Istanbul

After a long layover in China and another long-haul flight to Turkey, I finally arrived once again in Istanbul. Having transitted on multiple occasions and even staying a night or two inside this airport, it was great to finally be able to see what lies beyond its gates.

I waited for the bus heading to Taksim Square while I chatted with a guy from Chad. The locals were really kind at helping me out too. It was a long journey and the day had only just begun. Kama was waiting for me at our hotel over at Galata and after freshening up with a shower, we were finally off to explore the city.

Our first stop took us up north to visit the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua. The exterior was impressive but the interior proved to have an ancient mystical charm to it with its cave walls and ceiling paintings. We got breakfast and ate some Menemen, a classic callback to when I hosted Turkish couchsurfers back in Japan. From there, we walked towards Galata Tower and were soon engrossed in alleys of shops, cats, and goods. I got myself an awesome bracelet here which saved me a lot of time on my usual hunt.

From the Galata Tower, we arrived at the Galata Bridge where we got to see just how magnificent the cityscape of Istanbul is on the other side. It was just one of those moments where it hits you, "Yep, I'm in Turkey." The cascading domes of mosques and their towering minarets painted the horizon with amazing shapes. Under the bridge, we could get even better views of the mosques. There were also a lot of newlyweds here having their pictures taken, just goes to show how pretty the place was.

On the other side, Yeni Mosque awaited us. We checked out the interior and what can I say? The Islamic geometric interior design is just simply next level. From there we walked to Gulhane Park where we were able to meet more cats. We also caught a tip on the Dervish dances and booked our tickets for later in the day on the spot. The walk around the gardens was really peaceful, we got to see some tulips and the remains of old architecture yet we somehow ended up at the side of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The lines were insane and even for the Basilica Cistern, we ended up having to skip going inside it and backtracked to the other side of the gardens to see the Topkapi Palace, only to realize that it also required tickets and there were just too many people.

We opted to have lunch at one of the terrace restaurants, I just got some mushroom pasta which was pretty okay, Turkish food wasn't exactly jiving with me at the moment. We resumed our little tour after replenishing our energy and visited the Blue Mosque again, this time checking the inside which was quite impressive again, just like all the other mosques we have visited so far. Interestingly, there was also the Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius that apparently came with a set from Egypt.

Having missed the cistern, I still had another secret up my sleeve as there was a off the beaten path one that was tucked under an art gallery, free entry and no people to boot! Not as grand as the other ones but we were still able to experience what the cistern would have felt and looked like with its underground pillars and waters.

After visiting another mosque which this time around was more local and devoid of people, we got some ice cream and walked towards the Grand Bazaar. A labyrinth of epic proportions, one could wander its halls and get lost in the endless shops and stalls. Kama got herself a nice scarf here.

We still had to catch our Dervish show at 5 PM so we exited the bazaar and dropped by Suleymaniye Mosque as part of our mosque-hopping. This mosque was probably my favorite because it had the best views of the city, we could see Galata Tower protruding up the other side of the bridge. There was also an Islamic Turkish graveyard, the first I've seen of it. We stopped by for a breather at a fruit juice stall and at the bottom of the path was another mosque once again, the Rustem Pasha Mosque.

From there, we got pulled away by another detour on a tile museum but eventually, we got to the Hodjapasha where the Dervish dances were being held. The Hodjapasha was once an ancient Hamam that was now converted into a theatre. I didn't know what to expect but needless to say, I was absolutely mesmerized and entranced by their dance. The Dervish were of Sufi origin and the dance itself is highly spiritual and metaphoric. It made me wonder how they could spin endlessly like that without losing balance or getting dizzy, all the while with their eyes closed too. It seems super zen and meditative. I was even more surprised to find out that Kama slept through it all, I couldn't believe it! I read up more on the art after the dance, with quotes from Rumi echoing in my mind.

We were quite ambitious and wanted to catch the sunset and decided to go to a far away place called Camlica Hill. We had to take the subway and then a bus and then a hike but the views and the sunset was worth it. Kama said that this was her highlight of the day. It was a long way back to the hotel and we got back pretty late but finally I could get some sleep but not too much because we were once again waking up 5 AM to catch our flight to Kayseri the next day.Read more