I realised I travel a lot but I post very little about the countries I've been to! Let this be a start of my travelling logs!
I just came back from Istanbul and it was great! Though I had a bad initial experience in Istanbul before, I realised that was because of the cabin crew that I was with. The Turkish guys were practically watching my group like hawks because of the ladies. Constant heckling and hassling plus the fact that we nearly got conned by a taxi driver was the result of us looking TOO MUCH like tourists and being unable to blend in.
However this time round, I was with a Brazilian Captain who was able to blend in with the crowd, and I dressed down a bit, so practically no one bothered us. Thanks to Captain Rocha, I had a great time seeing Istanbul! He was practically my tour guide, telling me about the place and teaching me how to get around. Thanks Capt!
For this trip, we actually had about 2 clear days to enjoy the place, but the first day was used for rest and recovery (had an overnight flight to Dubai previously and had to recover from the 5 hours difference in time). So we only went out on the second day.
We went to several places. We walked down the road towards the Bosphorus River to go to the Maritime Museum but unfortunately, it was LUNCHTIME and they were going to close. So we just went in to look at the souvenir shop. After that we caught a boat to the jetty nearest to the Topkapi Palace. The boat ride cost only 1.3 Turkish Liras (S$1 = 0.93 TL) and it was nice!
After the boat ride, we took a walk around the area to the Topkapi Palace. It was a good place to visit! (For details about the Palace and its history, do search Google about it). Entrance fee was 10 Liras. Inside the compound, are exhibits of various artifacts of the royalty in the past. Things that impressed me are the HUGE HUMONGOUS size of the clothing that the people wore in the palace. I thought they were giants to be able to wear them. Its hard to describe and photos were not allowed but trust me, they can fit a polar bear nicely! There were clothes, furniture and various household things that the royal family used many hundreds of years ago (forgive my lack of details...hee..too many dates to remember) and it was interesting!
But the major highlight was a visit to the treasury! Inside, you can view all the various TREASURES of the past! REALLY VALUABLE AND IMPRESSIVE TREASURES!! Items like Thrones from India, Turkey etc studded with gems, diamond-studded gold candlesticks (the height of a lady), Crowns, Armour...all fitted with gold, emeralds, rubies, diamonds...whew! I have never let my eyes be graced with items of such value ever in my life! IMPRESSIVE!
There were swords, bowls, goblets, plates, jewellery...all GOLD and decorated with such artistry and expensive and beautiful gems...unforgettable! Best thing was an 86 CARAT DIAMOND! It was shimmering with such intensity and clarity that my eyes were struck gleaming with light from the sheer brilliance of its sparkles! It was a gift from some royalty to another royalty. The whole treasury rooms were filled with items like these and looking at them allows me to have a sense of the glamour and artistic skills of the people in the past. Treasures REALLY were treasures. I felt like I was Indiana Jones, exploring and finding such valuable stuff for the first time in my life. All the gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, crystals moulded and crafted with such excellence...unforgettable experience! My only regret is that photos were not allowed so I can't share images with you. The guards were VERY sharp..didn't want to take the risk.
I'll end part one now...because I'm still in Dubai and I'll be flying off soon, back to Singapore. So stay tuned!
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