Gateway between Europe and Asia

Trip Start Jul 03, 2000
1
39
59
Trip End Jan 09, 2001


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Turkey  ,
Thursday, November 9, 2000

We needed a full four hectic days to get around some of the main sights of Istanbul. We had an awesome drive through the highways leading into Istanbul at night with the 4 lane motorways stretching fading off into the distance with thousands of cars. We stayed right beside the Hippodrome in Sultanahmet within a stones throw from the main markets.
The first day we visited the Yerebatan Saray or Sunken Place Cisten. This gigantic underground cistern was full of stone columns that had been plundered from ruins, some of them containing carvings such as Medusa and evil eyes. It was used to store water for summer and for also times when the city was in siege.
The next thing that we checked out was the Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazar) which is an absolute labyrinth of a medieval shopping mall. The are over 65 streets at 440 shops in here and its pretty easy to get lost amongst.
The Topkapi Palace, home of the Sultans until the 19th century was next on the agenda. The gardens were beautiful and the treasury was pretty breathtaking with all its wealth in gold and gems.
We also visited the huge Blue Mosque famed for its intense colour inside and also visited the Aya Sofia opposite, which is the church of holy wisdom. It was once built the largest church in Christendom. The church also has huge minarets added when the church was converted into a mosque.
One of the must do activities in Istanbul is to have Turkish bath at one of the bathhouses. Emilie and I ventured down to the local bathhouses and went our separate ways into the men's and women's section. It was pretty wired at first sitting in the steam room. The rooms themselves were again stunning with huge domes with hundreds of evil eyes as motives. A guy then comes and scrubs you with a huge lufa which pretty much took off the rest of my tan. Then you are given a pretty mad massage before washing again and then your done. It was pretty relaxing overall. Emilie enjoyed it as well.
One of the final things we did was to take a round trip six-hour boat trip down the Bosphrous straight to the start of the Black Sea. Once here we climbed the top of a massive hill to some ruins. The return trip was pretty stunning when the sun was setting behind the many minarets of Istanbul.
Slideshow Print this entry Istanbul hotels