The second day, our legs and bodies were starting to fail us hu..hu..hu. Luqman's cough (from Melbourne) was getting rather frequent since Istanbul is very dusty, more from all the restorations activities and also from the 'gila' way they all drive around here. The way Malaysian drive is nothing compared to here. The roads are narrow and always congested . Alhamdulillah, we have packed all sorts of medications from home. We gobbled them all up :-D
By noon we were off to Taksim to register for the conference. We had the chance to ride the old tram, that looks kinda like the one in San Francisco, along the famous Istiklal Cadessi (shopping route) up to Taksim Square. From there we walked to the conference venue. After registration we joined the half day tour organised by the conference management.
 |
| On the way to Taksim |
 |
| Istiklal Cadessi |
 |
| Taksim Square |
 |
| On the tour bus - which was an illusion since the rest of the tour is on foot! |
First stop was the Blue Mosque. Since it was a Sunday, there were just too many tourist with a very long queue outside the entrance. In Istanbul, all mosque are open for tourist outside the prayer times. The guards will provide you with plastic bags to put your shoes and scarves and leg coverings (if your dress is inappropriate) and you are then allowed inside the praying hall. I didn't get the chance to pray there yet. There's just too many people. We even thought we lost the tour guide at one point! Insya Allah, we're planning to be back before we leave on Wednesday.
Second stop, was the Hippodrome. The only thing left was the two tall obelisk marking the area of the chariot race in the old days. I was not that interested by then, because it was a very warm summer days. I just want to get the tour quickly over and done with. I was really dissatisfied with the way the tour guide was conducted. However, when we reached Hagia Sophia, the view inside the Hagia just took your breath away, and for awhile I forgot about the tour guide. It's sad that it's no longer a mosque but a museum. They say no mosque built later can 'challenge' the looks of the Hagia Sophia, not even Mimar Sinan's Suleymaniye Mosque. And I personally feel that too. You can sit and stare all day and not notice a day was gone :-)
 |
| Inside the Hagia |
 |
| Luqman kena ngorat :-D |
 |
| We can see the Blue Mosque from Hagia Sophia |
But of course, the tour guide had to rush everything even though we had to pay to enter the Hagia! I think it's not advisable to join a tour at all in Istanbul. You can manage every sight on your own. There's even audio guides (a headphone with audio info) that you can rent from all the main sights. It beats being shoved here and there without actually enjoying the sights thoroughly.
So off we strolled down now the hill, making astop at an Iznik Tiles shop for a short demonstration of how the tiles are made. Tour companies always do this - a collaboration with these shops to sell their goods to tourist. So just stay off tours! We reached the Archeological Museum which is adjacent to the Topkapi Palace grounds by 5 pm. It cost about TL10 entrance fee. The museum kept all the archeological findings of Turkey and other parts of the world. There's even Alexander the Great's sarcophagus and lots..lots..lots of other sarcophagus. It is a very interesting museum, but alas Luqman couldn't take it any longer. We had to skipped the other parts of the museum :-(
 |
| Alexander's Sarcophagus |
 |
| Sarcophagus of the Mourning Lady (Sapa ni? Tah ler? But there's lots more) |
By 6 pm we were back at the hotel, wondering whether our feet and the stroller's wheels can take another day of walking. We were so exhausted we slept from 7 pm until early morning :-D
Comments
Post a Comment