Istanbul, without the crowds....after a failed military coup and few bombs...

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Here we are...my last blog of the holidays...and actually, the 501st one...yes, I'm sorry to admit it...traveling is in my blood. This summer has been pretty exceptional...I've now been on the road from the 10th of June till the 17th of August...so many things to discover...suddenly my wishlist of place to visit has gone smoothly shorter! I know, I'm writing this nearly 3 months late. And sorry to admit, traveling is not over with the summer....so more to come. Even if currently, I'm only one blog late on my writing.



I love to have amazing sites....and no other tourists to experience them with me. So we are just few weeks after the failed military coup....huge bomb has blown in Istanbul airport few weeks ago too. Let put it straight...most tourists are gone...and the few remaining are mainly Muslim ones. If somebody was attempting at targeting non-Muslim tourists in Istanbul today, they would have a tough time to find us!



This is my third visit to Istanbul. I was here just over a year ago, on a very short stop-over...enjoying the free day visit organized by Turkish Airlines. It was August, we had the crowds...big time! Today is just impressive. There are few tourists...and these seem to be mainly from either Gulf States or being Muslims ones. I'm staying for 3 full nights. Happy to say that hotel are also dirt cheap for the month of August. What is impressive, is that if you walk the streets of Brussels, you have military all over the place. Here....even with a failed military coup attempted few days ago...I see very few security personnals or even guns out. The tourists are simply not there...but neither any oppressive security issue.



As you guess, not only they had no queues, but there was nobody in the sites. We may have been 15 people into the Basilica Cistern....just wonderful! Not an issue neither ot have a table for lunch or dinner anytime. I may not have been in a shopping mood, but the merchants are the Grand Bazar were crying for some business.



Hopefully next year will be a better one for Turkey. It can only be! So many people having tough time feeding their family is not what you wish for a country. Over the 3 days, I walked a lot, visited one more time Topkapi Palace, this time including the visit of the Harem too. I had Hagia Sophia for myslef too.Sultanahmet being a cult place, the place was glady way moe busy.



For the first time, I took a boat across the Bosphorus to the Asian side. No need to take a cruise for this, just take the public boats who are all over the place. That was a pretty fun and relaxing experience. As I was staying not far from the Galata Tower, I did enjoy the view point. The entry fee is pretty expensive compare to everything else in Turkey, but the view from top there was pretty amazing.



My next stop was just a short stop in Luxembourg and Brussels before making my way back home in Bangkok. September and October was Bangkok and Africa....so you guess it...more pictures of sharks coming pretty soon!

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