Sunday 17 January 2010

Turquoise Turkey!


We did have an idea of how important a position Turkey holds in world history…however, what we had a good exposure to was the use of Istanbul as a backdrop for many spy novels and movies and I guess that is what prompted us to go there. It is not the best time of year to visit Istanbul but considering our limited choices due to the cold weather elsewhere in Europe, we still went ahead. We were very excited this time because this was our 15th country together :).

Longish flight via Zurich (you do have direct flights from London) took us to Istanbul in the afternoon and using the hotel cab, we arrived at Sultanahamat suites. Right in the midst of Old Istanbul, stones throw away from the city’s main attractions, we had a one bed apartment for ourselves (upgraded thanks to offseason).

As was expected it was raining when we arrived and this weather continued for the first 2 days of our stay. However, since it was just a drizzle, not very cold and the fact that we were well equipped, we managed our travel comfortably.

By the time we settled in on day 1 and had our lunch, it was already evening. We took a walk around the Sultanahamet area (within a km of the apartment) and figured out what’s where. There were quite a few appealing shops and looking at those, we were certain that adequate time had to be allotted to shopping.

We started day 2 with a visit to the Haji Sophya…originally built as a church and then converted to a mosque. This is probably the only mosque (now a museum) which has paintings depicting Christ. The structure, ornate walls inside, coloured mosaic are all very impressive and there is no doubt that even those who are well travelled will be in awe on seeing this. We then went to the Blue Mosque – which is just across from Haji Sophya. Fortunately the drizzle had stopped and we could take some pictures from the outside. There is a different entrance for those going into the mosque as tourists (those not intending to pray). True to its word, the blue mosaic in the museum leaves you spellbound. The painted domes are a marvel and give you plenty of opportunity for pictures. After some parathas for lunch at the apartment, we walked over to the Topkapi palace. The ‘must see’ things there include the 83-carat diamond, bejewelled thrones and other palatial wear and ceramics – a few ‘wows’ and ‘amazing’ later, we were in the market place appreciating the many artefacts.

We planned to do a tour on the Bosphorus the next day. For once, we went ahead without much of a plan expecting to be able to make it without a hassle. However, on reaching the port, we saw a boat leaving for the trip. The trip was for 2 hours and would have taken us on a ride through the Bosphorus and back where in we could have viewed a few key monuments along the cost and seen the Asia side of Turkey. It did not allow the passengers to get off anywhere. There were no other boats we could see and had to take a quick decision on whether or not to take this trip. We decided against it, as we were keen to see some of the places en-route. We took a cab to take us to the spot which marked the end of the boat trip. On the way we did the Dolmabache palace, Bosphorus bridge, Sultan Ahamet bridge and reached well in time to take the boat back to Istanbul port. It was interesting to see another continent just across the water…we all know that borders to countries and continents are imaginary lines…but when you physically see them, the realisation does sink in. We went to the spice bazaar on the way back and had our first glimpse of Turkish indoor markets. Colourful spices, ceramics, sweets and souvenirs were laid out to give a truly exotic feel.


The last day was dedicated for the Grand Bazaar…4000+ shops, 60 streets…all under one roof. You can haggle like in India, the shopkeepers are out in full force to pull you inside their shops, errand boys running around supplying Turkish coffee to shop owners, prayers in the nearby mosque…the setting is perfect to shop at leisure.


After a hot lunch, we were back at the airport to catch our flight to Zurich and onwards to London.

Turkey was all and more than what we expected. People say you can spend months here, still with a lot more left to see. There are numerous places outside Istanbul as well which are worth visiting, although we could not manage any in the limited time we had.
Istanbul is exclusive and awesome…although it is in Europe, there is little to compare it to the other European cities. A must-see for anyone interested in the EXOTIC!!!!

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