So the rest of my vacation I admit to looking around hoping to see some little cafe tucked away in a corner of some street that may have inspired the creation of Cafe Kundera, that fascinating shabby hangout spot of Asya's in 'The Bastard of Istanbul.' And I guarantee you will too once you read the book and then visit Turkey. The book makes you want to see all the non-touristy places in Istanbul and go exploring, walking to discover the real city.
Day 3: Sightseeing!
Now for us it was a longer commute than most tourists since they live on the European side where all the sights are and we were living on the Asian side with my brother. But i adored our commutes since they involved taking a ferry across the lovely bosphorus. So we take the dolmuc (shared taxi) to kadicoy iskelesi (ferry station) and then the eminonu ferry to the old city. We get off the ferry and walk to the tram station underground, five minutes away, and take the tram to Sultanahmet. After getting off the tram, we walked to Topkapi Museum, which you need to dedicate quite a few hours to, so you might not be able to get too much other sightseeing done as places start to shut down by 5. Topkapi atleast last year lacked proper signage; no boards up, no maps etc. so getting around meant asking for directions constantly, but luckily the guards are very helpful. For history buffs, the museum is paradise with hundreds of ancient artifacts from the Ottoman empire and for Muslims sacred treasures like the Prophet Muhammad's swords, a footprint, the shirt he used to wear and such. The Museum is a must see for all visiting Istanbul. After the museum we were so tired from the endless walking that we decided to sit and relax at the nearest Starbucks and then headed home. At night we walked to Bagdat Caddesi (Bagdat street - which is the main shopping avenue on the Asian side and we were staying very close to it) and had nargile and food at a raodside cafe called Havelca. Good sheesha/nargile/hukkah and reasonable food at reasonable prices and very friendly waiters, one of whom had been to Pakistan a number of times. Turkey is one of the few places in the world where its lovely being from Pakistan - they love Pakistanis so lots of good discounts are to be had :)
Day 3: Sightseeing!
Now for us it was a longer commute than most tourists since they live on the European side where all the sights are and we were living on the Asian side with my brother. But i adored our commutes since they involved taking a ferry across the lovely bosphorus. So we take the dolmuc (shared taxi) to kadicoy iskelesi (ferry station) and then the eminonu ferry to the old city. We get off the ferry and walk to the tram station underground, five minutes away, and take the tram to Sultanahmet. After getting off the tram, we walked to Topkapi Museum, which you need to dedicate quite a few hours to, so you might not be able to get too much other sightseeing done as places start to shut down by 5. Topkapi atleast last year lacked proper signage; no boards up, no maps etc. so getting around meant asking for directions constantly, but luckily the guards are very helpful. For history buffs, the museum is paradise with hundreds of ancient artifacts from the Ottoman empire and for Muslims sacred treasures like the Prophet Muhammad's swords, a footprint, the shirt he used to wear and such. The Museum is a must see for all visiting Istanbul. After the museum we were so tired from the endless walking that we decided to sit and relax at the nearest Starbucks and then headed home. At night we walked to Bagdat Caddesi (Bagdat street - which is the main shopping avenue on the Asian side and we were staying very close to it) and had nargile and food at a raodside cafe called Havelca. Good sheesha/nargile/hukkah and reasonable food at reasonable prices and very friendly waiters, one of whom had been to Pakistan a number of times. Turkey is one of the few places in the world where its lovely being from Pakistan - they love Pakistanis so lots of good discounts are to be had :)
Tip: Traveling from the European side to the Asian side just became a lot easier with the new Marmaray Tunnel, the world's first tunnel connecting two continents. It's a sub-sea railway tunnel under the Bosphorus strait. It helps you avoid the crazy congestion on the two bridges that the entire 16 million population of Istanbul uses to get to the other side. So if it's fully operational by the time you travel, hop on and enjoy!
More sightseeing tomorrow! Cheers!
#Travel #TNI #TravelTuesday #RTW #LP #FriFotos #BootsnAll
I concur; it's an irresistible feeling to go visit Istanbul after reading 'the bastard of Istanbul'. Walking is the best way to explore ANY city, let alone Istanbul. A good account, fuelling the urge I've had for a long time. The countdown is on .. tick tock .. tick tock ..
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