Istanbul, Türkiye: One City, Two Continents

It’s summertime and I needed a holiday. So earlier this month, I packed my bag and jetted off to Istanbul.

This was my second visit to Istanbul and the city continues to amaze me.

A little bit about Istanbul: One city, Two continents

Geographically unique, Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait.

With numerous settlements in the past including Ancient Greece, Ancient Persia and Ancient Rome, the city reflects rich cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled. Christianity prospered during the Roman and Byzantine times. Later, the city was transformed into an Islamic centre when the Ottomans conquered it in the 1400s. Today, Istanbul is a fast growing metropolitan and contributes to more than 20% of Turkey’s GDP.

While it moves forward, the past is preserved and cherished.

My Istanbul holiday

My hols started on August, 2.

Sunday, Day 1:

I flew in to Atartuk airport and was met by my dear friend, Ezma and her family. With the flight slightly delayed, by the time I got to the arrival hall, it was close to 18:00. We had dinner in town and then headed home.

Since this was my second time to Istanbul, I kept my itinerary light – meaning: inbound flight, outbound flight and I was open to anything in between!

Monday, Day 2:

We started the day with breakfast at Komsufirin where I was told that in Turkish, no is “hayir” and meat is “dana”.  As someone who does not eat four legged animals, this is important for me. When ordering, all I did was point to a particular pastry that I wanted to taste and asked, “hayir dana?”. Despite the effort, I still managed to order a pastrami filled pastry, thinking that it was olives!

That day, I was introduced to the “dolmus”: shared taxis (more like mini-buses/vans that can seat around 10 passengers). The dolmus run set routes on a fixed fare. Personally, I prefer dolmus to buses and they are much cheaper than taxis. For a first-timer though, the whole experience can be a bit confusing, even terrifying maybe. If the dolmus is not filled to capacity, the driver will usually slow down the vehicle and honk, calling for passengers, sometimes leaving the side door open for potential passengers to jump in! (well, probably I am being a bit dramatic here, but it’s not far off from the truth). One can usually get on and off the dolmus at any point along the set routes, traffic permitting. NB: Preferably, sit at the back so that you don’t have to pass money from back to front, and vice versa and never sit next to the driver if you want to avoid being his cashier.

Ezma and I went to Kadiköy to check out the local market. Later, we went to Üsküdar for lunch and a stroll along the bosphorus.

Tuesday, Day 3:

This was a slightly packed day compared to the previous one.  We decided to go and see Ayasofya, the Sutanahmet aka the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern. I had already visited the first two on my trip to Istanbul in 2009 but thought a repeat visit would be nice.

There are many legends to The Sacred Column. Some say that it has healing properties, whilst others say that if you complete a 360-degree circle with your thumb in the hole, you will be granted a wish. We spun our hands twice, in hope that it’ll double the chance of our wishes coming true!   😀

It was a hot day so after our tour of Ayasofya, we did a pitstop at the dondurma stall.

By then, it was already mid-afternoon. We headed to the Blue Mosque for zuhur.

Later, we made our way to the Basilica Cistern. This place was a cool retreat after a day of exploring Istanbul in the hot blistering sun. Before it became a cistern, a great basilica stood in its place, hence giving the name Basilica Cistern. The cistern supplied water to the Great Palace of Constantinople. Today, the cistern is open to public for people to enjoy the underground waterways. You will be amazed by the 336 columns lit with floodlights while in the waters beneath you, koi fish swim freely. The Basilica Cistern was featured in the grand finale of Dan Brown’s book: Inferno. Walk to the back of the cistern where you will find not one, but two Medusa heads. The cistern is also known as Yerebatan Sarayi or The Sunken Palace.

Wednesday, Day 4:

Today, we headed to the ferry terminal in Bostanci. A less than an hour ferry ride took us to Büyükada which literally means, Big Island. This is the largest of the nine Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara. In the olden days, the Turkish princes were exiled on these islands, giving them their present name.

Only two square miles in size, Büyükada has a population of less than 10,000. I was told it is actually a far-flung district of Istanbul, but the mainland city of Istanbul and  Büyükada are worlds apart. There are no skyscrapers on the island. Unlike the mainland city where traffic is a nightmare, cars and motorcycles are not allowed on Büyükada. It’s mainly clip-clops here. Visitors can take the horse-drawn phaétons to explore the island. A 45 mins ride around the island would cost  circa 80 lira. Alternatively, you can go by foot or hire bicycles. We definitely had a carefree day wandering the island and enjoying the good weather.

