Ever since we had been to Greece, and seen examples of its designs/architecture and culture there, Turkey had been on our travel radar. It was in May of 2013 that the plan finally materialized and we booked tickets to the historic city of Istanbul, the largest and most popular city in Turkey. Around a fortnight before our scheduled travel, there were massive riots in Istanbul and we were almost about to cancel our trip (you can read about our earlier adventures in Athens in the middle of some riots there). But after talking to a few people (hotel staff, Turkish people in our office, tripadvisor), we were satisfied that the tourist areas are perfectly safe, and we should just keep away from the new Istanbul (the Taksim square and around).
We left Stockholm on 6th June, by an AirBaltic flight, at 10 in the morning, and after a 2 hour stopover in Riga reached Istanbul’s Sabiha airport at around 5 in the evening. We had prebooked a taxi to our hotel (using hotel’s reception itself) which was waiting for us at the airport, and a one hour drive later, we checked into our hotel-apartment ‘Adrien’. The hotel located in historic Sultanahmet area, was nothing fancy, but quite decent, with a well equipped kitchen and stone’s throw away from all major city attractions.
Discovering Ayran, the drink
That first evening was spent strolling on the streets of Sultanahmet, having dinner at a local restaurant and just admiring the hustle and bustle of this immensely popular tourist area… Some maps were gathered, and plans were made for the next three days..
Hagia Sophia or the Ayasofya
Pics: Hagia Sophia
Our first stop on the next day was Hagia Sophia museum, which was a 2 minute walk from our hotel. Hagia Sophia, literally meaning ‘Holy Wisdom’ is a former Church, a former Mosque, and a present Museum. From the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. The building then was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. Termed as one of the milestones in the history of architecture, it is an epitome example of Byzantine architectural style, and was the largest cathedral of its times (remained the largest for approximately a 1000 years!!).
Inside the monument, if you have not read the history, you are bound to be confused into whether it’s a church or a mosque… The ornate metallic structures, mosaics, marble pillars have a distinct European church feeling, while the inscriptions, domes and minarets give it a Mughal look. Not sure if there’s another example of such a mixed religious architecture in the world, and is now a symbol of secularism. I will not try to describe the architecture, but would urge everyone planning to visit to read a little bit about it before going there… Also, we took an audio guide which was quite good and gave details about the various structures inside the museum.
One thing worth mentioning here is about the happenings outside the monument before we went in. The queue to enter the museum was quite long and it would have meant at-least an hour or more in waiting. While we were standing in the queue, couple of locals (touts) came whispering in our ears saying they can get us a pass to have a direct entry to all museums.. It’s a special pass only available to special government people but can be bought for 100 TL…. Being Indians, we are quite wary of such tourist traps and stayed away from it… Then, we were approached by an old lady (apparently after seeing a small child with us), who told us that the pass these touts are selling is easily available to tourists for 75 TL at a window nearby. That was the ‘Istanbul Museum Pass’ and allows direct entry to almost all major attractions. I went there, and bought it, and was a god send for the rest of our trip..
Arasta Bazaar and the Mosaic Museum
Pics: Top row Arasta Bazaar, Bottom row Mosaic Museum
After vising the Hagia Sophia, we went to the Blue Mosque, which was just across street…But were told that it was closed for prayers and will open after couple of hours. So, we went to the nearby Arasta Bazaar (one of the many-many Bazaars, or Markets in Istanbul) which also has a Mosaic Museum in the middle. Arasta is worth visiting for its many shops selling Turkish carpets, garments and other tourist souvenirs…
In the middle of the market, is the entrance to the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. The museum hosts lots of 6th century mosaics and tiles depicting hunting scenes, mythical figures etc and is worth a visit (especially if you have already purchased the Museum Pass).
Topkapi Palace and Mausoleum of Sultan Ahmed III
Pics: First picture of Sultan Ahmed III Mausoleum, rest of Topkapi palace
The next stop (after having sumptuous Turkish lunch) was the Topkapi Palace, residence of Turkish Sultans for many centuries, and a popular palace museum now. On the way to the palace, we also visited the Mausoleum of the Sultan Ahmed III. The small Mausoleum has an architectural style of its own and includes Tomb of the Sultan, along with sections for the daughters of the Sultan at both sides of main structure.
Upon reaching the Topkapi palace, we had to wait a little in the queue (despite having the Museum pass), as only a fixed number of tourists are allowed inside at any time. Once inside, we realized that the palace is huge and will take minimum a couple of hours to admire it. The complex consists of four main courtyards, along with few more smaller structures. The most popular courtyards, ‘Harem’ requires purchasing an additional ticket of 15 TL over Museum pass, but is worth the price. This was the section with private apartments of the sultans, and contains more than 400!! rooms. Also, make sure to visit the Treasury in the third courtyard with incredible ornaments made of gems and gold. In between the courtyards, there are spacious beautiful grounds with manicured lawns adorned with various sculptures. A church in the first courtyard ‘Hagia Irine’ is also included in the Museum pass, which otherwise has an entrance fees of 20TL of its own.
Note that this is the second most popular spot in Istanbul (first is Hagia Sophia) and be prepared for long queues both at the entrance, and then for the popular sights inside such as Harem and Treasury.
Sultan Ahmet I Mosque or The Blue Mosque
Pics: The Blue Mosque
If the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi are the most visited attractions in Istanbul, Mosque of the Sultan Ahmet I or Blue Mosque as its popularly known must be the most photographed one. While we were unable to spot any blue color on the outside, or inside, we read that it got the name Blue due to some blue tiles somewhere in the interiors!!.
