IST-KUL 2023

Wed 27/12/23

We ventured out to the Basilica Cistern or Yerebatan Sarnıcı after our usual routine of breakfast at 7.30am on the third day. It is located nearest to our hotel, but initially we wanted to forego it after reading online reviews that the entrance fee is TRY 450 each for foreign tourists but covering only a small area. True enough, we finished covering the Basilica Cistern within 15 minutes. From wikipedia: It is the largest ancient cisterns beneath Istanbul, built in the 6th century during the Byzantine era. It is capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water.  The Basilica Cistern's water came from the Belgrade Forest, 19 kilometres north of the city and travelled via the Valens (Bozdoğan) Aqueduct, and the original  Mağlova Aqueduct, which was built by the Emperor Justinian.

Medusa head pillar

inside Basilica Cistern

inside Basilica Cistern

We then walked to the Sultan Ahmet park which is located in between Aya Sofya and Sultan Ahmet mosque (Blue Mosque) to just enjoy the views of the 2 majestic buildings. Then we walked to the Obelisk of Theodosius, an ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III re-erected in the in the 4th century AD at the Hippodrome of Constantinople , known today as Sultanahmet Meydanı. Another 2 columns remaining at the Hippodrome are the Serpent Column and the Walled Obelisk. (From wikipedia)

Walled Obelisk

Serpent Column

cats of Istanbul

It was almost 11am by then so we walked back to our hotel via part of the Gulhane park and packed our luggage for check out. After checking out at 12noon, we had our final lunch in Istanbul at a nearby restaurant Sirkeci Sultan. We had Adana kebap (ground lamb kebap) and Kuzu Pirzola (Turkish lamb chop) with cay. Our final lunch turned out to be our most expensive one at TRY 1050.5

Adana kebap (ground lamb kebap)

Kuzu Pirzola (Turkish lamb chop)

After lunch, we picked our bags at the hotel and made our way to the Istanbul airport via the metro which involves 4 changes of lines - first the B1 line from Sirkeci to Yenikapi, M2 line from Yenikapi to Sisli, M7 line from Mecidiyeköy to Kağıthane and finally the M11 line from Kağıthane to Istanbul airport. We had to walk quite a bit through a park with no covered walkway to transfer from the M7 Kağıthane exit to M11 Kağıthane entrance. Luckily it was not raining. The M11 train from Kağıthane to Istanbul airport has a frequency of 20 mins and we missed the train by a few seconds so we had to wait for another 20 mins. We departed from our hotel at 1pm and arrived at Istanbul airport at 3pm, a 2 hour metro ride with 4 transfers and cost TRY 78. 

walk outside to Kağıthane metro entrance

inside the Kağıthane - Istanbul M11 line

We performed our prayers at the Istanbul airport while waiting for check in counter to open at 5pm. Luckily Partner In Crime has just been upgraded to Gold tier in the One World alliance so it enabled us to get priority check in, priority luggage tag and access to the lounge. Since Istanbul airport is home to Turkish airlines which is part of Star Alliance and not One World, our lounge access is to the IGA lounge. The IGA lounge was super busy at the time with limited seats so it didn't give the relaxing ambience. Food and drinks choice was okay. There is a prayer room located at the IGA lounge so we performed our Maghrib and Isyak prayers here. We left the lounge at boarding time at 7pm.

inside IGA lounge

prayer room inside IGA lounge

It was a full flight for both IST-DOH and DOH-KUL sectors. We didn't change our automatic seat selection at the aisle seat as the seating configuration was 3-4-3 for IST-DOH and 3-3-3 for DOH-KUL. For the in-flight meals, as usual Qatar airways didn't disappoint with beef patties with stroganoff sauce for me and penne pasta with herb cheese sauce for Partner In Crime for IST-DOH.

IST-DOH Qatar airways economy seat

beef patties with stroganoff sauce

penne pasta with herb cheese sauce

At Doha airport, we had a 2h 45min layover time and had the opportunity to enjoy the lounge while waiting for our flight to KUL. For the DOH-KUL sector, we had chicken caesar sandwich, red thai curry chicken for me and wok fried noodles with prawn dumplings for Partner In Crime. 

Qatar airways lounge at Doha airport

Qatar airways lounge at Doha airport

wok fried noodles with prawn dumplings

red thai curry chicken

For in flight entertainment, the seat screen and headphones were provided. We enjoyed some Alfred Hitchcock movies Rear Window and Strangers in A Train; and a classic movie Double Indemnity while on flight. We arrived KUL on time at 3.30pm. There was a traffic jam from KLIA to home but we managed to arrive by 5.30pm

Thank you for the memories Turkiye. We will be back Insyaallah.

