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| Colourful Istanbul :-D |
Since day 1 and 2 were jam packed, and day 3 and 4 were conference days, we spent the rest of our stay leisurely strolling the remaining 'must see' of Istanbul and getting some souvenirs of course.
One 'must see' site is the Basilica Cistern. The old roman UNDERGROUND water-collecting system. I saw it once in the movie 'The International' starring Clive Owen. But being there yourself - is priceless! OMG! It has this surreal atmosphere, and at times scary (and smelt musky too). What more with the classical music playing in the background. Walking platforms were built in the later days for easier access to visitors. I can't imagine in those days how the cistern system worked, when there was no electricity and no platforms!
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| Luqman & Achik checking out all the big fat fishes in the water! |
Later in the day, we were off to the Grand Bazaar. I have nothing much in mind, so I wasn't expecting much. Yes, there's a whole lot of shops in the bazaar and it's very colorful, but the goods were rather expensive. It's very much like the Queen Victoria market - the target groups are tourists. So expect the 'rippin off' activities to be going on. Fortunately (or is it unfortunate? :-P), I had very limited budget to begin with, so I don't have a long shopping list apart from some key chains and fridge magnets, and of course Turk's famous Apple tea. In fact we used up most of our money on food - which seriously be told are dry and at times bland. I told my sister, if we ever come again, we needed to bring a rice pot (to cook rice) and a jumbo size chili sauce of some sort. They may have all the fancy kebabs and what not, but unlike here or in Melbourne where you have some choice of sauces/dips to go with it, in Istanbul, they just eat it as it is - roasted or baked.
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| Gate 1 - The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Vibrant Bazaar |
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| Muka budak tak puas hati kah..kah..kah..(I wish I can fly ;-D) |
We also dropped by for Solah at the Sulaymaniye Mosque, architectured by Mimar Sinan. It was said that Sinan was trying to emulate the beauty of Hagia Sophia in the design. In comparison to the Blue Mosque, Sulaymaniye Mosque is dominated by a reddish hue. Beautiful! We then dropped by a couple of stores located adjacent to the mosque. Goods sold there were in my opinion cheaper. But the shopkeepers couldn't communicate in English. So you have to improvise to get your point across ;-P
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| Inside Sulaymaniye Mosque |
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| Apa tengok-tengok?! Tak pernah tengok Supermuslim kid ke?? |
On the way down the hill to our tram stop, we also passed the Yeni (new) mosque in situated in Eminonu, right in front of one of the main ferry jetty in Istanbul. I had a peek inside. Again Subhanallah, marvelous. The mosque was built under the advisory of several Sultan's mother, until it was completed in 1663. On day four when we boarded one of the ferry tour across the bosphorus, the view of the mosque will yet again greet us :-D. Towards the left (from the jetty) the Sulaymaniye Mosque is within view too.
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On the right side (the one on the hill) is Sulaymaniye Mosque,
while the one on the left is Yeni Mosque.
Imagine, we actually walked from that hill to Eminonu down below, nak tercabut kaki ;-) |
Anyway, the bosphorus ferry tour was interesting, although a bit too long for me - up to 2 hours. But the views along the bosphorus were interesting. We saw a combination of old and new things along the way. Some forts, the Dolmabache Palace (the new palace) and even a swimming club in the middle of the bosphorus.
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| Dah boring lama sangat he..he..he |
At the end of the day, we finally had the chance to offer our prayers at the Blue Mosque. It seems the Iznik tiles really turned blue at night! And yes, it's breathtaking too. You can just lie there and stare at the domes, some filled Quranic verses. After Solah we had a stroll outside the mosque and saw how the surroundings turn alive at night. There's even a lot of temprary vendor and salesman selling all sorts of things, like pashmina. I think if you know how, you'd get a better bargain than when you were in the Grand Bazaar.
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| The side view at dusk |
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| The Blue Iznik tiles ... |
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| The Praying Hall |
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Luqman trying to 'communicate' with a cat
(there's lots of cats in Istanbul - we saw at least one or two at almost every location) |
It's then time to leave beautiful historical Istanbul. Alhamdulillah, for such a wonderful chance to see Istanbul. I'd really treasure this experience. Maybe some day I will come again - with my rice pot and chili sauce too! :-D
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