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Published: October 25th 2006
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Blue Mosque
Front view of the mosque With both of us now at the same camp in Iraq, it meant we could travel through Kuwait together, thus eliminating the problem of “meeting up” at the airport in Dubai. Our time in Kuwait had its ups and downs; we’ll start with the ups. The accommodations the company provides are nice and we shared a large room with bathroom. We had a nice dinner and visit with Midge, our favorite Aussie & friend who currently resides in Kuwait. We also enjoyed an evening with Craig; a fellow Oregonian and all around good guy. He works at the embassy and treated us to a few wet, ice-cold Newcastle beers in what is otherwise a very dry country. Now for the downs: We had planned on visiting the Indian Embassy in Kuwait to obtain visas for a future trip. It seems the info from the embassy website regarding the hours to submit visa documents were incorrect. This meant a 30 minute taxi ride out to the embassy, followed by another 30 minutes of talking to just about everyone in charge, resulted in no visa for us. With us leaving the next day, we had no choice but to put India on hold.
Pomegranate Juice Stand
Fresh pomegranate juice pressed while you wait. We passed on this... The second down came when our flight to Dubai was almost 3 hours late, causing us to miss our connecting flight to Istanbul. End result; stuck in Dubai for 24 hours while our hotel room in Istanbul sat empty. Oh, and they lost our luggage! Not permanent lost but lost for about 12 hours.
We decided to use Istanbul as a “stop-over” spot on our way to Romania and the same on our return. This worked out perfectly and is something we plan on doing whenever we can. Having lived in Turkey for several years in the past, we both have developed a great appreciation for the food, culture and people. Notice how we list food first.
We arrived in Istanbul (capital of the Ottoman Empire for almost 500 years) on the 23rd of September, just a few days after the start of Ramadan. Was that a bad idea? During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk (no food, no water, no smoking, etc). Turned out not to matter much in the big picture; it was business as usual for the restaurants and most food vendors. Because of Ramadan, we were treated to a ‘carnival’ like atmosphere around
Hagia Sophia Mosque
A view of Hagia Sophia mosque from the Blue Mosque. the Blue Mosque each evening. Over 100 food stalls, selling everything from grilled lamb to cotton candy, filled the square; the Blue Mosque towering in the background. Add in the wonderful fall weather and it all made for an excellent, relaxing and educational time.
Here are the highlights from our time in Istanbul and the hotels we stayed at.
Blue Mosque (built in 1609) - There is no entrance fee to tour the mosque, about the only site that does not make you pay to enter. We did decide to hire a local Turkish man as our guide, for the fee of 10 Euro, thinking he would enlighten us with history and insight. Not so; he ended up passing on basic facts one could read in brochure or travel book. Still, it did make us take our time to admire all the details and beauty.
Hagia Sophia- The entrance fee was 10 Lira (YTL). We did not pay for a guide this time, but discovered many tour groups clustered about. We would stay on the edges of one group for a bit, and then move on to another before our little charade was discovered. The Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
40'entrance door leading into the mosque. Very impressive! started out as a church, when it was built back in 532. Yes, it’s old, really old. It remained a church for 400 years, and then served as a mosque for 600 years. Much more of an historical adventure back in time, filled with rich textures and layers of history that when we place our hands on one of the massive doorways, we could almost feel ourselves traveling back in time. Walking through this place validated the real reason we travel the world. Note: It is currently being considered as one of the “7 Wonders of the World”, a new, updated list due out next year.
Yerebatan Cisterns - Located near the Blue Mosque, and does not stand out making it easy to miss. It’s across from the Hagia Sophia mosque. Entrance fee was 12 Lira. The Cisterns, a man-made underground water storage area, was built sometime during the 500s to provide water for the gardens of the sultan’s palace. Once down in the cisterns, you are surrounded by dozens of ancient Roman columns, emerging from about 2 feet of water and towering 2 stories high. They have set up the lighting perfectly to reflect off the water and
make for some great photos. The lighting is just dark enough for atmosphere but still light enough to walk around and see the fish in the water. It’s a great place to go if you are touring Istanbul during the summer and need a place to cool off. There is also a small café where you can have a cup of tea or coffee and soak up the ancient Turk/Roman atmosphere.
As far as Hotels go, we stayed at the Point Hotel and the Alaturka. Expect to pay between 20-25 Liras for the taxi ride from the airport. Location is everything, and with that said, the Point Hotel lost big points. Located in the Beyoglu district, it requires a long taxi ride or a metro ride to get anywhere. The hotel is very modern, with flat-screen TV’s, bright colors, Feng Shui décor, aromatherapy and a fresh, slick look. It does tend to cater to large tour groups and many where present during our stay. Everything we read about this hotel sounded great, the photos on the website (which are very accurate) were beautiful and the reviews by other travelers were good. But we came to the conclusion that we
Blue Mosque
Feet washing stations outside the Blue Mosque. just don’t like large hotels. We have never had a truly satisfying stay in even the best of large hotels. Guess we are just small boutique type hotel people. 15 rooms or less is our hotel requirement from now on. Breakfast is not included in the price (+ it’s very pricey and not a good quality) but there is a small cafeteria across the street which has good food (you can point to what you like, makes it easy). Everything cost more in the Beyoglu district than anywhere else. For example we asked about a private guide at the hotel desk and were quoted a price which was double what we were quoted when we asked at a travel agency in the Sultan Ahmet area (the old part).
Now, on the return trip we stayed at the Aalturka Hotel, located in the historical Sultanahmet district. It sits just blocks from the Hagia Sophia and offers fantastic views of it along with the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus. Oh how we loved this hotel. It was with-in walking distance from everything! The staff is very friendly and rooms very clean and comfortable. We paid 60 Euro a night and that
included a very good traditional Turkish breakfast on the rooftop. Just down the road, we discovered the perfect restaurant. Now understand, the place is covered with charming restaurants and out door cafes, but the Malkoc restaurant had everything you could want and then some. Prices averaged about 8 Lira ($4) for most meals; the service was sharp, menu in 4 languages plus pictures and the food was fabulous!
We used a small airline to get from Istanbul to Romania called Blue Sky. Very cheap. It was easy to book the tickets online and everything went well. We found their check in desk at the airport right away. The flight was full and our knees jammed against the seat in front of us but the planes were clean and on time. They even offered a sandwich and beverage service for a 1.5 hour flight.
Good-bye Istanbul, until next time; off to Romania.
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Nicki
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Howdy
Hey guys... Looks like another great adventure... Travel safe and love ya!