Tag: food

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 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.

 

Taipei: Random food photos

Here are some random food photos from around Taipei (some I ate, some I just saw):

Taipei: Night market food photos

Here are some photos taken at various night markets in Taipei:

Taipei: Food – some meals I enjoyed

Here are some of the meals I enjoyed in Taipei.

Regarding the traditional breakfast, it was at Fu Hong Dou Jiang, a busy morning-only place on the 2nd floor across from Shandou Temple (blue metro line), a place I found online from other traveller’s posts
The couple in line behind me, who spoke English well, helped me order as there was no English and nothing to really point at.
The salted soy milk (shen dou jiang) was better than expected – the couple warned me against it, thinking it would be too unusual for westerners.
The bread (shao bing) is thick and made in a tandoori-like oven. I had folded into the middle of mine, though you can also have deep fried bread put in there.

Delhi for the day, leaving India tonight!

I can’t say that I like Delhi. It’s exhausting. I’m ready to go home.
Something positive: the Metro works. In 2 years it should go out to the airport too (they are expanding the system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games here).

While food is expensive here (and a 12.5% VAT on top), rooms are cheap for a capital city – I snagged a small budget room for Rs250/$6.25 for today (from 8:00 to 22:00, where checkout is normally at 12:00).
I can get a taxi to the airport tonight for Rs200/$5 (1 hour!).

Amritsar, and top 5 reasons why the train is better than the bus

Arrived in Amritsar late yesterday afternoon after a 5 hour bus ride from Chandigarh.

The Golden Temple complex is impressive (some liken it to the Taj Mahal in grandeur, but since I didn’t see the latter up close, I can’t comment). The walkway around the sacred pond is all marble with inlaid patterns.
Plus the little touches are nice: no fee to keep shoes (and no tip allowed!), and free simple meals (donation accepted) in the Langar, or community kitchen.

Off to the Pakistan border ceremony now…

Photos: Golden Temple at sunset; what time is it? (clocktower at the Golden Temple complex)

Top 5 reasons why the train is better than the bus:

  • no constant honking
  • no constant acceleration and braking
  • no constant swerving
  • no loud music
  • washrooms on board

It’s hard to believe I’m flying home tomorrow night already! (after my night train to Delhi, and a day, but not night, in Delhi)

Arrived in Chandigarh

Surprisingly, my night train from Bikaner to Delhi was virtually on time (only 20 min late), and, after an auto-rickshaw transfer between railway stations,  my fast train to Chandigarh was exactly on time!

I’m staying with a friend’s parents here in a leafy suburb of this modern, grid-like, clean, green city.
Will do sight-seeing mainly tomorrow (there are only a handful of sights here; it’s more about the visit).

I’m finalizing my last bit of travel as follows:
Mon – will take a 6-hour bus to Amritsar to see the (Sikh) Golden Temple and the nearby Pakistan-India border ceremony;
Tue night – will take the night train to Delhi
late Wed night – flying home!

No photo of my hosts yet, but here is the amazingly tasty home cooked lunch:
clockwise from top: rice, chana/chickpea masala, mutter gobi (peas & cauliflower), chicken curry, salad; not pictured: spinach/cilantro raita, chapati

Home cooked lunch

Bikaner overnight camel safari and nearby rat temple

(sorry, power outage kept it short; now at my next stop, there is no USB port and the Internet is slow)

Surprisingly the 6-hour day train from Jodhpur to Bikaner was on time (within 3 minutes, which is as “on time” as can be).
Through scrubby desert from one desert town to another. Hot and dusty.

The 1-day, 1-night camel safari was very good – Rs1300/$32.50 (inc. food/water/tent) with www.camelman.com
I don’t think I could have handled a second day on the camel (bruises!). Dinner under the stars, campfire with live music, excellent food!
More details later when I do the “highlights” entry…

Photos: me on a camel; Nicole on a camel, plus the camel cart in background; musicians by campfire (note the accordion-like instrument on the left)

Jan on camel
Nicole on camel plus camel cart
Musicians

While I’m glad I went, the rat temple was a little disappointing because I was expecting hundreds if not thousands of rats – more like 100 if that.
It’s a 40 minute bus ride (Rs10/$0.25 on private bus; Rs15/$0.38 on gov’t bus) south of Bikaner.
It’s supposed to be good luck to see a white rat (we didn’t) but a Belgian couple at the guest house did – it was more of a whitish-brown colour, not lab-rat white.
Also, a rat running over your foot is good luck too, which also didn’t happen – though a few rats came up and sniffed my sock!

Tip: bring socks you can throw away (e.g. those free socks on the trans-oceanic flights), since the floor of the temple is filthy with rat and pigeon turds.

Photos: Front of Rat Temple; rats drinking milk inside

Rat Temple
Rats drinking milk inside

Red carrots in the market in Bikaner (all over India, really; they are a little sweeter than back home):

Red carrots (sweet)

Highlights of Goa – Arambol beach

I spent 4 nights in Arambol (Harmal) beach, which is the northernmost main beach in Goa, keeping in mind that Goa is about 100km long from north to south, as the crow flies. Plus, if you want to leave by long-distance train or plane, you have to back to/near Margao/Madgaon anyways (originally I wanted to go to northern beaches because I though it would be a little more “on my way” to Mumbai, but no).