ISTANBUL 7-15 May 2023

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7 May 2023

We walked out the door of the house and locked up at 6 in the morning. It was six degrees on our walk to the airport. Tomas' backpack weighed 3.5 kilos and mine an extravagant 4.3. We call ourselves the 'Extreme Packers' but we did wear all our warm clothes on the way to the airport which greatly reduced the weight.
It was easy walking with hardly any luggage. We didn't need to join the long queue to check in. just printed our boarding pass and then straight to the gate: luxury travel! No needs to have 'priority' anything when travelling lightweight.




We signed up for Singapore Airlines auto check in which meant 48 hours before the flight our seats were automatically allocated and we ended up getting premium seats for both legs. For the leg to Singapore we were second row back from the front of economy class which would have been an extra $50-70 (we can't recall exactly) and for the Singapore to Istanbul leg we were in an exit row which would have been an extra $150 each for the extra legroom.




It felt like a long layover in Singapore Airport. We had missed all the city tours arriving at 2 pm. There was not much else to do but to wander around the airport.
We had a voucher for S$40 to spend and decided to buy some dinner with it. Not many food outlets accepted the voucher and the one we chose was pretty disappointing with a very fishy flavored noodle soup with bits of mince floating in it. Finished our stay with the movie theatre before boarding the flight which departed at 2:00 am.



The Singapore Istanbul leg was fantastic because of our premium seats. The couple in the exit row by the window looked like they had done it many times before and must have selected those particular seats. They had blow up foot rests so that they could imitate first class reclining. We were in the front central exit row, concerned that we may end up having a baby next to us but there was a man that we hardly even remember being there.
Once we got the hang of it we discovered that during the night we could just wander back to the galley and help ourselves to whatever snacks and cups of tea, coffee, drinks: anything we wanted so we stocked up with spares for our arrival in Istanbul. Fantastic flight!




8 May 2023

On arrival in Istanbul, we researched how use public transport to get to our Airbnb using the airport Wi-Fi (which was not very good), we searched for the metro station. Airport information was pushing the bus services Havabus, which are aimed for the people with plenty of luggage. We insisted we wanted the metro station.



Our metro cards cost 50TL and we topped up with 200. The metro line was not yet completed into the center of Istanbul but a very fast service took us to a station where we had to change lines. Walking through a beautiful green suburb called Kagithane. It was only two more stops before we had to take a local bus which we found by help of showing screenshots to locals. This took us to Besiktas from where we caught the ferry to Kadikoy. It was great having such an adventure with the transport straight up as we got a feel for the excitement of Istanbul and a great sense of achievement.
What struck us on arrival was the presence of all the wandering cats and dogs with dogs just sleeping in the middle of footpaths, so carefree and relaxed. Besiktas was very busy. The weather was super pleasant, sounds of the mosques calling to prayer, buskers playing typical Turkish music. It was so unique compared to other countries we had visited which were predominantly western even if they were eastern they felt more western than this and we were still on the European side of the city.



Many women were wearing head scarves in this area but there were also many professionals dressed in business suits.



It was an easy walk to our Airbnb from the ferry station in Kadikoy. A relatively quiet area (but still very exciting) surrounded by more trendy cafes and a younger neighbourhood of people.
The cleaner was in the apartment when we arrived and hadn't quite finished our room, I offered to help but her English was pretty non existent.
We were staying in Istanbul for a week at this apartment.
It was a very beautiful, modern newly renovated, clean space, with a great feel. We met Aslan, our host not long after. His English was pretty good, and he was very easy to talk to. He was a school teacher about 40 and was involved with the Turkish elections, which meant that he had a half day on that particular day. Normally he would be at work between 8:00 and 5:00. He was super lovely and friendly and very considerate to be sharing with. He brought out some nuts and some tea and coffee to greet us.
We were really struggling to stay awake but had decided that if we could manage to stay awake until 8:00 pm we would have a much better chance at combating jet lag so we just went for a local walk through the crowded cafe and Market Streets and waterfront Promenade. One walk when we arrived and then again in the evening, before crashing just after dark.




9 May 2023

Still very weary today we took advantage of having the beautiful apartment to ourselves and just relaxed for most of the day before wandering around our local area to discover where we were.
In the evening we went out to the other end of our street and discovered an enormous hypermarket. It was a YouTube blog that we had watched that alerted us to its existence.
Once again we crashed at about 8:00 p.m. but it had been a very relaxing day having had the apartment mostly to ourselves.




Wed 10 May

Today we caught a ferry to the European historical area, Sultanahmet, and wandered through all the famous sites. I had downloaded an app which helped us self-guide a tour. Visited the spice bazaar, the busy streets with the tram line, many beautiful mosques, the palace and the gardens, the Blue mosque where we were offered some Turkish delights and the Grand bazaar where we got the best exchange rate on our US dollars that were left over from our Vietnam holiday years earlier. It was a colorful, busy, exciting day and we covered plenty of ground and got a really good feel for the tourist area.
The weather had been good. Neither hot, nor cold and not overly sunny. Seeing how crowded this area was made me happy with where we had chosen to stay and the ferry back was such a pleasure.




