It was while reading Elif Shafak's beautiful book 'The Forty rules of love' that I first fell in love with Turkey. The picture of beautiful poetic Turkey that the tale of Rumi and Shams wove in my mind, made me start planning a trip to Turkey. And in June 2012 we finally made the trip to see Turkey and visit my brother and his wife luckily living in Istanbul. Our itinerary included Istanbul, Cappadocia, Kusadasi from where we were to go see Ephesus and Pamukkale and then Bordrum. The more serene Oludeniz and Konya had to be foregone during that trip due to time limitations. I picked up another superbly written Elif Shafak novel, 'The Bastard of Istanbul' and commenced my journey with my hubby, starting with the lovely Istanbul.
Weather in Istanbul during June and July: Quite hot during the day but cool at night
Dress: Casual and light, big hat or umbrella essential. I personally feel hats are a much chicer choice :)
Other Essentials: A super camera to capture all the sights and sunblock
Stay: European Istanbul (Old Istanbul) is the place for tourists to be, with all the sight seeing. Stay close to or ideally at Sultanahmet so you're walking distance to all the sight seeing and the happening touristy areas. Book at Booking.com.
Food: All kinds of Turkish delicacies easily available around Sultanahmet and Taksim. Hawkers and roadside cafes are a dime a dozen.
Currency: Lira... (2.04 Turkish Lira to 1 US Dollar) Turkey is mostly an expensive place to visit if you don't read blogs like these before you visit :) Cabs may be steep in Istanbul. Tip: Take the dolmuc (the shared taxi) and within 2 liras get to most places you might want to go to.
Shopping: The Grand Bazaar is the place to shop at in Istanbul. Gorgeous marketplace that transports you back in time.
Lovely handcrafted crockery, beautiful lamps, leather shoes, bags, jewellery; all this you find in one place. Tip: Remember to bargain your heart out in Grand Bazaar, expecting upto over 50% reduction in prices. The best hagglers get the best prices.
More on Turkey coming up soon; a detailed account of my trip to the gorgeous land of the whirling dervishes.
#Travel #TNI #TravelTuesday #RTW #LP #FriFotos #BootsnAll
Weather in Istanbul during June and July: Quite hot during the day but cool at night
Dress: Casual and light, big hat or umbrella essential. I personally feel hats are a much chicer choice :)
Other Essentials: A super camera to capture all the sights and sunblock
Stay: European Istanbul (Old Istanbul) is the place for tourists to be, with all the sight seeing. Stay close to or ideally at Sultanahmet so you're walking distance to all the sight seeing and the happening touristy areas. Book at Booking.com.
Food: All kinds of Turkish delicacies easily available around Sultanahmet and Taksim. Hawkers and roadside cafes are a dime a dozen.
Currency: Lira... (2.04 Turkish Lira to 1 US Dollar) Turkey is mostly an expensive place to visit if you don't read blogs like these before you visit :) Cabs may be steep in Istanbul. Tip: Take the dolmuc (the shared taxi) and within 2 liras get to most places you might want to go to.
Shopping: The Grand Bazaar is the place to shop at in Istanbul. Gorgeous marketplace that transports you back in time.
Lovely handcrafted crockery, beautiful lamps, leather shoes, bags, jewellery; all this you find in one place. Tip: Remember to bargain your heart out in Grand Bazaar, expecting upto over 50% reduction in prices. The best hagglers get the best prices.
More on Turkey coming up soon; a detailed account of my trip to the gorgeous land of the whirling dervishes.
#Travel #TNI #TravelTuesday #RTW #LP #FriFotos #BootsnAll
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