Coming to the last phase of my “All Girlz Trip To Turkey”.
We flew from Cappadocia to Istanbul.
Istanbul is located in North Western part of Turkey. It
embraces two continents. One is the European side – comprising the historic and
the Economic center and the other side is the Asian side or the Anatolian side.
The Bosphorous Straight divides both the side (European & Asian) and
connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea.
We landed at Istanbul airport in the afternoon. It took us
one hour 20 min. to fly from Nevsehir to Istanbul. We headed straight to the
hotel provided by our tour operator which was some one and a half hour drive
from the airport in Bomonti.
That was the only leisure time we had, out of the tour
schedule provided to us as the city tour to Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Grand
bazar was scheduled for next day. Thinking about what we do next, we decided to
check out the night life…..and there we go to Taxim Square.
Taxim Square is located on the European side of Turkey. We took
a taxi to reach out to Taxim and it charged us some 80 Lira. If you have been
to India and New Delhi then the place is similar to Connaught Place (C.P.). You
have all the branded showrooms, Normal shopping zones, eateries and pubs.
Taxim has a wonderful nightlife. After 9 pm, the street just
buzzes up with the pub lights and music. One can go for pub hopping enjoy
drink, food and back to hotel. If single girl or group of girls traveling, one
piece of advice…..men are over friendly there….so use your brains.
Total exhausted we returned
to hotel but Bosphorous ride was always in our mind, as we did not do our
bookings we could not settle in until we get some kind of confirmation for it.
Our tour operator provided us an option of Bosphorous
cruise, which we found was quite expensive and the kind of offers they had was
too much time consuming and was not of our interest. What we wanted was to get
an Bosphorous Ride and not the cruise (with belly dancing, dinner and unlimited
booze).
So we requested the hotel manager, if he could arrange us
one but nothing worked out. With our
R&D again on google we found out that we can try out our option by
going straight to Bosphorous and get a ferry ride. -----Finally Bit relaxed
with this piece of information, we gorged on to sumptuous Adana Kebab (must try
in Turkey) in a nearby joint which was marked 5* by TripAdvisor. Leaving
Bosphorous Ride to be tried on the next day afternoon we ended the day.
Blue Mosque & Haiga Sophia
All the above two are right there located at Sultan Ahmet.
Blue Mosque |
Blue Mosque is also known as Sultan Ahmet Mosque. Its Blue
because of the blue tiles used to decorate it. It’s one of the most important
historical sites in Turkey. A visit is a must. As am an Indian, I knew what to
expect from this place. It’s exactly like any other big historical mosque or
Muslim Monument. But yes has a magnificent Grandeur and Aura.
Interior - Blue Mosque |
Best way suggested to enter Blue Mosque is from the West
side or from the Hippodrome side. One needs to wear dress covering your legs n
hand, your head needs to be covered too. One needs to queue for the entry. You
are not allowed to do any videography but yes can click up some gorgeous
picture of internal decor.
Haiga Sophia (meaning Holy Wisdom) is situated also at Sultan
Ahmet, initially a Christian church, then got converted to mosque and now a Museum.
It’s of great architectural beauty and mosaic beauty.
Way towards Grand Bazzar |
Then we headed to Grand Bazaar, which is also located in
Sultan Ahmet. I found it to be much hyped…things there is much expensive than
actually they ought to be. If you have been to Kolkata, India it’s similar to Esplanade
market.
Bosphorous Ride
Dolmabahce Palace |
After the monumental tour and grand bazzar we headed towards
Bosphorous to checkout our most awaited ride. We managed ticket for 12 Lira per
head for an hour of ride on Bosphorous, this is what we exactly wanted.
The Ferry waits till it gets filled up, then the wonderful
ride starts with one side to be of European built and the other to be Asian. You
will cross Dolmabahce Palace, Bosphorous Bridge that connects the European to
Asian side, and is considered one of the longest bridge in the world.
Finally our day ended with a Donear Kabab.
Tram at Taxim Square |
Street Musicians |
A Sweet Shop in Taxim |
Next day we fly back to India as flight was in the evening,
we had some time to go back to Txim Square again to see how it has to offer inn
day time, and also we wanted to shop. As we were hopping up in different
stores, I figured a band of street musicians playing a much known tune. I took
some time to understand and realized it’s a tune of our very famous poet Kazi Nazrul Islam…..”Jaltaranger Jilimi jhilimili Dheu Tule Se Jaye”.....I a not talking about which tune traveled to which place but...really music
has no boundaries. Any Bengali, reading my blog can understand what I mean.
We found out very interesting tram running over Taxim.
Beautiful churches, Chocolate shops, and many more to relish on in the morning
time too.
So all I can say…..”Guley Guley Istanbul”…