Istanbul 2023 Part 2

Tue 26/12/23

We started our day today by strolling through Gulhane park, just 5 min walking from our hotel which took us to Sarayburnu which is at the tip of  promontory of the Golden Horn estuary where the Bosphorus Strait meets the Sea of Marmara. The park is located adjacent to Topkapı Palace. The entrance to the park is free.

kitty at Gulhane Park

Gulhane park

Gulhane park

Bosphorus view from Sarayburnu

After taking pictures at Sarayburnu with the Boshporus strait as the backdrop, we walked to the Grand Bazaar or Kapalı Çarşı which originated from 1461 selling jewellery, clothes, turkish sweets, lanterns, leather, artisananl crafts such as plates, teapots, vase and trays; perfume, handbags, spice, and food. There are also cafes inside the bazaar to have a snack or drinks.  Drinking fountains can also be found in the bazaar. We only took pictures first as we wanted to survey the place before buying anything.

Grand Bazaar

inside Grand Bazaar

a cafe inside the Grand Bazaar

Turkish souvenirs inside Grand Bazaar

Next we walked to Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı or Egyptian bazaar) which originated from 1664 selling spice, food & textile. We also only took pictures first as we wanted to survey the place before buying anything. Outside nearby the bazaar were stalls selling pet food and accessories. No wonder the cats and dogs of Istanbul are well fed. 

Spice bazaar entrance

inside Spice Bazaar

pet food and accessories sold outside near Spice Bazaar

We took a moment to rest a bit at the park near Yeni mosque. We then braved ourselves into the Spice market to buy saffron. We bought 2 types of Iran saffron - for cooking which cost TRY 140 per gram (we bought 3 grams) and for drink plus cooking which cost TRY 250 per gram (we bought 3 grams). The price was displayed so we didn't bargain. Total cost was TRY 1170 which we paid by credit card. We bought it at the Gozde Kuyumculuk shop. 

park near Yeni mosque

Next we wanted to buy some Turkish scarves so we tried to survey the shops outside the bazaar first. We did find the "scarves street" but somehow the shops are not selling the pattern and style that my mom wanted. So we decided to go back to the Grand Bazaar to look for the scarves. We randomly chose a shop selling the intended scarves, but there are no price on display. I have read from online reviews to bargain at half of the asking price. True enough, when I asked for the price from the seller, he quoted TRY 350, so I tried to go with TRY 150. He then dropped the price a bit to TRY 300, but I asked for TRY 200. We finally agreed at TRY 200 per piece. We bought 7 pieces, so the total price was TRY 1400. 

scarves street

Shopping task being completed, we went back to our hotel to keep the goods in our room for safekeeping. After refershing ourselves, we went out to find lunch. Unluckily today, we ended up having a so-so lunch of Iskender doner and adana kebap for a total of TRY 700 and could only pay by cash. Avoid at all costs! Unfortunately I did not take the picture of the café hence couldn't recall the name. 

Adana kebap

Iskender doner

To try to forget the bad episode, we decided to cross the Golden Horn to Karakoy and take the Tünel furnicular on the F2 metro line. We topped up our Istanbulkart and made our way to Sirkeci tram station. Unluckily again, the first tram didn't stop so we had to wait almost 20 minutes for the next tram, only to be packed full to the brim. We hopped on the full tram as we didn't want to wait any longer. We alighted at the second stop at Karakoy. It turned out that the ride was not too far and it is possible to walk back from Karakoy to Sirkeci via the Galata bridge as there is a pedestrian walkway. 

The  Tünel furnicular was a really short 90 seconds ride up to Beyoglu. Although short, it was quite a steep climb, a la San Francisco. The Tünel is the second-oldest fully underground urban railway in the world, established on 17 January 1875. The fare costs TRY 15 per person.

Tünel furnicular

steep climb on the streets of Beyoglu

Not far from the Beyoglu stop is the Tunel - Taksim nostalgic tram or the T2 metro line.  But it wasn't operating when we got there, so we just took pictures of the heritage tram. From there we walked to Galata tower, however it was under restoration, so we couldn't get good pictures of it. It was originally built as a watchtower during the Byzantine period prior to 1204 and is now a museum. 

at Beyoglu

Tunel - Taksim nostalgic tram

Galata tower

From Galata tower, it is already halfway to Tünel furnicular stop, so we just continued to walk downhill until we reached Galata bridge and proceeded to just walk across the bridge. The bridge was filled by fishing enthusiasts on both sides to try and catch some fish. 

fishing from Galata bridge

We enjoyed the sunset view of the Bosphorus strait at Eminonu and then walked back to our hotel to refresh before venturing out again to buy some Turkish delights or lokum. We chose Hafiz Omar which is located not too far from our Senabil hotel and bought 3 boxes of pre-packed lokum and a pack of 500 gram of chosen lokum with 5 flavours consisting of almond, fig, promeganate, coffee and pistachio. We also bought a box of roasted Turkish coffee bean. The total cost of the lokum and coffee is TRY 918.75

enjoying the Bosphorus strait from the bridge

Hafiz Omar

yummy lokum from Hafiz Omar

It was then time to call it a day and pack our luggage as we would be leaving Turkiye the next day.

