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.
How is the food. Is it a nice change from what you've been eating for the last few months? I hope you have a nice time in your cave. I've been wanting to visit there for years …. I'm quite jealous.
So far I have not been overly impressed with Turkish food. Kabob is a big staple food in Istanbul and is seen everywhere. Interestingly enough, I have been to a few good vegetarian restaurants since I got here! I will make sure to post some pictures of the cave.