Author: JT

Istanbul: Mid-way through Day 6 – Grand Bazaar still closed

Saw the interior of the Blue Mosque today (very crowded with tour groups) and the fascinating Archeology Museums this morning (blissfully crowd free). More on that later.

The Grand Bazaar is still closed due to muslim holiday (it re-opens tomorrow but my flight is in the morning), so I need to rethink my (shopping) plans a bit, and maybe do Dolmabaçe palace after all. And finally do the hamam tonight.

Istanbul: laundry done

Yesterday I dropped off some limited laundry (just enough to get me home in a few days) as it cost TL5/$3 per kg to have the laundromat person do it (no self-service)!

One pair of jeans, one sweater, and four sets of t-shrit/socks/underwear cost TL16/$9.

That’s another way that summer travel is easier/cheaper: smaller, lighter clothes to carry and wash!

Istanbul: Day 5 Summary – Bosphorus Cruise, Basilica Cistern

Highlights:

  • Visited the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sernıcı) – highly recommended!
  • Did a 6 hour Bosphorus cruise, almost all the way to the Black Sea – highly recommended!
  • Enjoyed a cheese börek and çay (tea) for a whopping TL4/$2.30 at lunch today
  • Enjoyed a large vegetarian dinner at a lokanta just off of Istiklal Caddessi for TL8/$4.60 – and they actually had whole wheat bread, a rarity here

Details:
Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sernıcı):

  • TL10/$6, plus an optional audio tour for TL5/$3 (I was in a rush so I skipped that)
  • Cool! (literally and figuratively)
  • Huge 200x70m underground water “tank” with a few hundred Greek temple sized columns holding up the roof
  • Two carved Medusa heads used to prop up two pillars. One head is sideways, and one is upside down
  • Carp swimming in the water
  • History: fell into disuse and was discovered in 16th century by a French archaelogist who noticed locals fishing by lowering a bucket through holes in their floors!

Bosphorus cruise:

  • TL15/$9 or TL25/$14 round-trip, plus an optional audio tour for TL5/$3 (remember ID or TL100 deposit)
  • The basic (public) ferry run starts at 10:30am and takes 90 minutes to reach the furthest of 6 stops: Anadolu Kavağı on the Asian side.
  • 3 hours later, the ferry does the 90 minute multi-stop run back to Eminönü
  • You can get off at any port and catch the return ferry, or take a bus back to town
  • The audio tour added extra info, as well as showing images of the insides of buildings you cruise by, so it’s worth getting.
    Tip: if you have good or noise cancelling headphones, you might want to bring them as the headsets I received flopped a little on my ears (rectified when I put my toque on, as it was cold on the outside deck) and there is a lot of background noise from all the passengers.
  • Tip: show up early to get a good seat on the outside edge of the ferry for easier photo taking.
  • So what do you see? A few palaces and lots of palatial waterfront homes. Wow. In various architectural styles. And of course mosques, neighbourhoods on the waterfront and on the hills behind them, the boats, the fishing villages, tower ruins, go under 2 bridges connecting continents, etc.
  • At the far end you see the Black Sea where the Bosphorus river begins (apparently the Sea of Marmara by Istanbul old town is 30cm lower than the Black Sea, so you always get a current heading south. And the water does look pretty clean, despite seeing cargo ships and cruise liners.
  • I ended up taking a bus from small Anadolu Kavağı (lots of fish restaurants, and not much else) to Kanlıca (which is the 2nd ferry stop, about half way time-wise up Bosphorus), though there wasn’t much more to see there, before re-boarding the ferry as it headed back, 3 hours later. The bus ride followed the Bosphorus a fair bit through other neighbourhoods, so it was interesting enough and different view than the ferry.
  • There is a “famous” yoghurt made in Kanlıca though I didn’t find it to be anything special (sweet and 3.75% fat). You can buy it on shore or on the ferry.

Photos:

Istanbul: Day 4 Summary – Topkapi Palace

Strange day – sights very crowded, e.g. Topkapi and Blue Mosque, but Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar closed (due to muslim holiday). But Eminönü still very crowded, with traffic jam going northwards over Galata Bridge.

So all I managed today was:

  • Topkapi Palace (overly crowded today – took 3.5 hours, and I skipped some things like the thrones room). The harem was interesting – contrary to popular western belief, it’s where the sultan and his family lived, not just the girls. And the sultan’s mother cracked the whip, so to speak, even telling the sultan which girl he would sleep with when.
    Great building and vistas, but tough place to photograph.Tiring crowds.
    Tip: remember to bring ID for the self-guided audio tour, or an extra 100 TL (I had no ID and only 85 TL extra and had to beg the guy into treating that as enough of a deposit)
  • Took a closer look at the obelisk in the hippodrome
  • Ate (deep)-fried hamsi (anchovies; better than expected with arugula, raw onions and bread) and çerekop, a small blue fish that’s currently in season.
    Hamsi was TL6/$3.50 for a big plate (normally 8 TL) next to Galata Bridge in Karaköy;
    Çerekop was TL10/$5.75, though really, the hamsi was enough of a meal (well, not enough veggies of course).
  • Visited the Blue Mosque (small line this evening) but really need to go back in the daytime
  • I tried to go to the Grand Bazaar but it was closed
  • I tried to go to a hamam but decided on the full monty (inc. massage) and didn’t have quite enough cash with me for that (TL117/$67)

Coming up tomorrow: A cruise up the Bosphorous!

