Yayayayay!!! I've always wanted to go to Istanbul and I've always wanted to take a Contiki tour so I'm doing both! And since this is the last trip I have planned, I intend on making it awesome!
So I forgot to take a picture of my packed items before my trip so this is the best I can do... Sorry
I got a new Tom Bihn bag, the Western Flyer... This one is 26 liters (compared to my Synapse 19 which was 19 liters) I could fit more in this bag cause I didn't want a roller or anything more than I could carry on my back... Again everytime I pack like this, it's a learning experience and eventually I'll get the hang of it
What I packed for a 12 days trip:
1 yoga pants
1 denim shorts
1 swim shorts
1 t-shirt
1 cotton l/s shirt
2 tank tops
2 dresses
1 PJ set
2 bikinis
1 sports bra
3 panties
2 thongs
1 packable windbreaker
1 travel towel
1 slip on shoes
1 flip flops
Scarf
Travel pillow
iPad
Nook
Lonely Planet guide book
Bag of cords/adapters/chargers
Cosmetics
Toiletries:
Cocoa butter
SPF 30
SPF 50
Solid shampoo and conditioner
Soap
Febreeze
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Bug spray
Tissues/wet wipes
Bandaids
Activated charcoal pills
I wore a set of under garments, a tank top, the cotton l/s shirt, yoga pants, and slip on shoes on board
Packing for this trip was a little challenging only because even though it's a secular country, they're still 95% Muslim... I wanted to be respectful of their culture and be able to dress slightly conservative when I need to, that's where the light cotton l/s comes in. I only need 1 pair of pants and the easiest to clean would be yoga style pants. I packed and repacked for this trip probably 5 times just trying to decide what to bring and what I could cut. I had mobility to move around the plane and on roads with just carrying what I had on my back but I also sacrificed options on what to wear while traveling. The weather in Turkey was slated to be high 60s during the day and low 50s at night, what I brought was fine but there were certain areas we visited that were quite windy. The weather in Greece was well in the 70s during the day but was cool at night on the ship... If I could do it again, I would bring only 1 loose fitting tank top and packed a couple of layering tops that are airy and can be dressed up when necessary, and I would've also brought a maxi dress... Like I said, it's a learning experience... But I wouldn't trade the Western Flyer for a roller bag in a millions years, the ease of mobility and never having to check in my bag is worth not having options to wear... Even my tour mates agreed!
And honestly if I couldn't carry it, I wasn't buying it or bringing it back!
So my tour.... Contiki is a tour company designed specifically for people ages 18-35... I normally hate going on tours cause you're usually stuck with old people and the food is usually crap, but I heard about Contiki probably 10 years ago but never had the chance to join one... Until now!
My tour is a 10 day Turkey and Greek Island Odyssey with 6 days in Turkey and 4 days in Greece (starting in Istanbul and ending in Athens) and I lose 3 days in travel time in total. Prices on tours vary on time of year, Contiki gives you the option of booking your flight, extended stays on either end and travel insurance through them as well. I already had my travel insurance booked through World Nomads so I declined in through Contiki and I booked the flight on my own as Kayak was significantly cheaper than Contiki (this isn't always the case). I do wish I had arrived a couple days earlier in Istanbul and stayed a couple days longer in Athens.... The flight is cheaper if I buy a roundtrip ticket to/from Istanbul so I just purchased a flight out of Athens to Istanbul (quite inexpensive) and had a 6 hour layover before heading to Munich where I'll have an 18 hour layover before heading home (yes 18 hours!)
The first leg of my trip started very early (if you've never take Shuttle2LAX, I recommend you do it, it's only $20 per trip!). I fly Air Canada from LAX to Toronto and from Toronto to Istanbul, and I'm excited cause I'm a Star Alliance frequent flyer member and all my flights are Star Alliance members!
First thing I notice when I sit is that they have a USB outlet and 110v outlet to charge your appliances! LOVE!.... Unfortunately that's the only great thing about Air Canada... I'll explain
The flight from LAX to Toronto is about 4.5 hours.... They only offered drinks and snacks at a charge! Seriously?! The flight was at 7am and it was 4+ hours and all they give is drinks?
