"A
culture where we feel heaps of things, but would not say anything"
A Turkish Delight
Country: Turkey
States Visited: Istanbul, Pamukkale, Cappadocia,
Date: August 2014 (Summer)
Usually people blog of the places they went within days or
weeks after their journeys ended. Well, it took me 2 years to finally be able
to blog about it!! Yahoo me, lame. The delay would be due to my peculiar
ability to enjoy things at a HIGHER DOSAGE after they have ended. I’m currently
in the process of fixing it, hence this entry. Let’s recall what we, the group
of 5 did during our 2 weeks in this Asia-Europe country. Owh, not forgetting.
Im a cheapsikit (English term- Cheapskate) traveller. A great news to my similar fellow travellers who
wants to enjoy things more for less. Hey, it’s not necessarily a bad thing! (Go
away you judgemental turds) Budget was approximately 1500RM (More or less, I
think) excluding flight ticket and our a-week+ fully sponsored accommodation in
Istanbul!
Kampung Kids in Istanbul Yaww!
(Ignore the date,i forgot to reset it -___-)
Initially, we were there for a youth festival held by
Istanbul Aydin University for 5 days. Well, since we were already there, why not
just explore the whole lot. (Luckily we were still students and were on sem break) The programme organised by the
University filled our mornings and we had to
explore Istanbul every afternoon only after the programme had ended. So we did just that, travel back and forth from the University in Florya daily to cover the places worth going.
Here is the list of the places we went in ISTANBUL and a lot of sneak
peaks into it. Spoilers alert.
The prestigious Aya Sofya of course
Galata Tower
Taksim
Grand Bazaar
Basilica Cistern
Grand Bazaar
Topkapi
We had to be smart to maximised our time. It was either 2 places for
an afternoon or 1 place for a far journey destination (Taksim/Bhosphorus).
5 jakuns (+ photographer) on their public transportation!
I swear after going there you
would come back to Malaysia and then swear on our public
transportation.Gahahak. It was so well integrated and efficient and it was the
one thing I couldn’t bring back to Malaysia. Getting from Florya to the city required us to switch from the Metro Bus, to its train line. PLEASE GET AN ISTANBULKART EACH TO TRAVEL AT A CHEAPER PRICE. IT could be used for both the Buses and Trains. Good news, the buses and
trains operate till 12am. I even heard the bus operates 24 hours daily. I may have misheard. To those who are going, please double check to ease
your journey. As cool as we wanted to be, we got lost on our first day of
self-travel. Hahahaha. (After that, we travelled like bosses okay).
First stop in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia/ Aya Sofya
Entrance Fee - 30TL, 9am-7pm, closed on Mondays
Aya Sophia is a unique place as it is a church-turned-mosque considered as Byzantine epitome of architecture. Click here here to read more about this magnificent place. Heads up peeps, please read a lot about this country before you come here. Istanbul has countless of mosques and its everywhere. It's minarets can be seen as far as a kilometre away. Take interest especially in Attartuk, its former Prime Minister who played an important role during its reformation. Bad or good, you decide. So here we were, wandering around without tour guides and reading the descriptions of all things we came across. When you are here, LOOK UP! The domes of this place are the reasons people from all over the world come and visit. Aya has 2 floors. The ground floor which hold its main entrances and a gallery on the first floor. The route to this 1st floor is no less adventurous. We walked up a tunnel like road, going round and round before reaching the gallery floor. There are plenty souvenirs for sale (ceramics, glass ware) but cheapsikiters, trust me you could only swoon then force your feet to continue its journey. Paintings on the wall on this floor are to be admired. Virgin Mary and Jesus, the Emperor, and the Empress etc. You will also come across few high windows on this floor where (if you are tall enough) you can directly see the Blue Mosque opposite Aya. (I had to jump to see Blue Mosque, no shame dude).
Awed by this Allah Muhammad S.A.W Frame
Couple of other pictures. We basically did a photo shoot there. It's gorgeous!
This window is along the tunnel like route heading to the gallery floor. Make your own photo shoot =P
It's currently my FB profile as well.
The once famous pose, relived in Aya Sofya. All the pictures used in this entry (and in the future I hope) are the products of my fav photographer, Mr AAA magical hands.
Photography tips: DSLR is the best! AAA used Canon brand DSLR throughout this journey
Aya was under renovation when we were there. I hope you would have a better shot at this during your trip.
MUST do in Istanbul
1. Street Food
2. Fresh Juices
3. Learn basic Turkish / Buy a pocket dictionary
Yes they do speak English, but most of the times it's not enough to get want you want, especially if you are visiting the suburb. Here are some words we (had to) learned there;
1. TOILET! - Tuvalet
2. Hello - Merhaba/ Salam
3. How Much - Ne Kadar
4. Yes - Eh Vet
5. No - Hayir
6. Thank You - Teshekkur Ederim
7. One - Bir
8. Two - Icki
9. Three - Uech
10. Where - Nereda
Aya Sofya, CHECKED!
Personal reward for ourselves after Aya, Makan Time!
A choice of Ice cream, ice cream, soda, and bread
Pick your pick!
Next Entry, Galata Tower. My personal favourite!
