Monthly Archives: June 2014

Bangkok to Istanbul

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Hello readers … I haven’t forgotten about you, it’s just been a busy couple of days!

I flew from Bangkok to KL on Thai and then connected to Istanbul on Turkish earlier this week.  It’s funny, I don’t remember that much jet lag flying into Seoul from Ottawa, but adjusting from Bangkok time to Istanbul time seems to have been more difficult!  Maybe landing at 5am in Istanbul did not help so much 🙂
Istanbul has a mess of transit systems, with some of them currently being upgraded.  Depending where you want to go, you will probably end up using more than one.  Getting from the airport involved the metro, a tram, and then a ferry.  There are no transfers so you pay for each trip.  I like the ferries the best, they are not the quickest, but they are scenic.
This ferry is terminating on the European side.  It costs 4 lira ($2) to cross between the continents and takes about 20 minutes.  Some ferries carry cars and some are just pedestrian.  Most are quite busy, especially in rush hour.
Most of the famous attractions are on the European side.  I’m finding museum admissions and food to be quite expensive on the European side in Istanbul.  The prices are considerably more than the lonely planet book published just one year ago.  Still, there are some free attractions too.  The blue mosque being the most common.

You need to cover your shoulders and legs to go in and it is closed when they have prayer times.  The mosque (and several others) is huge and the architecture is quite stunning.
Around the same area is a cistern which is an underground lake to hold drinking water.  The water was brought in by an aqueduct.  They have installed platforms so you can walk around it.  It’s 20 lira to get in.
Later this week I will head to Cappadocia.  I have reserved a cave hotel which should be interesting!  I will then do a loop counterclockwise around the Mediteranean coast to Izmir before flying out of Istanbul in early July.

Mandalay

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I spent my last two night in Myanmar in Mandalay and splurged a little on a $40 a night hotel downtown.  Mandalay is quite flat and easier to walk around than Yangon, though you still need to watch that you don’t fall into a storm drain that is missing a cover.

There is a large Chinese influence here with many new hotels being built by the Chinese and lots of Chinese restaurants.  There is even a large mall downtown, but with few businesses inside and even less shoppers.
This is the view from Mandalay hill, which is a great hike, or, if you prefer, there is an escalator at the top where taxis can drop you off!  The rainy season has started now and there was rain for both days in Mandalay.  It was quite heavy, but it tends not to last that long.
In downtown, you can see where they make gold leaf.  It’s the small squares of gold that they stick onto shrines, Buddha images, golden rock, etc.  They start with a sheet of gold and hammer the hell out of it until it is so thin that it is virtually worthless.  They sell a pack of ten 3cm squares for $3.  This may make a better gift than the gems!
The airport is a staggering 45km away from the city, so allow lots of time to get there.  There are foreign exchange offices there, but they were closed.  Also, there was a power outage when I got there, so everyone had to wait till it came back on so they could use the X-ray machines!
Remember, you cannot exchange Myanmar Kyat outside of the country, you need to leave with US dollars so I would strongly suggest you exchange your money before getting to this airport.  Otherwise, you may have more souvineers than you bargained for!

Gems

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Myanmar apparently has a lot of natural resources.  One of the things the tourist shops try to sell are gems.  Throughout the 3 weeks I wondered if the gems are actually good quality or are just cheap coloured stones.

In Bagan, there is a gem museum, really just a front for a shop.  There is a sign telling you how to identify a genuine gem. 
So, Myanmar identifies a genuine stone as being “enchanting”.  It all sounds too scientific for me, so I passed on buying one!
Some people say they have got really good deals on diamonds and precious metals, but I think you really need to know what you are looking for or you end up buying a worthless chunk of stone or metal!