Again.. Issues with Canadian port authorities... Even if you don't enter their country and are only there for a layover, you still have to fill out a declaration form and go through immigration to get stamped to enter the country!
Once that was done, in fear of not getting fed on the next flight, I picked out a salad to eat while waiting for my next flight.... The flight from hell... So the plane seating goes 2-3-2 (window-center-window), I sat aisle on the window section and observed a load of BS happening in the bulkhead 4 rows ahead of me.... We were late leaving the gate cause the ticket agents assigned the same seat to 2 passengers, one of them decided to sit in a seat not assigned to her and the other got separated from her husband... Luckily there was a vacant center row and the husband and wife took those seats. Now in the same bulkhead, there was a family of 5 (parents and 3 children, all under 3 y/o), the flight attendants were trying to get 2 of the children to sit with their mother in the center, the other child to sit in the seat next to the woman who wouldn't leave the seat not assigned to her, and the father would have to sit a few rows back... Needless to say the children were not a fan of having to sit separate from their father, the head flight attendant walked over and asked the parents if they had children tranquilizer to give the kids (true story!)... every passenger who heard it was completely in shock! Finally the woman sitting in the wrong seat agreed to move but only if they upgraded her to business class!! The nerve!! The family finally got to sit together and we were able to take off.... That's not all... Once we were at cruising altitude and drinks were served, no flight attendant could be found... And there were 6 of them! And they charge for headphones!
Luckily dinner was served on this flight... No options, you get what you get!
Chicken in cream sauce with potatoes and veggies, salad and brownie.... It was just food, it tasted fine enough
Again no flight attendant to be seen... We waited a long time before they came by to pick up the trays and when they did, they left a trail of trash in the aisles and never picked it up. They always seemed rushed or frantic and were quite rude with some passengers
It's a 10 hour flight from Toronto to Istanbul so I tried to get some sleep... Then breakfast was served
Omelet with cream sauce and potstoes, fruit and Greek yogurt... Again just food that tasted fine enough
I was quite nervous about landing in Turkey.... I don't know how to get from the airport to my hotel but I have about 10 hours to figure it out and apparently the city is quite tourist user friendly.... So the Atatürk airport is quite confusing... The immigrations area doesn't really have signs that tell you where to go or what to do... Also many countries need to obtain a visa before entering the country, US passport holders can obtain one online, it's $20 for a 90 day multiple entry visa that you receive immediately, print and bring it with you (Canadian passport holders have to pay $60 CAD for the same visa cause the French acknowledge the Armenian genocide!).... What they don't tell you is if it's ok to get in line with the printed visa approval or if you have to get an actual visa from a different line then go in the immigrations line (like in Vietnam).... You can just get in line with the printed visa approval, but let me warn you - people are quite rude here and have no sense of standing in line and waiting their turn, especially the Russians! So once you pass immigrations, just follow the signs to baggage claim or metro. Before I left the international terminal, I asked if the metro machines take Euro and the gentleman said yes, when I got to the machine wouldn't you know it only takes Lira! I had to go back through security to get money exchanged! I went into the country with $200 US and $200 worth of Euro, which is $135 (remember currency needs to be in crisp bills if you want to exchange it and the larger the monetary value, the better...). I ended up needing more money down the rode but there are many ATMs around and they dispense cash in Dollar, Lira and Euro, your bank will just charge a processing fee (the rate is 1tl is about $0.50 and 1€ is about $1.40, of course you lose money during the exchange process to the current rate and a commission fee)
It costs 3tl for a metro ticket one way, my machine wasn't taking new coins so the man using the machine next to mine offered me to try his machine, it only took 1 coin and he insisted to pay for the rest and his fare as well. He was a very nice older gentleman in his late 40s or early 50s, he asked about my tour and told me about his job... A very nice person to encounter but as an American and a female, I was still on guard for the unknown, even though I've read that people here can be very very nice and they take offense if you decline their kindness. My new friend explained that if I got an Istanbul Kart, it would cost me 1.35tl per ride on metro, tram, bus or finicular as opposed to 3tl and that he would show me where to get it
When we got to Aksaray metro station he took me to a minimart that sold Istanbul Karts, it costs 10tl for the card and I wanted to put in 10tl, he paid for the whole thing and refused my money! Then he hailed a cab for me (FYI ladies, many cabbies won't stop for you if you're alone!), got in the cab with me and made sure I arrived at my hotel, paid the fare and refused my money again, made sure I checked in ok and wished me well on my travels in Turkey! He offered his email and What's App number to contact him if I needed anything while I was in Istanbul, said if I had time he'd be happy to show me around and then was on his way! I contacted him afterwards to thank him for his generosity and he insisted I let him know when he can show me around but after today I wouldn't have anytime left...