Thursday, Day 5:

We decided to start our exploration of Istanbul after lunch and stay in the city centre to watch the sunset. This time, we took the underground metro to get to the European side. I wanted to check out the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar and get some souvenirs to take home.

The Grand Bazaar is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world. It is full of character and a MUST-visit for tourists to Istanbul.

There are numerous bazaars in Turkey but the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar are probably the most popular amongst tourists. Istanbul gets a fair share of Malaysian tourists annually and since Malaysians love to shop, the vendors love Malaysians. They were usually able to guess that I am a Malaysian on first try. Share a few jokes with the vendors but don’t forget to bargain for the items you fancy.

This time I did not get lost in the Grand Bazaar. Trust me, it can easily  happen to anyone.

By the time we were done with shopping, a coffee break was due so off we went to Kahve Dünyasi, a local cafe similar to Starbucks where we had iced mocha and cakes.

They have an outlet in London Piccadilly. If you are interested, you can check it out here.

Dusk was fast approaching. We took the tram down to Eninönü and walked to the Galata Bridge for sunset view and people-watching.

In the photo below, you can see the balik ekmek guys hard at work. “Balik” means fish and “ekmek” is sandwich, so balik ekmek is actually fish sandwich (made using mainly mackerel fillets). Here, balik ekmek are made fresh on the boat and are sold as street food for just 5 lira. Definitely a healthier option than McD!

The Galata Bridge itself is a happening spot for both tourists and the locals. If balik ekmek does not meet your standards, there are a lot of restaurants under the bridge that serve variety of food with the speciality being seafood from the day’s catch.

People-watching was fun here. It’s a busy place where daily, thousands of people go about doing their own business. No one would really notice you unless you’re being watched! I was happily snapping pictures, determined to capture the moment that would otherwise be gone forever.

We lingered for a few minutes on the Galata Bridge to enjoy the beauty of sunset on the bosphorus.

It was then time to go home. We took the feribot back to Kadiköy and from there, the dolmus to Bostanci.

Friday, Day 6:

I wanted to try out the Turkish hamam but ended up going for a body massage instead at SpaceSpa in Bagdat Caddesi, literally meaning Baghdad Avenue. Funnily enough, I was in Turkey but had a Balinese massage and our masseuses were Balinese ladies with whom we spoke Indonesian! For those who are in Istanbul and want to go to a spa, SpaceSpa is an excellent choice. We paid 90 lira per person for a 50 mins full body massage – that’s around GBP20 and less than a third of what I normally would pay for a similar treatment in London!

While waiting for our 14:00 appointment, we went to the cafe downstairs for lunch. We had light breakfast so we were hungry by then. I ordered seafood pasta with bisque sauce and Ezma ordered good ‘ol burger.

It was my last night in Istanbul and Levent wanted to take us out for a treat so later that day, we went to Hidiv Kasri. Once a residence of the governor of Egypt and Sudan, it has now been turned into a restaurant. Situated on a hilltop on the Asian side, it provides a breathtaking view of the bosphorus. It was already dark by the time we got there. I still wish I had had a tripod with me so that I could capture the panoramic beauty on my camera. I tried taking a few shots but the quality was so poor that you’re better off googling for a picture on the internet if you’re interested to see it.

Istanbul at night, especially across the bosphorus is an awesome sight!

Saturday, Day 7:

I had a BA677 to catch later that day but there was time for one more meal. This time, we went to Mado in Bostanci for brunch. The Turks love eating and their breakfast is like a feast. A normal Turkish breakfast platter consist of several types of bread and cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, several spreads and honey (we had honeycomb), dried fruits and nuts, eggs and cold meat. A local favorite is sucuk (the c is pronounced almost like a j) – turkish sausage: spicy cured beef sausage. Normally the Turks will order sucuklu yumurta, sausage with egg, fried and served in copper pans. I had eggs and potatoes instead! The food was truly delicious.

After brunch, it was back to the apartment to finish packing my bag and off to the airport to catch my 17:30 flight.

Bye-bye Istanbul. Till we meet again.

To Ezma, Elly and Levent, tesekkür ederim from the bottom of my heart.

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British Airways fly non-stop to Istanbul, a four hour flight from London Heathrow.