Travelogue : Istanbul Day 5

Our last day was specifically reserved for our island visit.

There is a group of Islands quite famous in Turkey known as the Prince's Islands or locally known as Adalar. During the Byzantine period, these islands were the place of exile for royalty, hence its name. Now these island sport no auto transport and people are transported by horse drawn carriages. If you're a nature person then I fully support taking at least a few hours out of your stay to visit these places. The view is amazing!

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash 

But today we actually took a taxi straight to Kabatash because we were running late. It cost about 8TL. It was actually lucky that we knew the fare early because later we were able to use this info.

At kabatash there are a few ferry lines which you can take to get yourself to the island. The most famous is the Sehir Atlari (large ferry) and then IDO (smaller and faster ferry.) Both of which you can use your istanbulkart to pay. You can check out the fares and schedules for Sehir atlari ferries here and the fares and schedules for IDO ferries here. You can pick and choose which of the two you want to go and come back with. We chose Sehir to go and IDO to come back, strictly because of time restraints. It is not advisable to take the last ferry to either side seeing that the ferries may become overloaded.

The ferries were pretty comfortable considering the ride took around 45 minutes to an hour. My sis and I choose just one island to visit, Heybeliada. Here we found a horse ride for the whole island at 40 TL. The trip was pleasant and there are some very nice houses here. You can also choose to walk if that is more your style.

I really enjoyed the ferry ride. It was really peaceful and perfect if you just want to get away with just your thoughts for a few hours. They also serve some light snacks like them chocolate bagels and tea. I actually fell asleep for a bit because it was so cozy.

Afterward my sister and I tried to look for a cab to get back home. And here was where we met our first of 2 con taxi driver. He was parked just to the side of where the ferry stations were. We told him our destination and he agreed to drive us. But before this there was a small commotion with him telling his friend that he got a customer. Clearly we were partly at fault for not asking the rate before getting in, but because our previous taxi drivers were all honest people I guess it slipped our minds. Not only did he drive like a maniac. He kept trying to show my sister pictures of an automobile museum not far away. Probably thinking we might want to change our course. When he did finally drop us off my sister asked the fare and he confidently said "excuse me meter" and pointed and the meter which showed 32TL. And clearly the meter had not moved from the beginning until he had stopped.So my sister got angry saying that she already knew the fare was if anything less than 15TL. And after a bit of argument we stepped out and handed him some USD which roughly translated to i think 10 TL or around that. And he kept saying that is was difficult to change small dollars. I was close to just walking away but then there was an elderly lady who was kind enough to ask us what the taxi was charging and then she scolded him and kept telling us to leave and that he was a bad driver and we shouldn't even pay. My sister had 20TL with her but she demanded to get 10TL back. He kept saying he had no change. I told my sister to keep the door wide open and to get his 10 before he took her 20. In the end, because the elderly lady was making a commotion and people were looking his way and getting a rough idea of the situation he relented and gave us 10 back. Personally I though he shouldn't have even gotten even 10TL but whatever.

Later that night, with my mom in tow we made our way to the blue mosque, because word had it that they had Iftar before the terawih prayers. It turned out we were misinformed and had to buy outside food, which was pretty depressing since we were late and all the good food was finishing. Rezki kurang I guess malam tu. But we did get to pray terawih 8 rakaat. The feeling was not like that in Malaysia. I'm not really sure why, but I missed our normal mosque at home right then.

By the time we were heading home it was past eleven and with the con  taxi fresh in our minds I was pretty weary of who to hail. But again we hailed a parked taxi who assured us that he was under the blue mosque's taxi company or something or rather. I observed the meter and it still didn't show any rates while we moved and he kept reassuring us that it was normal. So when we reached he charged 25TL. Which was exorbitant. There are no night rates in Istanbul. But being that it was late at night, we were all girls and the fact that we had no energy and were kind of scared to make a scene we handed over what he asked for.

Word of advice, never hail a parked taxi. They are parked probably because they don't need to make the proper rounds to earn enough money like everyone else. And i would advice to try and find ones with older drivers. The previous taxis we boarded with fair prices were all driven by quite elderly men. And the meter moves WHILE they drive. Not finally when they stop.

So that was pretty much it. We packed out bags that night and was ready for checkout by 10 the next day. All in all it was a pretty satisfying trip. I got to see all the place I wanted, buy all the souvenirs I needed, tasted a few of the local cuisines despite being in the month of Ramadhan, and got to take some nice pictures here and there. Istanbul is definitely worth while visit.

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 4

Today was specifically reserved for shopping ^^

And since my mom could take a day off from her conference she came along for the trip.

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash - take tramway (T1) ------>; Beyazit station.

Here we found the Grand Bazaar full of your souvenir needs. The first row we entered were full of gold and jewelry. I am not really sure of the authenticity of these trinklets, so shop at your own risk. Some of them do look pretty legit. But we were focusing our efforts more towards spices, teas, and sweet. And lemme tell you there is a whole lot to choose from. I didn't even know there were so many kinds of turkish delights until i saw them in front of my eyes.

There are however temperamental shop owners who seem to take offense if you leave their shop without buying -_-v. Its pretty much Beijing all over again. But since the Lira currency is higher than the malaysian ringgit, we had to be a bit more choosy in the things we pick out. I wouldnt say things are very cheap. But affordable. Plenty of pouches, trinklets and magnets to pick out for them peeps back home.

There is also a huge mosque at the and of the strip where we had to drop off my mom because she had a sudden vertigo attack. Shopping pun shopping, solat itu wajibulghunnah. Visiting the grand bazaar would have been that much more awesome if we were able to taste test everything they had in the stores. Seriously, if you're a sweet tooth, this is the place to be. We pretty much settled 90% of souvenir shopping here.