Our hotel was the Green Anka, my room smelled of cigarettes and the shower was very small but I needed a shower badly and it served it's purpose
After my shower I ventured off to search for food and explore the area... This gem was right around the corner from the hotel but I didn't eat here just yet (later I would eat here and my chicken wrap costed 3tl, that's $1.50 for chicken, sauce, pickles, tomatoes and lettuce in a lavosh wrap!)
And the sign in the case is for a Turkish favorite sesame bread for $0.60!
I ventured a little further and decided on a place called Turkish Kafe... I told the man I like lamb andhe recommended this dish, I don't remember what it was called but I remembered that it was satisfying and plenty! Sliced lamb on top of bread ends with tomato sauce and yogurt. The bread underneath the lamb abrobed the fat and juices along with the tomato sauce, it was good but I'm not a fan of soggy bread... I ate the whole thing though! Then enjoyed a Turkish tea afterwards called çay (pronounced chai)... They serve it with sugar cubes cause it definitely needs it, it was a great way to end the meal! This dish, a bottle of water and the tea was 16tl ($8)
I kept walking to see what else was on this road, if I keep walking straight, I would run in to the Grand Bazaar. Although we would be going to the Grand Bazaar tomorrow, I still wanted to check it out first and get my bearings
Lots of shops selling different kinds of Baklava and Turkish Delights! These are sold by the piece or kilogram!
A local university have a peaceful demonstration.... I didn't know why yet but we all find out later what they're upset about
Across from the university is a street heading straight to the Sea of Marmara
Walking back to the hotel there was a beautiful mosque
I decided to take a nap before our meeting time with the rest of the tour... At 5pm everywhere you can here the call to prayer, it's quite beautiful! And since my roomie hadn't shown up yet, I was able to take a nice peaceful nap
There was a parrot in the hotel lobby... That was interesting!
We met our tour manager and the rest of the tour mates at the Green Anka restaurant. Our manager, Ahmet, talked to us about how the tour would be run and the schedule while he's with us for the several days... He was great with reworking the schedule so that we had enough time to do everything and enough time to enjoy it all.... And the hotel fed us afterwards... pretty decent food!
After dinner I met my roomie, Amy, and us and a few girls decided to go get some water, snacks and beer for our stay... Then since, for some reason, every hotel in Europe only gives you one key per room, Amy and I headed to drink in the room and get to know each other.... She's 32, from Ontario Canada, is a hairdresser and has always wanted to come to Turkey! We ended up being a match made in heaven... I couldn't have asked for a better roomie!!
Today we would be visiting the Spice Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, the Cistern, a tour of the Bosphorus Strait and dinner or Taksim Square
We took a bus to the north side of the city, close to Galata Bridge where the Spice Bazaar is
This are old water cisterns that ran through the city
The New Mosque is just outside the Spice Bazaar so we checked it out as well... It's really quite beautiful. Both men and women need to cover their legs and shoulders but women must wear a head scarf as well, but not to worry they have stuff you can borrow to cover yourself and they give plastic bags to put your shoes in
The entrance to the Spice Bazaar
A Turkish charcuterie shop! I didn't know what any of this stuff was so I didn't buy anything to eat
There were many vendors selling teas, spices, Turkish delights, nuts and dried fruits... Ahmet told us if we wanted Turkish delights, we want to buy them made with honey, those are better quality and we want to select them from a case and not a box as we do not know how old those boxes are
Also many vendors selling scarves, jewelry and handmade plates and souvenirs... Ahmet told us if we want it, we should get it and bargain well... Most vendors are willing to budge especially if you pay cash... I also use a rule of thumb of how much is it worth to me or how much am I willing to pay for it... Again if you purchase several items from the vebdor, they're also more willing to discount
This is the end train station for the Oriental Express
We stopped by the Hippodrome before entering the Blue Mosque... This is the place where all the chariots gathered and had races but after one bad race and the people started rioting, the sultan did away with chariot races for good... All that's left are beautiful statues and monuments
The entrance to the Blue Mosque
This is where one washes his/her (men and women are separated) feet before entering the mosque, this is just good hygiene and consideration for your fellow prayer mate who must kneel behind you and smell your funk!