Istanbul 2023 Part 1

Mon 25/12/23

It is Christmas day today although it is not a public holiday in Turkiye. Regardless, there were hordes of tourists crowding Aya Sofya, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) and Topkapi Palace. More on that later.

We were already famished by breakfast time at 7.30am as we didn't have dinner the previous night. Our breakfast this time is buffet style consisting of a variety of bread, cheese, jam, scrambled eggs, borek, fruits, salad, olives, lentil soup and of course cay. The first day of breakfast at the hotel was enjoyable, but for the second and third day it was okay, as we had the same menu for 3 consecutive days. Not complaining though, and it was as expected. The breakfast spread was more than sufficient to sustain us until lunch time anyway.

breakfast place

breakfast buffet

breakfast

After breakfast, we walked to Aya Sofya or Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque which is just a 10 min walk from our hotel. Luckily we arrived early at Aya Sofya at 9.30am as there was no need to queue. Aya Sofya is now a mosque. From wikipedia: it was completed in 537 AD. The site was an Eastern Orthodox church from 360 AD to 1204, when it was converted to a Catholic church following the Fourth Crusade. It was reclaimed in 1261 and remained Eastern Orthodox until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque. We performed our prayers there.

chandelier at Aya Sofya

the dome at Aya Sofya

Aya Sofya is a mosque now

Aya Sofya

When we left Aya Sofya around 10am, the queue was snakingly long and the entrance was closed temporarily. We then walked across towards Sultanahmet Camii or better known as the Blue Mosque. From wikipedia:  It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. We performed our prayers there.

Sultanahmet Camii mosque

a cat in Sultanahmet Camii mosque

Sultanahmet Camii mosque

From the Blue Mosque, we walked to the nearby Topkapi palace. From wikipedia: From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans. It is now a museum. The entrance fee is TRY 750 per person and it is worth the price as the palace is huge. The palace consists of four courtyards and the harem  interconnected with galleries and passages. Entrance to the harem requires an additional ticket which cost TRY but we didn't purchase it. The exhibits in the museum includes arms collection, imperial treasury, clock collection, audience chamber, library, kitchen and porcelain, imperial council and many more. The Grand Kiosk has a panoramic view on the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus strait where many tourists flocked for pictures.

Topkapi palace

ceremonial kaftan 

courtyard at Topkapi palace

courtyard at Topkapi palace

view of Bosphorus strait from Topkapi palace

We spent 3 hours at Topkapi Palace and were already famished by 2pm so we made our way somewhere near our hotel for lunch by randomly picking a restaurant after refreshing ourselves first back at the hotel. A bit of drama happened as we found out that although our room was cleaned, there was no towel. We requested for the towel but didn't wait for it to be delivered.

We chose Antep kebap where we ordered Antep lahmacun and kuzu guvec (lamb casserole) with cay. Total cost for lunch was TRY930 which we paid by credit card.

Antep lahmacun

kuzu guvec (lamb casserole)

After lunch, we walked about 15 mins to Eminonu pier to take the ferry to cross the Boshporus straits to the Asian side at Kadikoy. The ferry fare cost TRY 19.5 per person. We used our Istanbulkart to take the ferry. The ferry ride took about 22 minutes. We sat outside to enjoy the sea breeze and view of Topkapi palace, Aya Sofya and Blue mosque with seagulls accompanying us.

Bosphorus strait view from the ferry

entrance at Eminonu pier

our ferry from Eminonu to Kadikoy

From the Kadikoy pier, we walked to Asi Künefeleri to try some Turkish dessert. We ordered hatay kunefe (Sweet Cheese Pastry) , fistikzade (baklava with pistachio) and cay. Our dessert cost us TRY 290.  Since it was Christmas night, people thronged the streets. We thought Kadikoy would have less people, but boy were we wrong! There were as many people at the Asian side at Kadikoy as the European side at Sirkeci. We saw a long queue waiting at Şekerci Cafer Erol which is a candy store. We didn't realize the queue at first, so we tried to enter the store but was denied entry and told to queue.

Kadikoy pier

view of the sea from Kadikoy pier

hatay kunefe (Sweet Cheese Pastry)

fistikzade (baklava with pistachio)

After enjoying our dessert, we went back to the pier to take the ferry back to Eminonu pier, but this time the ferry made a stop at the other side of the Golden Horn at Karakoy before proceeding to Eminonu. The fare is the same at TRY 19.5 per person. One could also take a return ferry ride without disembarking and only pay a one way ticket. We saw some people doing this, perhaps just to enjoy the ferry ride from Kadikoy- Eminonu- Kadikoy. 

view of Eminonu at night

Yeni camii at night

It was already 8pm by the time we reached back our hotel. Our towel have still not arrived so a few phone calls ensued until we finally received our towels after about an hour. That was our only gripe for the Senabil hotel where we were staying.