Short Vacay to Istanbul

Salam w.b.t and hello dear readers.

How are you doing? I am doing fine. So now, I would like to share with you guys my trip to Instanbul recently.

First off, Istanbul is lovely and amazing place.

I have been in Doha for one week, doing nothing, none calls for job, sleeping, eating, movies, and on Thursday (17th Jan) that’s when it hits me. I need to do something, I cannot just wait for another week to go to a job. I was thinking, whether I want to do Skydive in Doha or go somewhere. The price of skydiving was ~ QR 2100, quite expensive and I don’t have anybody to do it with me. Called Kanoon if she is Aberdeen so I can visit her, ironically she was in Norway waiting for a chopper to go to the rig.

Then, deep inside me there is one place I really wanted to go - ISTANBUL.

Quickly google for flight fare, local time so I don’t have to deal with jetlag, weather, and ask the coordinator of how many days I will be idle. I will need at least 5 days, 2 days of travel and 3 days for exploring. That’s it, I booked the flight to travel to Istanbul on the next morning. Before that I called my mother to inform her. She said, "Go, go. Explore and don’t stop now. Go but ensure to keep me updated your whereabout from time to time".

I told her, "Ok Mak (mom), but it is last minute plan".

She said, "Just go, last minute is always your plan".

Hehehe…

I booked the return flight, hostel, and listed down the place I wanted to visit. It will be from 18th Jan to 22nd Jan, excellent!

Following is the flight details. There are several airports in Instanbul and the ticket price is also different. Therefore, ensure you select the correct airport for your arrival and departure. I contacted the Malaysian student there, it is best to land at Atartuk Airport.

Qatar Airways, ~ 4 hours flight

For the accommodation, I booked via the Booking.com. Since is the last minute trip, I would like to save money on this part. So, I decided Dorm is fine. The thing I was not aware of was that this Dorm is a mix gender. *Face palm*

Click the link below to know more about the hostel I stayed in. You can choose what type of room you want to stay in.

Antique Hostel, Sultanahmet

Overall, it was great, and the location is right behind the Sultanahmet Mosque. I had my Fajr prayer throughout my stay and Isyak prayer two times. So, it is an excellent choice.

Itinerary of my trip as following:

Friday, 18 January 2019 - Blue mosque, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome, Sultanahmet Area

Sultanahmet Mosque also known as Blue Mosque

I arrived in Istanbul. From the Atartuk Airport, I took a Metro (M1) towards Yenikapı then get off at Zeytinburnu. From this station, took a tramvay towards Kabataş dan stop di station Sultanahmet.

Roughly one-hour journey. From Sultanahmet, I just walked to the hostel. This was the trickiest part, so I asked around for the direction while dragging my luggage with me. I passed by Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and many tourists - everywhere. I arrived in the afternoon around 2PM and one thing I saw was, many policemen, armies with tank, jeeps, vans, guarding the area with the guns. They were guarding the perimeter then I realized, it was Friday and they just finished Friday prayer. So, I just walk with calm as I did not want to attract any attention.

After checked in, got myself clean, then I went to Blue Mosque. I waited among the tourists as they have specific time for visitor to enter the mosque. I wanted to enter then the security asked, is it for praying? I said no since I have prayed at hostel, just want to see inside. Security said wait at 4.15PM.

Then this is the view at 4.15PM.

This is right after the door for visitors was opened

Then I just visited the Sultanahmet area. Went to Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome, walked around the streets.

Hagia Sophia

I forgot to tell you, it was winter and freezing. However, it was not raining and you can still walk around visiting the places. Just be sure you bring your thick winter jacket. My winter jacket was left in Malaysia, so the night before I bought a thick winter coat.

Saturday, 19 Jan - Ortaköy, Besiktas, Dolmabahçe Palace, Taksim Square, Galata Tower, Haliç

This is the view at Ortakoy.

This is one of the gate at the side of the palace. This is not the palace itself.

Galata Tower

View from Halic station during sunset. This was actually the time I felt like crying of happiness for making the decision to come to Istanbul.

Sunday, 20 Jan - Eyüp Sultan Mosque, Pier Loti Hill, Panorama 1475, Ferry by Asia-Europe Istanbul

Eyüp Sultan Mosquei

View from Pier Loti Hill. Around the hill is the grave. If you still remember, there was one Malaysian student, Allahyarham Ammar passed away. His grave is somewhere on this hill.

The wreck of the walls that cover the Old City. Panorama 1475 will explain the history and how Sultan Fateh managed to conquer Constantinople.

Took a ferry from Kardikoy to Asian part of Istanbul. The strait is known as Bosphorus Strait. This is the powerful and most important strait for business from old days until now.

Monday, 21 Jan - Süleymaniye Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, Mahmud Pasha Bazaar, Basilica Cistern, Gülhane Park.

Süleymaniye Mosque. Amazing architecture.

The mosque is located on the hill. Then we walked down the hill go to the bazaar. Started with Grand Bazaar, then Spice Bazaar, finally Mahmut Pasha Bazaar. I did some shopping at the Bazaar. Believe it or not, the sellers know to speak Malay and tourists from Malaysian come here quite a lot.

Recently painted to make it pretty. This is Mahmut Pasha Bazaar.

I came here in the evening. Since Hagia Sophia closed, I just walked around Sultanahmet area. This park is next to Topkapi palace.

Tuesday, 22 Jan - Travel back to Doha. From Sultanahmet, I took the same way I came to my hostel by tramvay - metro to the airport.

Overall, it was amazing experience. The only part I was missing is to enter the Hagia Sophia. At first I thought I will visit it on Monday, but it was closed on Monday. That was the thing I did not check when I did my planning.

The food, price is quite cheap compared to Qatar. It is affordable. I think I will come again visit Turkey, come to visit Hagia Sophia and then probably travel to Cappadocia and Pamukkale.

I am grateful for this opportunity

It was really refreshing journey, full of history, and I feel great to see this place myself. I learned about the history when I was in high school. Then over time, the appreciation went by. Now it is like a reminder for me not to forget how the previous leaders build this place, the victory of Islam, and many more.

I think this is it for now. I hope all of you will get a chance to visit Istanbul one day.

Till next time.

Take care and Salam w.b.t.

P/S - Where is next?