We got in line to enter the mosque and looked behind us... We got here just in time! Remember you must dress conservatively, shoulders and legs covered, women must wear a head scarf. The mosque provides stuff for you to borrow if necessary, as well as bags for your shoes
Beware, this place smelled like stale feet!
Once you enter, you see the magnificent work that was done in the mosque and it'll take your breath away.... Tall, beautifully tiled domes (some of which have had to be refurbished or replaced) and light hung low... Back in the day when they used candlelight, they wouldn't be useful if they were hung high so now that there's electricity, they kept the original light fixtures hung low
We also learned that the tulip was originally from Turkey but a Sultan gave permission to royalty of Holland to take some back with them and now everyone thinks that tulips come from Holland... Of course Turkey wants this title back and so they plant tons of tulips every spring to be known as such
Can you image climbing all the way up there to tile this place back in the day? It's so beatiful
It doesn't cost anything to enter the mosque but when it is time for prayer you are not allowed to enter
This is the courtyard just outside the mosque
An Egyptian obelisk also in the Hippodrome... Ahmet said that when armies conquered areas, they like to bring back something from the place they conquered, this is one of those pieces
Now for the Grand Bazaar... This place is huge compared to the Spice Bazaar and one could get lost quite easily... Ahmet wanted us all to remember this door and how to get back to it cause we needed to go to other places as well... This is door 1, there are 11 doors... You can imagine how big this place is right? Ahmet allowed us time to shop, but we had to meet at a certain time if we wanted to go to Hagia Sofia and then again if we wanted to go to the Cisterns, otherwise we could use this time any way we wanted to... Same goes for when some of us go on the Bosphorus Strait tour
Amy and I stuck together cause we didn't want to get lost... Mostly the prices are better at the Spice Bazaar but that's only true for some items... And I think there are more tourists on weekends so the prices seem to get hiked up more then as well (I'm still very upset about purchasing a shirt at the Spice Bazaar for 25tl and finding the same shirt at the Grand Bazaar for 10tl!!)
Old school delivery system... Boys and men deliver çay to people on these trays with sugar cubes and collect money as they go
Beautiful lights hung at one vendor
The Grand Bazaar obviously has more shops than the Spice Bazaar... There's more jewelry, leather, clothing and carpets
We came back with enough time to have lunch at a place Ahmet suggested... Sultanahmet Köfte
Serving grilled logs of ground meat with kettuce and carrots in a nice sub bun... The meat was good but personally there was too much bread! So I ate only what was around the meat and gave the rest of the bread to a cat... And it also needed sauce, badly!
They also gave us a yogurt drink... Amy and I were a little nervous as we heard it's an acquired taste... Basically it tastes like liquid cheese... It's a very loose plain yogurt with cheese flavor lol... Not bad for some probiotics but I wouldn't drink it again... Lunch was 8tl ($4)
Then those who wanted to go see Hagia Sofia were allowed one h to do so (honestly not enough time to take it all in but just enough to get the gist of it)... These are the ticket booths! Vans tricked out to dispense tickets! It costs 25tl ($12.50) to enter
The Hagia Sofia is a highlight when you go to Istanbul... I had seen many many pictures and was so excited to see it... You really need a couple hours to explore this place inside and out but we were only allowed one hour so we had to move as fast as possible cause we all wanted to see the Cisterns
Hagia Sofia meaning Holy Wisdom was once a Greek Orthodox Church, a Roman Catholic cathedral, a Mosque and then it was secularized in to a museum... Almost half go it is currently being restored so you can see where there is scaffolding put up for the workers
We learned that Catholics/Christians like to idolize the deities in the form of statues and pictures/paintings but Muslims question why they look different from picture to picture and who knows what exactly Jesus or Mary look like so how could they paint a picture of them? Who knows what Allah or prophet Mohammed look like, so they prefer to paint or write their names as opposed to portraying them in a picture. But because this was both a Catholic Church and a mosque, there are both frescoes of deities and Arabic writing of names... I find it surprising that once it was turned into a mosque, they kept the frescoes
Once you walk past both narthexes, the sight is very breathtaking. Like the Blue Mosque, the space is vast and large but full of frescoes/paintings instead of tiles... Which makes me wonder who climbed up there to paint them all and what the Sistine chapel must look like
The view from the upper level
There are also different rooms upstairs, including a possible burial site of a Venetian Doge named Henrico Dandalo, and beautiful original mosaics
Marla, Angela, me, Amy and Jas in the Sultanahmet courtyard between Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque
Around the corner from the Sultanahmet courtyard are the Bascilica Cisterns , the largest ancient cistern system that lie beneath the city. It provided water filtration to the Constantinople palace...
