.



Ruins
A number of ruined structures survive. Nearby is the Surya Mandir, a Hindu temple. The known and excavated ruins extend over an area of about 150,000 square metres, although if Xuanzang's account of Nalanda's extent is correlated with present excavations, almost 90% of it remains unexcavated.

Nālandā is no longer inhabited. Today the nearest habitation is a village called Bargaon.

In 1951, a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies was founded nearby, the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. Presently, this institute is pursuing an ambitious program of satellite imaging of the entire region.

The Nalanda Museum contains a number of manuscripts, and shows many examples of the items that have been excavated.

Plans for Revival
On December 9th, 2006, the New York Times detailed a plan in the works to spend $1 billion to revive Nalanda University near the ancient site. A consortium led by Singapore and including India, Japan and other nations will attempt to raise $500 million to build a new university and another $500 million to develop necessary infrastructure.

Bombay - the best!

Panoramic View

Northern Cyprus

Aug 2005

A paradise - relatively untouched, Northern Cyprus provides a very hospitable welcome. The people are very warm and friendly, and you will find miles of unpolluted and uncrowded coastline and golden sands. Make a trip out there before the border dispute ends - before the tourist horde rushes in.

Cities: Girne (Kyrenia), Lefkosha (Nicosia), Gazimagusa (Famagusta), Guzelyurt (Morphou), Lefke (Lefka). The first three are the bigger cities and offer a wide range of hotels, restaurants and gambling joints!!!

Beaches: Several in Kyrenia, Famagusta and Karpaz area. The turtle beach is a famous one, known for the migrating turtles hatching giant eggs in the beach area. One of the most fabulous sites to see! Most of the beaches are empty, you might just find a few stray British soldiers playing cricket.

Restaurants: There are several in the list, but I suggest going to the ones near the water in Kyrenia. 'Harbour delight' offers one of the best views, located just by the Mediterranean. The view of the dilapidated mill makes it all the more picturesque and romantic! You might also try out several of the kebab places in Nicosia. The waiters are in general, polite, but might have difficulty with English.

Donts: Never end up having a chat with local on the border dispute with the south, the conversation will last forever! People are progressive and want to get out of the traditional rift, but it's safe not to touch upon the subject.

Kyrenia Harbour and Turtle Beach