Istanbul: Day 3 Summary – Asian side

(I thought I’d get more blogging done tonight, but I got side-tracked reading up on Turkey tips, shopping and scams, as I believe 2 guys were setting me up for the “let’s have a drink scam” tonight, which I politely declined as I sipped a çay (tea) this evening on a bench between the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque, both of which are lit up at night)

Today was Sunday and a muslim holiday, so the city was quieter than usual.

Partly due to another late start, the only things I managed to see were:

  • Walked through Gülhane Park next to Topkapi Palace
  • Peeked inside the Istanbul train station, where the Oriental Express used to terminate
  • Took a ferry to Kadiköy on the Asian side, and after a bus ride, back from Üsküdar
    Admittedly I didn’t explore much, but the Asian side was a little disappointing, i.e. it didn’t feel like Asia or particularly different, besides the lack of historical sights; though it did have a fine view back at European side of Istanbul
    Side note: there are in fact two bridges across the Bosphorous linking the continents (one visible from old town), and they are currently building a tunnel as well.
  • Süleymaniye mosque
  • Aqueduct of Valens (large ruins of an aqueduct)
  • Tried some roasted chestnuts (better than I expected)
  • Caved and had a Starbucks latte for TL5/US$3
  • Walked at least 7km today (and no blisters!)

I wanted to take a ferry up the Golden Horn (Haliç), but when I arrived at the terminal it was almost an hour until the next ferry.

I’ve noticed that you can get a döner for as little as TL1.5/$0.86, or as little as TL2/$1.15 with an ayran (yoghurt drink).

There was a kerfuffle at (included) breakfast this morning, which goes from 8:30 to 10:30am. I showed up at 9:45am and the mini buffet was put away! The surly woman simply said “breakfast over!” There were several of us who complained to the front desk guy who argued with her, then put the breakfast stuff back out for the 8 of us (by that time) who would have missed out.

And of course I updated my Istanbul map

Istanbul: Day 2 Summary – Aya Sofya, spice bazaar

(late night power outage while I was writing this kept me from getting photos ready so will follow up tonight)

Day 2 was a day of knocking off more “must-do” items: Aya Sofya, spice bazaar, eat kebaps, drink Turkish coffee, try raki (anise brandy), try Turkish Delights, eat börek, try local pilsener beer Efes and snacks in a meyhane (tavern), walking across Galata Bridge at sunset.
And some not-must-do items, like the New Mosque.
(remember I already ate döner)

Note quite done: Blue Mosque (it was prayer time so I didn’t make it in) and Grand Bazaar (closing time).

Still to do: Topkapi Palace, ferry cruise, hamam, Süleymanyie Mosque, and (maybe) Princes’ Islands.

Istanbul: Day 1 Summary – Istiklal Caddesi

Side note on Turkish pronunciation: ş is like sh, ç is like ch, and ğ is silent (lengthens the preceding vowel). And a c is like a j. More on pronunciation later.
Thus Chicago is spelled Şikago (as I saw it on the baggage carousel at the airport, when my luggage didn’t arrive at first).

After a late start, I took a tram across the Golden Horn (river) to Beyoğlu, where I met Ahmet, a friend of a friend of a friend, for coffee in the middle of Istiklal Caddesi (Ave), the heart of the modern city. Thank you for the pointers, insights and pronunciation tips! (e.g. the name of a good leather jacket shop in the bazaar, local blue fish is in season, and a multi-day muslim holiday starts on Sunday – oops).

Istiklal is a busy, quasi pedestrian-only cobblestone avenue with shops and restaurants, with an old tiny streetcar (reminiscent of a cable car in San Francisco) running down the middle of it, with no safety zone around it of course (that would be so North American!)

Otherwise spent the day walking and snacking :-)

Most common street sights I’ve noticed:

  • Döner restaurants
  • Sweets stores
  • Fresh fruit juice, esp. oranges and pomegranates (they must be local and in season)
  • Roasted chestnut carts

More details than you probably care about:

I walked up and down Istiklal, had a nice veggie lunch, was finally able to buy an electronic transit card, the Istanbulkart, from the booth at the top of the Tünel funicular (no sign indicated that was possible, and the token machines don’t sell them either, though you can add value to cards via machines; thanks again Ahmet), walked a bit along the water in Karaköy where I ate a tasty fresh grilled fish sandwich (TL5/$3) from a streetside bbq-cart vendor and had the best baklava ever at a nearby recommended sweets shop.

I then took the funicular back up to Istiklal and meandered it at night. Tried to stop for a beer but was told “couples only” or “family only” (no single men) at two bars one block, where there was some live music (one guy on a guitar and singing) in no less than 4 bars. Sigh.

After taking the tram back to my hostel’s neighbourhood, Sultanahmet, I checked out the details at a nearby famous hamam (Turkish bath) for future reference, and I meandered through some side streets.