It's a large pond with pillars and walk ways. Pictures really don't do it justice, it's quite cool and murky in there. It costs 10tl ($5) to enter
These people were getting their picture taken in dress-up
The main attraction of the cistern is in the back corner, 2 overturned heads of medusa. Overturning the heads is believed to negate the power of medusa's gaze
After the Sultanahmet square, we went on a Bosphorus Strait tour... I can't remember how much this costed but it didn't put us back much and we got the boat to ourselves
Amy, Jas and I
Unfortunately after this photo, some deck hands came around with freshe squeezed orange juice... None of us asked for it but it was handed to us and we didn't think anything of it, some even declined but it was still insisted.... We ended getting charged 3€ (9tl or $4.50) for that little cup of OJ! We were all so pissed! How could they charge that much?!! It was more than my lunch! Beware! This happens often... You sit down and they put food down, if you eat it they charge an obscene amount! Make sure you clarify how much it costs before you eat it!
Other than that aggrevating encounter, the tour was very beautiful and Ahment was very informative (the boat ride gets cold so make sure you have a jacket)
Some restaurants and fishers under the bridge
Some fancy hotels
A university library that burned down
The Bosphorus Strait is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait to the southwest together form the Turkish Straits . The world's narrowest strait used for I ternational navigation, the Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea). Ahmet explained that the houses on the Asian side of the strait are much larger than the houses on the European side but they are significantly less expensive than their European counterparts... These houses were beautiful and in the millions of dollars! Even the ones a few miles inland but have a view of the strait can fetch a pretty price! Some of them had infinity pools that overlooked right in to the strait!
After the Strait tour, we had a chance to refresh and the optional excursion for tonight was a Turkish Dinner involving a dinner and a show for 32€ ($45).... I wasn't interested so I decided to jojn a few other people and check out Taksim Square also known as Independence Square, where shopping, cool kids, bars, and protests take place... We did see a peaceful protest in response to mining accident that killed over 300 people
Marla took us to place she knew that grilled various meats and vegetables in the middle of the restaurant
They gave us a plate of grilled tomatoes and peppers with raw onions
A meze of eggplant and peppers
And my main attraction... Grilled ground lamb with a grain that looks like short grain rice, and flat bread.... Everything was delicious and cooked very well! They used this meat seasoning I saw at the spice market and decided I would need to go back and get some!
After dinner we walked down Taksim again and saw a tower of delicous baklava drenched in honey and needed to have some
But there are different kinds of baklava and no one could tell me what the differences were and so we just went with a sampler... All incredibly delicous and drenched in amazing honey!
If you've never had Turkish ice cream, you must! They use a paddle to churn the ice cream and it comes out so thick, they can pull it up by the paddle and it doesn't melt off! They use the paddle to scoop the ice cream on the cone and do tricks.... The paddle churning produces a very thick and gummy texture to the ice cream, it sounds unappealing but it's very cool and chewy
Then I also saw this treat.... They seriously need a new name lol!!
So far I really like this city and country.... We met up with the group that went to the Turkish Dinner and caught a ride with them back to the hotel... They said they really enjoyed the show and food (each person got 2 drink cards too).... We leave early tomorrow and I really can't wait to learn more about this country!
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