Th 11 May

Thomas needed breakfast so we headed to the supermarket early about 9:00 a.m but it wasn't open until 10. I wanted to make use of the time before 10:00 am so we went for a walk to a nearby suburb called Moda. It was lovely and so different from the rest of the Istanbul that we had seen. Very modern; people playing tennis and walking their dogs in dog parks, boats and beautiful views. Another pleasant morning. It was also so much easier to walk the streets before the traffic had built up, which it hadn't yet. We grabbed some lovely little baguettes with cheese and salad for breakfast along the way from a local bakery. Relaxed in the apartment for the middle of the day and then in the evening went to Uskudar to look at the colorful houses at Kuzguncuk by local bus.
We then walked along the waterfront where we found an open-air cafe in a park, with a view of the Topaki Palace on the European before heading to the Maidens Tower, which was celebrating reopening after a 2 year renovation with a lazer and light show. It was tedious waiting until 9:00 pm for it to start and we almost gave up. We killed time by walking up and down the waterfront. The family crowds built and by 9:00 pm. it was very busy but everyone was very well behaved. We sat on some rocks to watch the show then had the difficulty of dealing with the crowds to catch the bus back to Kadikoy, arriving after 10:30 pm. We later found out that we could have caught the underground metro which would have got us home hassle free. Oh well! It all added to the experience!




Fri 12 May

The weather wasn't great today; threatening showers, overcast and cold. Had to do something reasonably memorable for my birthday despite the weather so we caught a ferry to the historical area and followed the tourist route from Galata Tower along Istikal street, stopping numerous times for several hours at a time at cafes. I chose a birthday cake that was very appropriate for my occasion.
Dinner wasn't particularly special but it was a meal that I really did enjoy. I found a place with a salad buffet and had an enormous bowl of salad. For me it couldn't have been better and then another variation of the cake I had earlier for desert which we ate when we returned to our lovely home. No excuses necessary. 😊




Sat 13 May

I really enjoyed today.
The sun came out and it was very relaxed. We wandered past Kadikoy towards Moda. Enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the crowds on a weekend and also the cafes and the bakeries.
The main Street of Kadikoy had an iconic tram line passing all the quaint, colourful shops and lead to the Kadikoy bull statue that was a recognised marker for the area.

We found a busker along the waterfront in Moda who was playing great music on his electric guitar and layed on the lawns, enjoying the music with the other crowds who were walking their dogs or picnicking with friends and beers.
When we returned home we had a new flatmate in our apartment; a young Chinese guy who was living in London. He was friendly and easy to talk to so the evening was spent mainly socializing with him. When Aslan came home they went out with some other friends of Aslan's and we had the lovely apartment to ourselves.




Sunday 14 May

This day was the day of the Turkish elections and Aslan was very involved. The prediction was that the result would be very close and they could be some conflict once the result was determined. We were advised to come home by 7:00 pm. As it turned out it was too close to call a winner and there was no result by the end of the day. It looked like it was going to be nice weather but it ended up being quite windy and we decided to do the long Bosphorus boat cruise which took us towards the Black Sea on a very slow passenger ferry. We met another Australian couple from Townsville. They were about our age and were travelling for 6 months. They had just come from Egypt on a guided tour and said that it was a totally chaotic country that was exhausting.
Near the entrance of the Black Sea we had two hours before the boat returned. During that time we walked to the ruins of an old castle that, in its day, protected the Black Sea entrance. There were also many lovely harborside cafes, selling mainly fish meals.
The sun came out for a while but on the way back most of the people on the ferry fell asleep. We were pretty exhausted too after having big salad bowl dinners once again and then returning to the flat.




Monday 15 May

We left our apartment about 6am. Headed off to Sabiha Gocen Airport for our 9am flight to Dalaman on the Mediterranean coast where we were to spend 2 weeks. The Metro from Kadikoy took us all the way there. So very cheap and easy for under 10TL. taking about an hour, and arriving with plenty of time to spare.




I can't express enough how travelling lightweight is the greatest advantage to stress-free adventure travel. It enjoys you a huge sense of freedom.




I can't understand how anyone can experience a place fully if they don't travel like a local. Being weighed down and using private transport removes you from the culture and denies you the chance of immersing yourself into a country. Maybe people use this form of traveling to protect themselves. They may have a fear of immersing themselves, or they just don't allow themselves enough time.
Lightweight travel enables you to be a traveller rather than a tourist.




We found Istanbul to be very friendly and felt safe the whole way. Of course, common sense is needed anywhere in the world.
Story to continue...



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQMgsei-ZMw

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