Afterwards we headed home for break fast where we bought some kebabs. Terawih was as usual up to 1  am. But being wayyy exhausted we thought of lazing back the next day. We almost didn't make it to the cruise ^_~ coming up next!

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 3

Day 3 proved to be the first day of fasting. 18 hours mind you. We were going for the long haul. Soo with that in mind we took it pretty slow. We stepped out of the apartment well after noon having prayed so that there would be less hassle.Today would only include the Basilica cistern as well as a stroll in the topkapi garden.

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash - take tramway (T1) ------>; Sultanahmet station.

Similar to yesterday. In fact basilica cistern could actually be covered along with aya sofya and the blue mosque, if one has the energy to do something like that since they are just a few hundred meters away from each other.

Entrance fee to the cistern in 20 TL. On the net it said 10. But i guess prices have been hiked. Unfortunately the muze pass doesn't not work here so the line is inevitable. The place is a bit dark and the lighting is very minimal. I think they purposely made it that way to give you that old eerie feeling. The cistern used to hold water for the immediate community and water was transported from the mountains 19 km away. Now it's just  a museum and the water levels are pretty low with a few fat fishes swimming around. There are two very famous madusa head statues at the far east corner. There's supposed to be a reason why one is upside down. I don't particularly remember ^^v. The cistern is actually pretty chilly. The mortar is specifically made to be waterproof. Take care though it's a bit wet and slippery here and there.

We walked along the street for a little while to find this guy who was making calligraphy signs on these really nice backdrops. So we bought one for our room with our names on it. 25 TL. Its amazing the money you can make from just being creative.

Since it was the first day of a long fast we hung out at the newly constructed park next to the Topkapi Palace. There were a whole lot of people but the place was really nice, with families lying in the grass and kids playing at the mini water park. I must say people in Istanbul really know how to take it easy.

Welpz not much, if i can say so myself. We were trying to conserve energy. That night we bought ourselves some kebab for buka puasa. It comes with this yogurt drink called ayran i think which you can see people drinking left and right. Not like the yogurt drinks we have here though. I was actually surprised to find that it was thick and salty. And despite my love for salty foods it didn't really go down that well. But when you make it into a dip, it tastes better.

Terawih with my mom started at well past 11pm and finished close to 1 am. Sahur was around 3.30am. Not a lot of sleep really. But what to do..

Coming up : Grand Bazaar ^_~

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 2

We woke a bit later for Day 2.

The cramps in our legs weren't doing too much better. But the show had to go on! This time my sis and i walked to the taksim metro, albeit at a snails pace, but we got there nonetheless. Our plan was to visit Aya Sophea, and the Blue Mosque also know as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash - take tramway (T1) ------>; Sultanahmet station.

This is the funikular that takes us from taksim to kabatash, It takes barely two minutes

This particular street was actually one of my favorites, since it had a scenic view. we walked around for awhile and dropped by a small garden/tomb, i wasn't really sure what its called. It had the tombstones of important people on display. We even purchased some of that famous turkish ice cream. We were kinda conned, but it still tasted good anyways. The sign say 5TL for 2 scoops which was what we ordered, but once the guy has plopped down 5 scoops and you've held the cone then its 9TL. What to do?

We then made our way to Aya sofya which means "Holy Wisdom". Pretty fitting considering it has served as church, mosque and finally a museum in its time. Entrance fee is 30TL. The line was atrocious, but thanks to our Muze card, we got the VIP lane ^_~. I don't really know how to describe Aya Sofya except that it is mindblowingly beautiful and ancient and rustic and for some reason a bit sad. It is definitely a place that will move you. The christian frescoes were amazing along with the larger than life display of the names of the prophet and the caliphates. It was cooling within the walls because of the marble which were so worn down they curved and were smooth to the touch. We also hiked up to the second floor where you can get a much better view of the intricate design on the dome.

 

 Afterwards we walked a few meters to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, which was dubbed the blue mosque due to the blue iznic tiles in it's interior. Entrance is free, but those not wearing proper attire are required to wear wraps which are provided at the front door. I must say I was slightly disenchanted at the first visit here. Reason being was that it was during Zuhur prayer and my sis and I taught it fitting to take a rest and pray comfortably at the mosque. However, the throngs of visitors were hugely distracting and dominated more than 80% of prayer space. I was also unable to find a wudhu place for women and thus we were forced to make ablutions like we would in masjidil haram. This might have been because there were too many people. Later when we visited a second time for terawih prayers we found the ablutions area for women at the back along with an underground toilet. There was also a closed off prayer space reserved specifically for women. The built of the mosque reminded me very much of one i visited earlier in Egypt i just don't remember the name >_<

Then we exited right into the hippodrome courtyard where the most prominent landmark was an egyptian obelisk which was in very good condition for its age i must say. The hippodrome used to serve as a horse racing track. There were plenty of seats being put out while we were walking through. Apparently they were getting ready for a huge iftar celebration for the eve of ramadhan. Not something we're very used to i guess.

By this time we were completely famished and dropped by an ottoman restaurant for some lunch. My sis took something like a chicken roll full of chicken while i chose a vegetarian dish with mashed potatoes, for 10 and 9 TL respectively. Good food, though I guess my picky tongue would have preferred a little more salt. We ate maggie that night, cuz we were exhausted and didn't really want to think too much. We also did our first rounds of terawih with my mom as the imam. I must say I missed home most then.

Coming up, Basilica cistern. ^_~