With its six minarets and a great cascade of domes, the mosque sitting just opposite of Hagia Sophia has an amazing external architecture. and gives the whole area its renowned mystic aura. This page aptly describes the magic of the exteriors of this monument.
Before entering, Eva was provided with a long coat to cover her completely as she was wearing a ‘little’ short capri jeans. Interiors of the mosque are lined with thousands of printed ceramic tiles and hundreds of lamps. The inner hall is massive and can hold hundreds of tourists/worshipers at once. Upon coming out, we took a stroll in the Byzantine Hippodrome or the city park which is just adjoining the Mosque and has lots of sculptures and fountains, and also provides for good views of the Blue Mosque to photograph.
Note that mosque is closed to non-worshippers for 45 minutes before the call to prayer, 30 minutes afterwards, and all morning on Friday (until 14:30/2:30pm). So plan your visit accordingly.
By now, it was around 7 in the evening, and Vivaan was dead tired. So Eva and Vivaan retired into the hotel room, while I spent a few more hours on the streets.
Beware of the notorious Istanbul Tourist Scam
The fraudsters target single men and the goal is to get you to enter one of their bars with overpriced drinks and under-dressed women. The result is always the same: you end up with a huge bill, often into hundreds of Euros. The setup works something like this (copied from here)— A well-dressed man, fluent in English, approaches you and tries to start a conversation. If you’re a smoker he’ll ask you for a lighter (and if you pay close attention, you may even notice him throwing away a burning cigarette seconds earlier). If you’re not, then he may just walk up to you. And even if you’re sitting alone at a terrace table, he may sit down at the table next to you and start a conversation this way.
Regardless of his approach, the conversation will always lead in the same direction: whether you would like to join him for some after work drinks in a great place (of a friend of his) that he knows.
I had read about it before going, so did not fall into it, but was approached upon a couple times for sure. Every time, when the person asked me to join for a drink, and I told him that I have a family at the hotel, they just turned and went away.
Read about more tourist traps in the link.
Grand Bazaar and the Sultanahmet area
Pics: Top row Grand Bazaar, with first picture showing an Entrance, Bottom row some views in Sultanahmet area
A trip to Istanbul isn’t complete without a visit to one of the largest covered markets in the world, the Grand Bazaar, and that was our first top on the next day.. One can enter the bazaar through one of its 21 gates and don’t even think about visiting every part of the market, as it will require days. It has everything that a tourist can possibly think of buying in Turkey and more. For those living in New Delhi, India, think of it as the Palika Bazaar, just a 100 times bigger. But, frankly, after spending around 30 minutes wandering inside, we got a little bored (most of the shops were selling similar Turkish Souvenirs) and decided to head out.
The rest of the day was dedicated to shopping, and enjoying the streets of the Sultanahmet area. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant, with not so decent food, and had to top it up with some Turkish sweet delights to satisfy our taste buds.
Sufi Music Evening and the Rooftop dinner
Pics: Sufi concert and views from the 19th floor
After spending an insane amount of money on Turkish souvenirs (shoes, clothes, Turkish sweets, wall decorations, serving plates, sculpted lamps, Turkish water pots etc etc), we stopped at a Sufi Music and dance concert happening near the Blue Mosque in the open (free entry) and then had dinner at a roof top (some 19th floor I think) restaurant which gave breathtaking views of the whole Sultanahmet area and the Bosphorous river.
Foodie’s Paradise
Pics: Yummieeee…
At this point, I would like to mention, Istanbul is a foodie’s paradise. We are vegetarians, but still in three days were not able to cover all that we wanted to eat. Along with lots of turkish vegetarian options in main course (Dolma/Noghut/Coban Salad/Pides/Borek/Menemen (egg)/Kumpir/Simit (bagel)/Gozleme etc), the sweets shops are laden with mouth watering (and fattening) delecacies such as Baklawa of various kinds/ Helva/ Lokum or Turkish Delight/ and a lots more. Add to it, the various street venders selling fresh fruit juices, corn cobs, fresh cut fruit salads, home made candies, roasted waterchestunuts, local icecreams etc… one cannot get enough of Turkish food in the four days that we had….
Bosphorus Cruise
Pics: Views from the cruise
The first thing on our itinerary on the final day was a cruise on the Bosphorus river. Somehow, I had heard that in Istanbul, you can stand such that your one foot is in Europe, while other in Asia… Well, that turned out to be incorrect. Bosphorus river is the waterbody that separates the Europe part from the Asia part, and the only chance you have to experience both continents is to take a boat cruise on the river (or cross the river using the Galata bridge). We took the short (75 minute) Bosphorus cruise from the Eminonu port which gave a glimpse of the other attractions of Istanbul, which we could not cover in the trip, most notable amongst them being the Dolmabahce Palace, since we had completely avoided the European part of Istanbul on this trip due to recent clashes in the area.
There are dozens of companies selling the cruise tickets all across the Sultanahmet area and we just picked one. As we were told by our hotel reception, all of them are almost the same and charge the same price.
Suleymaniye Mosque
Pic: Suleymaniye Mosque interiors
After the cruise, we headed towards the most beautiful mosque (yes better than Blue Mosque) in Istanbul, the Suleymaniye Mosque. Built in 1557, this is the largest and grandest mosque in Istanbul, and has breathtaking interiors. Again, tourists need to avoid the prayer times and should be appropriately dressed.
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