Princes' Islands

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The Princes’ Islands are about 20km south of Istanbul and take about an hour by ferry.  They are pedestrian only so you don’t get loud traffic noise like back in the city.  The largest island is the most developed and has the most cafés and restaurants.  This is the one I stopped at.

Most people go on a day trip like I did, but if you want, there are a few accommodation options.
This is a pension, or guesthouse.  Would you stay here?  It looks like some sort of set for a horror film!  There were people staying here, you could see them sitting in the lobby.  In case you did want to stay in this area, there was a little town that seemed to have some more upmarket options.
There is good hiking here as the island has two peaks.  On the top of one is a church.  The church itself is quite small, but the view from the back of it is quite spectacular.
You can see the stretching out Istanbul in the background.  The Asian side is straight ahead and the European side on the far left, mostly off camera.  Here is another view from the ferry dock.
On the other peak you can see what was an orphanage.  Apparently it’s the second largest wooden building in the world.  It’s now deteriorating pretty badly so you cannot go in, only up to the gate.
There are a lot of cafés all over the island.  I noticed if you went off the beaten path a bit, the prices for coffee seemed to drop pretty quickly.  You certainly didn’t need to worry about carrying enough water, people were selling it all over the place.
If you do go to the islands, make sure to note the time of the last ferry.  Apparently people have been unexpectedly stuck here for the night!  Also, I’m told they ferries get very busy on weekends and holidays.

Yedikule Castle

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Wanting to explore some of the outer suburb areas of Istanbul, away from the millions of tourists, I took the new subway system that was built with the help of the Japanese and went out to Yedikule castle.  

The new subway is pretty neat, since it goes under the sea.  They call it the Marmaray, named after the channel.  Right now it only has a couple stops, but the plan is to expand it out much further.  It has connections to other metro and tram lines along the way.
The castle is very close to the train station, so you can easily walk.  From the top of the towers you can get a good view of the city and the ocean.

The castle is still original.  No safety features have been added, so you should be very careful as you walk along the castle walls.  You can climb the towers too.  It’s a shame they don’t put up some signs giving some history, it would make for a more rounded experiance.
At the bottom of the towers are jail cells.  Apparently many prisoners were held here and some were even executed at this site.
Now inside the walls is just another Istanbul suburb.  There is a gate that will just allow one car through at a time, so traffic lights are used.

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.